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Simon Jordan has questioned Erik ten Hag's handling of the Marcus Rashford saga, suggesting that he made a mistake by opening it up to the media.
The Manchester United forward was spotted in a nightclub just hours before he reported ill for United training on Friday morning.
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Speaking in his press conference on Friday, Ten Hag confirmed that Rashford was ill, but when quizzed about it during Sunday's FA Cup clash with Newport County, the Man United boss revealed that the forward was missing the game due to it being 'an internal matter'.
Quizzed further on it, Ten Hag said: "I don't go in this case. We talked before about it, we played a good game, and now we move on."
But while the Dutch boss had intended to shut down talk about the forward's conduct, Simon Jordan believes that Ten Hag actually just made things worse.
Asked how firm Ten Hag must be with Rashford, Jordan told talkSPORT: “It depends what he’s done. Ultimately if he’s playing on a Saturday then a lot of managers would let a player go out on a Wednesday.
“We don’t know how long he was in a night club for – he might have stayed until midnight and then come home for all we know, I don’t have the details.
“The question is why isn’t he in training on the Friday and Ten Hag, anticipating this question, why does he need to make it an internal matter? The answer is ‘he’s not very well’. That’s it, that’s the end of the discussion.
“He’s chosen to make it a media matter. He doesn’t need to deal with it through the media. If there’s a problem with Marcus Rashford’s attitude then he needs to deal with it face to face but he needs to deal with it.
“Anything with Manchester United, anything that’s not there will be questioned because of the nature of people’s perception of what’s happening at the club with the ownership change, the cultural side of the football club and not winning anything with everything up in the air since Sir Alex Ferguson left.
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“You know you’re going to get these question so the answer would have been very simple, ‘he’s not very well’, and the rest of it would have taken care of itself and he’d have dealt with it, but for whatever reason he’s chosen to air it.
“I don’t know if this is a cardinal sin. I don’t know if Marcus Rashford is legitimately unwell and I don’t know if him going out on a Thursday evening is any different to going out on a Wednesday evening when playing on a Saturday.
Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag gives numerous blunt responses to questions about Marcus Rashford's reported 'illness'
“I’m assuming he’s been told he’s not very well by Rashford, but we’re talking about a manager who has got form for this too and so the question is why does Ten Hag want to do it this way?
“Forget Rashford, he can be dealt with. He’s an employee who can be brought into line or sold. It’s been going on too long with him – he’s not a top class, he’s a good player.
“A top-class player doesn’t score 3, 4, 5 or 7 goals one season and then 30 the next. He’s a good player but not a world-class player.
“The issue is Ten Hag and his preparedness to involve the question, the controversy and the pile-on of adverse thinking and adverse influence and why does he want to do that? It must be a style of management.
“He did it with Jadon Sancho and I make him right for doing it with Jadon Sancho, I do, I just don’t think it’s a continuing trend that works. I don’t think it’s a dressing room bonding mentality.
“If you use the media, you get to use them once or twice. You don’t get to use them as a staple diet or as your default setting as a management tool.
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“The media got given a thread and all they need is a thread.”
Man United are next in action against Wolves in the Premier League on Thursday evening, however it remains to be seen if Rashford will be involved.
