See you next season: Louis van Gaal vows to hold on to Manchester United job after win over Bournemouth

Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal expressed confidence that he will still be at Old Trafford next season despite his team crawling to an underwhelming fifth-place finish in the Premier League.

United beat Bournemouth 3-1 in their final fixture on Tuesday – a game held over from Sunday due to a bomb scare – but it was not enough to take them into the Champions League places as they finished below fourth-place Manchester City on goal difference.

United must now beat Crystal Palace in Saturday’s FA Cup final to salvage something from their season and there were ripples of dissent towards Van Gaal in the form of boos as he began a post-match address to a thin home crowd.

But despite persistent speculation linking Jose Mourinho with his job, when asked if he would still be in place on the first day of next season, Van Gaal, who took over at United in 2014, replied: “Yes. Because I have signed a three-year contract.”

Fears that supporters would stay away following Sunday’s postponement, which followed the discovery of a fake bomb left by accident in a toilet cubicle during a training exercise, were realised.

While United did not officially announce the attendance, the stadium appeared around two-thirds full.

Van Gaal, however, used his post-game speech to praise United’s fans for their “unconditional” support and claimed afterwards that the stadium was only not full because overseas supporters had been unable to make the trip.

Referring to his speech, he said: “I have said that also with very much conscience. In spite of the fact we have not always played very well, they have supported the players on the pitch always.