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When Erik ten Hag's future was debated by a football hierarchy still in its infancy at Manchester United in the summer, there were a couple of reasons it was considered safer to stick rather than twist.

For starters, Sir Jim Ratcliffe's football structure was only just beginning to take shape. When the decision to back Ten Hag was made in June, it was before either chief executive Omar Berrada or sporting director Dan Ashworth had officially started work.

Ashworth would take office on July 1, and Berrada on July 13. Had United dispensed with Ten Hag in early June, the search for an ideal replacement would have been complicated, given that two of the people a head coach would most regularly report to were still on gardening leave.

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United did consider replacements for Ten Hag. Thomas Tuchel, Roberto De Zerbi, and Thomas Frank were all discussed and spoken to, but none truly convinced. It wasn't an ideal time to make such a seismic change, and it might have been considered the safer call to stick with a manager who had just won the FA Cup.

Ineos felt that showed what Ten Hag could do and that he earned the chance to work under a proper football structure, but the risks were also obvious. One swallow doesn't make a summer, and one game doesn't make a season. The overwhelming evidence of last season was negative and that has continued into 2024/25.

Now, 97 days after United extended Ten Hag's contract, his future will be up for debate at an executive committee meeting in London, and there will be no surprises if that discussion ends with the consensus that change is now a necessity. United have won three of their 11 games this season and 27 of their last 63 games since the start of last season.

This is no short-term judgment on Ten Hag. Ratcliffe and co-owner Joel Glazer will attend the meeting, as will Sir Dave Brailsford and Jean-Claude Blanc, two experienced sporting executives on the United board. Berrada, Ashworth and technical director Jason Wilcox will also be present.

That is plenty of footballing knowledge to discuss the shortcomings we have seen this season. As unusual as that sounds, there is also another reason to believe it might be easier to make the change in October than it was in June.

Not only is United's football structure in place now, but in assistant manager Ruud van Nistelrooy, they have an obvious interim manager who can hold the fort, maybe for a couple of weeks, maybe a month, and maybe even until the end of the season.

Van Nistelrooy has recently been a visible presence on the touchline and post-match. The former United striker has management experience at PSV Eindhoven, and while some shrewd judges in the Netherlands remain unconvinced of his coaching credentials, his stature could help this club.

It is also possible that he could keep Rene Hake along with him. Hake was another summer appointment, and although he has a lower profile than Van Nistelrooy, he has much more experience as a manager and is considered an excellent coach.

Those two can buy United's football department time if they decide Ten Hag's time has come. If they have to scour the market for a permanent replacement, they will be looking at the same list of candidates as in the summer. Tuchel, Frank, Gareth Southgate, Kieran McKenna, and Graham Potter all feature highly in the bookies' odds.

Had Ineos cut the cord in June, they would have had no choice but to appoint a permanent replacement, and nobody on Ten Hag's staff could have stepped up. Now, Van Nistelrooy and Hake can do just that, and the picture in October looks very different from the one in June.