Giggs the favourite Mourinho wants Martial to fight for his place
FRONTRUNNER: United legend is a contender for Swansea job after Bradley gets the boot
RYAN Giggs is among the contenders to take over at Swansea after Bob Bradley’s disastrous three-month reign was brought to an end on Tuesday.
The Manchester United legend was considered for the post ahead of Bradley’s appointment in October but was snubbed over his lack of experience and an underwhelming interview.
However, he developed a rapport with chairman Huw Jenkins and it is understood to be likely that he will be discussed again in the search for Bradley’s replacement.
The club were on Tuesday night plotting a way forward after what was described by sources as a reluctant decision to axe their American manager.
It is understood the club’s USbased owners Jason Levien and Steve Kaplan had telephoned
was snubbed by in October over his lack of experience and an underwhelming interview. chairman Huw Jenkins in the immediate aftermath of the Boxing Day humiliation against West Ham, desperate to figure out how to salvage such a wretched season. A further conversation was held between the trio on Tuesday afternoon, with Bradley having taken a recovery session with the players that morning.
By 7pm, Bradley himself was recovering from being the second manager sacked in less than three months by a club once known for stability.
Coaches Alan Curtis and Paul Williams will take over as caretakers for Saturday’s game against Bournemouth, with the replacement search likely to focus on outof-work managers, according to a prominent source.
That counts in Giggs, and Harry Redknapp is understood to be open to approaches, while the club could go down a different tack and try to LONDON: Jose Mourinho has urged Anthony Martial to follow midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan’s example and force his way into Manchester United’s starting line up.
Martial has found himself on the fringes of Mourinho’s first-team plans, having made four of his 11 Premier League appearances from the bench this season, but the manager said he had no plans to sell the 21-year-old French striker.
“Anthony is very, very young — people forget — and last season Manchester United played completely differently. He was basically tempt Wales boss Chris Coleman, who was on their shortlist in the summer before the ill-fated decision to renew Francesco Guidolin’s contract.
Frank de Boer is also known to have admirers at the club, as does Paul Clement, who was a contender when Bradley was hired.
Whichever way the next move plays out, the call to sack a second manager in the season is a sizeable gamble, given the lack of happy endings in history for clubs who change multiple times in a campaign.
It is also a decision taken reluctantly, according to senior sources at the club, considering the appointment of Bradley in place of Guidolin in October was the first major call undertaken by the new ownership.
But ultimately they felt they had no choice, following an appalling run of results that amounted to eight points in Bradley’s 11 games in charge and a defence that shipped 19 goals in the last six. playing up front,” Mourinho told British media.
“The team had lots of passive ball possession, just waiting to put it into space for Anthony to go and score a goal. This season is more difficult. He needs a little bit of time to improve.”
Armenian Mkhitaryan also struggled to get into the side in the early part of the season but made his breakthrough with a fine display in the Europa League against Zorya Luhansk earlier this month.
“Every player is different. I had this season a situation that was more difficult than Anthony — Mkhitaryan,” Mourinho added.
“Mkhitaryan was completely open and understood the difference between me and other coaches he had.
“The difference between the demands of the Premier League and the Ukrainian league, or even Bundesliga: complete different philosophy of play. And he worked a lot without playing, but he worked a lot to try to reach the level.”
United, who are sixth in the league, 13 points behind leaders Chelsea after 18 games, host 15thplaced Middlesbrough on Saturday. Reuters