COMMENT: There's no need for regret. There's no reason to apologise. Erik ten Hag owes nothing to Harry Maguire other than to select his Manchester United centre-half on form.

Tim Sherwood is a good football man. And an excellent pundit. Indeed, this column would argue he's wasting his talent operating at the margins of the game. For the work he did with the youth of Tottenham and Aston Villa, Sherwood really should be inside the game making young players better - on and off the pitch.

But he's wrong on this. On Ten Hag and Maguire. United's manager doesn't owe his former captain an apology, as Sherwood argues. He would if keeping Maguire out of his starting XI was about personalities. But it wasn't. And Maguire's recall is proof enough of that.

It was simply the cold, hard choices of team selection. As Ten Hag has shown over these past 18 months of his tenure, there is always a way back with him. And we'd include Jadon Sancho in that. But it needs to be done his way.

“Maguire was pushed out the door," declared Sherwood in midweek after Maguire's matchwinning performance against FC Copenhagen, "and you could see the manager was trying to get him out, but he wouldn't leave.

"He probably looked around the dressing room and saw how the other players in his position were and decided that eventually he would get some minutes.

"I think he will play a lot more now, and I think Erik ten Hag owes him an apology."

Sherwood's wrong. Dead wrong. Perhaps he disagrees with Ten Hag's approach. But this is football. Team selection. And as Ten Hag has shown, he doesn't do emotion. No-one could argue Maguire was worthy of a place last season ahead of Raphael Varane and Lisandro Martinez. And if fit at the start of this season, you just know Maguire would be back on the bench.

Indeed, this column argued late last season that Maguire's best option - for the sake of his career - would've been to get a move away. A Newcastle or a West Ham would be ideal. Big clubs. Big ambitions. But without the expectations that weigh so heavily on United's players. And also without the history Maguire has with a section of the United support.

It must be said, the barracking of Maguire by his own fans is something unprecedented. Historic. No player in the modern era has been targeted at United as Maguire has. Yes, there may've groans from the stands when a rare appearance was made by a David Bellion or the late Ralph Milne, but it was nothing like what we've seen regarding Maguire. That he's managed to (almost) turn things around is, again given the club's past, actually unique.

Ten Hag has seen that. As has his teammates. And to witness Maguire's revival will also lift those around him. Indeed, Sherwood showed why he belongs in top echelon of today's pundits when offering a valuable insight about the type of character Maguire is.

"Maguire is a player who wants to give everything for the cause," Sherwood also stated. "The problem is when people hide and don't want to leave the treatment room because they want to be at 110 percent every game they play, but that's never going to happen."

Such efforts illicit loyalty. Respect. And for those critical of Gareth Southgate's backing of Maguire, it's well worth considering Sherwood's words.

But Maguire only managed to do this due to circumstances falling his way - and with his manager keeping the door open. Indeed, we'd include the decision to relieve Maguire of captaincy duties as a factor in his turnaround.

Would we be seeing the revival of Maguire today with the armband still his? Still needing to front up when things go wrong. Still having to go through the exercise of explaining away defeats. Of answering questions about owners and shareholders. Of supporter protests?

Instead, Maguire's only exchanges with the media now is as a matchwinner. A goalscorer. Or to be handed the man-of-the-match gong. His public appearances now involve positive situations. The majority of which are of his own making. He's appearing happier. Lighter. The weight of being the face of an underperforming dressing room is now someone else's responsibility. He can shut all that out and speak only when it's about something positive. That has to have made a difference in Maguire's game.

Circumstances. Opportunity. And being available to grab it when it comes... well that's football. That's the life of a player and his manager. There's no room for sentiment. Emotion. Ten Hag isn't now backing Maguire because he suddenly likes him. Nor did he freeze him out because of the way he slurped his tea. It's all about form and what he can do to help this Manchester United team win games.

Nothing about this is personal. There's no need for Ten Hag to apologise to Maguire. Just as there's no reason for Maguire to demand an apology. Just do what you're there for - win the bloody game.