Was Manchester United’s FA Cup win Erik ten Hag’s farewell?

So where does all this leave Ten Hag?

Taken in the round, this had been a poor season up to this point, until the glorious salvation and redemption in this unlikely triumph that brings Europa League football to Old Trafford next season.

One side of the ledger he can point to two trophies in two seasons, the FA Cup and last season’s Carabao Cup, in an era of huge domestic domination by Manchester City.

Ten Hag has also had to work within a flawed structure with desperately poor recruitment (some of it made by him) which Ratcliffe, long-time cohort Sir Dave Brailsford, chief executive Omar Berrada and sporting director Dan Ashworth, when he finally arrives at Old Trafford, are trying to cure.

Will Ratcliffe feel Ten Hag might operate better within that new structure or will the lingering belief that his mind is made up, irrespective of United pulling off this stunning FA Cup win, prove to be correct?

The problem for the manager lies elsewhere, with so much of this season locked in a decline with a team lacking any obvious plan or identity, resulting in nine home losses and the concession of a club record 58 league goals.

Guardiola, who worked with Ten Hag at Bayern Munich, backed his old colleague: “He’s a lovely person and an extraordinary manager.”

Ten Hag was certainly extraordinary on this day but this has been the exception rather than the rule. Whether it will be enough to save him remains to be seen, and remains in doubt.

For now, however, Ten Hag deserves to enjoy the glorious success he fashioned free of those worries – for one night at least.

The long-term future for him and Manchester United will be clear soon enough.