Erik ten Hag spent two-and-a-half years as Manchester United’s head coach, and he certainly left a lasting impression on one former Reds player who’s now in League One
Former Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag(Image: Getty Images)
Former Manchester United goalkeeper Nathan Bishop has recalled the brutal interaction he had with Erik ten Hag after going to his office and asking for a new contract.
Bishop, 26, signed for United from Southend in January 2020 for an undisclosed fee. He penned a two-and-a-half year contract and teamed straight up with the club’s Under 21s.
The London-born ‘keeper ended up spending a season out on loan at Mansfield Town and put pen-to-paper on a contract extension at the Reds before leaving the club in 2023.
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Bishop departed Old Trafford without making a single first-team appearance. He made the matchday squad seven times and played just 12 matches, conceding 21 goals, for the U21s.
Now, Bishop has opened up about one conversation that stood out from his time at United and that came when he knocked on Ten Hag’s office door to ask about a new contract.
He told The One Glove’s Beyond The Box podcast: “I built this scenario up. I needed to go up to Erik and speak about a new contract or the contract that had been offered.
“I wanted to go and play, leave and experience new things, maybe not sign a contract. I’d sat on this conversation in my mind for a long time. I’d gone over it and over it and over it and over it.
“I didn’t think that it was right that I deserved to go and knock on his door. I thought, ‘Who are you to go and knock on his door?’
Former Manchester United goalkeeper Nathan Bishop(Image: Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images.)
“You’re not playing, you’re just a joey, you’re a training goalie, shut your mouth, sign the contract and f*** off. That’s what I believed. And in my mind, when you believe something, you believe it, don’t you? You believe it’s true.
“So I was like I’m not gonna go see him, and then, I built it up, I have to go and see him. I knock on his massive door, his door is huge, he opens it, ‘not today’, and shuts the door.
“I just stood outside the door, this big beam of wood, like ‘What the f*** do I do now?'”
Bishop left United and signed for Sunderland in August 2023. However, he struggled for game time at the Stadium of Light and played just twice in his first season before spending time on loan at Wycombe and Cambridge.
He joined newly-promoted League One club Wimbledon in July and has since started in each of their first 12 third-tier matches, conceding just 13 times and keeping three clean sheets.
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