Life after ETH — the next United manager

If we sack ten Hag who would you want as manager?

  • Massimiliano Allegri

    Votes: 24 1.7%

  • Rúben Amorim

    Votes: 289 21.0%

  • Michael Carrick

    Votes: 33 2.4%

  • Roberto de Zerbi

    Votes: 18 1.3%

  • Thomas Frank

    Votes: 70 5.1%

  • Sebastian Hoeneß

    Votes: 59 4.3%

  • Eddie Howe

    Votes: 6 0.4%

  • Simone Inzaghi

    Votes: 66 4.8%

  • Andoni Iraola

    Votes: 36 2.6%

  • Thiago Motta

    Votes: 8 0.6%

  • Julian Nagelsmann

    Votes: 256 18.6%

  • Graham Potter

    Votes: 26 1.9%

  • Ruud van Nistelrooy

    Votes: 30 2.2%

  • Marco Silva

    Votes: 8 0.6%

  • Xabi Alonso

    Votes: 217 15.8%

  • Xavi

    Votes: 58 4.2%

  • Kieran McKenna

    Votes: 81 5.9%

  • Unai Emery

    Votes: 90 6.5%

  • Fabian Hürzeler

    Votes: 1 0.1%
  • Total voters
    1,376
Just in! OLE has turned down talks about coaching Denmark due to negotiations with an unnamed big club (tipsbladet.dk at 21.11 today). It is from the serious danish footballmagazine Tipsbladet, and it is their top transfer journalist, Farsam Abolhosseini, bringing it as an exclusive. just over half an hour ago.

Is Ole on the way back as interim?
 
Zico1982 said:
Just in! OLE has turned down talks about coaching Denmark due to negotiations with an unnamed big club (tipsbladet.dk at 21.11 today). It is from the serious danish footballmagazine Tipsbladet, and it is their top transfer journalist, Farsam Abolhosseini, bringing it as an exclusive. just over half an hour ago.

Is Ole on the way back as interim?
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I’d be quite shocked but stranger things have happened
 
I'd have him until the end of the season. No more than that. He won't be any worse than ETH.
 
The ball is already rolling. vg.no, the biggest norweigan newspaper is also in on the news.
 
Zico1982 said:
The ball is already rolling. vg.no, the biggest norweigan newspaper is also in on the news.
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As I’m reading it really looks more likely. And maybe I’m not so against it if he’s an interim and we’re already working on a replacement in summer
 
Louis Van Gonads said:
I would actually be happy with Michael Carrick. I’m fed up with foreign managers.

His win rate at Middlesbrough is decent, not a million miles away from McKenna’s at Ipswich and I think he’s a much stronger character who would be more respected by the players.
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Mid table Middlesbrough manager….just what we need
 
Hasn’t Southgate just said he’s taking a year out before his next job… Ole as interim till he’s available? They wouldn’t, would they? :lol:
 
Zico1982 said:
Just in! OLE has turned down talks about coaching Denmark due to negotiations with an unnamed big club (tipsbladet.dk at 21.11 today). It is from the serious danish footballmagazine Tipsbladet, and it is their top transfer journalist, Farsam Abolhosseini, bringing it as an exclusive. just over half an hour ago.

Is Ole on the way back as interim?
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It will likely be a "big" club in Turkey or France as opposed to United. But I would take him as interim for the rest of the season if Tuchel/Amorim/Nagelsmann are all unwilling to start now or unwilling to move from their current post.

I don't want us to settle for a Potter like manager because he is the only option available.
 
stefan92 said:
I'm honestly struggling to call Conte, Tuchel and Inzaghi "up-and-coming" managers. Inzaghi managed Lazio and Inter for more than 400 games in total already, started early in 2016 (and before worked as a youth coach, I'm ignoring that). That's not an exciting youngster, that's a proven manager.
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Everyone was still calling Ten Hag "up-coming" manager in 2019 (the year his ajax team stormed the CL) and he was already 49 years old at that point.
 
The Indepent's reporting on the meeting earlier this week.

https://www.independent.co.uk/sport...ure-manchester-united-ratcliffe-b2627125.html

"...Sir Jim Ratcliffe requested Manchester United's football hierarchy put forward forensic cases for all potential scenarios on Erik ten Hag's future..."

"...Thomas Tuchel was spoken of as the most likely successor should that position change..."

'...One argument was made that was strongly in favour of a change now, but that was countered by the familiar caveats about how early in the new era it is, as well as the potential disruption from a change..."

"..It is nevertheless understood that United's discussions have reached such a level of detail that the topic of how the squad is currently more suited to four at the back than three at the back has been raised..."
 
A name came to me last night. It was one of those moments, like when you realise who the killer is in a TV show or movie, where the lightbulb comes on! Knew he’d be attainable and absolutely perfect for us.

Unfortunately I’ve since forgotten who it was!
 
mardika said:
Everyone was still calling Ten Hag "up-coming" manager in 2019 (the year his ajax team stormed the CL) and he was already 49 years old at that point.
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At the time EtH had managed around 200 matches less at top level (Utrecht and Ajax) than Inzaghi has now, and obviously the Eredivisie is at a lower level than Serie A. That's a massive gap in experience, so I am fine with calling EtH that at the time, while I clearly can disagree on Inzaghi. Even when EtH left Ajax he still had managed roughly 100 matches less than Inzaghi now.
 
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If they are waiting on for this preferred candidate, then is this a slight concern in that they’re demonstrating some inflexibility?

Also this supposed preferred candidate (if that is indeed the case) is going to have some pressure on him once he comes in, especially if we have another bad season because if he doesn’t do well then there’s going to be some concerns that INEOS sacrificed an entire season to get that guy and he isn’t amazing.
 
So many highly touted changes at the top floors just to allow a bad situation to fester (again) and then either turn to the first name a 5 year-old would come up with or perpetuate the navel-gazing of the post-SAF era (give it to * insert ex-player *) in search for a possible solution. Somewhere in London, Woody chuckles a bit as he's drinking his tea.
 
TheRedDevil'sAdvocate said:
So many highly touted changes at the top floors just to allow a bad situation to fester (again) and then either turn to the first name a 5 year-old would come up with or perpetuate the navel-gazing of the post-SAF era (give it to * insert ex-player *) in search for a possible solution. Somewhere in London, Woody chuckles a bit as he's drinking his tea.
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I, for one, was not expecting Ole's return at all.
 
pocco said:
If it's true, and that's a big if, hopefully he's just being considered as one of many options. And we opt for someone else.
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But wouldn't they be a little further in the proces than consideration, if he's turned down another offer? Wouldn't he have held all options open, if he wasn't confident of landing the proposed job from the "big club"?
 
Red Star One said:
I, for one, was not expecting Ole's return at all.
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There's probably nothing into it, but here we are discussing it (and Ruud). And you know what's the worst about it? It makes sense. In this never-ending cycle of constant assessments, of treating the managerial appointment as some sort of Arthurian legend, of repeating the same mistakes and expecting better results... why the hell not? Ultimately, we're not looking for a manager. Patience, longevity, the United way. We're (still) looking for Fergie's successor. Well, since the only two managers currently suited for the task (Pep and Klopp) will never accept it, why not settle for a familiar face as a placeholder (steady the ship, they call it) who can even become more permanent as we keep lowering the bar? And if you've seen that film before, we'll add another ex-legend from the good ol' days as the supporting cast to spice things up. It's 2024, after all, and the world is full of needless sequels. If you can't sell a future, just repackage the past and re-release it. You'd like to believe that INEOS, as outsiders, will be able to break this rotten cycle. But in the corner we have forced ourselves in, it is an option.
 
I have a mate at work who’s a city fan. And he raves about Thomas Frank and thinks we should go all out for him. He’d jump at the chance aswell mid season. Not sure what I think about him though.
 
DJ_21 said:
I have a mate at work who’s a city fan. And he raves about Thomas Frank and thinks we should go all out for him. He’d jump at the chance aswell mid season. Not sure what I think about him though.
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Never ever seen it with Frank and always surprised at the number of times he gets mentioned
 
Rolaholic said:
Never ever seen it with Frank and always surprised at the number of times he gets mentioned
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He took a Championship club that wasn't in the Premier League for over 70 years, promoted them and got them 9th and 13th place finishes in the first two top flight years. Only Guardiola is longer with a club than him in the league. Frank is the biggest success of those Championship level club becoming an established PL team without relegations (even if it was close one time). If his success at Brentford means he'd do well in such a different role as United manager is another discussion
 
Have voted for Xabi Alonso. Obviously a highly (completely?) unrealistic candidate, but he has a lot going for him and was a voteable option, so I couldn't resist the temptation! :eek:

Of the more realistic candidates, Thomas Tuchel might be a decent bet. With the presumption that: he's actually very excited about the job, will not try to influence transfer policy or needlessly meddle in the technical staff's affairs, and in coaching terms is somewhat close to the Tuchel we saw at, say, Chelsea.
  • In his first season they had the highest points per game in the Premier League after Manchester City, leapfrogging from 10th to 4th from time of appointment to the end of the season.
  • In this second season they had the highest points per game in the Premier League after Manchester City and Liverpool (both of these teams were simply a class apart).
  • On the continental front, they beat the likes of Atlético Madrid, Real Madrid and Manchester City to win the European Cup in his first season, conceding only 1 goal in those 5 matches. The following campaign was not as successful but they did reasonably well against eventual winners Real Madrid in the quarter-final stage.
  • As regards domestic cups, they reached the final of every single competition they participated in... FA Cup final in 2021 (had been knocked out of the League Cup prior to his appointment), as well the FA Cup final and League Cup final in 2022. Did not win any of them, but reaching all those finals was an accompishment in itself.
  • Record versus big or big-ish clubs in all competitions (excluding penalty shootouts): Real Madrid (DWLW, goal difference of +1), Manchester City (WWWLL, goal difference of +1), Liverpool (WDDDD, goal difference of +1), Manchester United (DDD, goal difference of 0), Juventus (LW, goal difference of +3), Atlético Madrid (WW, goal difference of +3), Tottenham (WWWWW, goal difference of +9), Arsenal (LWL, goal difference of -1). Not too shabby all things considered.
Cons are pretty well documented by now: his teams don't always play swashbuckling football, he's marmite in terms of likeability, he can be disagreeable to a fault, given his track record he's not likely to coach us in the medium to long term (this is a con for some, others are more pragmatic and neutral), the Bayern Munich stint was a bit concerning to say the least, et cetera.

But, given where we stand... 8th in the league last season, poor on the continental front, still not fundamentally sound, routinely clobbered by rivals (considering our record in all competitions since 2022): Manchester City (LWLLLW, goal difference of -7), Liverpool (WLDDWL, goal difference of -8), Barcelona (DW, goal difference of +1), Bayern Munich (LL, goal difference of -2), Tottenham (WDLDL, goal difference of -3), Arsenal (WLLL, goal difference of -2), I'd be satisfied with something approaching what he did at Chelsea: back to back top 4 finishes, doing quite well in the Champions League, reaching the latter stages of domestic cups, being fundamentally sound for the most part, and so forth.

This next manager doesn't necessarily have to be “the one”. Maybe we need to take things step by step, restore the club to a decent level of competency first, and level up as we progress (as opposed to building castles in the air from the very beginning). Manchester City took a while to get going, and new ownership had to wait 8 years for Pep Guardiola. Similar at Liverpool, where new ownership had to wait 5 years for Jürgen Klopp. Maybe Tuchel could prove to be “the one preceding the one”, or some such. The likes of Amorim, Hoeneß, Fàbregas, McKenna, Hürzeler are quite young (39, 42, 38, 37 and 31 years old respectively), Nagelsmann might decide the leave the German national team after the 2026 World Cup, and Tuchel has lasted an average of 2-ish years at Borussia Dortmund, Paris Saint-Germain, Chelsea and Bayern Munich, so the stars could feasibly align in terms of succession planning.
 
Invictus said:
Have voted for Xabi Alonso. Obviously a highly (completely?) unrealistic candidate, but he has a lot going for him and was a voteable option, so I couldn't resist the temptation! :eek:

Of the more realistic candidates, Thomas Tuchel might be a decent bet. With the presumption that: he's actually very excited about the job, will not try to influence transfer policy or needlessly meddle in the technical staff's affairs, and in coaching terms is somewhat close to the Tuchel we saw at, say, Chelsea.
  • In his first season they had the highest points per game in the Premier League after Manchester City, leapfrogging from 10th to 4th from time of appointment to the end of the season.
  • In this second season they had the highest points per game in the Premier League after Manchester City and Liverpool (both of these teams were simply a class apart).
  • On the continental front, they beat the likes of Atlético Madrid, Real Madrid and Manchester City to win the European Cup in his first season, conceding only 1 goal in those 5 matches. The following campaign was not as successful but they did reasonably well against eventual winners Real Madrid in the quarter-final stage.
  • As regards domestic cups, they reached the final of every single competition they participated in... FA Cup final in 2021 (had been knocked out of the League Cup prior to his appointment), as well the FA Cup final and League Cup final in 2022. Did not win any of them, but reaching all those finals was an accompishment in itself.
  • Record versus big or big-ish clubs in all competitions (excluding penalty shootouts): Real Madrid (DWLW, goal difference of +1), Manchester City (WWWLL, goal difference of +1), Liverpool (WDDDD, goal difference of +1), Manchester United (DDD, goal difference of 0), Juventus (LW, goal difference of +3), Atlético Madrid (WW, goal difference of +3), Tottenham (WWWWW, goal difference of +9), Arsenal (LWL, goal difference of -1). Not too shabby all things considered.
Cons are pretty well documented by now: his teams don't always play swashbuckling football, he's marmite in terms of likeability, he can be disagreeable to a fault, given his track record he's not likely to coach us in the medium to long term (this is a con for some, others are more pragmatic and neutral), the Bayern Munich stint was a bit concerning to say the least, et cetera.

But, given where we stand... 8th in the league last season, poor on the continental front, still not fundamentally sound, routinely clobbered by rivals (considering our record in all competitions since 2022): Manchester City (LWLLLW, goal difference of -7), Liverpool (WLDDWL, goal difference of -8), Barcelona (DW, goal difference of +1), Bayern Munich (LL, goal difference of -2), Tottenham (WDLDL, goal difference of -3), Arsenal (WLLL, goal difference of -2), I'd be satisfied with something approaching what he did at Chelsea: back to back top 4 finishes, doing quite well in the Champions League, reaching the latter stages of domestic cups, being fundamentally sound for the most part, and so forth.

This next manager doesn't necessarily have to be “the one”. Maybe we need to take things step by step, restore the club to a decent level of competency first, and level up as we progress (as opposed to building castles in the air from the very beginning). Manchester City took a while to get going, and new ownership had to wait 8 years for Pep Guardiola. Similar at Liverpool, where new ownership had to wait 5 years for Jürgen Klopp. Maybe Tuchel could prove to be “the one preceding the one”, or some such. The likes of Amorim, Hoeneß, Fàbregas, McKenna, Hürzeler are quite young (39, 42, 38, 37 and 31 years old respectively), Nagelsmann might decide the leave the German national team after the 2026 World Cup, and Tuchel has lasted an average of 2-ish years at Borussia Dortmund, Paris Saint-Germain, Chelsea and Bayern Munich, so the stars could feasibly align in terms of succession planning.
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The “Tuchel followed by Nagelsmann” timeline seems the best balance of ideal and realistic. Manchester City cut ties with an already successful Pellegrini to get Guardiola on board. Don’t see why we couldn’t do the same assuming Tuchel brings some level of success in the presumable two years tenure.
 
Probably Inzaghi or Nagelsmann if we can get them out of their current jobs.

I wouldn’t hate the idea of Tuchel either.
 
Florida Man said:
The “Tuchel followed by Nagelsmann” timeline seems the best balance of ideal and realistic. Manchester City cut ties with an already successful Pellegrini to get Guardiola on board. Don’t see why we couldn’t do the same assuming Tuchel brings some level of success in the presumable two years tenure.
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Yes! Or Bayern Munich at the turn of the previous decade. They were in a bit of a rut under Jürgen Klinsmann. In comes Louis van Gaal to shore things up and put some fundamentals in place — even taking them to the Champions League final in 2010, aside from winning the Bundesliga and DFB-Pokal. In a lot of ways he laid the foundation for following periods of success (greater emphasis on possession and positional play, promotion of Thomas Müller and David Alaba, permanently moving Bastian Schweinsteiger into the heart of midfield and so forth). They relieve him of his duties before 2 years of his tenure are up, instead of being guided by sentimentality (and sensing the threat of Klopp at Borussia Dortmund), pivot to Heynckes (who guides them to another Champions League final and then does something unprecedented in German football, winning them The Treble), before agreeing a deal for Pep Guardiola (in January of 2013, 5 months before he was supposed to officially take over from Heynckes). Even though Guardiola couldn't win them additional Champions League titles, the foresight and meticulousness in terms of succession planning was awe-inspiring.
 
LawCharltonBest said:
A name came to me last night. It was one of those moments, like when you realise who the killer is in a TV show or movie, where the lightbulb comes on! Knew he’d be attainable and absolutely perfect for us.

Unfortunately I’ve since forgotten who it was!
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Was it… you?
 
If we got Tuchel now there’d be a chance we made top 6. Then everything would implode during summer and start next season and we’d either fire him or keep him until end season with a team of uncommitted players. Ffs, please not him.
 
I don't follow La Liga anymore but i was surprised to see Xavi fired at the end of a season when Barcelona got 85 points.
We're settling for 60 :( with Mr NBA
 
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