With time running out on Sir Alex Ferguson’s career, panic sets in whenever I start to think about the reality of this. Until very recently, there have been no genuine candidates for the job, as far as I’ve been concerned. Whilst when one of our players looks set to retire and move on you find it relatively easy to pinpoint the perfect replacement, there had been no name of manager that seemed to perfectly fit the space about to be left by Ferguson. That is partly to do with the fact he’s been here for over two decades and won more than any other manager has in this country, but also because of a lack of options.
Guus Hiddink, Marcello Lippi, Fabio Capello and the like have been banded about for years. More recently, Jose Mourinho is another name to be added to the list. Of every manager seriously linked with this job, what will essentially become the biggest football appointment of all time, Mourinho is the last man I want at this club and I cannot understand why people feel differently.
You were conned. If you bought in to TSO nonsense then you were duped in to believing in a fantasy.
At Porto, Mourinho took over a side who had finished 2nd for the two seasons before he took over, and first for the five years before that. In fact, they were just one point away from Boavista the season before Mourinho became Porto manager. Mourinho turned the team that were second best in Portugal by one point to the best team in Portugal, following the dramatic decline of Boavista, who finished 10th in Mourinho’s first season.
The team was already there for Mourinho. Carvalho, Deco, Costa and the like were players he inherited. He told them they were going to win the league in the following season and they did.
The next season, the Champions League became a notch on Mourinho’s footballing bedpost. Thanks to a weak grouping, they made it past the Group Stages with ease, despite only winning half their matches. They knocked out United thanks to the linesman wrongly ruling out Paul Scholes’ goal, despite several players playing him on-side, which would have put us 2-0 up before half time. They beat Lyon 2-0 at home, lucky enough to face the French side without their star man, Juninho, who was injured. Then they played Deportivo in the semis, a team who any top side would jump for joy at being drawn to play in the Champions League semi-final. After drawing 0-0 with Deportivo at home, they beat the Spanish side 1-0 away, thanks to a penalty and their opposition playing with ten men for the last 20 minutes of the match. Then they beat the third best side in France that season, Monaco, in the final.
Winning the European Cup under any circumstance is an achievement, but there’s no denying Mourinho had probably the easiest, luckiest route to lifting the trophy since the competition was rebranded as the Champions League back in 1992. The only top team they faced was United, who they beat thanks to an absolutely dreadful decision.
Regardless, Chelsea took him on and again he inherited the second best team in the league. Ranieri had secured the deals for the likes of Petr Cech and Arjen Robben, as well as already bringing in Frank Lampard, Joe Cole, Claude Makelele, Eidur Gudjohnsen, Damien Duff and William Gallas, to name a few. We must also remember that John Terry made the jump from youth team player to first team starter under Ranieri, who integrated the now Chelsea captain in to the first XI during his first season in charge of the club, when Terry was just 20-years-old. So good was this squad, they had just reached the Champions League semi-final.
Ranieri, whilst too fond of tinkering to make it at Chelsea long-term with Roman Abramovich around, built Mourinho a title winning squad. Mourinho simply took hold of the reigns, told the players they were the best, limited their creative flair as much as possible, stressing the importance of a defence, and Ranieri’s players won the league. It was also fairly nice timing for Mourinho that United, Arsenal and Liverpool were all incapable of mounting a title challenge that season.
But as time went by, Mourinho sold off Ranieri’s squad, replacing the talent with the likes of Ben Haim, Sidwell, Boulahrouz, Malouda, Wright-Phillips, Kalou, Pizarro and Ferreira. In his last full season with the club, they finished eight points behind United on the day the title was won, despite bringing in one of the best defenders, one of the best midfielders and one of the best strikers in the World in the summer, to add to what was already a title winning side. In contrast, United bought just Michael Carrick.
Whilst all managers are guilty of signing the odd poor player every now and again (Think Kleberson, Djemba-Djemba, Taibi…), Mourinho signed an awful lot of them in an awfully short space of time. In fact, all his best signings were players every top club in Europe were interested in, but Chelsea could afford to outprice them. Didier Drogba, Michael Essien and Michael Ballack, for example, were hardly unearthed gems no-one had heard of before. The only players Mourinho signed who were unknown all turned out to be crap: add to the list above Kezman, Maniche, Jarosik, Tiago.
Whilst defensively brilliant at their best, conceding just 15 goals in 04-05, their attacking game was not good enough, scoring just 72 goals, an average of 1.9 goals per game. Whilst scoring almost two goals per game will certainly help your title bid, it doesn’t quite match up to the style of football Manchester United demand. When you consider just five years before Mourinho showed up, United scored 97 league goals in a season, an average of 2.6 goals per game.
Mourinho doesn’t make great teams, he just keeps great teams afloat. He doesn’t do it through his ability to rebuild teams, as Ferguson has time and again, rather by getting the most out of the great players he’s been given, he doesn’t do it through his willingness to play thrilling football, rather by effectively controlling the game and waiting for the opportunity to pounce. So far, we have no proof of anything to the contrary, as it is what has happened at Porto, where he spent two years, and Chelsea, where he spent three years. He now manages Inter, who have won the title for three years on the trot before his appointment.
Bryan Robson has made the point I make every time someone tells me Mourinho should be the man to take over from Ferguson. They confuse his big personality and bigger ego with raw talent and managerial excellence. He is not good enough for Manchester United, at least, he hasn’t proved it in the eight years he’s spent managing, so Robson wants a man who can play the United way and adhere to the footballing style put in place by Sir Matt Busby.
“I just don’t agree when I hear people say that Jose is the perfect boss to take over from Sir Alex,” said Robson. “Jose is a great coach and the things he achieved at Porto and Chelsea mean he commands huge respect. But Manchester United aren’t just a club who only want to win things. The fans demand that success is achieved by playing the Manchester United way. Attacking football is a vital part of the club’s heritage. For me, Jose Mourinho is too cautious in his approach to the game to be manager of Manchester United. The important thing for any manager who follows in Sir Alex Ferguson’s footsteps is to recognise the traditions of Manchester United and maintain them.”
If Ferguson passed on this great squad to Mourinho, we would probably be fairly successful for a couple of seasons. His man-managements of the superstars, making them believe they are even better than they think they are, would certainly see us brimming with confidence that could win us a trophy or two. But when these players started moving on, getting too old, not fitting in, who would Mourinho buy to replace them?
Our fans are already pissed off enough with the Glazer takeover and rising ticket prices, can you imagine if on top of what we already have to bear, our entertaining football got taken away from us too? Brilliant, we might go three years without losing at home, but we would be forced to endure controlled, dull, defensive, yet effective football. I’d take the 17 wins, 1 draw and 1 defeat at home of last season over the 12 wins, 7 draws and 0 defeats Mourinho managed at home in his last season.
Who’s the man for the job? At the moment and for the first time ever, I have what I would regard a good shout for an answer. Martin O’Neil. He’s been linked with the jobs for years, so I realise I’m not bringing about a massive revelation here, however what he did at Celtic and Leicester wasn’t enough. What he’s doing with Aston Villa though is really starting to make him stand out from everyone else though.
Villa finished 16th the season before he took over, 11th in his first season (8 points better off), 6th in his second season (10 points better than the season before) and now they’re third, three points behind Liverpool, two points ahead of Chelsea, and seven points ahead of Arsenal. They’ve scored just one less goal than United this season and the team revolves around an English core. This is the kind of manager we’re looking for.
Mourinho, who was at United’s 1-0 win over West Ham yesterday, can fuck off. I couldn’t care less how amusing he is in the press conference, how passionately he may celebrate an important goal, what kind of inspiring team talks he gives to his players. Essentially, he’s a lucky bastard who managed to pull the wool over people’s eyes in to thinking he’s something better than he actually is. Whilst able to inspire great confidence in his team, he has shown little proof he’s able to build a great team himself or play anything resembling entertaining football. We need much more than a big personality. His last season in the Premiership should have taught us that he’s nowhere near as special as he’d like to be and with all the money in the World he couldn’t put together a team that played exciting football. After dismantling Ranieri’s squad, he was clueless and trailed United all season. Chelsea’s first XI is made up of players in their 30s because Mourinho couldn’t bring in the right replacements, and that is why Chelsea are now battling to keep their Champions League place for next season. We would be in exactly the same situation if he was our manager when the players in their late 20s/early 30s, Vidic, Evra, Rio, Giggs, Scholes, Brown, Berbatov etc. all need replacing.
O’Neil might not be the future of Manchester United, who knows, but Jose Mourinho certainly isn’t.
Man Utd News 24/7
I totally agree with you on this, i would hate if Jose’ replace Sir Alex.. As of now i would like one of the following manager
1. Martin O’Neil (First Preference)
2. Zola (I know he was a chelsea player, but what he has done at westham is amazing (May be its because of Steve Clark), and his team knows when to defend and when to attack and they play a good attacking football in most of the matches)
3. Steve Bruce (He is the only outstanding former united player currently performing well, He has made a defence with titus bramble look so good and his team plays with flair , Only thing against him is he never managed a bigger club yet..
Manchester United should be able to get any one they want as a replacement.. Who ever comes in will be in pressure, cos nobody an replicate the success of Sir Alex (He is just one in the universe), but the above managers has the quality and they can fit in the Manchester United way of playing..
(Keano was a perfectionist, it was too bad it didnt work out / he cannot tolerate the mediocracy), Similarly Mark Hughes , he cant control the locker room, may be he is in the wrong club at wrong moment)
I agree that he is not the ideal replacement for Fergie but i don’t agree that he is a fluke either.Mourinho’s greatest strength is motivating his players.I remember the game that clinched us the title in 2007:Arsenal-Chelsea.They were a man down and a goal down and at the second half they had Arsenal on the ropes the whole time.I have never seen that at the Emirates.Look at how less special Cech,Essien,Drogba and a few others look without him around.His problem in Italy compared to England is that too many teams play defensively and quite frankly he doesn’t know how to respond to that.In my mind he is not the ideal choice because he can’t play the United way.The real question is who can take over?A manager who has impressed me a lot in recent years has been Brucey.
One thing is certain you do need a strong character to follow SAF. It is such a big hole to fill that my biggest fear is that we enter a phase like we did when Sir Matt finally hung up his boots. Until now I have always thought that Mourinho was a contender – because he is such a strong personality but your article Scott has made me reconsider.
The reason I have always followed the Reds is primarily because of the way that they play. Martin O’Neil would I am sure take up that mantle and carry on with our attacking ethos. Excellent article Scott. When the time comes for SAF to go I just hope we get the right man and O’Neil would not ba a bad choice at all.
Oh dear.
So, basically a bitter Utd fan still harping on about that descion at OT in 1994 then ? A decsion that Mourinho owes his career too according to that claptrap.
Mourinho is a top , top coach. One of the best. Quite how anyone would take that drivel seriously is beyond.
Get over it and more to the point get over yourself and your ‘expert’ comments.
BJD – 2004, yes. If the linesman hadn’t wrongly ruled out Scholes’ goal, Porto would have been knocked out of the CL and Mourinho never would have got the Chelsea job. Simple.
But bitter? About what? We got the last laugh where Mourinho was concerned when we beat him to the title and then he got sacked. We’ve won the CL since that decision against Porto robbed us, so I’m not entirely sure what you’re getting at.
Mate, your post is nothing but tired cliche after cliche (youve even managed to put ‘Raneri’ and ‘tinker’ in the same sentence!) spouted out from fans of Liverpool, Utd and Arsenal.
I understand Mourinho may not fit into the Utd ‘footballing philosophy’ the rest of the world has been so privaleged to witness but dont kid yourself that the bloke is nothing other than an outstanding coach.
You could do far worse , and it wouldnt surprise me if you do.
I would hate to see Mourinho at OT, O’Neill ticks all the boxes for me & could be trusted with retaining the style Utd are famed for. Zola?? If a run of 8 games without defeat puts you in the running for the top ball job in the world give me a shot!
I disagree with your point that Mourinho is a fluke, you don’t win the amount of trophies he has through pure fluke. He’s a solid manager who approaches the game with a simplistic view, resilience & work-ethic. Don’t like the guy or his style of football but you can’t argue with success.
The best article that has ever appeared on this website. Ignore the comment from the Rent Boy bjd who got lost and ended up here, confused and tired by counting up all the points his over the hill team have dropped recently. All the comments made in the above article are spot on — including the Scholes “off-side” goal and its consequences.
Mourinho must NEVER NEVER NEVER be allowed anywhere near OT and I would personally put a bullet through the large target his head offers in order to make certain it never happens.
The best calls at the moment are probably O’Neill, Zola (although too early to tell yet) and Bruce (ditto) — Capello is probably getting to old now but would have been a good choice. Other “managers” who must never set foot in OT include Erikson, Hughes, Ince etc. In the end, SAF should have the final say in choosing his own successor.
I would like to see Carlos Queiroz take over from Sir Alex.
BJD – cliche? No, I just saw how Ranieri fucked you over in Europe and can make the valid assumption no top team could afford to have a manager like that in charge.
How the fuck do you know how good a manager he is? He took over the 2nd best team in Portugal (by 1 point), 2nd best team in England (and in the semis of Europe) and 1st best team in Italy. When you compare that to Ferguson taking over United who were in a relegation battle then you get to understand how an “outstanding coach” works. Mourinho hasn’t come close to proving he’s outstanding.
im not a chelsea fan. just someone who sees sense. i maintain that whilst you can call mourinho many things, you cannot lucky and limited. he is a winner and you mob could do worse.
anyway, good luck for the rest of the season lads, the footballing world wants you to top liverpool (the most average team ever to be involved in a title race) and im sure you will.
I am surprised that no one has suggested Carlos Quieroz. He had a big influence in his two spells at old Trafford and knows the club from top to bottom. He would probably be happy with the rest of the staff, unlike any other candidate who would almost surely want to bring in his own men.
seriously, this article is one of your absolute best. even as a biased blog, every point made is spot on.
I have been impressed with Steve Bruce as he signs some really good players with the resources he has. Only problem is he has not competed for anything so lacks the experience which United would need to continue our trophy domination.
I have been a fan of O’Neil’s for a long time and he seems to be injecting some attacking impetus and getting the most of his players at Villa. Plus he buys british which is good news so I’d think he would continue birthing some of our young talents.
The way the academy is thriving and Fergie’s squad balance at present is really promising and should help steady the tide when SAF does eventually call it a day.
Thank you bjd — but we still don’t want him.
Got to be Martin O Neill. Simple as. The only man good enough. Can’t type much else as got to go back to work!
I think Martin O’Neil is the man for the job, it’s going to be incredibly hard for anyone to follos Sir Alex and as manchester united, we could have any coach/manager in the world… the problem is, i cant think of anyone at all that i want to follow SAF. Other than, maybe O’Neil or possibly Bruce, even that though i’m not sure about…
Mourinho can fuck right off, whatever he’s won in the past means nothing to me and mostly for the very eloquent and well put reasons above. SAF saw him off and we dont want him anywhere near OT
KEANO!!!
Definitely O’Neill – there is a reason why he’s always been mentioned ever since Fergie originally announced his retirement. Arguably there’s only ever been one contender! The Villa situation has merely confirmed this. He’s now got more experience than when Fergie’s initial plans were shelved and for me he would be the ideal candidate.
Looking at the Villa team he’s built, you can see he’d be committed to the United way of playing football. You could expect that from any one of our ex-players in management today, but they all clearly lack the quality and experience of O’Neill.
I’m never that impressed by anyone’s success if enjoyed at Celtic (Larsson was a very pleasant surprise, for example!), so for Martin O’Neill to go to Villa and to patiently, quietly and quickly achieve what so many before him have failed to do, has really sealed the deal for me. Glad to see that this viewpoint could be common amongst fans.
He’d be perfect for United.
Well, bjd, if you can see as much sense as you claim then you would see the huge amount of sense in the article. If Porto hadn’t won the CL that year do you really believe he would have been given the Chelski job – of course he wouldn’t. I would like to JM take on a proper job such as Spurs or Newcastle, then we’d see what he’s made of.
Personally, I hope he never comes to OT again
Oh, and let’s not forget the blatent penalty Scholsey didn’t get!!
O’Neill is an obvious contender but what do fellow Reds think of Moyes? He came very close to being no.2 to Fergie before he took the reigns at Goodison Park and look what he’s done to that side with extremely modest resources.
I guess O’Neill would probably shade it in terms of experience of European competitions, as a player and manager but shouldn’t Moyes be a contender at least?
the ironc thing is man utd are playing like jose mourinho’s chelsea they are winning 1 0 allot so to say that man utd demand more then 1 0 is a bit far fetched, this season we can except playing like this, too make sure we get to title number 18 to become england’s most succesful domestic club. keep the one niles coming
‘SAF saw him off ‘
gotta laugh at that one.
what are the head to head results between the two managers? i think i can count one SAF victory (Charity Shields dont count!)
Utd won the league in 06/07 because Mourinho had two players forced upon him that totally upset the balance of the team early in the season and then suffered crucial injuries to crucial players at crucial mid to latter stages of that season.
No arguments about your current dominance – that is total and totally deserved.
The key game for me was Chelsea 3 Utd 0 in April 06. That day Chelsea clinched the league and looked twice the side Utd were (lets face it, it couldve been four or five). It looked for all the world like Chelsea would dominate for a decade and, oh dear they really did balls it up. That Summer Utd decided to step it up and have done so brilliantly , Chelsea screwed up their squad with a few trophy signings and then let important players go and replaced them with sub-standard (that is one thing Mourinho is part to blame).
Chelsea are in a total mess now, many reasons for this (failure of youth product , sub standard management, poor transfer policy) it will take another spend like the Summer of 2003 to make them catch up – you are way off the horizon and good fucking luck to you.
BJD, all you’ve stated is that you disagree with Scott and made a “claim to be someone who sees sense”.
You have not been able to refute a single specific point that Scott has made with a rational counter-argument. Scott is absolutely right in terms of what Mourinho has inherited at the clubs he managed. In that regard, yes he has been lucky.
Very well-written article.
Scott,Queiroz is da man for the job,no doubt in my mind.His contract with Portugal expires in 2010 and Fergie will hand it over to him,in his inteview given to mutv he said “this is not good bye”,watch Queiroz bring the youngsters through to be our next world beaters and dominate the next decade the MANCHESTER UNITED way!
TBH I can’t imagine why Mourinho would ever want to go to United. He is a manager who wants to win something and I guess the reason he took over Milan was the CL.
Man U have won just about all there is to win and whoever takes over from Ferguson is going to have to live in his shadow for 5 years and maybe more.
Tinkle toes will be of to Madrid, your best player has maybe one more year left and VDS is probably on his swansong.
I do agree that you have the best manager maybe at world club level but woe betide whoever takes over from him.
hmmmmm Mourinho came in to an established team and threw money about at will… won two league titles, whilst SAF re-built United then we won the league, then we won another league, then we won the champions league… where was Mourinho whilst this was going on?
sacked…. SAF seen him off along with the big russian crook and all chelski’s money, bollocks to the head to head results.
Michael, that is utter nonsense. The simple reason United have ‘only’ been getting 1-0 wins and not winning by greater margins is because we haven’t been able to finish our chances off in the final third (yesterday being an exception where we had hardly any chances).
We’re not the sort of side that plays to get a goal, then sit on our lead – which is what Chelsea did.
The next thing you’ll be claiming is that United are just as defensive minded as Liverpool!
BJD – What about the injuries United had in 06/07? Have you completely forgotten?
I was disappointed to see Mourinho take over at Inter as well. If he really is a world class coach and a ‘special’ manager then surely the task of guiding the top side in Italy to another Serie A title is not the greatest challenge. Still his squad is not good enough to compete in the Champions League so when he leaves either at the end of this season or the next, he will have not taken Inter to any greater height.
it depends what we are all willing to accept as United fans? I think Mourinho is a good candidate, despite all the good points made by Scott. I don’t think a team like ours necessarily needs a tactical genius (finding one is pretty difficult), we do just need to be kept afloat and keep our players in place until they are all settled properly, especially the portuguese speakers like Ronaldo, Da Silvas, Nani (he will come good) and Anderson etc..they are all youngsters who could be the future of our club if we get the right man in to keep them there and no one can deny that Mourinho would be perfect for that..The idea that he would instantly revert us to some functional football doesn’t cut it with me either as I think the players we have (Evra, Da Silvas, Ronaldo etc) would simply overrule that in match situations and so Mourinho would have to work with it. I can’t help thinking Martin O’Neill as quality a manger as he is would see that team destroyed within two years and have to start again…now fair enough that might do us some good because we could get rid of some of the glory hunters and shed a few stereoptypes, take some stick for a few years and come back stronger but it would be a long road I think…either way they are both good candidates, the character and job assassination of Mourinho seems a little hyperbolic but I guess that’s the nature of the blog…just thought of a another point why O’Neill could be a good candidate….Ashley Young…I think that might of swayed me…Ronaldo to Madrid in 2 years…Ashley Young to Old Trafford
Ole should replace him keep it in the united family. Then in quite a few years time i’d have Neville and Giggs as the assistant then in even more years time when rooney becomes the legend hes becoming i’d want him to take over. do a like barca do
I would like to see O’Neill take the reigns at United. You’ve already mentioned what he’s done Scott and I agree completely. He’s a brilliant manager and at a club as big as our’s his potential for success would be much greater. Before this season started, everyone was tipping the comedian’s at White Hart Lane for breaking into the top 4 but Villa have been in remarkable form of late.
I think if O’Neill had to take over from Fergie then we’d probably have to give him about a season or two to settle into the club and build a team he’s comfortable with but I think he’s the most promising option at the moment.
I think Fergie will recommend Moyes, O’Neill, Lippi, Ancelotti and Bruce (maybe).
O’Neil would have been ideal had he been 10 years younger.Mourinho could be ideal because he has the mentalithy to manage United.Not many managers have that.I think Keano’s possibilities are very small right now.I think a great scenario as someone said,could be Ole.Let’s hope that by the time SAF retires,Ole will have proved himself as a revelation.I also think that David Moyes could be another wise choice.If SAF thinks highly of him,that’s all i need.Carlos Quieroz?No.A great assistant but has not proven himself as a number one.
Martin for me
Mourinho – ok NO ..
but let us have some more respect for him ..
come on ..
stop looking at him with
I AM A DIE HARD UNITED FAN look
and see him in the picture
of
FOOTBALL MANAGERS!!
Its Martin ONeill for me, and I’ve been saying that for well over a year. He’s British, which is a plus in my book (its up to the rest of the staff to learn Portugese, Spanish, and the rest of the languages, he’s going for Manchester United manager, not for chairman of MENSA).
He’s young, so if he works out, he’ll be around for the next 15 years. He takes crap from no one, he’s passionate, he’s been consistantly adding to his CV, always improving and making a step up to the next level with no problems (Wycombe, Leicester, Celtic, Villa). And he himself has won 2 European Cups as a player, and served under Brian Clough. And I like the man, and the way he carries himself. Theres plenty of room in the club for Neville, Giggs and Ole aswell, but none of them would be ready to take over the biggest club in the world in the next 3 or 4 years.
No jose please. and please stop giving stupid suggestions suck as keano and ole. just because they are legends doesn’t mean they are good managers. O’neil, carlos, bruce and maybe zola in 5 years time might be good. o’neil and carlos and on top of the list.
we inherited dave sexton from chelsea in the 70′s and the fans couldn’t wait to see the back of his negative football. The article is spot on, mourihno’s reputation could have been for nothing had that linesman kept his flag down. I won’t doubt he has done a bad job though because winning titles isn’t easy but the style chelsea did it is not for us.
I’m still not sure about martin o’neil, granted he’s done well but i didn’t like how he approached playing us at villa park in novemeber, they didn’t try to win the game.
For me I would be tempted by david moyes. firstly he’s played under fergie before hand. but he’s done well at everton building a side with the rooney money he has them doing well. he has an eye for talent and he’s scottish which suits us fine
not forgetting maybe moyes too.
Obviously he’s not the sort of manager United supporters would want because winning silverware or not, his style of football wasn’t exactly scintillating, even from a Chelsea perspective. Having said that, seeing the shambles we’ve turned into under Scolari, it doesn’t surprise me in the slightest to hear our supporters pining for Mourinho again. Whilst I’m far from sentimental these days when it comes to TSO, even I’d have to admit that in terms of man-management, our players are sorely missing his motivational skills. Could he handle managing a club like United who are already Champions of everything but the planet? In a word – no.
I actually think O’Neill would be a good choice (given the current options) but I’m afraid it’s all hypathetical as it won’t be long before Scolari, Benitez and/or Hughes gets the bullet and he will be first in the line as a replacement.
BTW I’d rather hand my mrs the job than JM
Ole anybody?
This may not be a highly popular choice but i think If it was’nt for his age (only being five years younger than SAF) Guus Hiddink would be very good manager for United. He has demonstarted throughout his career to have the ability to win things, play attractive attacking football and do a lot with relatively very little. i mean, to take South Korea to the Semi-finals of a world cup, PSV were extremely close to getting to the Champions Legaue final in 2004/5 season(the year Milan, with Chelsea’s Crespo Knocked Us out) when they were beaten on away goals by Milan after realtively dominating both legs! he also like SAF, Won the treble in 1988 with PSV. To be honest there is not many more managers that have a better CV than this man, to main problem i would see is the fact that he is unproven in this country, which would prove a problem given the shire amount of pressure he would be under to maintain the good work Alex has done. what do you all think?
Over the years, i’ve thought a few people could’ve done it. I would of loved Keane to have worked out at sunderland, but unfortunately he constantly appeared to buy a solution to any problems instead of finding a solution through tactics, management, coaching etc. Hughes would of been nice once upon a time, and i felt that if he had stayed at Blackburn he would have been the outstanding candidate. But now, no chance. Bruce is doing a good job at Wigan, but i just dont see it happening.
All i know is i’d love to see a lot of the ex players involved with the club still after they retire (giggs, scholes, neville, solskjaer) etc. Right now my personal favourite choice would be solskjaer, as long as he does a good job with the reserves. By all accounts he’s a perfectionist, we all have a very special place in our hearts for him, and he’s a big enough personality to handle the job i think. For anyone who doubts me, just look at the job Guardiola is doing at Barcelona. I know a lot of you might think i’m talking bollocks, but why shouldnt we give one of our favourite sons the chance? Does anyone really think any of these big name managers would bring us the kind of football we want? Is O’Neill is available and wants the job, give it him as we all can see he’d do a good job, but if not then give it Ole.
I also think that this may be a moot point for a good few years, as i get the feeling Fergie still has a good few years in him. The signings he’s made suggest that to me, and everytime he talks about it he seems to be moving further away from his comments about not being around until 70. If he’s still fit and healthy, he’ll still be there.
Yes, Hiddinck would be a good bet if it weren’t for his age.Same goes for Lippi & Capello. We will need someone who will be there for 10-15 yrs at least. At this time, touting Ole is just sentimentallity. I think he may have the attributes to do it but I thought that about Robbo. If Brucey can make a success at Wigan over the next few years, then he would certainly be a candidate. Carlos Quieroz would be another – knows the PL, the club & the players.
firstly- bjd, what the fuck are u even on here for?
jake- i will deny maureen would be the right man to look after and nurture anything. tell me one player at chelsea who maureen nurtured and turned into a top first team player? i cant think of any. but i can think of a fair few he ruined.
he spoke a lot about the 9 or 10 untouchables in his squad. great message to send out to the rest of the team that. he spoke about eggs and omlettes when he had one or two important injuries and blamed anyone but himself for chelseas demise!
i too would like to see him at somewhere like villa, spurs, newcastle. then see what hes made of. i knew the little gimp would only go to a top club after chelsea. u,d have to be really bad not to be a success at chelsea(at the time of his arrival) and inter now, as serie a is not a shadow of its former and inter are head and shoulders!
the guy is clever, i,l give him that, but hes a egotistical moron who we can do without!
No to Quieroz. He was the main reason we played 4-3-3 for a while a few years back when our game really dropped off, and his record at Real and currently with Portugal hardly marks him out as a contender.
I know a lot of sentimentality is involved with my comments about Ole, but if he could have similair results to Pep Guardiola then nobody would be complaining. All i’m saying is if he looks like he might have the ability to handle the job, give him the chance. Nobody is guaranteed to succeed, so lets give one of our own the chance to do it.
HOWEVER!- MON would be a gamble. only on the basis of him having the pressure to win on his shoulders with a lot of competition for the top two prizes. this is something he hasnt had b4. maureen has, and despite his many failings, he is a proven short term winner, albeit at a cost!
if i had to give the job to either of them today, i,d give it to MON. I,d take the small risk in order to find the right man for the job, rather than not take a risk for thesake of the devil we know!
For all those of you on here talking about candidates who are good at ‘doing a lot with a little’, don’t forget that at United post-Fergie you would have to do a lot with a lot. It’s not like we’re shy of spending money, so there will be funds there. Also, it doesn’t seem likely that SAF will be leaving a shabby squad behind in the first place, does it?! Plus, there is a footballing culture and tradition built at the club by Sir Matt Busby and reinforced through Sir Alex that will endure – read some of Evra’s comments after signing to see what work has already been done to build an ethos at the club that will endure while football is played there.
Either way, I’m sure the United hierarchy will make sure any replacement gets time, that’s the key thing. Filling Fergie’s boots is impossible enough without the pressure of having to emulate him immediately. There are certain achievable expectations, sure, however I’m sure Old Trafford will make allowances for what will be one of the toughest assignments in footballing history: following on from the great man himself! I like to think that there will be patience along with expectation for the new man in charge. Of course, it’d be nice to have a Shankly-Paisley type of succession, but let’s not hold our breath.
Having SAF as the gaffer has been a true priviledge and I hope his importance isn’t made clear in the most obvious way when he finally leaves us…
O’Neill and Queiroz as 2nd choice obviously, anyone thinking that Queiroz should be 1st choice is mad.
As for TSO, I disagree with You saying that he has been lucky and has inherited his success, ok he certainly has inherited good teams, and good some decisions his way, but as others have pointed out already, he is top top class.
Hate him or love him, but the 2 candidates that spring to mind have to be O’Neill and TSO. I also dont buy that ”TSO doesnt know how to play football our way” – are You serious ? Do You really think for one second that a manager of his calibre couldnt play attacking football ? I think he could and I think he more thank knows what this club is all about.
Nevertheless – I would want O’Neill, I couldnt praise the man enough, over the past 2 years, Villa have become my 2nd team and O’Neill my 2nd manager. I love how he is handling the media, always so composed and classy. Great man.
BjD…well Jose is gone and Fergie is still here winning trophies, so ummmmm yeah, “saw him off” sounds about right to me. And resorting to “injuries” as your excuses for him is just fucking hilarious. He had an open check book for Petes sake, why didn’t he sign better back ups and not the worthless garbage that Scott mentioned? Injuries fucking happen and coaches deal with them all the time. Dealing with them might actually require a tad more than just half time speeches and rash substitutions though. Alas he was found out. At least he was smart enough to see the epic failure he helped implement though and knew to get the hell out of there. Rats and sinking ships springs to mind….
And yes Gordon, the world will fall apart for United when Ronaldo leaves. Whoever is in charge will probably just light the 80 million plus on fire. Forget actually putting the money to use for replacements….
I have a feeling that Fergie will retire at the end of this current season – if we do particularly well in terms of winning trophies (i.e. – PL, CL + 1 other). The club must already be in the stage of quietly planning who they’ll appoint as his successor.
All in all, pardon my french, but i hope we FUCKING STUFF inter. And just out of curiosity, how many times has fergie been over in the San Siro in the last month? TOS is pissing himself….
One dday Mourinho might become good enough. Currently he is not. End of discussion.
I’m just hoping that SAF doesn’t go – sooner or later. Why can’t he continue for another seven or eight years ? The guy’s energy level is amazing, his attention to detail is tremendous, those who doubt his strategic genius should re-read his remarks about how he deployed the team against the RentBoyz this year, and his ability to keep a large squad seemingly happy seems unsurpassed.
In any sport, passing the torch is a tricky matter which rarely turns out well – the Shankly/Paisley transition seems almost unique. And after Paisley things didn’t go so well and then slowly wound down for the Red Scousers.
When UTD hired SAF he was a fantastic success at Aberdeen; from what I can gather, there’s no young coach/manager on the horizon who has a similar resume (obviously, Guardiola at Barca won’t be a candidate). So, the choice seems to be between an unknown – like Ole-Gunnar – or someone like Moyes/Bruce who has done well with limited resources in the EPL or TSO/MO’N who has lots of money to spend and has had results in a variety of different clubs.
I’m partial to taking a deep breath and letting OGS have a shot at it – sure, it would be a gamble but Fergy has always spoken very highly of him and his courage/loyalty. The upside would be a seamless transition, with the possibility of another quarter-century of dominance; the downside – which is probably more likely – is that Ole-Gunnar (or whoever gets the job would be inheriting something of a poisoned chalice since the standards SAF set are so very high). Fergy has always been willing to let youth have a go; I’d be surprised if he didn’t feel the same way when asked about suggesting his successor to the Glazers.
Well said denton davey. The more i think about it, the more i’d love Ole to take over wen Sir finally decides he’s had enough.
Come on lads, there’s only one man for the job and noone has mentioned his name yet. SAF will be here for another 5 years, don’t worry about that! In that time young Darren would have brought Posh into the the Prem League, take over at Celtic, win Uefa Cup, SPL and take them to the Semis of CL and then he will walk into his father’s footsteps and take over at the greatest club in world football.
Lads, what about wenger? Am I the only one here who is thinking that the bastard would make a good replacement for fergie? He would be able to bring up the Da Silva’s very well. He is my candidate
I hope that’s a fcuking joke, Cherry!!!
Scott, while I’m not Maureen’s biggest fan (and I agree with 99% of what you’ve said in the article) saying that he doesn’t know how to play attacking football is a bit harsh. He took apart a classy Monaco side 3-0 in the CL Final using a team that played with poise and panache and in his first season at Chelski, played that famous 4-3-3 with Duff and Robben, often to devastating effect. Now, the cynic in me would argue that Monaco disappeared in that Final and that Duff and Robben weren’t Maureen’s players, but like I say, a little harsh to say he doesn’t know how to play attacking football.
The only way I could see it working (him coming to OT) is if he has Queiroz as his assistant manager and the two just don’t get along, so it isn’t going to happen.
As for other candidates:
MON is a good shout, as is Moyes. Queiroz is a good assistant, no more, as his spells with Real and Portugal are proving (I’d love to see him back in his old role, though). The established continental elite are simply too old. Zola has had what? 8 games of doing well? Jebus, talk about jumping on the bandwagon!
Jobs for old boys is a risky policy to put in place. Nobody from our old ranks (apart, perhaps, from Laurent Blanc) is having much sustained success, although, admittedly, Brucie’s doing well at Wigan. Keano struck me as the only former player to’ve had the mental fortitude to deal with situations that come with managing United, but unfortunately he couldn’t even hack it at Sunderland, so he’s no longer a contender (unless he stuns us all by taking a Continental side on to CL glory or somethin’!)
Excellent post mate. I have to confess I hadn’t made up my mind concerning Mourinho. But you make some great points there. You’re absolutley right. As much as he is a great motivator and has a ego which suits handling great players, he’s not United quality.
I think we need to copy Liverpools success formula during the 80s; recruit from within to keep continuity. What about Robson himself? He’s kinda lining up himself there, with that quote.
bjd – anyone who trundles out standardized and highly unoriginal put-me-downs of the intellectually challenged like ‘get over yourself’ isn’t one to accuse others of using clichés.
As for your point about Chelsea’s superiority a few seasons ago under ‘the special one in his own mind’, any true aficionado of the game would be well aware that United was in one of it’s numerous transitional rebuilding phases – something Moronico has very little experience of. He simply picks up the pieces that other have put in place for him, rides the success for a couple of seasons with his effective but highly unattractive style of football, or without any thought to long welfare of the team, then jumps ship to the next A-list club on the rise. He’s NEVER stuck around long enough to pull up his sleeves and show if he has any mettle by rebuilding a side, which is why his comments last season about his superior track record in England, compared to Wenger and Ferguson, were as spurious and laughable as your own comments. Riding the gravy train only to hop off when the gradient gets too tough is certainly not a sign of superiority, it’s simply a sign of weakness – and let’s not forget he was thrown off the train last time! The fact is that the last season and a half at Chelsea showed how limited Moreno is as a manager and what a poseur he is at heart. He’s simply a one trick pony with a massive ego and a big enough reputation to jump on to the next big thing when it comes along. He may well win it all this season – again – because of the work others have done before him at Inter Milan by putting together the pieces of a great squad. And yet again in a couple of years time as things start to slide he’ll jump, or be pushed, and move on.
That does not make a great manager, just a great opportunist with a good sales pitch, one that lasts for a certain amount of time and then begins to wear thin. At some point you have to roll up your sleeves and do the hard yards, which is why Wenger and Ferguson are easily the best managers of the last 20 years in the EPL. Mourinho doesn’t even come close. Wenger and Ferguson have the humility, the clout, and the vision to sacrifice short term personal glory by sticking with a side and helping to rebuild it time and time again. That takes character. Mourinho’s vanity and preening need to be top dog all the time serves nothing but his own self-interest, and the clubs he hires on with suffer for it in the long term as a result – look where Chelsea is now, saddled with an aging team with no place to go but down – save Deco, this is Mourinho’s doing. And let’s not forget, this was a team that was set up by a Russian billionaire with a blank cheque approach to buying championships – Toto the monkey could have managed Chelsea to it’s success of a few years ago. And Toto would have been better company.
So basically, bjd, the article is basically spot on. The only thing it didn’t go on to state is that the quality of football in the EPL this year is of a very poor standard, Manchester United included. Paul Ince nailed it himself only last week when he stated that it was some of the poorest quality football he’d seen in the EPL for some time. With a couple of exceptions, United don’t seem to have come even close to reproducing the form of last year and have looked like an ugly, stuttering shadow of the team that nearly – and should have – taken all before it last season. The way they’ve been playing, the likes of Chelsea, Liverpool, and Arsenal should have gone streaking by them this season, but they in turn have been playing poorly as well for one reason or another. In 40 odd years of watching top flight football I can barely recall a season of such poor standard, particuarly from United and its much vaunted forwards. It’s been almost bewildering to watch them climb up to the pinnacle of the competition whilst playing so poorly. It’s simply the defense, and the odd ugly goal, that’s kept them in it. I’ll certainly take the win, and the championship, if it comes our way, but I won’t be terribly enthused over the way we’ve managed to accomplish it this year. My only hope is that their superlative form of last year kicks in soon and we can watch the team bring it all home with the style and verve we’ve all become accustomed to over the years.
Scott! Superb article, you are correct in every department! The only thing he is superb at is being in the right place at the right time to further his own career. I have said this for a long time. For him to take over from SAF would end in disaster for the club, and you thought that was dull yesterday? That was an enthralling match compared with what the team would procuce under his management. Never never never must he get hold of the reigns at O.T. Once again Scott superb article, this needs to be read out at the next board meeting at O.T. I said yesterday on your live blog if Carling made football blogs it would be RoM, well having read this one I think they do!!!!……… Fergie Fergie give him a job!
Well Scholari has just been sacked and Sky are prattling on about Mourinho this Mourinho that! Send it to them aswell.
Well said Timbo. By the way, let’s all laugh at Chelsea!
Let’s hope Darren can make the grade in time then.
It has to be O’Neill. He has proved time and time again he has all the tools to succeed in a big job. He has 3 years to show he can do it at a big club, before the biggest of all (hopefully) come calling. He buys English players, and despite my dislike of the National team, love seeing English / British players at United. He has taken a sleeping giant and woke them up above all expectations. Imagine what he could do with United.
Good piece Timbo.
bjd – try google “tinkerman” and you will find Claudio Ranieri in WIKIPEDIA!
To me, TNSSO is a hypocrite. Think about his comment on Ronaldo winning the Golden Boot. And he is also too boastful and arrogant. I would not have him at OT. In fact, he’s is the only one I would not have at OT.
Martin Oneill was tipped to become SAF’s successor when SAF mentioned retiring before. At that time, he has not proven enough but now he has. He is my first choice.
O’Neill with Ole as his No.2. In about five years after O’Neill retires (how old is he ?) Ole will take full charge of the club.
To totally change the subject for a moment – how come when Spurs fans chant homophobic chants against Sol Campbell, the police get involved. But when opposing fans lately are chanting “You should of died in the tunnel” to Ronny – f**k all happens? No one batters an eye lid. Disgrace.
I’m not just saying this because I follow United. I’d be saying the same about any player in the league. Scouser, cockney or an ex President of Real. It doesn’t matter.
The line has to be drawn somewhere. It’s no longer ‘banter’ when thousands of ‘adults’ have to resort to wishing death on a footballer due to, lets face it, pure jealousy.
Pathetic.
Wow, what a fantastic read. Thanks Scott the Red, informative & written with passion, I throughly enjoyed your article.
The last decision Sir Alex makes as manager of Manchester United should be his successor. Well, not literally, as it will take time to sort out the details, but I think it’s important that the new man is Fergie’s man to keep the fans onside. SAF will then walk away from the club, and keep out of the spotlight for a few years, popping up to back the manager 100% when needed. When he’s had some time out of football and we’ve got a stable situation (and I hope it’s with the first attempt, I think we’ll see more of him in an ambassadorial role, like Sir Bobby (and by then, Sir Ryan!).
I’d like to see MON with Quieroz returning as his #2 for continuity. CQ knows the structure at United, even if he’s been desperate to prove himself on his own, I think he’d come back for another spell. He gets more than his fair share of the blame for our tactics between titles, and that’s because some fans won’t admit that aside from Ruud and a few others, we weren’t good enough.
Ole’s got a future with United but I don’t think he’ll ever manage the first team. I’d love to be wrong, but I don’t see it happening, because I can’t see him leaving to take on a top job elsewhere. Perhaps in a few years he will, but part of me wishes he’ll stay at United for life, taking care of the reserves and helping the first team train.
i wouldn’t mind seein Brucie managin us. He has done amazin things with what little he has, imagine what he could do with the resources at united. I would obviously prefer o’niell, but don’t think o’niell will end up at united.
I often see Martin O’Neill referred to as a “young manager”. He is 10 years and 2 months younger than Sir Alex. In other words, this summer he will be the same age that Fergie was when we won the treble in 1999. With that in mind, has he achieved enough to be considered for the Man Utd job? I’d like us to go for a manager who has experience at the top level, but is under 50, and will therefore potentially be around for 10 years. At the moment, only Mourinho ticks those boxes for me.
lads what if O’Neill gets the chelsea job now?
Red-Dan – No chance mate, he has more sense and respect for himself to go to that shower.
pej: how dare you call this blog biased?
Many thinks that Carlos Queiroz could take over the managerial position from Ferguson when he retired, but honestly, I think that he is more suitable to become the No. 2 man instead of No. 1. Means, he is there to arranging tactical decision for the team. Besides, I thought he hasn’t done well enough during his managerial career at Real Madrid, and now Portugal?
Well, I agreed with you Scott, that Martin O’Neill is a leading man for United job. However, if we changed manager, we have to be patient and give time for him to do the job. Don’t be like Chelsea or Real.