Feb 18
Giggs to replace Sir Alex?
Sir Alex Ferguson’s successor has for over a decade been the big white elephant in the room at Old Trafford. The club knows Fergie will eventually step down, the fans know it and the players know it. Names of managers more or less likely to takeover from Sir Alex have engulfed the papers’ sport pages with increasing insistence over the last 12 months, and a new candidate seems to have emerged.
The candidate, isn’t available to replace Sir Alex as yet, for he’s too busy scoring league goals at the tender age of 39.
Ryan Giggs was praised by Reading manager Brian McDermott, ahead of tonight’s FA Cup fixture between the two clubs at Old Trafford. Talking to the Mirror, McDermott said:
“I met him [Ryan Giggs] at Burton. He was doing his pro-licence and he has all the ingredients to be a top manager.
“I was really impressed, he came up to me and shook my hand. He is humble and quiet.
“I asked him how many medals he had won. He was very blase and just said 12. I asked what he did with them all and he said they were in museums. He was a polite man.
“I’ve read a lot on Bill Shankly and what he did – Jock Stein, too. Sir Alex Ferguson also has to be right up there.
“From when he took over to where they are now is incredible. I have a lot of time for him.”
While picturing Giggsy in the dug-out barking instructions would please the romantics, the Welshman is likely to be the first to shy away from the hot-seat for he obviously doesn’t possess the required experience to succeed Sir Alex. On the other hand, Giggs could follow Ole Gunnar Solksjaer’s path and become involved with coaching the reserves, an experience that has prove invaluable for the Norwegian, who has since won two league titles in Norway.
Any odds on United beating Barcelona in the 2020 Champions League final with Giggsy and Ole on the bench?
Dan (@mufc_dan87)
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Tags: Manchester United News
The_Philosopher (487)
Redrich (254)
Opti (215)
Stephen (187)
Moscow (150)
I would LOVE Ole/Giggs as Manager after Fergie retires.
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@Jack: Do they have the requisite experience though?
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Who will take over from Fergie?
hmmmmm. Thats a tough one.
Jose Mourinho isn’t as hot a candidate as he once was. Too much of a hothead.
David moyes in tandem with Gary Neville would be my next best bet.
David Moyes, Ole Gunar Solksjaer, Rene Mulensteen, Gary Neville.
Those would be four of the heads I would want seated around United’s tactics table.
Giggs? Maybe later. After Moyes carries us through the transition into a post-Ferguson United. Then him and Ole can fight it out for the number one spot
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@The_Philosopher: I don’t understand the fascination with Moyes. Sure, he has taken Everton to consistent top 8 finishes on a relatively small budget, but what has he won? Is he really a good manager under pressure? What trophies has he won that would illustrate that he can actually perform in big games? How is his Champions League record?
Ferguson before United: 10 trophies with Aberdeen in a Rangers-Celtic dominated SPL. Even beat Munich and Madrid to win Cup Winner’s Cup with Aberdeen…
What has Moyes won besides: “keeping Everton in top half on shoe-string budget”?
Moyes has no experience at the highest level besides being part of a winning Celtic side in the early 80s as a player.
Moyes, no thank you!
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@Opti: Moyes would be a disaster for United.
He has survived by keeping Everton in the PL only, and that’s not a good enough CV to take United forward, on from the last 26 years.
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@Redrich: Yes that doesn’t sound too hot on your CV when you’re applying for the top job in football.
But I don’t think he will be that bad.
I really believe he might be able to make the grade at United. He just needs a chance.
Who else is there? Maybe the Dortmond coach Jurgen Klopp?
Who is more qulaified than Jose Mourinho to take over from Sir Alex Ferguson?
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@Opti: Moyes works hard.
I tend to trust people who work hard.
But you’re right. He hasn’t won anything where as Ferguson had won before coming to United.
I guess with Moyes it just seems like with the right resources he could do great things.
Not winning things in the past doesn’t preclude him from winning things in the future. Your environment/circumstances plays a critical role in your success as well.
Mourinho had a limitless budget at Chelsea. Would he have won the title twice with just the initial crop of players he inherited?
Solksjaer doesn’t have enough experience. Moyes does. Thats why I would partner them.
Moyes has the experience of managing a top flight club. And Everton aren’t doing too badly either.Ole has the tradition of playing for the club and experience of working with Ferguson.
Solksjaer and Gary Neville would be my dream partnership when they both have enough experience.
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@The_Philosopher: “And Everton aren’t doing too badly either.” — how can you keep fans happy without a trophy? Besides FA Cup final recently against Chelsea (where they squandered an early lead), what do Everton fans have to be happy about? The occasional top-4 scalp?
If Moyes had ambition, he would AT LEAST require more resources and bring Everton ahead of Liverpool in pecking order. Also, his performance in Europe is abysmal.
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How many players-cum-managers have actually succeeded at big clubs with high expectations? Guardiola (who had holy trinity of modern football at his disposal)? Roberto di Matteo (if you consider him successful today)?
Managers make mistakes and young managers make more mistakes. Can United afford mistakes from manager? Can we go 5 years without a trophy and be satisfied until Manager X learns his/her way around the club? I don’t think so.
Bring in a big name with OGS/Giggs/Neville/Scholes as assistants and coaches or send them out to learn their trade at smaller clubs. Bring them back when they can walk… tradition is preserved and Reds go marching on on on!
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@Opti: Mostly agree about that. Players only make good managers when they haven’t been players for a long time.
It’s not so much to do with experience, it’s all about forgetting the emotional side of the business and focusing, with Shark eyes, on the Prize at hand.
United players probably have a leg up in this respect, and so the likes of OGS, Giggs and Neville, will have learned the “facts-of-life” of Football management before most.
But they have to serve their time before becoming a comer for any large club and they have to prove their steel toward adverse ownership’s and temperamental players.
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