Erik ten Hag was sacked by Manchester United after being called in for a short meeting at the Carrington training centre on Monday morning with the club 14th in the Premier League.
It was here where the Dutchman was sat and told he had been dismissed from his role as head coach of United by club CEO Omar Berrada and sporting director Dan Ashworth.
The meeting did not take long and Ten Hag respectfully listened to what they had to say, shook their hands and left Carrington, returning home shortly before boarding a private jet to the Netherlands – having also bagged a huge pay-off in the process.
However, Berrada and Ashworth delivered some brutal home truths to Ten Hag during the meeting that demonstrated how poor United have been under his tenure.
While the United chiefs told Ten Hag it was a tough decision, they insisted it was a unanimous one across the board despite giving him a contract extension in the summer.
Berrada and Ashworth were not part of the decision-making behind the idea to trigger the one-year extension in the summer after United had finished eighth.
But after seismic changes at Old Trafford since the arrival of Sir Jim Ratcliffe and INEOs as head of football operations, they wanted to give Ten Hag the opportunity to work under the new structure.
That also culminated in a hefty summer spending spree, with players such as Leny Yoro, Manuel Ugarte, Joshua Zirkzee and Matthijs de Ligt signing as over £170million was splashed.
However, Ten Hag was told that the results and performances were not good enough this season while finishing eighth last season in the Premier League also counted against him.
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Berrada and Ashworth maintained that they wanted stability at the club but the lack of progress had become concerning.
United’s European form was also a major point over the decision to sack Ten Hag.
The 1-1 draw against Fenerbahce on Thursday last week marked a year that United had not won a match in Europe – in the Europa League or Champions League.
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United’s hierarchy were unanimous in their decision to sack Erik ten Hag
PA
And that victory – a 1-0 win over Copenhagen – was also their only win the group stage that saw them finish bottom of their group, which also included Bayern Munich and Galatasaray.
This season, the Red Devils have drawn three times in the Europa League – all from winning positions – against Twente, Porto and Fenerbahce.
They also felt that they had given Ten Hag more than enough tools to succeed at Old Trafford, having spent lavishly on players he used to coach including De Ligt, Antony, Lisandro Martinez and Andre Onana – all of whom worked under the coach at Ajax.
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Erik ten Hag was sacked by United on Monday
In fact, Ten Hag has outspent every manager at United post-Sir Alex Ferguson, spending approximately £560m on players including £86m on the widely-mocked Antony, as well as £60m on an ageing Casemiro.
While some at the club might have felt a decision to sack Ten Hag has come too late, with the international break a possible window to give them time to find a successor, Van Nistelrooy will not have much time to get used to his new position with two matches up next this week.
United face Leicester in the Carabao Cup before taking on Chelsea at the weekend in the Premier League.