Roy Keane rages at Man Utd board meeting over Erik ten Hag’s future and silences room

Roy Keane managed to silence his fellow pundits as he went on a long rant about the current situation at Manchester United.

Speaking on Erik ten Hag's current predicament with Gary Neville, Wayne Rooney, Jill Scott and Ian Wright on a new edition of The Overlap's Stick to Football podcast, brought to you by Sky Bet, the former Republic of Ireland captain went on an uninterrupted tirade in the aftermath of United's latest board meeting. The seven-hour meeting on Tuesday was held to discuss Ten Hag's position following a dismal start to the 2024/25 season.

The United boss is under immense pressure following a series of unconvincing performances, with United not securing a win in any of their last five matches across all competitions. Ten Hag has, in fact, overseen just six wins in the club's last 21 Premier League fixtures, and has one victory from their previous 10 outings in Europe, despite being backed to the tune of some £205million in the summer.

Despite a defeaning silence since the board meeting, which was held in London, it appears that Ten Hag is safe for now and his position will be reviewed once again if things get worse. However, former United midfielder Keane has voiced his exasperation at the way business is currently being carried out at his old club.

Asked whether he thought Ten Hag would stay in his position until Christmas at least, Keane claimed he didn't know what was going on behind the scenes, and also stated that he doesn't "recognise" what's happening at Old Trafford.

"I don't know (on whether Ten Hag will last until the end of the year). I'm sure club's have board meetings all the time, I'm sure they're constantly discussing the manager, recruitment and staff," Keane said. "But to me, United was always about good people and good characters, and people who could play for Man United, and deal with it, but I don't see that now. I don't recognise this team, I don't recognise the club.

"A couple of months ago everyone was saying, 'they've got new people coming on board, they'll have all the answers', more money on recruitment and United have gone backwards."

Highlighting United's new-look hierarchy, as well as a series of faces coming and going at the club at all levels, Keane claimed United are in danger of losing its footballing identity as the business side threatens to eclipse what the club does on the pitch. As he continued, he sent the room into a hushed silence at this moment as he laid down the law to his former employer.

"They're chopping and changing and getting rid of everyone in the background which is fine, there's a business side to it, we know that," Keane said.

"But when we're discussing Man United it's more like a business than a football club. Football clubs are about people and good people who turn up and put a shift in and who are good, honest people.

"We all work in sport and in different environments and it's about working with good people, and what I see at Man United, stepping back a bit, and it might be a bit harsh, I'm not sure I'm seeing proper footballing people who are making the right decisions for the club."

Fuming about the transparency of the club's board meetings, and the fact they are frequently wider public knowledge, Keane could not hide his bewilderment at the way United's business is being conducted. He also blasted the club for relying on old faces for new changes.

"It's more of a business having these board meetings and everyone seems to know about these board meetings, why can't they have these board meetings without anyone knowing about them or where they are? You can't tell me they can't find a nice little hotel in the lakes or somewhere," Keane said.

"I'm serious, why do we know all this information? Why is this public knowledge? You see all these people at the match, all lined up, and (Sir Alex) Ferguson and you wonder if it's ever going to change?"

Despite Keane's anger at the United board and the perceived lack of responsibility over who calls the shots, it's believed that United co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe, co-chairman Joel Glazer and INEOS' director of sport Sir Dave Brailsford form a three-person committee who are responsible for all key decisions at the club.

Joining them for the recent meeting on Ten Hag was chief executive Omar Berrada, sporting director Dan Ashworth and technical director Jason Wilcox. Chief financial officer Roger Bell and chief operating officer Collette Roche make up the team who ultimately have a say over whether Ten Hag keeps his job.

Despite his obvious power at the helm of the club, Ratcliffe has distanced himself from personal accountability when it comes to weidling the axe over United's beleaguered Dutch coach.

Speaking to BBC Sport, he said: "At the end of the day it's not my call. It's the management team that's running Manchester United that have to decide how we best run the team in many different respects."