Jul 12
Who Is Your Choice For United’s Number 2?
Carlos Queiroz’s second stint at United ended yesterday officially as he took up the top job as Portugal’s coach.
It remains to be seen, however, if United are looking to get a replacement manager from abroad or just looking to promote personnel from within the club’s coaching hierarchy. So let’s spend a little while talking on who you think to be ideally suited to the assistant manager job.
Before we pick out names let’s decide what we want from our number two. An assistant:
- should be technically and tactically astute. He is the one that runs the daily training sessions as the manager looks on from a distance. Fergie has tended to be less hands on than he used to be in his early days, so a willingness to oversee daily training is a must.
- should be a guidance counsellor — someone the players can look to fall back on during the toughest of times — a friend, a father figure.
- should be conversant in a number of languages, typically reflective of the composition of our side. So a Portuguese/Spanish tilt would be ideal. He is basically the one that listens to players almost daily, so communication is vital.
- should be of a certain pedigree; after all this is Manchester United we’re talking about.
- could, as an optional attribute, be well connected all over the place so that upcoming talent can be scouted.
- should be able to deal with the media, because Fergie won’t talk to the BBC.
I’ll throw four candidates and give a two pennies worth on each. And I’d like some ideas from you all too.
Laurent Blanc — Has had a successful start to his managerial career with Bordeaux. But I haven’t seen enough to really judge him, although he has been touted as being a possible candidate. However I think he lacks experience.
Michael Laudrup — Very impressive with Getafe, although he may lack experience. Fluent in different languages, and will command respect from players. Wouldn’t mind seeing him at United.
Eric Cantona — has charisma but little experience. Can’t say much although it would get lot of fans excited. And we’ll get to see colourful interviews on MoTD
Frank Rijkaard — Has European pedigree and experience at top clubs. Can speak English, Spanish, Dutch and Italian. Must have learned some Portuguese considering the large Portuguese contingent he managed at Barca. However, not sure of his tactical nous because it was widely thought that Ten Cate was the tactical man.
Manuel Pelligrini — I’d love this guy to come over to United because he seems to get so much out of rejects and potentially good players. I know there is little chance of that happening, plus I’m not sure if he speaks English. This Villarreal coach has got the best out of players like Riquelme (although he did fallout later on) and an ageing Robert Pires — not to mention, Diego Forlan and Rossi. He also seems to have excellent contacts as he seems to have an eye on the bargain buys.
There, those were some of my candidates. Now your turn…
* * *
The entire press corps are running with the story that United have lodged a £20 million bid for Dimitar Berbatov. Not entirely sure if Spurs would be interested to sell for that much. But there are reports that the lily whites might settle for something in that region because they may need to raise some cash for buying Espanyol’s Luis Garcia. So two and two add up to umm… something. I don’t know, and I don’t care. I’d stick with: show me the money (or rather, show me a transfer) before I even begin to care. At the moment though, the press can wet themselves wild with speculation. I’ll read them for my own err, reading pleasure. There may be some merit to the story, but let’s wait and watch.
Back to the topic, assistant managers… I want assistant managers! Go on, give us a shout.
Related items from Red Rants:
- United’s debt situation explained
- Fast and hard, fast and hard.
- United’s £100k+ Christmas party, useless Shorey, Arsenal will stumble and of course, Rooney is better than Kaka
- Manchester United’s Munich tribute on 6 Feb 2008
- Interview with Aon – Manchester United’s future sponsors
Tags: Manchester United News
Craig Mc (195)
RedDevilEddy (170)
Opti (135)
Moscow is my heaven (96)
Ian (95)
@Rd: He said it in 2005 when he played in Argentina. He said it after a game when he wore a United shirt. Kinda like Tevez eh?
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@Peterson: PRO is for misfits and juvenile delinquents who suffer from ADD and irritable bowel syndrome. The game and its lovers all blow chunks and they can all piss off too. Now on the other hand, if one is referring to PES for the XBOX 2005/2006 version, then I am in agreement. Otherwise save the praise for a game only a group of Neanderthals who enjoy looking at bright and shIny objects while they hang in a tree an drool over a bunch of bananas can appreciate. Lord give me strength. That game is so God damned easy to play I can tie one hand behind my back and use one hand and my big toe and win. “Even footballers prefer it?” You mean even footballs prefer it? CHILDISH!
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@Tomas: This possible deal to get Aguero is totally contingent on selling Ronaldo. It’s Fergie’s backup plan. We will be getting Berbatov anyway and the money we get from the Ronaldo sale will buy Aguero. But I still worry about Arsenal after this Yabbadabbado sale as well, this could be nothing more than mega media manipulation by Aguero’s agent to get a better contract for Aguero from Atletico. But I’ll remain positive for a change. WEEEE! Look at meeeee. I’m being positive Yeah!
Stop the presses EXTRA EXTRA READ ALL ABOUT IT! Grognard has been take over by aliens and is acting positive. Film at 11:00.
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@Duffstuff: Dropping Giggs? Are you kidding me mate? Giggs should have been dropped last year. And Nani still has a role to play. By the way, when did Fergie guarantee Nani a starting role? Wherever you read that it’s BS. Fergie doesn’t guarantee anything to anybody. It’s not his style. Secondly we can get both Aguero and Berbatov as Aguero will be paid for by the money that comes from the Ronaldo sale. Berbatov is being paid for by the yearly transfer kitty that has been allotted to Fergie.
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@RedDevil: First of all,I don’t worry about buying players if I want to just play with what I consider a dream team. I just go get the player and place them on the team before I enter a competition. Now if you want my all time team and the team of my dreams it’s as follows; This also is the team I would choose before Ronaldo broke my heart. 4-4-2
First Team
GK BORUC
RWB LAHM
CB RIO
CB VIDIC
LWB EVRA
RMF RONALDO
CMF BALLACK
CMF HARGREAVES
LMF RIQUELME
ST MESSI
ST HUNTELAAR
2nd Team
GK NEUER
RWB RAMOS
CB MERTESACKER
CB DEMICHELIS
LWB ZHIRKOV
RMF SNEIJDER
CM ARSHAVIN
CM ESSIEN
LMF RIBERY
ST TONI
ST AGUERO
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@Rd: With Ronaldo present? Trust me mate, Ronaldo is history. He yesterday’s news, he’s out of here. Don’t cling to that fantasy because you will be sadly disappointed.
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@colver: Interesting that you don’t include Tevez in any of your starting teams. I would have thought he would start in the non important games at least.
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@RedDevil: Too Sweeeeet! And just for that great reason alone…….Fergie won’t go after him. He wants to go after players who couldn’t care less about United. Huntelaar and Aguero want to play for United therefore, they have no chance. It’s like the tv show Star Trek Many famous actors wanted to be cast for the many versions of the show but they always cast people who hated or were indifferent to the show. I for one don’t get that kind of mentality.
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You got to wonder if the team is cursed or if some kind of conspiracy is a foot because it just gets worse by the day. Read below;
From that bastian of professional journalism and flagship of London fainess and objectivity THE SUN;
RIO FERDINAND’S moment of madness at Stamford Bridge last season could cost him the England captaincy. Ferdinand, 30, faces a possible four-game ban and £200,000 fine for kicking a female Chelsea steward after the Battle of the Bridge in April. SunSport can reveal FA chiefs have requested photos and witness statements from Blues staff about the incident, when the Manchester United defender kicked tunnel steward Tracy Wray. She needed hospital treatment for severe bruising to her left thigh and belatedly received some flowers from him by way of an apology. Disciplinary chiefs are due to examine the evidence and the United star could miss the start of the season with a ban.
He faces being charged with gross misconduct and bringing the game into disrepute, while United could also face charges of failing to control their players. The scandal may also count against his candidacy for the England skipper’s job.
God give me mercy and end this misery once and for all.
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@Grognard: Eeehhh I don’t know if Wenger would be looking towards Aguero…
I watched the Euros in French with commentary from him and he was gushing all over…
Arshavin!
So for me the Adabayor money would be used to buy Arshavin, with the player already making ccomments as to how he’d love to play at the Emirates too…
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@Nico QB: This is true and I hope for our sake it is plus, he is apparently trying to hijack Barry from Liverpool too. I just hope this Aguero news is true and it is us who are after him. I also read that Ronaldo will now be out for three months.
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I would never worry about wenger in a transfer battle. Yeah he got ramsey, but thats only because Fergie didnt want him as badly as wenger. When push comes to shove, Wenger will back out when the price starts to rise.
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@Grognard: You read what his agent said right??? Top English and European team…I don’t think Arsenal qualifies as a top European team cus they’ve never won any trophy and even though pool has the highest number of league trophies, they haven’t been top English team for a while. I still think its us plus where’s Arsenal getting the £35m to buy Aguero? I still think its between us and more of Liverpool than Arsenal, Arsenal is totally out of it.
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I live on the west coast of the US, so naturally I dont make it to a lot of the games. In reality I havent been to any games. I was planning on making a trip around april or march to Manchester. I was wondering if any of you guys not living in the UK have had made the journey to old trafford and could give me any tips or suggestions. most likely I will be travelling by my damn self.
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@Grognard: Call me crazy, but i’m still one of those people who think he’s here for the 2008/2009 season and then he’ll be off after that.
@Grognard: Really now, lets put things into perspective before we start believing them. Except if Le Arse suddenly struck oil under the Emirates, where are they actually getting the money for the people they’re linked to: Veloso, Arshavin, Barry, Aguero, Huntelaar, thats almost £100m, even if they sell the players that are looking likely to leave, theres no way in hell the stingy git would spend that much on transfers. Arsenal is definitely not getting Barry nor Aguero. Probably Arshavin plus some cheap £5-11m signing he can get his hands on.
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@Rd: Don’t fool yourself. In the real world of European football both Arsenal and Liverpool are members of the G14. They are bigger than Chelsea because both have won way more trophies than Chelsea historically. They are footballing giants with great pedigree and Liverpool arguably have a greater pedigree in European competition, albeit not in the past 20 years. Historymeans everything in Europe.
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@Rd: OK, you’re crazy!
Arsenal are playing a game of oneupmanship. They are linking themselves with a number of player so that they can see what kind of interest they generate and then they will pounce on the one they feel most comfortable with. They also want to create stress and paranoia amongst their competitors. This is also the London Media who constantly do Arsenal’s bidding for them whether the Gooners want them to or not.
Of all the players they are linked with, they will buy one. I expect it to be either Arshavin or Huntelaar. Veloso is way overpriced, Barry wants to go to Liverpool and Aguero is too expensive and a United fan. Huntelaar is second choice to Berbatov in Fergie’s eyes and Arshavin is priced to high for an Eastern European and thus there are no other takers. The only way to get Aguero is to sell Adebayor and then throw another 15 to 20 million on top of that. I just can’t see Wenger doing that. His MO would be to take that money and buy 5 young players and breast feed them and diaper change them until they are ready and they want to go to Spain or Italy. Poor French Bugger!
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@Grognard: Grognard can you please stop being a hypocrite mate. “The game and its lovers all blow chunks and they can all piss off too”.. how about you piss off for a change if someone else had made that comment all hell would break loose with throwing a whole bunch of absurd comments about being rude and the freedom of speech or whatever. i personally love pro evo and i do not liek to be told to blow chunks or piss off. dont say things you wouldnt like being said to you please.
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Hello everyone, I’m back — sorry to be off all day, will read these comments later, but on the outset you lot have behaved for most part. So thanks for that.
Put up a new post for now. Got some errands to run — so will be back later.
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@Mike: I was joking and it was said with humorous intent the way somebody would stick up for their car over somebody else’s. So relax mate. I do believe the game sucks and I gave my reasons why but the rest was all intended as friendly banter.
Sorry you took it so badly. Maybe I should have used a few more smilies. And I too love the older version of the game on XBOX. So I am not totally opposed to the franchise. In fact, I’d take the older versions of the game over any FIFA 08 game. My apologies mate.
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@Peterson: Sticks and stones fellas….sticks and stones. Actually I’m impressed. A couple of PES players who can form a sentence and spell too. WOW! Impressive!
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wow funny….
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@Peterson: Not as funny as you mate.
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