Manchester United need a new manager as they search for the fifth permanent manager since Alex Ferguson’s retirement in 2013.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was perhaps the most successful manager at Old Trafford in terms of raising the atmosphere at the club, even if he was unable to deliver a trophy. Both Louis van Gaal and Jose Mourinho were able to add to their trophy cabinet in their own spells before the Norwegian, but the less said about David Moyes, the better.
United acted after Antonio Conte had been snapped up by Tottenham, so the list of top-flight managers able to step in mid-season has been slightly diminished. They could elect to appoint a stop-gap manager until the end of the current campaign if they know there is someone who can step in later. Temporary solutions include Michael Carrick, Ralf Rangnick, Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger, but let’s focus on the long term.
We look at the favourites to take the reins at United as their next permanent manager.
Zinedine Zidane - 3/1
Zidane has been without a gig since he left Real Madrid. The reason he left the first time around was because of a disagreement over transfer policy with Florentino Perez - so would he be interested in having discussions with Darren Fletcher about his recruitment requirements? Zidane is evidently a man of principle, and you can ask Marco Materrazzi to back up that argument, but he is also an exceptional manager.
United, untill Solskjaer, had a history of failing to properly support their managers in the transfer market and leave them at the whims of Ed Woodward. With the club now rudderless again, Zidane’s incredible achievements as player as manager, and Woodward due to leave the club soon, perhaps the Frenchman could be persuaded to take charge if he is assured of enough control and resources to play as he wants. Raphael Varane, Cristiano Ronaldo and Paul Pogba would surely welcome his arrival, too.
Michael Carrick - 4/1
Carrick has been around for Van Gaal, Mourinho and now Solskjaer. All three of those periods were either disappointing, boring, or both. As a player, one criticism might be that he left Old Trafford mucht the same player as when he arrived. That leaves question marks over his tactical nous. It is logical then to suspect he might not be the most effective coach available, which is what the clubneeds right now. United should make sure he is not given the permanent job, just as they should not have allowed Solskjaer to take over despite a few good results.
Brendan Rodgers - 5/1
As a former Liverpool manager, there should be no way he is allowed to take over at United. Further to that, his mini-resurgence at at Liverpool ultimately ended up with disarray and discontent on the pitch and at the boardroom. He has done his best work at smaller clubs like Leicester City, Swansea City and Celtic. There is no suggestion he can cut it at the top end, having failed to deliver Champions League finishes when they were there for the taking at the King Power, and he unfortunately bottled his only Premier League challenge with a little help from Steven Gerrard.
Ralf Rangnick - 8/1
Working as a director at Lokomotiv Moscow, he may be tempted back to Western Europe for a crack at one of the biggest footballing jobs in the world. Save for a couple of seasons as Red Bull Leipzig manager, he has spent most of the last decade higher up, developing clubs and their networks to be effective at the long term.
Rangnick is presumably not tempted by the basket case at Old Trafford, but it would make sense for the Glazers to hand over some influence to somebody who knows what they were doing, which would be something of a first. Giving him the rest of the season to finally coach the attacking players and organising the defence, before allowing him to run the football side of things from a strategy point of view next season and onwards, makes a lot of sense.
Erik ten Hag - 10/1
The Ajax manager represents something that appears utterly beyond figures of power at United. The Dutch side have joined up leadership, with Edwin van der Sar, Marc Overmars, and then Ten Hag to do the business on the pitch. The calm and considered approach from relatively intelligent men has given them success at home and impressed abroad, with Ajax’s young team punching above their weight and developing players with real potential.
Ten Hag deserves much of the credit for this, but would he want to leave halfway through a season to join a club with none of that intellectual infrastructure?