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Manchester United defender Jonny Evans has once again offered his public backing of under-fire manager Erik ten Hag.
The 36 year old made a shock return to United last summer as a free agent and despite much derision at the time, has proven to be an astute signing.
Evans made 30 appearances in all competitions and played his part in keeping Manchester City at bay in the second half of the FA Cup final.
Speaking after the cup final he claimed, “he’s been amazing for me this season, bringing me back in, showing a lot of belief in me and playing me as much as he has” and he also said he hoped he did stay at Old Trafford.
Yesterday at the Irish Football Association press conference, he was asked by the Belfast Telegraph about Ten Hag’s future and whether he still had the same view that the manager should stay.
“Yeah, of course. I think he is a top class manager.”
“The thing that keeps me going is learning about the game and I learnt an awful lot last season with different styles of playing the game and I learnt a lot of things from the manager Ten Hag, so that was quite an eye opener for me. I feel like he has got some great ideas about the game of football.”
Then the veteran defender made reference to a nice moment at Wembley when during the trophy lift he insisted that the manager got his chance to hold the famous trophy aloft in front of the delirious fans.
“I passed the trophy down to the manager because they were trying to get us off (the presentation area) to go and celebrate on the pitch.”
“I passed it to the guy beside me and I saw the manager further on and I didn’t want him to miss out on that moment. I felt like it was a big moment for him. I’m glad he got to lift it like that.”
Summing up the effect Ten Hag has him on personally he concluded, “the manager was great for me, brought me back in and showed a lot of faith in me, so it was nice I suppose he was able to have that moment.”
The Ulsterman has probably been the biggest public backer of Ten Hag in the squad but in a sense, as a 36 year old out of contract he has less to lose if a new manager comes in.
It is natural he will be eternally grateful for being allowed to return to the club last season when most expected he would retire or move to a club in the Championship.
With the clock ticking, INEOS now must stick or twist on the manager so the club can properly go about carrying out its summer plans.
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