Erik ten Hag didn't have a great afternoon finding out the task in front of him at Manchester United, before awkwardly shrugging off a Sky Sports reporter.
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Ten Hag was in attendance at Selhurst Park on Sunday afternoon as United's utterly miserable season came to a fitting end in a loss to Crystal Palace.
The team were only saved the ignominy of playing in the Europa Conference League by the fact that West Ham also lost, to Brighton.
The new United manager would have needed to have been looking really closely to find any positives out of the performance against Palace, with the 'highlight' being Edinson Cavani swearing at a fan, as the job in front of him must have have got very real very quickly.
Ten Hag probably wanted to leave the stadium relatively quietly after full time and get away to ponder if he'd made a mistake taking the job, but that wasn't so easy.
The Dutchman was approached by Sky reporter Gary Cotterill whilst departing the game but the former Ajax manager's security wouldn't let Cotterill near Ten Hag.
"Are you excited to get started? You must be wanting to get stuck in straight away?" Cotterill asked before the security got in between him and the new manager.
"Don’t push me, you’re on television," the annoyed reporter said, "It’s not good being man-handled by security, Erik. Man United are a big club."
Erik ten Hag at Crystal Palace for Manchester United today. 🇳🇱 pic.twitter.com/wHeBLeXw5A
— Football Daily (@footballdaily) May 22, 2022
"Don't push me, you're on television. It doesn't look good being handled by security, Manchester United are a big club Erik!"
— Chris Hammer (@ChrisHammer180) May 22, 2022
Erik Ten Hag and his security guy not impressed with Gary Cotterill welcoming him to the Premier League #mufc pic.twitter.com/3g1fW7x1xV
Love him and I’m not even a united fan
— Mr. Bradderzmush (@MBradderzmush) May 22, 2022
Absolutely love this. He is here to work, no bullshit
— The Kunal Call (@TheKunalCall96) May 22, 2022
Being on television isn’t an excuse to invade someone’s personal space Gary.
— Jamie Singleton (@jamiesingletonn) May 22, 2022
The reporter should be ashamed of himself! manhandled? Leave it off it mate! Who wants a microphone shoved in their face and someone invading personal space like that? Embarrassing https://t.co/svSk5GpbYj
— 𝕊𝕖𝕓 𝕄𝕒𝕣𝕥𝕖𝕝𝕝𝕚𝕟𝕚 (@Seb_ElJefe) May 23, 2022
Dunno why he thought he should speak in the first place.
— Lucy Connell (@Lucyconnell_1) May 23, 2022
Shitty behaviour from Sky Sports. https://t.co/AK2gGP6swU
Best defending a Utd employee has done all season
— Long Dong Silver (@LongDongMUFC) May 22, 2022
'Not a good look being man handled by security'
— Dan (@GixxerDan) May 22, 2022
Neither is hounding somebody who clearly doesn't want to talk to you.
Fans can forget about rivalries with Liverpool and Manchester City next season, or West Ham and Leicester City as their current position suggests, because Ten Hag's rivalry is with Cotterill.
Sky's roving reporter turned up at Ajax's training ground last month, after the new United boss had just been announced, in order to get the first interview.
However, the 52-year-old, who had stopped to take a picture with a fan, wasn't having it for a single second and sped off as soon as the microphone was shoved in his face.
This one could run and run, and we can't wait to see how many times Ten Hag can just ignore Cotterill!
Featured Image Credit: Sky Sports
Topics: Erik Ten Hag, Manchester United, Premier League
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