Maybe they were a five-man firing squad in the seats. Or maybe they're colleagues who talk all the time. Sir Jim Ratcliffe, Sir Dave Brailsford, Omar Berrada, Dan Ashworth, and Jason Wilcox sat in a row at Villa Park.

They will meet privately on Tuesday. This has been planned for weeks. Ratcliffe will be there. Some meetings are more important than others. The new Manchester United hierarchy wants to regularly assess how things are going at Old Trafford.

A one-word summary is "badly."

The question is whether the disruptors who have brought change were wrong to choose continuity in one position. Ineos has made about 250 staff redundant. They'll have to decide if it should have been 251. If so, it's their first big mistake.

They kept Ten Hag. Three months ago, they extended Ten Hag's contract for a year. Six weeks ago, Berrada and Ashworth supported him, but Ratcliffe didn't. Three days ago, Ratcliffe declined to support Ten Hag.

"We're all on the same page," said Ten Hag. "I talk to them every day. We communicate openly and transparently." He's thought to be realistic, knowing he needs results. He talked too much about a fourth clean sheet of the season, but a 0-0 draw with Aston Villa may have bought time for a manager who has spent £600m.

The United progress report might show regression. United haven't won in five games, which is their longest losing streak in five years. After their worst Premier League finish, they're now 14th. They haven't scored in three league games. They've only outscored Southampton in the top flight. They've only beaten Fulham, Southampton, and Barnsley in 11 matches. They are 21st in the Europa League.

Ratcliffe probably didn't expect this when he paid £1.3bn for a quarter of the club. Money is part of the case against Ten Hag. He spent over £600m and his rescuer was an accidental signing, a 36-year-old free transfer.

"Evans should be ashamed of himself," said former teammate Dimitar Berbatov.

Evans is admirable but also an indictment. A temporary solution is the best United can do at central defender. Or the most reliable. Meanwhile, another free transfer, Christian Eriksen, is now the most trusted central midfielder. However, Ten Hag has signed someone in that position for at least £50m in three summers.

Evans was restored as the starting center-back, while Ten Hag said it was a rotation. He dropped two former Ajax center-backs, players acquired for a combined cost of £100m. Lisandro Martinez was benched while Matthijs de Ligt and Victor Lindelöf came in. Martinez and De Ligt played badly against Porto. The Dutchman has had a bad start to his United career.

Another summer signing, Manuel Ugarte, hasn't played since his bad game against Tottenham. Joshua Zirkzee came on and didn't score. Ten Hag's biggest buy, Antony, came on. He has played in nine Premier League games.

Earlier in the week, Ten Had requested to be evaluated at the end of the season. But there'll be one more assessment on Tuesday. Hopefully, the Dutchman won't take it too badly if the verdict is final. It would reflect poorly on Ratcliffe and Brailsford to fire Ten Hag so soon after choosing to keep him. The same goes for Berrada and Ashworth, who backed him just a few weeks ago. It would also reflect poorly on the new regime in general.

It might be better to give Ten Hag a little more time. It would also be fairer, given the way his team played at Villa Park. But his future, along with United's poor performance, is likely to be a key topic at the meeting. It could be an Ineos inquest. If Ten Hag survived because Ratcliffe and others felt the structure around the manager was flawed, now they are the structure. And that could further endanger the manager.