IT will take years to unpick this mess, years. Try maybe five at best.

If anyone thinks Ruben Amorim or any other new manager at Old Trafford is going to turn water into wine, or rather champagne, then forget it.

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It is a mess of Manchester United’s own making. Or that of part-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe.

Mind you, he has washed his hands of such problems, claiming it is in fact the new ‘management team’ or whatever they are called, who take these decisions.

The Glazers have washed their hands of it, too, despite still counting the dollars.

Omar Berrada, Jason Wilcox and Dan Ashworth all claim to have arrived too late to be involved in the decisions at the end of last season. See how the buck is getting passed.

To recap, that was when Ratcliffe thought Dutch boss Ten Hag should go but a shock 2-1 win over Manchester City in the FA Cup final suddenly turned the tide of popular opinion.

Still, he and his right-hand man Sir Dave Brailsford — how do you get these knighthoods? — tried to sound out other candidates.

Nobody wanted it. Who can blame them. What player or manager has come to Old Trafford in the last 11 years and enhanced their reputation?

So, they went back to the man they had in the first place, knocking on his holiday home door in Ibiza to ask if he still wanted to be the boss after all.

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You can’t make it up. Except with United you can and it comes true. Yes, Erik, even “fairytales”.

The problem was this past summer immediately set in motion the problems that have now resulted in 54-year-old Ten Hag being sacked.

Players, fans and everyone around the club knew he was a dead man walking. A new contract was in fact an extension of the old one.

There was almost a feeling of sympathy for him as the club embarked on their pre-season tour in the US.

ETH kept telling us that the “leadership team” — is that another title they have? — were behind him, everyone was on the same page and the future was bright.

And yet and yet… In a briefing with Ashworth and Berrada at the start of the season, they made it clear they were behind the manager.

But it was far from convincing. Indeed, Ten Hag had reservations about the Ineos group from the start.

He was unhappy they had not given him public backing when Sir Jim first took his stake in the club back in February and ended up running the football side of it.

Ten Hag was wary of media who he felt backed Ineos and not him.

He always felt he was fighting a battle with the very people who held his future in their hands.

Behind the scenes he was desperately trying to get a team plan, spirit and style of play to work.

He had been criticised for his handling of Cristiano Ronaldo, Jadon Sancho and Harry Maguire, with the England defender being stripped of the captaincy.

Let us not forget Sir Alex Ferguson ditched David Beckham, Ruud van Nistelrooy and Jaap Stam when they were all at their best.

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That trio under Ten Hag’s management were far from that. The problem now is he has spent £545.9MILLION on a bunch of bang average players.

He has been backed with a new coaching team. Everyone seems to be either Dutch or been involved in Dutch football.

It is a bit of a myth that everything on the pitch that comes from the Netherlands is going to be beautiful and successful.

The last Dutch team to win the European Cup? Ajax in 1995. Before that, PSV Eindhoven in 1988.

A new manager, Sporting’s Amorim for instance, would arrive at Old Trafford, see this bunch of players and wonder how on earth he is going to turn them into title challengers.

The current most expensive player in the ranks is £85.5m Antony, who was last seen running down the right, cutting in on his left and firing wide of the far post. That is all he does.

Who thought Joshua Zirkzee or Rasmus Hojlund were going to become United goalscoring legends?

If Bayern Munich are happy to let two players go as they did with Matthijs de Ligt and Noussair Mazraoui, then you have to wonder why?

Still it went on. Ten Hag said he needed time to stitch all this together.

Indeed, it was only just over a week ago that he was calling for patience at a Manchester Football Writers’ Dinner.

He was in great form, happy and buoyant after a victory over Brentford and very positive about the future.

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All the time the plots were going on behind his back to replace him.

He kept backing up his worth with those two trophies — the Carabao Cup in 2023 and last season’s FA Cup.

And yes, that was good. Still, as United pointed out yesterday “neither the results or performances have been good enough across last season and this one”.

There have been some shockers too, not least in Europe where they have won ONE of their last 11 games.

Domestically, just this season there have been 3-0 defeats at home to Liverpool and Tottenham.

Last season they lost consecutive home games by the same scoreline to City and Newcastle and were humbled 4-0 at Crystal Palace in May.

In 2022-23, Ten Hag’s first year, there was a 6-3 defeat at City and 7-0 at Liverpool. Shocking.

The hierarchy wanted to give him the chance to improve things under a new structure and it did not work.

They were not seeing the “momentum and progress” to believe they were on the right path.

They said there were “no excuses” for the current level of performance, even though ETH constantly pointed to injury problems and the time needed to integrate new players.

The boss did not see this coming, which is why he held a press conference ahead of tomorrow’s Carabao Cup last-16 tie against Leicester following Sunday’s defeat at West Ham.

He will feel betrayed having believed everyone was on the same page and it was a long-term strategy. Berrada even told us a dip in results would not lead to his exit.

Ten Hag is a good man. Just another chewed up and spat out by a club walking on sand as they try to rediscover that pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

Why NOBODY is the right man to replace Erik ten Hag at Man Utd

SunSport’s DAVE KIDD explains what’s wrong with all the potential candidates to replace Erik ten Hag at Manchester United.

THIS is a mid-table squad at an underachieving club, with a lot of unwanted players on big money.

And Ratcliffe is an instinctive cost-cutter who may not pay top dollar to the next manager.

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If this club wasn’t called ‘Manchester United’, it wouldn’t be an especially desirable job.

The good news for United is that their new sporting director, Dan Ashworth, is a very decent judge of a manager.

He has been instrumental in three previous managerial appointments — Gareth Southgate for England, Graham Potter for Brighton and Eddie Howe for Newcastle.

None were wildly popular at the time, all were conspicuous successes.

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Interestingly, Ashworth’s No 1 choice for the Newcastle job was Unai Emery, who turned him down to stay at Villarreal but has since proved that judgment right by excelling at Aston Villa.

And the Spaniard would be an excellent fit for United — yet there is next to no chance that he would abandon Villa’s Champions League campaign to take the Old Trafford job, not least because he isn’t a stark raving madman.

Howe would be another good candidate to succeed Ten Hag but, although he has become frustrated on Tyneside, the Saudis would surely not allow Ratcliffe to poach Howe, as they reluctantly did with Ashworth.

Potter is available but his Chelsea experience and lack of charisma would make him a tough sell.

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Which brings us to Southgate, who remains close with Ashworth and is an excellent man-manager who was seriously considered by United last spring.

Yet, despite having led England to two of their three major finals, Southgate’s reputation for over-caution was only enhanced during the Euros.

Mauricio Pochettino, passed over twice by United, is out of the equation having taken the United States job.

Thomas Tuchel would also have been a popular and gettable option – but England got in there first.

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Likewise, Roberto De Zerbi, now at Marseille after his brief Brighton stint sparkled then fizzled out.

Kieran McKenna — a gifted former United coach who has won back-to-back promotions with Ipswich Town — is an intriguing candidate but the imminent vacancy may come a year or so too soon.

Marco Silva, the extremely under-rated Fulham boss, has been on United’s radar and should not be discounted.

Sporting Lisbon’s Ruben Amorim, last season’s ‘next big thing’, was passed over by West Ham as well as Liverpool this summer and is not an easy man to pin down.

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Zinedine Zidane, who has taken over from Alan Curbishley as a 20-1 shot for every Premier League job, is a ‘figurehead’ manager and not an Ashworth type.

Ruud van Nistelrooy, the former United goal machine who joined Ten Hag’s coaching team in the summer is the bookies’ favourite. Simply because he’s in the building and he’s Dutch.

So, yes, getting rid of Ten Hag is the easy part.

“Injuries are part of this game,” Fishlock said.

“This time it was terrible timing, but the Reign and Wales have been working really hard behind the scenes and I have been working really hard on the grass.

“I am ready as ever, as always, to do what I can for this country, as I have done for the last almost 20 years now. I am super-excited tomorrow, I can’t wait.”

Fishlock’s pass saw fellow substitute Ffion Morgan score a late goal in Slovakia to give Wales hope going into their return meeting.

Tuesday’s winners in Cardiff are likely to face the Republic of Ireland – who beat Georgia 6-0 in their first leg – in a play-off final, with the victors heading to Euro 2025.

Wales have never previously qualified for a women’s major tournament.

“We know we have to get to a major tournament but we have to focus on what we are doing right now,” Fishlock said.

“For me personally, anything that is done playing for Wales, always means the most. Whether it be [Slovakia], whether it be my first cap, whether it be in Pinatar, playing for Wales for me just means the most.

“Each game I have always taken as if it was my first and as if it was my last, because you should never take it for granted and I never will.”

Spanish midfielders Rodri and Aitana Bonmatí won the men’s and women’s Ballon d’Or award on Monday as the world’s best soccer players, while Real Madrid snubbed the star-studded ceremony in Paris in apparent protest.

The 28-year-old Rodri won the prestigious award for the first time after helping Manchester City win the Premier League and being a key player in Spain’s European Championship triumph.

He succeeded eight-time winner Lionel Messi of Argentina and beat Real Madrid’s Vinícius Júnior into second place, a result which greatly displeased the Spanish club. Madrid and its players stayed away from the ceremony, then vented their feelings on social media.

Rodri showed his emotion when his name was read out by former winner George Weah, putting his hands over his face.

“Incredible night for me,” said Rodri, who is out for the season after injuring his ACL last month and arrived on crutches to the ceremony. “One of my key things is I always try to improve every game.”

Known as a hard-working and unselfish player despite his abilities, Rodri was quick to deflect praise onto others.

“I just want to say thank you again to the people who recognize my value in the game,” he said. “When I was a kid I never thought of winning the Ballon d’Or, but in the last years I’ve been playing the highest level.”

The 26-year-old Bonmatí retained her award after helping Barcelona win the Spanish league, the Spanish cup and the Champions League. Bonmatí joined Barca teammate Alexia Putellas in winning two titles since the women’s trophy was first awarded in 2018. She beat her teammates Caroline Graham Hansen of Norway and Salma Paralluelo of Spain as Barcelona completed a 1-2-3.

“It’s a pleasure to be here again,” said Bonmatí, who received the award from Oscar winner Natalie Portman. “Thanks to my teammates and the clubs who make me a better football player every year.”

Even though attacking midfielder Jude Bellingham was third and Dani Carvajal finished fourth in the voting, and coach Carlo Ancelotti won the coach of the year award, no one from Madrid attended the gala in central Paris.

Ancelotti posted a message on X instead as did Vinícius, who was considered by many to be the favorite for the award, even though Rodri also had an outstanding season.

“I’ll do it 10x if needed,” Vinicius wrote in Portuguese. “They are not ready.”

Madrid midfielder Eduardo Camavinga made it clear what he thought of the vote, calling it “football politics.”

“My brother you are the best player in the world and no award can say otherwise,” the France international wrote on X along with a photo of him and Vinicius celebrating together. “Love you my bro.”

Former Madrid star Karim Benzema, who won the Ballon d’Or in 2022, posted a supportive message in French on Instagram, along with the words “Trop Fort” (“Too Strong”).

Neither Messi nor Cristiano Ronaldo — winners of the prestigious individual award a combined 13 times — were in the running for this year’s prize — the first time that’s happened since 2003.

While Rodri is not a flamboyant player or a prolific scorer like Messi and Ronaldo, he had a huge influence on City’s team with his ability to protect the defense and distribute passes cleanly from the back.

“I try to be a leader and try to improve every day from the best,” Rodri said.

City looked unbeatable at times with him in the side, while his excellent technical ability enabled him to slot smoothly into the quick-passing style made so effective by Spain at Euro 2024. He is the first City player to win the award.

“He is a player completely without ego, whose performance level over a very long period of time has been exceptional,” City’s director of football Txiki Begiristain said. “The consistency he has shown is the result of hard work and dedication.”

Bonmatí scored 19 goals for the second straight season for Barca and this year has netted five in five games for Spain, taking her international tally to 26.

The Ballon d’Or was created by France Football magazine and has been awarded since 1956 for the men, and since 2018 for the women. It is voted for by journalists from the top 100 countries in the FIFA rankings.

Each journalist, one per country, selects 10 players in ranked order, with points attributed to each position. The winner is the player who receives the most points. Unlike FIFA’s awards for the best players each year, fans aren’t part of the voting system.

Yamal’s trophy and other awards

On a good night for Spain and Barca players, teen prodigy Lamine Yamal — the youngest-ever scorer at a European Championship — won the Kopa award for best Under-21 player and Barca won the best women’s team award.

Absent Real Madrid was voted the best men’s team.

Former PSG forward Kylian Mbappé and Bayern Munich striker Harry Kane shared the Gerd Mueller award for most club and country goals last season with 52. Mbappé joined Madrid during the offseason.

Argentina’s penalty-saving specialist Emiliano Martínez retained the Lev Yashin award for best goalkeeper.

Ancelotti and Olympic-winning coach Emma Hayes won the Johan Cruyff award for best men’s and women’s coach.

Spain forward Jenni Hermoso, who has fought sexism in Spanish soccer after she was kissed on the lips at last year’s Women’s World Cup final by former federation president Luis Rubiales, collected the Socrates award for humanitarian work. 

A special award was given by France Football to the wife and son of late Germany great Franz Beckenbauer. 

Reporting by The Associated Press.

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CAPTAIN POTTER (2.47 Catterick, nap).

Brian Ellison’s four-year-old was impressive when scoring over course and distance earlier this month. The ground was testing then too and a 4lb rise in the weights won’t put the brakes on. 

ICARE GRANDCHAMP (2.57 Bangor, nb)

Has looked a different horse since going over fences and followed a Southwell second with a game win at Newton Abbot last time. Caoilin Quinn takes a valuable 3lb off his back and there’s more to come over an ideal trip.

HOUR BY HOUR (3.22 Catterick, treble)

Has won three of his last four runs and likes some cut in the ground. He showed that when winning impressively at Haydock last time over this trip. He keeps it simple from the front and could take some pegging back in these testing conditions under capable claimer Joe Leavy.

BARNABY (6.00 Newcastle)

Completes the Lucky 15. He’s won his past two over course and distance without breaking sweat.

Templegate’s tips

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