Erik ten Hag sacked by Bayer Leverkusen after just TWO games as he becomes third ex-Man Utd boss to lose job in a week

ERIK TEN HAG has been SACKED by Bayer Leverkusen.

The former Manchester United boss was announced by the club in May following a seven-month absence from management, but has been sacked just 62 DAYS after he officially started in the role.

GettyErik ten Hag has been sacked by Bayer Leverkusen after just two games[/caption]

The Dutchman’s first competitive game in charge saw him win 4-0 against fourth-tier SG Sonnenhof Großaspach in the first round of the DFB-Pokal.

However, in the Bundesliga, Leverkusen then lost 2-1 to Hoffenheim before drawing 3-3 with ten-man Werder Bremen.

And club chiefs have taken the radical approach by pulling the plug on the 55-year-old, despite him having a deal which ran to 2027.

A short statement on social media said: “Bayer 04 Leverkusen has parted ways with head coach Erik ten Hag with immediate effect.

“Training will be taken over by the assistant coaching staff for the time being.”

Ten Hag replaced Xabi Alonso at Bayer after the Spaniard guided them to an unbeaten Bundesliga and DFB-Pokal double in 2023/24, before his exit to Real Madrid prior to the summer’s Club World Cup following a second-place finish in last season’s Bundesliga.

Following the Bremen game with his team in 12th place, Ten Hag had said his players were not ready for the season.

He said: “The players aren’t ready.

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“We have a new team and some of the players aren’t at all fit enough to play. The team didn’t function at all during the final stage of the game.

“That’s just the way it is. They need to bring more intensity and get fitter in order to meet my standards.”

His exit makes him the third ex-Man Utd manager to be sacked in the past week.

Jose Mourinho and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer were both sacked by Fenerbahce and Besiktas respectively after seeing their clubs crash out of the Champions League qualification round.

Ten Hag was sacked less than a year after he was relieved of his duties by United in October when the team had slipped to 14th place in league.

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His final full season at Old Trafford had yielded an FA Cup victory but an eighth-place finish in the Premier League.

However, things have not turned around with the Red Devils under his successor Ruben Amorim, with United going on to finish 15th in the league and lose the Europa League final to Tottenham.

This season has also proven difficult, with just one win from the opening four games of the season.

That single win came against Burnley this weekend, and needed an injury time penalty from Bruno Fernandes to get the three points.

A 1-0 loss to Arsenal on the opening day was followed up by a 1-1 draw at Fulham before a horror shootout defeat to Grimsby in the League Cup.

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