Starts after 298 days to heap ‘severe pressure’ on Manchester United boss: the Portsmouth boy writing unlikely Newcastle United chapter

Yet the unlikely figure of Gosport’s Matt Ritchie last night played a central role in sending Manchester United spinning out of the Carabao Cup - ramping up the pressure on boss Erik ten Hag in the process.

Ritchie was one of the Newcastle United fringe heroes brought in from the cold to deliver a thumping 3-0 win at Old Trafford.

The 34-year-old was playing his first minutes for the Magpies since April, and starting his first match since a disappointing 2-1 FA Cup defeat at Sheffield Wednesday last January.

But that didn’t stop the Blues academy graduate putting in the hard yards, as he covered 10km in his 75-minute outing against the Red Devils.

Goals from Miguel Almiron, Lewis Hall and Joe Willock turned up the heat on ten Hag with United fans bereft, as their season hit a new low.

And Pompey great Paul Merson summed up the situation over the beleaguered Dutchman, who he believes is now under ‘severe pressure’ and has ‘lost the players’ at the Premier League giants.

With just 33 minutes of football under his belt since January 7 and 32 minutes of Premier League football in the whole of last season, it’s an unlikely success story for Ritchie, who left Fratton Park in 2011.

The homegrown talent’s days at St James’ Park look numbered in the summer, with his contract coming to a close and his seven-year stay on Tyneside seemingly at an end.

An option on the wide talent’s contract was triggered, however, to see the affable and talented grafter start an eighth season at Newcastle under Eddie Howe.

It remains to be seen what will happen to Ritchie beyond the end of the current campaign, when he becomes a free agent.

The man who was controversially sold by Steve Cotterill after just 11 senior appearances at Fratton, has previously spoken of his desire to play again for Pompey before his career comes to a close.

Speaking to The News in 2020, Ritchie said: ‘To play for Portsmouth was a dream - and I do feel I’ve got unfinished business there, for sure.

‘I feel I’ve got a good five to seven years in the locker still and I’ve just signed a new contract with Newcastle, where I’m really enjoying my time.

‘But in my head my next challenge is definitely to play for Portsmouth again - and have an impact.

‘I’ve really got a burning ambition to have some sort of success at Portsmouth. Whether that’s in three, four or five years, who knows?

‘But certainly for me I want to play - and I want to go back there and make an impact.

‘I don’t want to come back and do one of those where I’m finished and my legs have gone.

‘That’s not how I want to do it. I want to come back, offer something and have an impact.

‘I want to be part of a success story at Portsmouth, for sure.

‘My goal now is to come back to Portsmouth at some stage, have an impact and success. It would be great to take the club back to where it deserves to be.

‘When I left the club it was on a downward spiral, so I would like to play a part in getting the club to the next level and be part of something special in helping them to the Premier League.’