Man Utd’s ‘Official Position’ on New Manager Revealed
Legendary former Manchester United fullback Gary Neville revealed that the Red Devils have already begun their search for a new manager which has already involved talking to certain candidates.
Whether current interim boss Michael Carrick will be part of discussions for the permanent position appears to be entirely up to him.
Neville asked his former employers for their “official position” on the hunt for a new head coach after Carrick racked up the fourth successive win of his tenure against the 10 men of Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday. “So they’ve started the process of going speaking to and I think looking at other managers, building all the the sort of data analysis of who should be the next manager of the football club,” he told his own podcast.
RANKED. Carrick Wins. Man Utd’s First Four Wins Under Michael Carrick. dark
“But what they’ve said is they’re not going to be bounced into—irrespective of wins or draws or losses on the pitch in this next couple of months—making an appointment.
“They’re going to wait towards the end of the season. If Michael at that point makes himself available for the job ... and says, ‘I want to put my name in the hat,’ at that point, like in any other recruitment role in the country for any other business, [he] would go into a process.”
Gary Neville’s Six-Man Shortlist for the Next Man Utd Manager
Neville has previously insisted that his former teammate is not in a position to take on the United job beyond the end of the season. “I think it’s right that Carrick keeps the job until the end of the season and then hands the baton over to a [Thomas] Tuchel or a [Carlo] Ancelotti, someone of that world-class ilk,” he mused after United’s victories over Manchester City and Arsenal.
However, two more triumphs at the expense of Fulham and Spurs have softened Neville’s stance somewhat.
“This is perfect,” he said of Carrick’s start. “This is exactly what they [United’s board] would’ve wanted, where there is complete and utter uplifting performances. There’s more faith being built in the players and they look like they can play football at the level that they were when they signed.”
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Neville did also warn: “All I will say right now is that if Michael Carrick is selected or not selected, no one can be 100% sure of what the right decision is when it comes to Manchester United.”
The same can be said for any appointment United make, which is perhaps why Neville has reiterated his desire to see a big-name managerial arrival. England’s Tuchel and Brazil coach Ancelotti were once again put forward, along with Germany boss Julian Nagelsmann. All three former Bayern Munich managers could be available after competing at this summer’s World Cup.
Newcastle United manager Eddie Howe also got a shout-out from Neville. The flailing Magpies coach also has Roy Keane’s temperamental blessing but, by his own damning admission, is “not doing [his] job well enough” at St James’ Park. Luis Enrique is fairing better at Paris Saint-Germain and proved to be the final marquee arrival Neville spitballed.
Manager | Age | Current Job |
|---|---|---|
Carlo Ancelotti | 66 | Brazil |
Luis Enrique | 55 | PSG |
Thomas Tuchel | 52 | England |
Julian Nagelsmann | 38 | Germany |
Eddie Howe | 48 | Newcastle |
Michael Carrick | 44 | Man Utd |
Man Utd Can’t Get Scared by Ghosts of the Past
Once the initial wave of euphoria has been waded through, the overriding reaction to Carrick’s flying start is that this is simply the second-coming of Ole Gunnar Solskjær. The Norwegian former interim is only other Manchester United manager in the last 80 years to win their first four matches for the club. He was hastily handed a full-time contract and ended his permanent tenure crying in the Vicarage Road dressing room so must be branded a failure.
The theory goes that the same fate will inevitably befall Carrick should he be given the reins on a long-term basis. But history rarely repeats itself so precisely.
Carrick and Solskjær are very different figures. The former striker was detrimentally enthralled by the history of Manchester United, repeatedly harking back to the good old days and holding Sir Alex Ferguson in such high regard that he refused to use his parking space. Carrick is a decidedly more grounded character, plodding through his media appearances by trying to say the square root of nothing, let alone embarking upon any nostalgia trips.
It’s far too early to say if Carrick’s United will also face the same problem of breaking down low blocks which dogged Solskjær’s tenure—City, Arsenal and Fulham all came onto them while Spurs played for more than an hour with 10 men—but the early signs of sharpened passing and inventive movement out wide are promising.
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United’s hierarchy have to make their next appointment independent of what has gone before this current season. All too often clubs hire a coach as an over-correction on past incumbents; a strict disciplinarian (José Mourinho, for example) is replaced with a fun-loving vibes merchant (Solskjær, anyone?).
Unfortunately, the Sir Jim Ratcliffe era of decision-making has inspired little optimism of any coherent thought process—the contract Erik ten Hag was handed after finishing eighth two years ago wouldn’t have expired until this summer.
If a manager with the proven track record of winning and working well with a sporting director model like Enrique becomes available, how could United pass that up? Yet, if the only reason not to give Carrick the job next summer is because the last interim who was made permanent supposedly failed (after finishing third and second in his only two full seasons) then that is a ghost the club should look through.
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