Sport

Erik ten Hag is staying on as Manchester United manager

The right call, Reds?

Danny Jones Danny Jones - 12th June 2024

Erik ten Hag is officially staying on as Manchester United manager, according to the latest reports, with talks of potentially extending his contract having already begun.

The Dutchman was under huge pressure after delivering Man United‘s worst Premier League finish in history, as well as crashing out of Europe and the Carabao Cup, but it looks as though his side’s historic win over Man City in the FA Cup final looks to have done enough to save his job.

As first reported by the likes of The Athletic‘s David Ornstein, INEOS have made their “final decision” on his future and the memorable season sign-off against what remains the best team in the country has clearly proved enough to restore their faith in him for the foreseeable.

After the talks held on Tuesday, 11 June, the club are now said to be negotiating with ten Hag and his representation over him staying on beyond the current deal.

Ornstein details how the 54-year-old’s current United contract runs until June 2025, with an option to extend by 12 months, adding that the talks will determine whether that clause is set to be triggered.

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Co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe and co. were said to be undecided on ten Hag given the disappointing domestic season, which was also accompanied by a number of unwanted records being broken at the club over the past 12 months or so.

This resulted in reports of early conversations with other managers, including newly promoted Ipswich Town and former United youth coach Kieran McKenna, after a shortlist of potential replacements is said to have been drawn up.

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Nevertheless, ten Hag looks to have survived the storm and with United scraping back into Europe by the skin of their teeth thanks to the FA Cup win – which also happened to be his second trophy in just as many seasons at the club – he is set to stay on for the next campaign at the very least.

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Only time will tell whether ten Hag’s project at United will come to bear fruit and whether he will be a part of the overall rebuild in the long term under INEOS.

It also remains to be seen what will happen with the likes of Mason Greenwood and Jadon Sancho, both of which are currently loaned out from the club but around whom many questions regarding their future still remain.

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He and his squad, however it looks come August, will need to make a strong start to the 2024/25 season, that’s for sure.

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Featured Images — Wikimedia Commons/BBC (via screenshot)

Sport

Manchester city centre’s first indoor padel club set to open later this year

Danny Jones Danny Jones indoor padel club opening in manchester city centre

The first fully indoor padel club is coming to Manchester later this year and is set to open just a 10-minute walk from Victoria Station for anyone looking to come into town for a game.

Seemingly one of the biggest crazes on the planet at the minute, while this is by no means the first padel facility to open in Greater Manchester, it is set to be the only place where you’ll be able to play the increasingly popular tennis-lite sport inside anywhere in the city centre.

With an existing site down the road in Alderely Park, Macclesfield, Pure Padel has already grown a loyal following since opening back in October 2023, but by bringing their expertise nice and central, their super accessible ‘pay to play’ approach is sure to take off even more.

You can see the renders of what the space is set to look down below:

pure padel manchester city centre
Credit: Pure Padel

As you can see, the state-of-the-art setup will include six indoor panoramic padel courts and a mezzanine viewing platform to watch all the action.

But there’s much more to this place than just playing surfaces.

Set to include a pro-padel shop, a bistro-style café and bar; fully equipped changing rooms with showers, plus the comfortable seating are upstair on the mezz, there’s a bit of everything going on here.

Further still, Pure Padel has ambitious plans to build another 30 padel clubs in the next five years, with eight currently in planning and a further 15 in the pipeline, with further expansion across their home county of Cheshire. 

Plus, there’ll be free onsite parking and WiFi at available to customers at this latest location – sounds simple but it’s always a nice bonus.

places to play padel in manchester city centre
book pure padel manchester
Credit: Supplied

Set up by two experienced padel coaches – originally from mainland Europe where the game first took off – you can also rest easy in knowing that you’re getting the very experience of the sport you could hope for when Pure Padel lands in Manchester city centre.

Co-founder and head of commercial operations, Sammy Arora, said: “Padel has taken the UK by storm – and the North West is slowly becoming a padel hub after leaders London and Bristol who set the scene…

“We hope bringing indoor padel to Manchester will help make it even more accessible to those living and working closeby. Currently, north Manchester residents are travelling as far as Huddersfield, so we know there’s demand for more padel courts in the city centre that are reachable by car and public transport.

“Choosing a site so close to Victoria station is a real asset – we hope it’ll help bring players into the city centre who will go on to spend on hospitality and shopping to further support the local economy.”

where to buy padel rackets in manchester?
You’ll even be able to gear up and relax in here.

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Sammy went on to add: “Manchester’s cold and wet climate (fair point) makes our indoor proposition even more attractive to players who are looking to keep up padel year round. Unpredictable weather can really impact the game, so a club away from the elements ensures the best playing experience.”

Having got hooked on the sport back in Milan, he added: “It’s fantastic to see such a broad mix of people picking it up, from those who no longer play fast paced racket sports like squash and tennis, or those wishing to step away from work for exercise and to socialise.”

Scheduled to open this August, you’ll be able to book courts simply through Playtomic from 7am right through to 10pm, with the easy to use app also enabling first timers or solo players to find and play with others of a similar level and matches them accordingly for a fun and fair game.

No member fees either, just plain old fun and the ability to play as much or as little as you want without the constraints of the traditional sports club model. See you on the court some time soon!

For all the latest news, events and goings on in Greater Manchester, subscribe to The Manc newsletter HERE.

Featured Images — Pure Padel (supplied)

Sport

Calls for Southgate to start Kobbie Mainoo and Cole Palmer grow following England’s lacklustre second game

Danny Jones Danny Jones Calls for Southgate to start Kobbie Mainoo and Cole Palmer for England grow at Euro 2024

The calls for Gareth Southgate to start Manchester-born duo Kobbie Mainoo and Cole Palmer in the next Euros game are growing after England’s lacklustre second game against Denmark.

The Three Lions have four points on the board, which should be enough for them to advance into the knockout stages of the competition, but it’s fair to say that the 1-0 and 1-1 scorelines have summed up a somewhat underwhelming start to their Euro 2024 campaign.

Most of the frustration surrounding England‘s opening fixtures has been the lack of attacking intent from the team as well control in the middle of the park, with Liverpool right-back Trent Alexander-Arnold being played there due to his passing range.

As a result, lots of fans are already questioning why the Southgate is yet to start Stockport-born Kobbie Mainoo – Man United’s breakthrough midfielder from this season – as the national team boss looks to find the right balance in midfield, with many already declaring the Trent ‘experiment’ a failure.

As you can see, lots of pundits and supporters alike believe Mainoo could be the solution to why England don’t look as commanding in the midfielder, especially given numerous standout appearances in his debut campaign – not least his man-of-the-match performance in United’s FA Cup win over Man City.

The consensus seems to be that Southgate is cautious of throwing the tournament debutant into the mix, despite the Stopfordian having clearly shown his maturity even at the young age of 19.

The same goes for Cole Palmer, as there seems to be just as many fans crying out for the inclusion of the attacking midfielder from Wythenshawe, who picked up the Premier League’s Young Player of the Season award and who boasted the goal contributions (33) of any player in the division for 2023/24.

Commentator Arlo White simply posted, “Get Mainoo and Palmer on!!”, while former City and England striker Daniel Sturridge added: “I’m genuinely shocked we haven’t seen Cole Palmer grace the field yet.”

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With so many echoing the same sentiment, you have to start wondering when not if, with plenty of others also backing Conor Gallagher to come into midfield as Southgate chose to sub him on against the Danes.

That being said, we have seen this fractious relationship between the fans, the manager and his often cautious squad selections plenty of times before, with the 53-year-old refusing to use Jack Grealish early enough at the last Euros.

Only time will tell if Southgate will listen to the calls to bring Mainoo and Palmer into the side but one thing’s for sure, England need an injection of new energy or something if they are to spring into life and turn into the best version of themselves we’ve seen previously.

You don’t get too long to fine-tune your squad on the big stage and they need to get a rhythm going if they want to go far as we know they can.

For all the latest news, events and goings on in Greater Manchester, subscribe to The Manc newsletter HERE.

Featured Images — Kobbie Mainoo (via IG)/soccer.ru (via Wiki Commons)/Cole Palmer (via IG)

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