Former Manchester United goalkeeper Nathan Bishop has revealed the harsh encounter he experienced with Erik ten Hag after approaching the manager’s office to discuss a new contract. The 26-year-old shot-stopper joined United from Southend in January 2020 for an undisclosed sum.
He penned a two-and-a-half-year deal and immediately linked up with the club’s Under 21s. The London-born keeper subsequently spent a campaign on loan at Mansfield Town and signed a contract extension with the Red Devils before departing the club in 2023. Bishop left Old Trafford without making a solitary first-team appearance.
He was named in the matchday squad on seven occasions and featured in merely 12 matches, shipping 21 goals, for the U21s.
Bishop has now revealed details about one particular conversation that remained memorable from his stint at United – when he knocked on Ten Hag’s office door to enquire about a new contract.
Speaking on The One Glove’s Beyond The Box podcast, he said: “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?’
“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 bid farewell to United and penned a deal with Sunderland in August 2023. However, his time at the Stadium of Light was marked by limited appearances, featuring only twice in his debut season before being loaned out to Wycombe and Cambridge.
In July, he made the switch to newly-promoted League One side Wimbledon, where he has since been a regular feature between the sticks for their first 12 matches in the third tier, letting in just 13 goals and securing three clean sheets.
