United may be forced to call for a caretaker
IF THEY AXE OLE, REDS MAY HAVE TO WAIT TO FIND PERMANENT BOSS
WHEN United sacked Jose Mourinho in December 2018 they had a plan in place, but even the best-laid plans can be waylaid in football.
The problem for clubs of United’s stature changing manager midseason is finding a viable candidate to come in. Unless they are out of work, it’s extremely difficult to get another elite boss to swap clubs during a campaign.
So midway through the 2018 season, United turned to Ole Gunnar Solskjaer to hold the fort until the end of the season.
The final acts of the Mourinho era had been so toxic that Solskjaer’s brief was purely to put smiles on faces, something he managed instantly.
Even six months before the end of the 2018/19 campaign it was an open secret that the Norwegian’s brief was to steady the ship and lay the foundations for Mauricio Pochettino.
The Argentine - then at Tottenham – was an impossible target midway through the season, but it was thought he would be more attainable in the summer of 2019.
Instead, Solskjaer fulfilled his brief so spectacularly he was appointed permanent manager in March 2019, signing a threeyear deal.
After an astonishing start, the season finished dreadfully, with eight defeats in the final 12 games. Had United stuck to their original plan they may well have decided against giving Solskjaer the job.
Three years on from sacking Mourinho, United find themselves in the same predicament. Solskjaer is clinging on to his job by his fingernails and if results don’t improve quickly, his position could be untenable, but once again there is no obvious long-term candidate to come in.
Pochettino could again be a target, but Paris Saint-Germain wouldn’t let him return to Tottenham in the summer and won’t let him leave during the season. The same will be true of Brendan Rodgers at Leicester City and Erik ten Hag at Ajax.
While Zinedine Zidane is out of work, there seems to be little appetite from the club to appoint him or the former Real Madrid manager to take the job. He’s unlikely to accept a short-term, caretaker role and United should be wary of appointing someone who isn’t a primary target purely due to availability.
They passed on Antonio Conte due to similar concerns.
It might be United’s ideal scenario to continue with Solskjaer until the end of the season, when they can assess their options, but to achieve that they will need results to improve. United are five points off the top four already and that gap can’t keep growing.
If they are forced to act, the Reds might have to do what they did in
If they are forced to act, United might have to do what they did in 2018 and appoint a caretaker manager
2018 and appoint a caretaker manager. Once again, the issue will be who.
There’s no obvious candidate in Solskjaer’s backroom staff, with assistant man- ager Mick Phelan taking a broader role, while coaches Michael Carrick and Kieran McKenna are very inexperienced.
So the challenge for United could be who they turn to if they do have to part ways with Solskjaer. They have to get their next permanent manager right, so if that means waiting until the summer then they need a safe pair of hands until then. Someone who can ensure a top-four finish but also somebody who will be happy with a shortterm contract. Finding someone to tick all those boxes is going to be extremely difficult, which might explain their desire to limp on with Solskjaer until May. The next couple of months might shed more light on whether that is achievable. If it’s not, finding a replacement might be United’s toughest challenge.