The arrival of the Sir Jim Ratcliffe era has brought about plenty of questions on the future of Manchester United.

While everyone is worrying about the summer transfer budget, INEOS also have to make a decision on manager Erik ten Hag. While there has been no concrete suggestions he could be facing the sack, Ten Hag’s future is far from clear as reports suggest United are keeping tabs on a whole host of managers across the globe.

One such manager on the radar is England boss Gareth Southgate, who has been out of the club game since his departure from Middlesbrough in 2009.

So, how would Southgate’s time at United go? We put it to the test in Football Manager 2024…and let’s just say, it wasn’t pretty.

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A five-game pre-season is there to ease Southgate into life in the Old Trafford dugout, but it serves more as a warning of things to come.

A 2-0 win over Ludogorets, a 0-0 draw with West Brom and a 2-1 win over QPR is a cautious start to things, but United draw their final two warm-up fixtures 1-1 against both Atalanta and PSG. Antony scored his side’s goal against the French giants, but you won’t be hearing his name much from this point onwards.

The Premier League season arrives and first on the schedule are Tottenham Hotspur, who head to Old Trafford with their own new manager in the form of Ange Postecoglou.

Southgate’s United, lining up in a 5-2-3, manage just 35% possession in a 2-1 defeat.

Harry Maguire with a 7.2 rating. Of course.

A 1-0 loss to Brentford immediately follows the Spurs defeat, but Southgate turns things around quickly with a 2-0 win over Crystal Palace that starts a run of 11 games unbeaten.

United see off Chelsea 2-0 and pick up encouraging 1-1 draws with both Liverpool and Napoli before a 3-1 triumph over Newcastle United in the Carabao Cup sees United fans throwing on their finest waistcoats to celebrate the new era at Old Trafford.

Unfortunately, the fun comes to an end in late October at the hands of none other than Bournemouth, but a closer look shows just how chaotic this game was. Alejandro Garnacho limps off injured after just one minute, not long before Lisandro Martinez is shown a straight red.

United end the game with nine players after class president Maguire sees two yellows of his own, allowing Dango Ouattara to net a late winner.

United do get a measure of revenge as they dump Bournemouth out of the cup just a few days later. Antony gets his first – and only – start of the season, drops a 6.8 and then quickly returns to the bench, never to be seen again.

Southgate’s side lose 2-1 away at Arsenal but threaten to respond when they go 1-0 up in the Manchester derby. Rasmus Hojlund, often a substitute in this side, opened the scoring against City after just five minutes, but four unanswered goals see Pep Guardiola’s men dance away from Old Trafford with a real hammerblow to the mood on the red side of the city.

There’s a 2-1 win away at Newcastle, a 1-1 draw with Brighton and a 1-0 triumph over Celtic in the Champions League, but that’s when things start to get really ugly.

United give up a lead to Nottingham Forest as former Red Devil Anthony Elanga comes back to haunt them and snatch a draw, and so begins the eight-game winless streak that costs Southgate his job.

Losing on penalties to Stoke in the Carabao Cup quarter-final wasn’t pretty, and a 4-0 loss away at Aston Villa, in which United failed to record a shot on target, was when the supporters really started to turn against Southgate.

Southgate’s final game comes at home to Crystal Palace. He drops Maguire to the bench and puts his faith in Marcus Rashford, Bruno Fernandes and Garnacho to save his job.

Hojlund comes off the bench to replace Casemiro after just 36 minutes (an obvious tactical decision) and scores the opener ten minutes later, but United can’t hold on and an 85th-minute equaliser ultimately decides Southgate’s fate.

On 13 January 2024, Southgate gets the call. He’s done.

Southgate departs with United 11th in the Premier League, 12 points adrift of the top four and 16 behind league leaders Manchester City.

In 32 games across all competitions, Southgate won 13 and lost ten, scoring 41 times and conceding 34. They were out of both the Carabao Cup and FA Cup and, while they did advance from the Champions League groups, had a date with Real Madrid coming up a month after Southgate’s departure.

Rashford led the line for Southgate, scoring 12 goals in 25 games. His return of ten in the Premier League actually had him tied with Erling Haaland in the Golden Boot race at the time of the manager swap.

Marcelo Gallardo comes in to replace Southgate, if you’re bothered about that.