Who replaces the irreplaceable?

In my last blog I asked the question, who will Manchester United look to replace Sir Alex Ferguson when he finally leaves the position on first team manager? In this blog I will give you some suggestions and my best bet.

If we take the examples of Leeds, Nottingham Forest, Liverpool and United themselves, we can see two trends: promote from within or look to an ex-player. Only Leeds United initially bucked the trend by appointing a high profile ‘outsider’ in Brian Clough. History tells us this was a huge failure as less that 7 weeks later Clough was out the door with a big pay off. Looking at the success Clough had later at Forest it could be argued that he was the right man but it was the wrong time, and as we all know everything in life is timing. After Clough Leeds turned to Jimmy Armfield another ‘outsider’ who kept them competitive and in the top ten, but when you have been at the top, then the top 10 isn’t good enough. Ask any Arsenal fan about that. Ultimately Leeds were falling off their perch and when they turned to a succession of ex players it was all over for them.

So, where does that leave Manchester United? In a tight spot if you ask me.

If they choose to follow the route of promoting from within, they currently have two choices. But before I look at those choices its worth taking a look at the careers of two of SAF’s previous assistants once they left United.

Brian Kidd, a Busby babe, was Alex Ferguson’s right hand man from 1991 to 1998 and at the time he was seen as a natural successor to SAF. Unfortunately, for Kidd, he left United to take charge of Blackburn in December of 98 and the following spring Rovers were relegated and before the December of that year he was out. Kidd has returned to being an assistant manager and now occupies a spot on the bench at Manchester City.

Steve McClaren was Ferguson’s assistant from 1999 to 2001. He left United to become the most successful manager in Middlesbrough’s history, but one good season in Holland and a number of disasters with England and Wolfsburg in Germany have blotted his copy book.  

Now the current insiders:

Mike Phelan, also an ex-player, in the assistant manager and Rene Meulensteen is the first team coach. Phelan is an interesting option as he would draw comparisons to Bob Paisley, Shankley's immediate successor at Anfield. Quiet and unassuming and as with Paisley an ex-player who didn’t fulfil his potential at the club. Phelan may stay with the club after Ferguson departs but I don’t see him as an option as a successor. A quiet unassuming ex player may have been able to step into the bright lights in 1974, but I don’t see Phelan being able to withstand the spotlight of managing Manchester United

Rene Meulensteen on the other hand may be a different story. In his second spell at the club Meulensteen is responsible for the high level of technical excellence we see from United every time they step on the field. Highly respected in the game, Ferguson has hired him twice, Meulensteen may be the man United are looking for. However, as with Phelan, the question remains will he be able to handle the pressure of being the top man at United.

When it comes to ex-players it’s hard to see the heir to the throne. When soccer players retired in the 60’s and 70’s and into the later 80’s they became coaches or bought a pub. Now they generally criticise others on TV or disappear into the sunset with a very large bank balance. Paul Ince, Brian Robson, Mark Hughes and Steve Bruce have and still are doing the rounds in England and you really don’t see any of them as the next Manchester United manager.

So if you are the Glazer’s and you are looking for the next boss of United experience tells you that you probably should look to an outsider to take on one of the biggest jobs in the game. At the moment in world football, there are 3 clubs that stand apart from the rest.  Barcelona, Real Madrid and Manchester United in terms of current squads, brand power and fan base have separated themselves from the rest. One or two in-different seasons can change that and a year out of the Champion’s League can trigger a meltdown as we saw with Leeds United around 10 years ago. If United make the wrong choice and they slip then their neighbours Manchester City are in prime position to become England’s club champions and that will hurt.

For me there is only one person that United should be looking at to take over when Sir Alex Ferguson finally calls it a day. The ‘special one’ Jose Mourinho is the natural successor. A friend of Sir Alex, Mourinho may be the only person on the planet who thinks he can go in to the club and do a better job! He will command the respect of the players as he is a player’s manager and a master of taking the focus away from the team in order to protect his players. He will immediately endear himself to the fan base when he declares this job as the biggest and best job in the world, putting United on a pedestal above his former employers, Madrid, Barca and Chelsea.

As I mentioned before, the key to life is timing and if the timing is right I expect to see the phrase ‘Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho’ in the not too distant future.

In closing, the next Lower Island Soccer Coaches Association meeting will take place at the Lakehill Soccer Associations Braefoot fields on Friday 30^th September at 6.00pm.  The topic of our session will be ‘Using conditioned small sided games’.

There may be trouble ahead... Manchester United's big, BIG problem

Well Manchester United and Sir Alex Ferguson have done it again! Right in front of our eyes SAF has built another great team and we never saw it coming. Now they can rightfully challenge the Catalan machine for the title of world’s greatest team. Maybe or maybe not, the season is still only a few weeks old and a lot can change in a season. One thing that won’t change this year but will become a bigger issue as this season draws on is this: what will life be like for United after Fergie? United look as dominant as ever but very soon they will have to look for a successor to the throne and history tells us that finding an heir to the throne makes beating Barcelona look like a walk in the park.

Manchester United now and Manchester United in 1986, when Ferguson took over, only have two things in common. The have the same name and they still play in red. Only Brian Clough, with some help from Peter Taylor, Don Revie and Sir Matt Busby have singularly transformed a club like SAF. The transformation of Liverpool was a combination of Shankly and his boot room and he was followed by Paisley, Fagan and Dalglish who, on the face of it, carried on the work started by Shankly.

To see what may be in store for United we need to take a look at the precedent set by Busby’s Manchester United, Don Revie’s Leeds, Cloughie’s Forest and the revolution Shankly started and Dalglish finished after a 4-4 draw with Everton.

Sir Matt Busby built Manchester United. He managed the club from 1945 to 1969 and pioneered European club football against the wishes of the Football Association. His first great team perished in Munich in 1958 and 10 years later his second great team lifted the Holy Grail on a warm night in North London. Six seasons later Manchester United was relegated to the second division by the back heel of Denis Law who had starred for United in the 68 European Cup Final. Busby stepped aside and moved upstairs at the end of the 69 season and was replaced by ex player Wilf McGuinness who was 31 at the time. By the time McGuinness was fired in December of 1970 he had gone grey! Busby came back for a while but wasn’t able to halt the slide. Manchester United won some trophies through the 70’s and 80’s but they didn’t win the league again until 1993, a gap of 26 years.

When Don Revie joined Leeds United in 1961 they were a small parochial second tier club in the north of England. When he left in 1974 they were a juggernaut. Often maligned, but grudgingly respected, Revie had built a dynasty. Revie won the English domestic championship twice and 5 times his Leeds team were runners up. Very often his small squad would dominate the league and be fighting in all competitions to be thwarted at the death. But year after year they would be back. Revie, due his acrimonious time as England manager is often overlooked in discussions of great managers, but there can be no denying he is up there with Herbert Chapman, Brian Clough and Alf Ramsey as the greatest of English managers. Revie left Leeds in 74 to manage England. He was replaced by his nemesis Brian Clough, who lasted 44 days! If you haven’t read the book or seen the film “The Damned United” it’s worth a look. Clough was replaced by Jimmy Adamson who took Revie’s team to a European Cup Final in 1975. Leeds were beaten 2-0 by Bayern and seven season later, after a crop of ex-players had unsuccessfully tried to manage the club, Leeds United were in the second tier of English football. Leeds have recovered and won the title again in 1992 but terrible financial management sees them currently in the second tier.

Brian Clough took Nottingham Forest from the second division of English football to back to back European Cups in the space of 5 years, winning the English Championship along the way. Clough, assisted by Peter Taylor joined Nottingham Forest in 1975 and the club was in a similar situation to Leeds when Revie had joined them. Clough succeeded where Revie failed by winning the European cup in 1979 and 1980. Clough left Forest in 1993 and in his final season in charge Forest were relegated. In truth his best years were past him. An ex player Frank Clarke took over and initially Forest had some success but it didn’t last and in a familiar fashion are now to be found in the second tier of English football.

The only dynasty to be carried forward to this point has been the legacy of Bill Shankly, but even here nothing lasts forever. Shankly joined Liverpool in 1959 and by the time of his departure in 1974, Liverpool was a domestic powerhouse. His successor from within the club was Bill Paisley. The key difference here is that Paisley was promoted from within but, he was already a part of the managerial hierarchy. Under Paisley Liverpool conquered Europe and became the top club on that continent. When Paisley stepped aside Joe Fagan, again from within and part of the structure, continued the charge. Joe Fagan resigned as Liverpool manager after the Heysel disaster in 1985. Kenny Dalglish took the reins and continued the dominance in England, as a result of the Heysel disaster English clubs were banned from European competition. Dalglish built a great team and Liverpool was still kings of England, but they were about to be deposed by their arch enemy along the East Lancs Road, Ale Ferguson’s Manchester United. After a 4-4 draw with Everton in February of 1991, Dalglish resigned citing the stress of the Hillsborough disaster where 96 football fans were crushed to death. There can be no doubt hat the Hillsborough disaster took a toll on Dalglish, but cracks were appearing at Anfiled. An ex player Graeme Souness took over, but Souness had no experience in the Liverpool management structure and although Liverpool have had some success since their last title win in 1990, Liverpool are still waiting for their next English title some 20 plus years later.

So where does that leave the current Champions of England. The threat to United isn’t their “noisy neighbours” as SAF likes to call Manchester City, nor is it the current European Champions Barcelona. The biggest threat that United face is life after Sir Alex Ferguson. It doesn’t seem to be much of a story at the moment but believe me it will be soon.

In my next blog, I will give you my thoughts on who will replace the irreplaceable….