TEN HAG HEADING FOR SACK AS NEW NAME ENTERS THE RACE BETWEEN UNDERWHELMING MAN UTD CONTENDERS
Is Erik ten Hag going to survive until the end of the season at Manchester United? Who are the favourites if he doesn’t? Or even if he does. Logically, at some as yet undefined point in the future he is going to cease to be Manchester United manager, at which point they will need to appoint someone else. That’s how this works.
Here are the favourites for the job based on the latest odds from Oddschecker, with Gareth Southgate the leading contender.
10) Andoni Iraola
9) Julen Lopetegui
Has had experience of both managing a big club with Real Madrid and managing in the Premier League, but both those jobs ended pretty badly. There was enough in his Wolves spell to suggest that he might be a competent caretaker but on a permanent basis? That seems like a leap. But he would be cheaper than prising a manager out of another job.
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8) Sebastian Hoeness
He recently dismissed links with Bayern by pointing to the new Stuttgart contract he signed recently, plus his only previous senior post was with mid-table Hoffenheim. It seems unlikely.
7) Hansi Flick
Flick is still licking his wounds after being shown the door by Germany in September after overseeing just 12 wins from his 25 matches in charge of his country after replacing Joachim Low in 2021.
His record with Bayern Munich was far better, winning 70 out of 86 games in the hot-seat at the Allianz Arena. In 18 months, he inspired Bayern to win the Treble in 2019/20. And, as we are currently learning, success at Bayern isn’t quite as guaranteed as previously suspected. He would be a brilliant candidate for the Manchester United job; both manager and club are in need of a bit of reputational recuperation.
Unfortunately for United, he looks more likely to rock up at Barcelona.
6) Zinedine Zidane
The ex-Real Madrid coach has been away from the game for over two years now but he seems ready to come back. “I feel refreshed now,” he told GQ last summer. “There is nothing better than talking to a player before a match. I need that.”
The thing is, having achieved what he’s achieved while retaining his unique aura, Zidane will have his pick of jobs. He is perennially linked with PSG, the feeling being that if he was going to work in the Paris circus, he would have done it by now. You could say similar about links with United. In what way, right now, would the job at Old Trafford hold any allure for Zizou? It feels like a pipedream.
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5) Julian Nagelsmann
Bayern Munich binned Nagelsmann while he had a perfect Champions League record last season having faced Inter Milan, Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain, while sitting a point off the Bundesliga summit after replacing Robert Lewandowski with Eric-Maxim Choupo-Moting. That doesn’t feel like a sackable offence.
But he’s just signed a new contract to remain as Germany manager so that’s that dream over.
4) Roberto De Zerbi
A few months ago he might have been the dream candidate for many Manchester United fans, having made the already-excellent Brighton better in his first year at the club. But United would likely be wary of what happened to Graham Potter when he was promoted to the big job at Chelsea.
De Zerbi might also be more than a little wary; leaving the safe, incredibly well-run club on the south coast for the sh*t-show in the north would be a massive risk. De Zerbi would not, for instance, be able to ride out a run of six wins in 23 Premier League games quite so easily at United as he has managed to do so at Brighton. Yeah, we had to check that twice as well.
3) Thomas Tuchel
His imminent departure from Bayern Munich will put him firmly in the running for many of the big jobs available this summer but his lack of warmth – and the fact that he has managed four clubs in a decade – could work against him as the Reds look for a long-term manager who can bring the oomph back to United.
Reports from Germany suggest he is very interested, mind. Of course he is.
2) Graham Potter
Arf! Just imagine if United did sack Ten Hag and they replaced him with the man who crashed and burned so spectacularly at Chelsea. Potter has plenty of mitigation – it is hard to imagine anyone succeeding at Stamford Bridge last season, but the ex-Brighton manager surely needs to re-establish his credentials for the top jobs elsewhere before being considered by the biggest clubs again.
And just ponder the reaction among the egos in the United dressing room. Some of these lads refused to listen to Ralf Rangnick having had to Google the German when he was appointed. The prospect of this squad tuning in to Potter seems… remote.
But it’s an appointment that would certainly chime with Dan Ashworth.
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1) Gareth Southgate
Has clambered up the odds on the back of Ten Hag doing just about well enough to survive until the summer but no further. We’re really not sure United fans would tolerate this, but my word would the press boys be thrilled.
Any indication this might be a goer will have the think-pieces flowing about just how much Southgate deserves such a chance after nearly winning some things with England. For maximum banter, he would need to make his first move as United manager the signing of Jordan Henderson.
This always smelled like interlull filler to us and we suspect that remains the case, with his position at the head of the odds a hangover awaiting a new favourite to emerge. Which might be a while, given the job remains technically spoken for and other likely contenders – your Flicks, your Amorims – likely to be snapped up pretty smart in what promises to be a boom market for managers this summer.
Say what you like about Southgate, but United probably don’t have to worry about another big club snapping him up before they get a chance.
READ: Five reasons Gareth Southgate would *actually* be good for Manchester United
More: Man Utd | Erik Ten Hag | Gareth Southgate
2023-10-07T07:15:50Z dg43tfdfdgfd
