Lord Ferg has decided to call it a day. Pretty much out of the blue announcement - although there were some rumuors from the bookies earlier in the week about large bets being placed on his successor. Speculation that his impending hip surgery (at 72) that would mean him missing the start of next season played a role in his decision.
Who will replace him, and how can we discuss the legacy of the most successful manager in UK football history?
Mourino is looming large, there’s an obvious syncronicity of the announcement and Mourinho’s availability. Will he take the job though?
Anyway, Ferguson is one of the Dons of the game. A figure the like of which I doubt we will see again. A happy retirement to him!
Well he has nothing left to prove. He has won it all and done it year after year so though there is never a perfect time to quit I can’t see too many downsides to this choice.
His replacement is always going to be tricky. You can’t follow Fergie without a degree of trepidation, so who is it to be?
Moyes is a good character match and the fans would love him.
Mourinho is brilliant manager who can get the biggest stars to work for him. If the club have an eye on the share price (and they do!) then Mourinho is the safer bet.
Incidentally I was struck by his quiet and respectful demeanour when Real knocked Utd. out of the European cup and thought then (as I still do) that he treated it as the first part of his job interview. I suspect Jose will be the (special) one.
Well, that was still unexpected really because only a week or so ago I saw a quote from him suggesting he would carry on. Many expected him to go after the Treble in 1999 - very glad he didn’t! Likewise, he planned to retire a couple of years later but after just missing out on the title he insisted on staying on to regain it - that could have been a huge mistake, but it turned out not to be of course. He would certainly have preferred to get another European Cup before leaving but perhaps he recognised, after this year, the somewhat random nature of the competition meant that he would do better to quit while he was ahead. There would have been little worse than a sad Clough-style decline (not that I am suggesting he has the problems Clough had, mind).
I agree that Mourinho would be a good choice for both parties, and I would particularly enjoy how that would snatch hope away from Chelsea fans who want him back so badly. Moyes wouldn’t be bad either but I think his lack of European experience counts against him. If there’s one disappointment about the last few years it’s been missed opportunities in Europe.
Is it likely we will suffer a meltdown similar to the post-Busby years? I think it’s highly unlikely due to the club’s current strong position, but of course Fergie is a very hard act to follow.
And is he the greatest British manager in history? There are not too many other candidates (especially if we restrict the discussion to the post-war era): Busby, Shankly, and Paisley are the only ones to spring to mind, but I think they are overwhelmed by sheer trophy count (which of course is a facet of his longevity). The resources and back-up are much greater nowadays, but even taking this into account I wouldn’t hesitate long before giving him the crown.
I think it would be a straight fight between Fergie and Paisley. Paisley won the European cup three times and pro-rata had a better trophy rate but then he didn’t have the rebuilding job that Fergie had (several times) and didn’t win the FA cup.
Yeah, on balance it probably was Fergie. (though by all accounts Paisley was by far the nicer human being)
Reports now that Moyes is actually the annointed one - staggered at that tbh. Not that I don’t think he could succeed (with a fair dollop of luck) but that he would be in the frame for the biggest job in world football seems way off beam.
I guess Utd are a unique case where they’re looking for someone who could be the next Fergie, rather than someone who is just going to be awesome for 3 years and move on. DM could be that, no doubt.
More importantly from my POV, who the fk are we (Everton) going to get if he goes?
I don’t know if I’m trying to convince myself that he’s good, or if it would actually be a good choice, but I’m happy enough if it’s Moyes. His budget has been shit for years, yet he’s consistently gotten solid results. Everton haven’t finished top half almost every year because they beat up on the bottom half only. They’ve beaten United, City, Arsenal, and Chelsea a bit. The record against Liverpool leaves a bit to be desired, but hey, sometimes a club is a bogey team for a manager. Whether by choice or necessity, I don’t know, but he’s shown that he’ll bring young players into the fold. With the right players (Arteta, Donovan, et al), Everton have played really attractive football at times in his reign. My doubts would be in Europe, though Everton have had dabbled a bit in the UEFA Cup/Europa League, and his scouting for players abroad. Generally, Everton have gotten good players from all over, but I don’t know how much of that has been Moyes. But, United have a huge network, and it’s not likely everyone associated with the club will be leaving.
I really hope Rene Meulensteen (sp?) stays on as a first team coach. I’m guessing Moyes will bring his current top assistant, so what that means for Mike Phelan I don’t know.
Perhaps Brendan Rodgers is looking to move up to a bigger, proper club, Busy Scissors! Seriously, though, I’m sure there are plenty of good managers who would love a chance at taking the Everton job. Of the current Premier League managers, I think they’d do really, really well to talk to Laudrop. Would he move?
I just posted this in the other thread, but I think Giggs could be a good choice for manager. I mean it is out of left field, of course, but think about it. The guy has been around ManU, been around Sir Alex for over 23 years, players become coaches regularly, with success, and he can handle the pressure I am sure.
Giggs would be a terrible choice as manager. One need only look at the deep, long trail of former players turned managers to see why this would be so. The same logic was used to push Bryan Robson and look how well that turned out.
Manchester United are one of the biggest clubs in the world. An untested manager like Giggs would likely be overwhelmed.
Sadly it’s going to be Moyes and the descent into mediocrity continues. Thanks to the Glazers it’s all going to get all Tampa Bay like.
I can’t really go for Giggs, either. I love him as a player, but if it’s a former player who’s going to be manager, it seems to me that OGS is the best chance. Of the former players of Fergies, it seems he’s the only one who’s had success as a manager. People talk about how he reads the game so well, and I’m sure Giggs, Keane, Robson, and others read it superbly well, too, because you don’t get to the top without it, but that seemed to be OGS’ greatest gift, not a tangential quality.
Mourinho is the only one I can see coming in and getting immediate success over a 2-3 year period. But it’s so unlikely that Mou would stay longer, and then what? I don’t think there’s anybody out there that could come close to 13 titles in 21 seasons, which is part of why SAF is so great. So whether it’s Moyes, OGS, Giggs, Klopp, Pep, whoever, United will slide toward “mediocrity” after SAF. 13 in 21 isn’t natural! If the next long-term manager, if there is one, will do well to get 7 in 21.
Last thing, and I’d be more shocked if it happened than I was by SAF announcing his retirement, but what about Wenger? For a 5-10 project, I think he could be up for it. For all Arsenal talk about, “When the Emirates is paid off, we’ll be in great financial position to compete…” when will that day come? Before Wenger actually retires? Everyone has always said if he had SAF’s (or Chelsea’s, or Real Madrid’s…) money, then he would have won many more titles. It’d be interesting to see. AW wouldn’t be my first pick, but I certainly wouldn’t be bothered by him coming in. So long as he realizes you need good defenders to win titles.
There is also very little money to spend on transfers. As for former players, going from Molde to United is some step. Laurent Blanc would be a good choice.
Let’s not jump to conclusions about how Moyes is going to perform - as has been said, any manager, even Mourinho, would struggle to match Fergie’s record. I hope the fans support whoever is appointed and don’t descend into the shower afflicting Chelsea. As long as it is someone with experience of managing a big club (I’ll give the benefit of the doubt to Everton here :)), i.e. not Giggs or Solskjaer, then there is no reason they cannot continue winning trophies. I can’t see Wenger being offered the job - he is too old for it now. And I don’t see why people think Mourinho would be gone in 2 or 3 years if he were appointed - maybe he would enjoy himself and stay longer. Even if he did leave after a short time, if this meant another one or two European Cups it would be worth it!