Phelan one of four coaches to depart OT
MIKE Phelan is expected to leave United this summer and the three coaching additions under Ralf Rangnick will all depart.
Discussions are ongoing between United and Phelan over the terms of his anticipated exit, with the club respectful of the 59-year-old’s 20-year service with the club as a player and coach.
Phelan remained assistant manager after Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was dismissed in November but he cut a distant figure on matchdays. Despite his reduced role, Phelan was consulted by Rangnick in his final months as interim manager.
Phelan was promoted to the United first-team coaching staff in 2001 to offset the loss of Steve McClaren and McClaren returned to the club this week as one of Erik ten Hag’s assistants, along with Mitchell van der Gaag.
Assistant coach Chris Armas, analyst Ewan Sharp and sports psychologist Sascha Lense will all leave the club after six-month spells on Rangnick’s backroom staff. Armas, Sharp and Lense all joined United in December.
Club sources say goalkeeping coaches Richard Hartis and Craig Mawson, as well as set-piece coach Eric Ramsay, are due to stay.
Ramsay, 30, joined United from Chelsea last summer in response to their porous defending at dead-ball situations and he was criticised as United failed to score from nearly 140 corners until Harry Maguire nodded in at Leeds in February.
The departures of Michael Carrick and Kieran McKenna in December increased Ramsay’s coaching responsibilities at United’s Carrington training complex and he is still highly-rated at United.
Meanwhile, Paul McShane has announced his retirement from football but will stay at United as a coach.
McShane has enjoyed a long career which began when he joined United as a teenager in 2002. Having left United to join West Brom in 2006, McShane would go on to make over 400 appearances at club level. He also won 33 caps for the Republic of Ireland.
The centre-back returned to United last year in the unique role of player-coach for the Under-23s and played six games alongside the youngsters. The 36-year-old has decided to call time on his playing days but will stay with United as an academy coach for the Under-18s to the Under-23s.
“I’m calling it a day playing now. I’ve had 20 years playing and I’ve come back into the club as a playercoach in the Under-23s,” McShane told United’s in-house media.
“It’s been a great year and great experience but now it’s time to fully focus on the next stage of my career, which will be in coaching.
“It’s amazing how things work out. It’s a great way to end my career, to come back here and help the future generation with their careers.
“It was perfect, to be honest with you, when this role came about, and I’m grateful to the people who made it happen. I think it’s a great way to end my playing days. I am [proud].
“Sometimes when you’re on the journey itself, you can get lost in it. It’s a career where there’s lots of ups and downs and there’s so many challenges, but now, I think I can look back and have fond memories of different stages of my career.
“I was just a young lad from County Wicklow in Ireland. I think my dream at the start was to play for St Joseph’s Boys, which was a Dublin team, because around my area, if you played for that team, you were known as a decent footballer, so that was the start of my dream.
“When I got there, my dream grew bigger and bigger and I look back at some of the games I’ve played in and I’ve played against the best players in the world and played with many great players as well. Being here at Man United and now finishing with Man United as a playercoach, it’s been a hell of a journey. I’m grateful for it.
“There’s a few stand-out moments.
“If I was to pick moments, I’d say my Irish debut, representing my country in every game that I played in, my Premier League debut, getting promoted with Hull on the last day, captaining Reading, the FA Cup final.
“It’s been great.”