Best United assistant manager

horsechoker

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Who has been the best Manchester United assistant manager?

Some candidates I can think of:

Steve McClaren - ass manager for the treble winning team

Carlos Quieroz - the tactical genius behind the mid-late 2000s success

Brian Kidd - helped bring about the success of the 90s and class of 92

Mike Phelan - wears shorts

Jimmy Murphy - helped guide the club after Munich while Sir Matt Busby recovered.

I might have left some important ones out.
 

Lay

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I think Carlos gets a lot of credit for our better performances in the CL. We used to go gung ho and get dumped out way before we should before him.
 

Invictus

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Has to be Jimmy Murphy by a significant margin, with due respect to the other candidates?
  • Longest tenured assistant manager in club history.
  • Big-time coach on the training field...very highly-rated and hands-on.
  • Oversaw the emergence and progress of the Busby Babes.
  • Helped restore the soul of the institution after it had been ripped apart...
There was little time for grieving though and it was now up to Murphy to keep what was left of Manchester United afloat. He was thrown in at the deep-end, having to keep abreast of the state of Busby’s stricken youngsters, signing emergency players at very short notice and having the arduous task of rearranging fixtures and making sure the football club continued as close to normal as was possible. When Murphy went to visit Busby in his hospital bed the United manager was only able to whisper a few words to his trusted number two: “Keep the flag flying Jimmy,” something which Murphy needed no further encouragement to do, despite the awfulness of the whole situation.

Writing in his autobiography Murphy explained: “As my mind dwelt on the full appalling horror of it all I thought I would go mad, although I was doing my best to think about the future.” And look to the future he did, relying on youngsters as well as signing experience in the form of Ernie Taylor and Stan Crowther to keep United’s season alive. Murphy got straight down to work and recruited a whole new team as he attempted to create a what resembled a Manchester United side once again while still trying to attend as many funerals as he possibly could. Just 13 days later, he led out a new United team at Old Trafford in an FA Cup tie against Sheffield Wednesday – even the programme that night couldn't publish names for the home side as they didn't know who they would be.
Click to expand...
https://footballwhispers.com/blog/jimmy-murphy-the-man-who-rebuilt-manchester-united/
  • Part of the coaching setup that clinched the first European Cup in club history.
  • Could have been a manager elsewhere, but chose to stay at United...
His good work at United and with Wales had not gone unnoticed and Arsenal supposedly wanted him to become their manager. More interestingly, John Charles reported that the mighty Juventus wanted Murphy to become their manager. This was not just any old Juventus team, but one of their greatest. A team which would win three Scudettos between 1958 and 1961 as well as two Coppa Italias. There was one other reported party interested in Murphy’s services. So impressed were they with the job he had done with Wales, especially when they were confronted by them in the 1958 World Cup quarter-final, it was widely claimed that Brazil wanted Murphy as their coach. Murphy was supposedly approached by the Brazilian FA following the departure of Vicente Feola in 1960. Murphy turned down the job of the then world champions and with it the opportunity to coach some of the greatest players that have ever graced the pitch.
Click to expand...
https://lostboyos.wordpress.com/201...wn-pele-the-incredible-story-of-jimmy-murphy/
 

Wittmann45

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Were assistants more or less important in the past?

At least in retrospect, it seems like mangers and assistants were once seen as much more of a partnership than they are now. For example, Busby-Murphy, Shankly-Paisley, Clough-Taylor. Maybe it is just recognizing the importance of certain assistants after the fact, but it seems to have been much more of a partnership back in the 60s/70s
 

Wedge

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horsechoker said:
Who has been the best Manchester United assistant manager?

Some candidates I can think of:

Steve McClaren - ass manager for the treble winning team

Carlos Quieroz - the tactical genius behind the mid-late 2000s success

Brian Kidd - helped bring about the success of the 90s and class of 92

Mike Phelan - wears shorts

Jimmy Murphy - helped guide the club after Munich while Sir Matt Busby recovered.

I might have left some important ones out.
Click to expand...
You forgot Ryan Giggs.

great player meh under Lvg.
 

MuFc_1992

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Has to be Jimmy Murphy considering he's had David Tennant play him in a movie. Quiroz comes in second for me because apparently he was the tactical mastermind behind our win in 2008.
 

FrankDrebin

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I've got the unpopular opinion that Veron's confidence and transition into the United side fell off a cliff the moment McLaren left United's coaching staff.
 

GenZRed

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Jimmy Murphy.

Carlos Quieroz and Brian Kidd were also great assistant managers though.
 

Champagne Football

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Since the PL was formed, Quieroz by a mile.

Mike Phelan doesn't get the credit he deserve too. Those wins against PSG and Leipzig recently, and last years big wins against our top 4 rivals in the PL, came straight out of the Quieroz book of tactics taught to Fergie and passed onto Phelan.
 

Tel074

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In the modern era it's definitely Mcclaren for me .
Listening to the players at that time speak about him I don't think it's much coincidence we won the treble in his first season .
 

TrustInOle

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I would say Jimmy Murphy without a doubt, but in my lifetime I'd say Quieroz as our European form in the late 00's was scintillating, 3 CL finals in a row is no easy feat.
 

AFC NimbleThumb

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Half of the Caf talk as if they have an inside track to the manager so I’d go with one of the ITKs
 

Ferguson’s Hairdryer

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horsechoker said:
Who has been the best Manchester United assistant manager?

Some candidates I can think of:

Steve McClaren - ass manager for the treble winning team

Carlos Quieroz - the tactical genius behind the mid-late 2000s success

Brian Kidd - helped bring about the success of the 90s and class of 92

Mike Phelan - wears shorts

Jimmy Murphy - helped guide the club after Munich while Sir Matt Busby recovered.

I might have left some important ones out.
Click to expand...
Brian Kidd. He was there from class of 92 and left just 5 months before we won the treble.

Carlos, most tactically influential and probably most important to our football and success of all the assistants
 

TwoSheds

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Invictus said:
Has to be Jimmy Murphy by a significant margin, with due respect to the other candidates?
  • Longest tenured assistant manager in club history.
  • Big-time coach on the training field...very highly-rated and hands-on.
  • Oversaw the emergence and progress of the Busby Babes.
  • Helped restore the soul of the institution after it had been ripped apart...

https://footballwhispers.com/blog/jimmy-murphy-the-man-who-rebuilt-manchester-united/
  • Part of the coaching setup that clinched the first European Cup in club history.
  • Could have been a manager elsewhere, but chose to stay at United...

https://lostboyos.wordpress.com/201...wn-pele-the-incredible-story-of-jimmy-murphy/
Click to expand...
Didn't know all that. Imagine turning down the chance to coach Pele and co!
 

ThinkTank@Cafe

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I’m not old enough to judge Jimmy Murphy performance as an AM technically, but think anyone who read and watched (movies and documentaries) about Munich and post-Munich should understand that there’s huge distance between him and the rest. Murphy is United hero. The rest (mentioned) are just excellent AMs.
 

united_99

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TrustInOle said:
I would say Jimmy Murphy without a doubt, but in my lifetime I'd say Quieroz as our European form in the late 00's was scintillating, 3 CL finals in a row is no easy feat.
Click to expand...
We never reached 3 CL finals in a row and Queiroz left in the summer of 2008.
 

Jam

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horsechoker said:
Who has been the best Manchester United assistant manager?

Some candidates I can think of:

Steve McClaren - ass manager for the treble winning team

Carlos Quieroz - the tactical genius behind the mid-late 2000s success

Brian Kidd - helped bring about the success of the 90s and class of 92

Mike Phelan - wears shorts

Jimmy Murphy - helped guide the club after Munich while Sir Matt Busby recovered.

I might have left some important ones out.
Click to expand...
You’re underselling Murphy there - he didn’t just guide them in the post-Munich aftermath, he was massively influential through the entire Busby reign.

Busby gets the plaudits these days but Murphy was right beside him - Busby himself would be the first to give Murphy credit.
 
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