While Louis Van Gaal seems to have weathered the storm for now and remains in charge of Manchester United, thoughts should be already turned to who will replace him when he leaves in the summer of 2017.
While Jose Mourinho sits eagerly by the phone waiting for
the phone call many believe he has craved for a long time to manage Manchester
United and follow in the footsteps of the great Sir Alex Ferguson, many also
believe it is a phone call that will never come citing Mourinho’s baggage and
the negative side of his reputation has led United influential figures like Sir
Bobby Charlton to publicly dismiss Mourinho as a possible future United manager
in the past.
United appear to have ruled out Mourinho or they are taking
a risk in hoping Mourinho will be available if and when they decide to dispense
with Van Gaal. Carlo Ancelotti has also
decided to leave for Bayern Munich and he will only be a year into his job when
Van Gaal retires, effectively ruling him out of the running. Pep Guardiola seemingly has a host of clubs
chasing him and with his decision to come to the Premier League next season it
seems United are unwilling to sack another manager after the sacking of David
Moyes so will too miss out on Guardiola.
According to widespread rumours Guardiola has already chosen Manchester
City as his next destination. Jurgen
Klopp has moved across to the rivals and the prospect in him jumping ship for
Old Trafford is as likely as Aston Villa avoiding the drop this season.
Manchester United’s plan has been for Ryan Giggs to take
over the reigns after Louis Van Gaal brings the curtain down on his Old
Trafford career and indeed his managerial career as he has indicated. It is a massive job for any manager in taking
over Old Trafford. Sir Alex struggled in
his first years at United and it is incredible to think how close he came to
getting the sack and how different Manchester United’s history would be if he
had left. It is hard to imagine someone
would have done a better job than Ferguson managed in his 26 years at the
helm. David Moyes was next up and with
over 10 years in management he struggled badly and looked totally out of his
depth. In came Louis Van Gaal, a man
with decades of experience in the game and he too has struggled to get things
right at the club. Many believe Jose
Mourinho too would struggle to turn the fortunes around and would need time and
a lot of money to put things right.
Ryan Giggs is a United legend and forever will be so at
Manchester United. The United job will
come too soon for Giggs and perhaps he will be more suited to staying on in his
assistant’s role for the time being and work alongside the next manager. While many names have been mentioned all the
usual candidates and with Manchester United seemingly preferring to go with a
United legend and keeping it within the club. The man they should be after is
Mark Hughes.
The idea of a former Manchester City manager coming to
manage Manchester United may not sound too appealing to Manchester United but
this is Mark Hughes, a legend at the club and a man who always gets a great reception
when he returns to the theatre of dreams.
Having played for top clubs in United, Barcelona, Bayern Munich and
Chelsea among others he brings a wealth of experience. He has also been a manager since 1999 and has
done very well with many believing he was unlucky to get the chop at Manchester
City. He has had many jobs in the
Premier League and with the jobs he has done he is always in demand. He has built a
formidable reputation for himself and the job he has done so far at Stoke City
has been remarkable. He faced a tough
job in taking over from Tony Pulis and in changing everyone’s opinion of Stoke
City and their style of play. He has
changed their style, brought in quality players that in fairness should be at a
higher level than Stoke City and he is one game away from taking Stoke City to
a League Cup final at Wembley.
Hughes has been associated with Manchester United since the
summer of 1980 and in his two spells at Old Trafford he has earned his
reputation as a United legend. The idea
of Mark Hughes and Ryan Giggs partnership at Old Trafford should be appealing
to the vast majority of Manchester United fans and Hughes deserves another shot
at the top with managing a top club. Hughes and Giggs go way back with their time
together at United, their time together with the Wales National side and the
fact they are both Welshmen at Old Trafford this could prove a useful tool in louring
Gareth Bale to Manchester United. The possibility of linking up with two Wales
legends could be too much too turn down should Bale decide to leave Spain. These players would have been idols to young boys and girls in the late 80's and 90's in Wales and Bale more than likely had their posters on his bedroom wall. A chance to learn from them both and especially for Bale to work with and learn from Giggs has too be an advantage over other clubs chasing him.
Hughes has also earned the right to take over a top club and
would be eager to show City they were wrong to dismiss him. United are a family club and talk in the
stands to get back to the United way would surely be rectified should we go
double Welsh at United. Hughes will bring that much need passion on the
touchline that has been missing since the days of Sir Alex. Moyes looked lost
on the touch line while Van Gaal never leaves his seat. Hughes would restore that passion and the possibility
of managing in the Champions League will be an added bonus for him.
As for Giggs he will have more control under
Hughes with the restraints of the Van Gaal regime lifted Giggs will continue to
learn as a manager from a manager who he should aim to emulate. While we cannot deny Louis Van Gaal has been
a great manager and we don’t want to be sacking another manager. The fact
remains in the summer of 2017 we will be looking for another manager. Many believe it will be a Welsh man next at
the helm at Old Trafford, but that Welshman should be Mark Hughes.
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