This is something of a follow-on from the "If not LVG then who?" thread, and it is something I am aware has been discussed before (including by myself) but I think there is enough here to merit its own thread.
I am in the apparent minority who thinks that Giggs should be our next manager after LVG. This is on the assumption that LVG is going to retire perhaps after the 16/17 season - or maybe a year later if he fancies extending his stay.
So, my arguments (and counter-arguments to some of the commonly put forward ones against him) for Giggs' as the next long term manager are as follows;
1) "Lack of Experience" & Similar Arguments - "send him out and let him earn his stripes at another club first".
The most common argument against Giggs is his lack of managerial experience. The thing is however, managing Manchester United is not like managing some mid table club. Ego and arrogance aside, we all saw what happened when a Premier League stalwart in David Moyes made the step from Everton (a decent club themselves) to United - he was completely out of his depth. With this in mind, why is there this assumption that Giggs needs to go and manage an Everton, and that doing so will somehow qualify him to manage United?
What Giggs does have at the moment however, is a very strong United pedigree. He has been at the club since he was a boy, he knows the club and how it operates like the back of his hand. This to me is far more valuable than a few years managing a mid table team, which in reality does not say anything about how well equipped he is to manage United. If anything, I would rather see him appointed at United without having gone and been at other clubs for x amount of years - better to appoint him now while he has the benefit of strong exist relationships with the current staff, players and club itself.
2) Giggs is a proven winner who commands respect
On a related note to the above, Giggs has won it all with United. One of the big failings of Moyes (arguably) was that because he had not won trophies or competed at the top levels of competition, he did not or could not command the respect of the players. Giggs would definitely not have this problem, and in addition to respect, he also knows the players and the backroom staff already. Further to this is that he knows the fans and the expectations at the club - he understands that just getting the 3 points every week is not enough for us.
3) We do not want another lengthy "transition" after LVG
The majority of fans seem to want a Klopp, Guardiola or Mourinho after LVG leaves. My big concern with this is the lack of continuity it creates. Any of those managers will arguably want to bring in their own backroom staff, will want to make substantial changes to the team, the system, the style of football etc... just like LVG has.
So with one of those "big names", the scenario we end up with is LVG having been here for perhaps 3 years (of which at least the first can be labelled as transition), only for a new manager to come in and start a lengthy transition themselves. And what is the guarantee that they will stay longer than LVG has?
Personally, when LVG steps down I expet him to be leaving a squad capable of challenging for the PL and CL. What I want is someone who can come in and continue what LVG has started, without making wholesale changes across the board/pitch. Giggs fits this criteria - the very fact that he is not an experienced, established manager means he is not likely to be quite as 'set in his ways' as the likes of LVG, and will not have his established system or philosophy that he needs to imprint. On the contrary, if Giggs takes over then it will be on the back of him spending 3+ years working under LVG and learning from him. This relates to my next point...
4) Giggs has learnt from the very best.
Does anyone really think that after working with SAF, Moyes and LVG, Giggs wont have picked up on both the good and bad traits employed by each? Giggs may not be experienced himself, but he has had the opportunity to learn from arguably the greatest manager of all time, another highly successful top calibre manager in LVG, and has witnessed what can only be described as an unmitigated disaster in Moyes' brief tenure.
I am not trying to claim that this is a direct substitute for first hand experience, but working under some very high profile names both as a player and a coach is bound to rub off on someone who is eager to learn and keen to get into football management. And Giggs is no slouch, LVG has come out praising him and saying that he has talent for management already.
Finally,
5) Giggs would not be on his own
Just as he has learnt from SAF and LVG, if appointed I am sure that both of those two would be happy to lend advice and support to Giggs if required, while he gets settled in to the job. On top of this are his other contacts and friends in the footballing world like Scholes and Neville, and even his relationship with the senior players in the squad like Rooney.
If he was made manager, Giggs would be surrounded with experienced staff, players and contacts like SAF who have seen it all as a football manager. I do not think that Giggs would be so arrogant or egotistical to insist on striking out on his own in his first management job. He would continue to learn and benefit from the experience around him, to adapt and build on the framework and foundations being put in place by LVG as we speak.
Some of this may sound romantic, but as others said in the other thread - what is football without a bit of romanticism from time to time? We have seen others like Guardiola and even Garry Monk make the transition from playing to managing with little-to-no experience successfully, and for me, when LVG leaves, the context and environment will be just right for our own Pep-like appointment. I would not have backed Giggs to take over from SAF, nor from Moyes, as the time and circumstances simply were not right for such an appointment, but for the reasons stated above, I think that after LVG the circumstances will be right, and that Giggs could add his name to a list including the likes of Busby and Ferguson, as one of the great managers of his generation.
If you have read all this then thanks, and I hope you give it some thought rather than just dismissing the notion of Giggs as manager out-of-hand.
