Next permanent manager | Poll updated

Who should be the next permanent manager?

  • Luis Enrique

    Votes: 113 7.4%
  • Erik ten Hag

    Votes: 1,300 84.7%
  • Julen Lopetegui

    Votes: 10 0.7%
  • Mauricio Pochettino

    Votes: 79 5.1%
  • None of the above

    Votes: 32 2.1%

  • Total voters
    1,534
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Thanks for the informative reply. I agree that the hope is footballing people making footballing decisions. Would be interested to know what they think of our general level of performance over the last year or two. Would also be quite intriguing to know whether any of them have tried to put forth the case to address midfield, which is clearly an enormous issue for Ole.

While I agree with you that the most important feature of a new manager should be positive entertaining football, they'll still have to be able to handle the pressure that comes with this job. Which makes it quite tricky. As is, Ole is doing neither. He's dealt with the pressure well up until this season when expectations were finally externally enforced upon us (thankfully) due to the signings made.

What do you think will come of the coaching staff if a new manager comes in? I've not seen any interviews with (or articles on) Carrick and McKenna, other than early days on Mckenna when he was making the grade as a youth coach.
I can only speculate and give you my opinion. But i'd say when the manager predates the DoF, then the manager still holds significant power as far as shaping the squad over the new guy. The recruitment staff who are on the transfer committee (Bout, Lawlor and Court) have had the power of veto on potential incoming targets since 2018, but as far as I know they don't have the power to influence the manager when it comes to how he's looking to shape the first team squad. And it's only since March this year when we appointed a figure head for the recruitment department in John Murtough (Sports Scientist) which has now put the recruitment department in a position to potentially influence the shape/direction of the football side of the club. But you have to remember that Solskjaer still wields significant power on the recruitment side and the midfield issues at the club are exacerbated even further by his own decisions. Solskjaer has Donny, Pogba and Hannibal (who is one of the biggest young midfield talents in Europe) at his disposal and still persists on using McFred who are probably the worst midfield pairing in the league.

One would assume a new Head Coach would want to have someone in his back-room staff who will help him acclimatise and settle into his new surroundings. So from the current staff I'd say Kieran McKenna would be the one i'd keep due to his knowledge of the first team and youth at the club. And if we appointed someone like Ten Hag, then I also see the benefits in Ten Hag bringing in his fellow Dutchman Rene Muelensteen who could really help him thrive in the job. The rest of the staff should be moved on and in some cases come out of their comfort zone.
 
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I have not seen that much of Ten Hag. Potter I like his football but where he has the capacity to take on such a high pressure job is questionable. Where he even wants to take it also another matter.
I also do not see Ole getting the sack unless things really go belly up before Christmas time. If he is in with a shout of getting CL then he will be kept at least until the end of the season.
I do not want Southgate no matter what. Not even Woodgate nor Northgate.
 
Thomas Frank but in truth until we get owners that are actually going to back our managers in the transfer market none of this matters
Give me what you're smoking. Our managers not backed in the transfer market :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:
 
I hope he is a no nonsense manager without favouritism, and with winning mentality
If a player don't give 110% take him off, no matter who.
Attacking football but also able to defend.
 
I can only speculate and give you my opinion. But i'd say when the manager predates the DoF, then the manager still holds significant power as far as shaping the squad over the new guy. The recruitment staff who are on the transfer committee (Bout, Lawlor and Court) have had the power of veto on potential incoming targets since 2018, but as far as I know they don't have the power to influence the manager when it comes to how he's looking to shape the first team squad. And it's only since March this year when we appointed a figure head for the recruitment department in John Murtough (Sports Scientist) which has now put the recruitment department in a position to potentially influence the shape/direction of the football side of the club. But you have to remember that Solskjaer still wields significant power on the recruitment side and the midfield issues at the club are exacerbated even further by his own decisions. Solskjaer has Donny, Pogba and Hannibal (who is one of the biggest young midfield talents in Europe) at his disposal and still persists on using McFred who are probably the worst midfield pairing in the league.

One would assume a new Head Coach would want to have someone in his back-room staff who will help him acclimatise and settle into his new surroundings. So from the current staff I'd say Kieran McKenna would be the one i'd keep due to his knowledge of the first team and youth at the club. And if we appointed someone like Ten Hag, then I also see the benefits in Ten Hag bringing in his fellow Dutchman Rene Muelensteen who could really help him thrive in the job. The rest of the staff should be moved on and in some cases come out of their comfort zone.

Yeah, it is promising for sure. You're right though, it's so easy to be paranoid (or logically doubtful) given the ownership of the club and how things have unravelled dramatically post SAF, so we could only hope that the new positions will hold more control upon the search and appointment of a new head coach.

Not a bad shout either with Muelensteen. Rose was our dream option prior to taking over at Dortmund, and his #2 is by all accounts excellent. Do you know more about Ten Hag's coaching staff?

As before, I'd worry that players who have underperformed would keep getting chances with a managerial change. There are quite a few important decisions to make for next season. We'll have Ronaldo and he'll need to play, same with Bruno, and I'd say the same with Greenwood. Those three are fixed really. If Pogba is to not upset the balance of the team, there'll need to be a pretty dramatic improvement to our structure and tactics.

Another major decision is whether or not the club is going full tilt for Haaland next summer, and what that means for the team shape, and how that impacts Bruno, Greenwood, and Ronaldo. We know Cavani is likely just here for this season, but will the club retain Lingard and reward him +100K a week deal for 3-4 years to be a rarely used squad player, or will a new head coach want to promote youth instead or acquire his own targets from the get go.

If that personnel is vested with some autonomy and leverage, there surely is a process ongoing in preparation for a managerial change. One would hope anyway.
 
Pochettino or Rodgers are the only two i can realistically see being offered it.

Of course, nobody would have predicted Solskjaer to be our next manager when Mourinho was sacked. But they'll surely play it safer this time. Someone relatively young with experience of managing top players.
 
I would hope Barcelona would pick Xavi, and Ten Hag would keep as an option.
 
As far as I'm concerned Ole isn't a "head coach".

We haven't moved on from the old model - have we? Made some steps, some changes - sure. But actually moved on from it? No - unless people think that Murtough is now level with Ole in terms of influence on the football side.

Just pointing this out.
 
Yeah, it is promising for sure. You're right though, it's so easy to be paranoid (or logically doubtful) given the ownership of the club and how things have unravelled dramatically post SAF, so we could only hope that the new positions will hold more control upon the search and appointment of a new head coach.

Not a bad shout either with Muelensteen. Rose was our dream option prior to taking over at Dortmund, and his #2 is by all accounts excellent. Do you know more about Ten Hag's coaching staff?

As before, I'd worry that players who have underperformed would keep getting chances with a managerial change. There are quite a few important decisions to make for next season. We'll have Ronaldo and he'll need to play, same with Bruno, and I'd say the same with Greenwood. Those three are fixed really. If Pogba is to not upset the balance of the team, there'll need to be a pretty dramatic improvement to our structure and tactics.

Another major decision is whether or not the club is going full tilt for Haaland next summer, and what that means for the team shape, and how that impacts Bruno, Greenwood, and Ronaldo. We know Cavani is likely just here for this season, but will the club retain Lingard and reward him +100K a week deal for 3-4 years to be a rarely used squad player, or will a new head coach want to promote youth instead or acquire his own targets from the get go.

If that personnel is vested with some autonomy and leverage, there surely is a process ongoing in preparation for a managerial change. One would hope anyway.
His current assistant coaches at Ajax are Winston Bogarde and Mitchell Van der Gaag. The goalkeeping coach is Anton Schuetjens with former Dutch international Richard Witschge working as the individual coach (I'm assuming means he coaches individual plays). Ten Hag also had Alfred Schreuder on his coaching staff but he left for Barcelona to become Koeman's assistant. So IMO if Ten Hag was appointed United head coach it would be a good move bringing Schreuder back into his back room staff due to his experience as a coach and head coach.

The above aren't really known names but they assist Ten Hag who himself is the Coach who leads the training sessions.
 
Oh god yes he is the English Ole :lol:

Id much rather keep Ole than have him
That doesn't make Ole a better manager. I'd keep Ole too for the sake of him being a United legend, but they're the same caliber of managers, tbh.
 
As far as I'm concerned Ole isn't a "head coach".

We haven't moved on from the old model - have we? Made some steps, some changes - sure. But actually moved on from it? No - unless people think that Murtough is now level with Ole in terms of influence on the football side.

Just pointing this out.
Murtough is level with Solskjaer which has been reported by The Athletic. He also has has overall responsibility of the football side of the club as reported by the club via the official site.
 
Thomas Frank but in truth until we get owners that are actually going to back our managers in the transfer market none of this matters

How many billions are we supposed to spend? We outspend 99.9% of clubs in the world. We probably outspend some small countries ffs.
 
That doesn't make Ole a better manager. I'd keep Ole too for the sake of him being a United legend, but they're the same caliber of managers, tbh.
Yup that's why. I dont think Southgate is better or worse.

At this stage Id take anyone with coaching pedigree. Heck give me Frank from Brentford and I would be excited. We havent had a single manager who is in tune with the modern game.
 
Which manager is really available? I dont want a Carrick until the end of the season scenario because every good coach is hired until at least June.
 
Generally? Debatable. For a German? No Chance.
If Liverpool can still hold onto Klopp after 6 years i’m sure Utd can get Hansi Flick. Utd are notorious of paying top dollar for their managers....ole is on a great contract considering his pedigree as a manager....remember Jose was able to negotiate £20m with the Utd board should they ever sack him... Money really talks...i agree it would be hard but if the current options being mentioned are Conte, Zidane, Potter and ten Hag, then taking a calculated punt on Flick would be a no brainer...also i can’t imagine the German national team demanding a considerable amount of compensation should a Flick says he want to leave....i cant seeing him coming to Utd in the future after his German contract ends as the competition for his services would be high...all the top jobs are currently well coached...maybe Barca being the exception, but they usually go for a Latin or a someone who has previously played for them...ineasta looks more likely
He just took over German national team. He is not leaving a year ahead of the world cup. This is just a pipe dream.
if it is a pipe dream, then why are we even talking about Southgate....England job bigger than German job imho...also I remember correctly didn’t a Spanish coach recently left his role at Spain’s manager to take over at Real Madrid just before a major competition...The great Tommy Docherty resigned from his role as Scotland manager to take over Utd back in the seventies....I agree he has just got his feet under the table but c’mon this is Utd...the job doesn’t always come up....besides Ole will keep his job until the end of the season...after a years as national manager and after the WC, he may fancy Club management.
 
He also has has overall responsibility of the football side of the club as reported by the club via the official site.

Nice!

Then everything's in place.

We can just sack Ole right now and replace him with whoever Murtough thinks would be better.
 
Would be very interesting to see what Graham Potter could do with our squad. He is doing a fantastic job with Brighton. What he did at Östersund was also great.

However, managing a squad filled with stars could be a completely different ball game for him.
 
Would be very interesting to see what Graham Potter could do with our squad. He is doing a fantastic job with Brighton. What he did at Östersund was also great.

However, managing a squad filled with stars could be a completely different ball game for him.
The expectation would be too much. I don’t think we can afford to take that risk. I’d take Conte - he’s a winner and we need to win things, fast. The football cannot be worse than it currently is.
 
The expectation would be too much. I don’t think we can afford to take that risk. I’d take Conte - he’s a winner and we need to win things, fast. The football cannot be worse than it currently is.

Yeah, not knowing how Potter deals with expectations and pressure makes it hard to stand completely behind appointing him. A team like either Spurs, Everton or Villa could be a better step for him if any of those jobs become available soon.
 
Yup that's why. I dont think Southgate is better or worse.

At this stage Id take anyone with coaching pedigree. Heck give me Frank from Brentford and I would be excited. We havent had a single manager who is in tune with the modern game.

Sad but such a depressingly true take.

How is that even possible, 8yrs and 4 managers later when you see everywhere the success enjoyed by managers like Pep, Klopp, Flick, Nagelsman, Tuchel etc. Granted there's also been success for Conte, Simeone, Zidane... But so many modern managers... And yet we have had 4 old school guys... Sigh
 
Surely the links to Southgate are a joke? He's actually worse than Ole.
 
Nice!

Then everything's in place.

We can just sack Ole right now and replace him with whoever Murtough thinks would be better.
I don't think they will sack him now, because that would be a bit premature imo due to it being early in the season. Also the realistic options for the job aren't available until the end of the season. And what I mean by that is, head coaches who are accustomed to working with a team's recruitment staff, similar to Jurgen Klopp who embraced Liverpool's recruitment department which gave the likes of Michael Edwards the opportunity to stamp his data driven recruitment strategy at the club which in conjunction with Klopp culminated in Liverpool winning the league and CL.

It's very important for us as a club not to lose our head and appoint someone on the basis of just his CV/resume. We as a club must bring in a head coach who is accustomed to working with a club's recruitment department. That's why it's very important imo that we allow the likes of Murtough, Bout, Fletcher etc to select the head coach who will have to work with them. The long-term vision doesn't revolve around the head coach but rather should revolve around the guys who are in key positions within the recruitment structure. It's why a club like Bayern could sack Kovac mid season and then appoint his assistant Flick and still go and win the CL. That's why these successful clubs are successful even after firing the head coach mid season, because their recruitment strategy (mid to long term) is independent from the head coach.
 
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Thomas Frank but in truth until we get owners that are actually going to back our managers in the transfer market none of this matters
You might want to google who we’ve signed there mate lately
 
I don't think they will sack him now, because that would be a bit premature imo due to it being early in the season. Also the realistic options for the job aren't available until the end of the season. And what I mean by that is, head coaches who are accustomed to working with a team's recruitment staff, similar to Jurgen Klopp who embraced Liverpool's recruitment department which gave the likes of Michael Edwards the opportunity to stamp his data driven recruitment strategy which in conjunction with Klopp culminated in Liverpool winning the league and CL.

It's very important for us as a club not to lose our head and appoint someone on the basis of just his CV/resume. We as a club must bring in a head coach who is accustomed to working with a club's recruitment department. That's why it's very important imo that we allow the likes of Murtough, Bout, Fletcher etc to select the head coach who will have to work with them. The long-term vision doesn't revolve around the head coach but rather should revolve around the guys who are in key positions within the recruitment structure. It's why a club like Bayern could sack Kovac mid season and then appoint his assistant Flick and still go and win the CL. That's why these successful clubs are successful even after firing the head coach mid season, because their recruitment strategy (mid to long term) is independent from the head coach.

Good post. I was saying the same in the OGS thread. I hope we can establish such a structure as it would mitigate so many of the problems we’ve had with our managerial hires post-SAF. But either way we really have to hope Ole can at least steer the ship for the rest of the season as I fear the club might make a rash decision otherwise.
 
Southgate would be something :mad: You can pretty much write of another 3 years and just focus on other things. Watching Goldbrigde losing his shit would be funny though :lol:
 
The more I look at tacitcal analysis videos of him Ten Hag seems a good long term candidate. I think it would be a very wise idea to bring both him and VDS here if the opportunity was there. The absolute must is that the new managers tactics should be in line with the modern day football. No more of this rubbish stone age counter attacking tactics in 2021. Every single time a team just sits back we run out of ideas and it goes down to hoping someone will pull off a great individual effort.

The new manager has to have tactics that will be productive with how the game is played today. Our off the ball work is an absolute shambles. Ten Hag could fix this.
 
Let me preface this with saying that I don't think we'll sack Ole any time soon and I don't think we should unless things spiral downwards quickly. I think we'll pick up some form and the talk of Ole being under threat will subside - which would be good.

Having said that, IF we were to sack him:

1. No thanks to Antonio Conte - don't like his style of play and he seems to be super temperamental which we could do without.
2. Zidane will never manage in England imo.
3. I'd go for Brendan Rodgers. I know he managed Liverpool but his teams play great football and he is an excellent man manager. I think he would be brilliant with us.
 
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