Next Manager Poll

Who should manage us next?


  • Total voters
    1,965
Xabi is a an ex-Liverpool player and he will never, should never manage United. Not understanding that is being ignorant about entire history of United vs Liverpool and the rivalry

Most fans (as in: 96%, including local, match going fans) will gladly look past this after a good start.

We are not what we were. We're pretty much desperate. And Xabi isn't Stevie G - he isn't that much of an eyesore in terms of being ex-Liverpool.

ETA Busby was ex-Liverpool (that is exactly what people will say - and ffs, they'll be right enough).
 
Real sacking wasnt the only argument

Xabi is a an ex-Liverpool player and he will never, should never manage United. Not understanding that is being ignorant about entire history of United vs Liverpool and the rivalry
< Insert picture of Busby in Liverpool kit here.
Ignorant of our history indeed.
 
Most fans (as in: 96%, including local, match going fans) will gladly look past this after a good start.

We are not what we were. We're pretty much desperate. And Xabi isn't Stevie G - he isn't that much of an eyesore in terms of being ex-Liverpool.

ETA Busby was ex-Liverpool (that is exactly what people will say - and ffs, they'll be right enough).
Would wager that he wouldn't refuse the job if it were offered to him

These are paid professionals after all, not fans...
 
Some reports in France that De Zerbi could be sacked after failing to qualify in the CL.
 
Didn't Tuchel have issues with being only a head coach at Chelsea though? I feel like I have seen him say something about not wanting to repeat that experience.

He had an issue that Todd Boehly was requesting he helped with targets and speaking to agents etc.

He’s got no problem working within a system. It’s probably all he knows. The issue he had at Chelsea was that they had no structure at the time and he was asked to do stuff outside of his role.

The last thing we would want is for Tuchel to pick our signings.
 
I'd flip this poll and say who dont you want and let people select as many as they want.
 
Most fans (as in: 96%, including local, match going fans) will gladly look past this after a good start.

We are not what we were. We're pretty much desperate. And Xabi isn't Stevie G - he isn't that much of an eyesore in terms of being ex-Liverpool.

ETA Busby was ex-Liverpool (that is exactly what people will say - and ffs, they'll be right enough).
Unless you have conducted an exhaustive poll, I don't think you should speak for "96% of fans".

I, for one, absolutely do not want Xabi as United manager.
< Insert picture of Busby in Liverpool kit here.
Ignorant of our history indeed.
Liverpool kit + captain's armband, if you want to be more dramatic, but before you call anybody else ignorant, maybe you should check the garbage argument you are trying to wield here.

Matt Basby mostly played for Liverpool 1936-1939. Technically he was still Liverpool player during WWII but in reality his regular playing time concluded in 1939. That is _ancient_ history, not "history"

IT WAS A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT ERA! The rivalry back then was more respectful than what we know today. The intense, vitriolic rivalry we know today didn't truly ignite until the 1960s. Back in 1945, there was a high level of regional solidarity following the Second World War. Both Manchester and Liverpool had been decimated by the Blitz, and there was a "gentler age" of mutual respect. In fact, future Liverpool legend Bill Shankly and Matt Busby were incredibly close friends who deeply respected each other's work.

Busby didn't "betray" Liverpool; they essentially handed him to United. After the war, Liverpool offered him an assistant coaching job. However, Busby demanded more authority over training and team selection than the Liverpool board was willing to grant. When United offered him the manager job with the total control he craved, he took it with Liverpool’s blessing!!!!!

At the time of his appointment, United was a club in crisis, we had no money, no trophies in nearly 40 years, and Old Trafford had been bombed. He wasn't joining a "giant" to spite a rival; he was taking on a massive rebuilding project that few others wanted

Next time, before you call somebody else ignorant, maybe get off your high horse and turn down the ill-informed ego tad bit?
 
Unless you can get one of the truly top options like Tuchel, Enrique, Ancelotti... Then you have to just keep Carrick if he gets CL football and the vibes stay up.

Guys like de zerbi have proven nothing really to make them worth it
 
As we think who -should be- our next manager / head coach / whatever, a very important aspect we don't talk about enough is:

Do we expect next one to stabilize the team (regular top 4, for the next 2-3 years, playing good football) or win the league and CL?

This is an absolute critical decision. Partly because, United manager job is a huge job with very little patience from media, and fans. There has not been and will never be patience to give United's manager time to build up to the league title over 5-10 years. So unless we think we are only couple years away from winning the league (I don't) we need a manager before THE manager. Simple as that. Otherwise we will bring Ancelotti, Nagelsman, Tuchel, whomever and sack them just like we sacked everybody else before them.

Instead, smart money could be:
1. Hire Carrick if he can continue to show good football for the rest of the season and finishes top 4 / gets us Champions League. Let him coach for several years and hopefully we finish in top 4 every year. Mind you that is a very, very toll order. We haven't finished in UCL positions for consecutive years since Sir Alex. And this year we only have chance because everybody else turned into shit.
2. If Carrick can stabilize us, he probably still won't have experience and levels to win the league, and in that case we hire some famous, accomplished manager to take us a level up and help win the league and UCL

Hoping that any manager comes in and in couple years wins us top trophies, as if we are some sleeping cinderella is totally unrealistic for me. I respect if you believe it is possible, anything is possible in football, but we should also consider the alternative of "a coach before the coach" and for that role I really think Carrick could be amazing, if he proves himself for the rest of the season
 
I've just changed from Alonso to Carrick. I'm not sold on anyone except Enrique. So if he's not actually available or wanting it then let's see how Carrick does this season.
 
Next time, before you call somebody else ignorant, maybe get off your high horse and turn down the ill-informed ego tad bit?
I didn't, you did. Maybe take your own advice. I just wont interact with you again.
 
As we think who -should be- our next manager / head coach / whatever, a very important aspect we don't talk about enough is:

Do we expect next one to stabilize the team (regular top 4, for the next 2-3 years, playing good football) or win the league and CL?

This is an absolute critical decision. Partly because, United manager job is a huge job with very little patience from media, and fans. There has not been and will never be patience to give United's manager time to build up to the league title over 5-10 years. So unless we think we are only couple years away from winning the league (I don't) we need a manager before THE manager. Simple as that. Otherwise we will bring Ancelotti, Nagelsman, Tuchel, whomever and sack them just like we sacked everybody else before them.

Instead, smart money could be:
1. Hire Carrick if he can continue to show good football for the rest of the season and finishes top 4 / gets us Champions League. Let him coach for several years and hopefully we finish in top 4 every year. Mind you that is a very, very toll order. We haven't finished in UCL positions for consecutive years since Sir Alex. And this year we only have chance because everybody else turned into shit.
2. If Carrick can stabilize us, he probably still won't have experience and levels to win the league, and in that case we hire some famous, accomplished manager to take us a level up and help win the league and UCL

Hoping that any manager comes in and in couple years wins us top trophies, as if we are some sleeping cinderella is totally unrealistic for me. I respect if you believe it is possible, anything is possible in football, but we should also consider the alternative of "a coach before the coach" and for that role I really think Carrick could be amazing, if he proves himself for the rest of the season
Wasn't that the exact plan with Ole? Things rarely work out like that. You could say Arteta was meant to be that person for Arsenal, and if that was his remit then he's done an incredible job. And yet we all think he's done poorly because they haven't won the title. Whoever we go for next it will be with the intention of them winning the title, whether that's a quick turnaround or a slow build will be goals set by the owners, but you can bet we aren't going in to an appointment thinking it'll be someone to stabilise, but not get us over the line.
 
If Enrique’s the man the board wants to go for and his contract ends in 27, why not (under the assumption Carrick does well) offer Carrick a 1 year deal to take us through to the summer of 27? It’s hardly as if he’s gonna go ”nah I want a three year deal otherwise I’ll sign for Palace” if the chance arises to keep going at United for another year and to stake his claim to a longer term deal.
Yeah I like that idea, however are INEOS smart enough to come up with that kind of proposal to him
 
Yeah I like that idea, however are INEOS smart enough to come up with that kind of proposal to him
Why would Carrick or for that matter any coach agree to a one year deal its not smart its unfeasible for a permanent coaches Job .
 
Why would Carrick or for that matter any coach agree to a one year deal its not smart its unfeasible for a permanent coaches Job .
I know that, however just want to find a way of somehow being able to get Enrique before City do
 
Why would Carrick or for that matter any coach agree to a one year deal its not smart its unfeasible for a permanent coaches Job .
He would agree because it keeps him in a job his managerial accomplishments to date haven’t qualified him for. He’s here because he’s the most suitable ex player who happens to be a football manager since those were the requirements when the club were looking at interim managers.

You really think Carrick, with the situation he’s found himself in, is gonna go ”one year deal at United? No thanks, I’m gonna take the three year deal at Forest”.
 
He would agree because it keeps him in a job his managerial accomplishments to date haven’t qualified him for. He’s here because he’s the most suitable ex player who happens to be a football manager since those were the requirements when the club were looking at interim managers.

You really think Carrick, with the situation he’s found himself in, is gonna go ”one year deal at United? No thanks, I’m gonna take the three year deal at Forest”.
A one year deal does no help to Carrick or the players. They want stability on knowing who the long term coach is, not a rolling one year one.
 
Ton of respect for Cholo Simeone but his football is wholly incompatible with Manchester United
 
Wasn't that the exact plan with Ole? Things rarely work out like that. You could say Arteta was meant to be that person for Arsenal, and if that was his remit then he's done an incredible job. And yet we all think he's done poorly because they haven't won the title. Whoever we go for next it will be with the intention of them winning the title, whether that's a quick turnaround or a slow build will be goals set by the owners, but you can bet we aren't going in to an appointment thinking it'll be someone to stabilise, but not get us over the line.
This. The next manager needs to be of title winning calibre.
 
This. The next manager needs to be of title winning calibre.
Sorry we may have crossed wires here. If you are responding to my questions as to why Simeone wouldn't be suitable for Utd then he did win the title a few years ago. Which I consider to be pretty miraculous given the usual dominance of Barca and RM.

There may be other good reasons why he wouldn't fit ? I don't know. Hence the question.
 
Highest profile defensive minded manager in the world, typically very cautious and a master of the dark arts, he checks the boxes of everything I wouldn't want from a United side :lol:

Again, he's one of the best of his era without a doubt but stylistically is the antithesis of the playing style we love and want back.
 
Highest profile defensive minded manager in the world, typically very cautious and a master of the dark arts, he checks the boxes of everything I wouldn't want from a United side :lol:

Again, he's one of the best of his era without a doubt but stylistically is the antithesis of the playing style we love and want back.
Thanks. Some good points. I hear David Beckham speaks very highly of him too ...
 
A one year deal does no help to Carrick or the players. They want stability on knowing who the long term coach is, not a rolling one year one.
Not this again. This was said as a reason why Ole had to have a three year deal and then we had to sack him which split the fanbase massively. ETH, Mourinho and Amorim had three-year contracts which guaranteed absolutely nothing. Fergie was on a rolling 1-year deal for a decade. Even Carrick himself is on a 6 month contract, and performances on the pitch so far haven't signalled that this uncertainty of who's gonna come through the door in the summer is breaking them down mentally.

The club needs to do what's best for the club. Carrick finds himself in a very unlikely situation thanks to his ties to the club which means that the club has more leeway than usual in terms of protecting themselves financially and in a sporting sense. If there aren't any suitable candidates to take over permanently this summer, and Carrick does well enough until the end of the season to deserve a continued audition, then why not offer him a one year deal? Should it go tits up you don't have to sack a club legend and pay him another two years' wages.

Carrick, for all of his achievements as a player, is not in the driver's seat here and if there's not a suitable candidate leaving their club in '26 then why not extend Carrick until '27 and reassess? It'll give the club a chance to see how Carrick does with a few new faces in the squad and how he performs under the squad demands that European football would add.
 
Not this again. This was said as a reason why Ole had to have a three year deal and then we had to sack him which split the fanbase massively. ETH, Mourinho and Amorim had three-year contracts which guaranteed absolutely nothing. Fergie was on a rolling 1-year deal for a decade. Even Carrick himself is on a 6 month contract, and performances on the pitch so far haven't signalled that this uncertainty of who's gonna come through the door in the summer is breaking them down mentally.

The club needs to do what's best for the club. Carrick finds himself in a very unlikely situation thanks to his ties to the club which means that the club has more leeway than usual in terms of protecting themselves financially and in a sporting sense. If there aren't any suitable candidates to take over permanently this summer, and Carrick does well enough until the end of the season to deserve a continued audition, then why not offer him a one year deal? Should it go tits up you don't have to sack a club legend and pay him another two years' wages.

Carrick, for all of his achievements as a player, is not in the driver's seat here and if there's not a suitable candidate leaving their club in '26 then why not extend Carrick until '27 and reassess? It'll give the club a chance to see how Carrick does with a few new faces in the squad and how he performs under the squad demands that European football would add.

You appear to be misled in comparisons to Ferguson, Ferguson is a very special case and a different situation all together, not remotely comparable to Carrick let alone any established coach.

This idea of giving Carrick just 1 year and then asking him and the team to command the dressing room when they know he's essentially on a time limit, is a bit nonsense. It's even worse when you consider it from a player and potential player point of view - you know there's not enough conviction behind the manager, that its a 1year deal and creates a shift in power towards the dressing room if things get shite, whilst also putting off existing targets.

There's almost no angle in which it makes sense to give Carrick a 1 year deal. They can easily give a 3 year deal with a low severance if sacked before x time.
 
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Unless you have conducted an exhaustive poll, I don't think you should speak for "96% of fans".

True, I apologize.

Let's say "most fans" (including match-going fans), then.

And yes - I have not conducted an exhaustive poll, but I think I know match-going fans well enough to predict that MOST of them would be more than fine with Xabi after a few good results (maybe even before a few good results).

(Maybe you could conduct an exhaustive poll to prove me wrong.)
 
Unless you can get one of the truly top options like Tuchel, Enrique, Ancelotti... Then you have to just keep Carrick if he gets CL football and the vibes stay up.

Guys like de zerbi have proven nothing really to make them worth it
Pretty much this, absolutely nobody will be a guaranteed success. If Carrick continues like this, I"d really only take Enrique, maybe Tuchel over giving him a full-time contract. Not a long one though, keep it one or two years at the max and see how it goes.
 
Pretty much this, absolutely nobody will be a guaranteed success. If Carrick continues like this, I"d really only take Enrique, maybe Tuchel over giving him a full-time contract. Not a long one though, keep it one or two years at the max and see how it goes.
Yeah Enrique is stand out candidate for me
 
True, I apologize.

Let's say "most fans" (including match-going fans), then.

And yes - I have not conducted an exhaustive poll, but I think I know match-going fans well enough to predict that MOST of them would be more than fine with Xabi after a few good results (maybe even before a few good results).

(Maybe you could conduct an exhaustive poll to prove me wrong.)
Thank you.

Why do you think that is the case? Is it that we have been such shit for so long that people are desperate? I hope you agree that it is not "normal" for match-going United fans to not care about Xabi fecking Alonso being our manager. If the situation was reversed, there's no way Liverpool fans would be OK with Carrick being their manager even if Carrick had won Bundesliga with some team. We can agree on that much, cannot we? Have we lost rivalry with Liverpool? Have we gone soft? Do you just not perceive Xabi as a ex-Liverpool, considering his 3 seasons there as meaningless? Or is it that people just want to be decent and the cost doesn't matter any more?

p.s. Personally, I am certain Xabi won't "fix" us. He is just a different version of Amorim. Different quirks but essentially not really any more "proven" than Ruben. But even if I am wrong and even if he can get us top-4 for the next several years (there is no way he is winning EPL), I would rather not and would rather give a chance to more inexperienced but through-and-through United legend Carrick. Now, if we had any chance of getting Luis Enrique, then sure - forget about Carrick... But for Alonso? Meh
 
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This is one of the few times I’ve really enjoyed watching United since SAF. Carrick has brought back the Man Utd way of playing. I’m not sure that anybody on the poll would have us playing with the same pace and aggression. Enrique maybe, but he will cost an absolute fortune and there is still no guarantee he will succeed here. Massive call for the club to make in the summer. If Carrick gets us Champions League football next season then I think he deserves a crack at it. Too early to tell at this stage, but I think the votes may well change if he achieves it.
 
Real sacking wasnt the only argument

Xabi is a an ex-Liverpool player and he will never, should never manage United. Not understanding that is being ignorant about entire history of United vs Liverpool and the rivalry

Busby played for both City and Liverpool.
 
You appear to be misled in comparisons to Ferguson, Ferguson is a very special case and a different situation all together, not remotely comparable to Carrick let alone any established coach.

This idea of giving Carrick just 1 year and then asking him and the team to command the dressing room when they know he's essentially on a time limit, is a bit nonsense. It's even worse when you consider it from a player and potential player point of view - you know there's not enough conviction behind the manager, that its a 1year deal and creates a shift in power towards the dressing room if things get shite, whilst also putting off existing targets.

There's almost no angle in which it makes sense to give Carrick a 1 year deal. They can easily give a 3 year deal with a low severance if sacked before x time.
You’re ignoring the three other names I mentioned to just respond to the point on Fergie.
How did having a three year deal and the illusion of long-term-thinking prevent the players from downing tools under Ole, EtH, Mourinho and even Moyes (who had a six year deal!!)?
You’re also ignoring the fact that Carrick currently being on a six month deal hasn’t had the effect you’re predicting a one-year deal would have, even after coming in after a sacking of a manager that wasn’t sacked due to the players downing tools.

Giving Carrick a one year deal has many positive aspects for the club. It’s financially better in case they need to part ways. The players aren’t playing poorly because he’s only on a 6-month deal so the notion that a one year deal will suddenly make the players depressed is off the mark IMO. It gives the club the possibility to assess Carrick’s credentials under more realistic circumstances ie European football, full season, transfer window, squad management, and it gives the club another year to assess other candidates while not being as financially exposed by a long term deal.

If you think he’d agree to a one year payout on a three-year deal and that would signal more ”longevity” and not signal to the players that he might not be the long-term guy we might as well agree a 15 year contract with a one year payoff if he gets sacked. I don’t think he’d agree to that, because the entire point of the longer contract is financial protection for the manager.