Simon Stone
BBC Sport's chief football news reporter

Manchester United chief executive Omar Berrada and sporting director Dan Ashworth delivered the bad news to Erik ten Hag at the club's Carrington training ground this morning.

The pair were not involved in the decision to trigger the additional year's extension on Ten Hag's contract in the summer but at the beginning of September said they agreed with the move.

Now they have to decide who to replace the former Ajax boss with.

Brentford

Thomas Frank is viewed as a contender to replace Erik ten Hag at Manchester United, and he's just been holding his press conference to preview tomorrow's cup fixture against Sheffield Wednesday. Here's what he had to say when asked about the vacancy at Old Trafford.

"Of course, I feel for Erik. He is a great coach and has a great career. He did a good job at Man United, two trophies in two years.

"It's a non-stop developing world and that is more than acceptable. At these big clubs, there are massive expectations but there has to be a reality check... You feel for guys who lose their jobs and I'm sure Erik gave everything.

"There are better people to judge that (improvement). He had a very good first season and had more than a few injury problems."

Asked if he fancied the job, he said: "I've got a big responsibility to Brentford Football Club, the fans, the leadership, players and staff. One focus, to beat Sheffield Wednesday in the Carabao Cup.

"I'm very happy here, one of the best clubs in the world. What happens in the future who knows, but I am very happy here.

Asked if there are certain jobs that are too difficult to say no to, he said: "Right now I’m just here and enjoying life here. I always try to be as transparent as possible, I am very happy here and I can see myself being here for a long, long time in the future. I just want to focus on Sheffield Wednesday, get on with the game, try to win."

Mike, Crawley: Agree with Lee from London. If Ole hadn’t been sacked, we’d be challenging for titles now. We played our best football since Fergie under him. #bringbackole

Perhaps we should ask Guillem what his compatriot David de Gea means by posting this emoji on X. The Spanish goalkeeper's 12-year spell at Manchester United ended under Erik ten Hag in 2023.

Guillem Balague
Spanish football journalist on BBC Radio 5 Live

When Xavi left Barcelona he felt burnt out. It's a tough job, as we know.

His idea was to take some time off, relax, perhaps take a job in Qatar or something like that, but all of a sudden he started hearing interest from the Premier League.

He has not been interviewed by Manchester United. Obviously it would be an amazing job to have.

It seems to me a little bit accelerated to think Xavi will be the next manager of Manchester United, especially when you look at how Barcelona are playing now, basically with the same team.

He won the league, yes, but in the last year he didn't take advantage of the talent he had in his hands.

Image source, Getty Images

Managerial record: Played 397 Won 160 Drawn 119 Lost 118 Win percentage 40.3%

When Graham Potter was sacked by Chelsea in April 2023, few would have expected the former Brighton manager to be out of a job for long. But almost 18 months later, here we are.

Potter's short stay at Stamford Bridge did not work out amid a huge squad overhaul, but he previously received widespread acclaim for his work at Brighton, having initially honed his managerial skills with Swedish club Ostersund and Swansea.

The 49-year-old turned Brighton into a respected Premier League force in three years on the south coast and remains heavily touted for any high-profile job that becomes vacant - including the England post.

Potter, who worked with United's director of football Dan Ashworth at Brighton, recently said he is ready to return to the game but, speaking on Sky Sports, external about links to United, Potter said: "A lot of what I've read in the media is untrue and false. I've had lots of conversations with lots of people."

Guillem Balague
Spanish football journalist on BBC Radio 5 Live

Zinedine Zidane is a name that has been mentioned. [He] doesn't speak English, is not interested about speaking English and is not interested about taking a job of that calibre because it will mean working every day.

He'd rather take the France job when Didier Deschamps leaves.

Brentford

As it happens, Brentford boss Thomas Frank is now speaking to the media too. We'll let you know what the Dane has to say about the Manchester United vacancy ASAP.

As it turns out, Ruben Amorim has been speaking at a news conference since the news of Erik ten Hag's sacking broke.

"I was already expecting this question and obviously I'm not going to talk about the future, because otherwise I'll always have to comment," he said. "I’m very proud to be Sporting coach, that’s all."

The 39-year-old Portuguese coach was previously linked with the Liverpool job before the Reds appointed Arne Slot as Jurgen Klopp's successor.

Image source, EPA

Phil McNulty
BBC Sport chief football writer

This is now the biggest test for Manchester United’s new co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe and the reconstituted club structure of his sidekick Sir Dave Brailsford, chief executive Omar Berrada and sporting director Dan Ashworth.

The Ineos regime has made headlines for its cost-cutting, such as ending Sir Alex Ferguson’s £2.16m-a-year ambassadorial contract, but this is the biggest decision they have had to make so far and simply cannot get it wrong.

Thomas Tuchel’s credentials made him a serious contender but he snapped for England by the FA, so the field is not exactly full of stellar candidates.

Ruud van Nistelrooy is first cab off the rank as interim manager but is he actually a realistic candidate?

Xavi is relatively experience and while Thomas Frank has done an outstanding job at Brentford, Manchester United is on another level altogether and former England manager Gareth Southgate has ruled himself out.

So what about the highly-rated young Sporting Lisbon coach Ruben Amorim?

Young, hungry, successful and very much on the radar of Tottenham and Liverpool when they were looking for a new manager.

The 39-year-old is a hot property, so why not? Ratcliffe and his cohorts made one big mistake keeping Ten Hag. They simply cannot afford to make another.

Attention will now turn to who might be on Manchester United's list to replace Erik ten Hag as manager.

We'll explore these options in more detail but, United fans, let us know your thoughts on some of the names below and who you would be keen to see take over at Old Trafford:

• Ruud van Nistelrooy
• Gareth Southgate
• Graham Potter

• Thomas Frank
• Simone Inzaghi
• Kieran McKenna
• Xavi
• Zinedine Zidane
• Massimiliano Allegri
• Ruben Amorim
• Julian Nagelsmann
• Michael Carrick
• Sergio Conceicao

Simon Stone
BBC Sport's chief football news reporter

Speaking anonymously, a former coach with a deep understanding of Manchester United outlined what he felt was a lack of identifiable style.

"Erik is a coach," he said. "We all assumed when he came in, he would coach the players in a certain way.

"But it is hard to see what that way is. Are United a pressing team? They don’t really have the players to press.

"They play with two defensive midfielders but then bring the full-backs inside, which clogs up the midfield. And when the opposition break, neither of the sixes are effective at stopping them.

"The issues are pretty basic but they are not being rectified."

Inside Ten Hag's turbulent time at Manchester United

BBC chief football news writer Simon Stone says not one single Erik ten Hag signing can be described as an unqualified success. Here they all are, do you agree?

2022-23 - £207.5m spent

• Antony, Ajax £85m
• Casemiro, Real Madrid £60m
• Lisandro Martinez, Ajax £50m
• Tyrell Malacia, Feyenoord £12.5m

2023-24 - £167m spent

• Rasmus Hojlund, Atalanta £63m
• Mason Mount, Chelsea £55m
• Andre Onana, Inter Milan £45m
• Altay Bayindir, Fenerbahce £4m

2024-25 - £189m spent

• Leny Yoro, Lille £55m
• Manuel Ugarte, Paris St-Germain £45m
• Matthijs De Ligt, Bayern Munich £40m
• Joshua Zirkzee, Bologna £37m
• Noussair Mazraoui, Bayern Munich £12m

Total estimated by FootballTransfers.com for BBC Sport = £563.5m

For Manchester United fans who recall injury time under Sir Alex Ferguson regularly resulting in late winners, this stat makes for sobering reading:

• Ten Hag lost 27 Premier League games as United manager. A quarter of those (25.9%) were lost to goals in the 90th minute or later, including West Ham on Sunday.
• That ratio is the most of any Premier League manager in history who has lost 20 or more games.
• United have lost nine Premier League games to 90th-minute goals in their entire history. Seven of those were during Ten Hag's 85 games in charge.

Image source, PA Media

Micah Richards speaking on the Rest is Football, external podcast about Manchester United's new co-owners: "You have to give them time. They have got some good people in the backroom staff. I think all the noises coming out of Man United are not good, leaks to the press and all of that sort of thing.

"They had the meeting the other week with Ten Hag. It looked like he was going to be sacked, it didn't happen and then it happens today. I think they have the right pieces in play."