Plans "in place" for Fergie retirement.

Dominos

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pocco said:
Wasn't it around 2002 that Fergie was going to retire?
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I remember reading we had Ottmar Hitzfeld lined up to replace him. Having looked around, he rejected our approach, and we'd had talks with Louis Van Gaal and Sven at that time.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/fo...ected-chance-to-manage-Manchester-United.html

Amazing to think he planned to retire in 2002, here we are in 2013 and he's still going strong and will carry on for another year at the least. A rather radical turn around..
 

99 red balloons

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I'm not so sure about all this "if Mourinho goes to Chelsea then he won't come to us" chat. I think in his eyes, if he went to Liverpool or City, then yes it does, but possibly not Chelsea...

...and lets face it, we all expect another 2/3 years of Fergie, so if he does go back to Chelsea that's usually the amount of time it takes for him to annoy everyone at every club he ever goes to, so may be in the market again...
 

KiD MoYeS

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99 red balloons said:
I'm not so sure about all this "if Mourinho goes to Chelsea then he won't come to us" chat. I think in his eyes, if he went to Liverpool or City, then yes it does, but possibly not Chelsea...

...and lets face it, we all expect another 2/3 years of Fergie, so if he does go back to Chelsea that's usually the amount of time it takes for him to annoy everyone at every club he ever goes to, so may be in the market again...
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If he goes to Chelsea he'll become pretty unpopular with United fans again.
 

Dominos

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I don't think Fergie will base his retirement around the availability and contracts of certain candidates like many seem to think. He'll leave when he feels like it, if that means Pep and Mourinho are under contract, oh well..

I can't see us trying to steal a manager from one of our rivals and buying Mourinho out of his Chelsea contract for example, so a lot will depend on the luck of who happens to be available when he calls it a day.
 

KiD MoYeS

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Dominos said:
I don't think Fergie will base his retirement around the availability and contracts of certain candidates like many seem to think. He'll leave when he feels like it, if that means Pep and Mourinho are under contract, oh well..

I can't see us trying to steal a manager from one of our rivals and buying Mourinho out of his Chelsea contract for example, so a lot will depend on the luck of who happens to be available when he calls it a day.
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Ferguson won't just feck off and leave the club with little to no options in succeeding him. This will be a well thought out process.
 

Castia

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I don't think Solskjaer is ready yet he needs to move out of the Norwegian league and test himself at a higher level first. Mourinho, Klopp or Guardiola are the obvious choices, it's a bonus that all 3 have said publicly they'd like to manage in England.
 

Dominos

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Kid Cunto said:
Ferguson won't just feck off and leave the club with little to no options in succeeding him. This will be a well thought out process.
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There will never be little or no options in succeeding him. Mourinho, Pep and Klopp are not the only 3 managers in the world.

Can you see Ferguson retiring when he still wants to continue just because another manager has became available? At a push he may stay on a year more than he wanted to if the board feel they wont have their main targets available until then, but the boss has always said he'll continue as long as his health is good, he's not going to cut his career short for someone else to take his place when he still feels he's up to the job.
 

Liam147

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Kid Cunto said:
If he goes to Chelsea he'll become pretty unpopular with United fans again.
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Which sadly I think is a real stumbling block. He's a very divisive figure, and while I and many others love him, there's a lot of United fans who despise his arrogance (somewhat ironically), and other aspects of his personality. Pep has none of that.

Hopefully Solskjaer will move on somewhere where he can really test/prove his ability before Fergie goes. I've just always thought that Mourinho should be first choice, and if he does decide to up sticks again, Solskjaer will have been about long enough to have proved he deserves a chance at the United job. Alternatively, Mourinho sticks around for 20 years.

Time will tell I guess.
 

kps88

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What's the big deal if our first choices are under contract at the time? If they want to manage United, we pay the right compensation and they leave.
 

NM

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Giggs with a Scholes and Neville backroom staff. Maybe Rio as well. That's my hope. Let's see what happens.
 

Dominos

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kps88 said:
What's the big deal if our first choices are under contract at the time? If they want to manage United, we pay the right compensation and they leave.
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It's not a big deal but a potential stumbling block. Picking who's going to be our next manager would be nothing more than presumptuous as a lot would depend on the timing of Fergie's retirement. Let's say Fergie retires next summer though, Mourinho's 1 year into his 4 year contract at Chelsea, Pep's 1 year into his 3 year contract a Bayern. There's a question mark if we'd be willing to poach a manager from one of our rivals and pay them off and whether they'd be willing to drop their commitments to their current club to join United.

NM said:
Giggs with a Scholes and Neville backroom staff. Maybe Rio as well. That's my hope. Let's see what happens.
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If this was the general forum I'd be posting a facepalm gif right about now...
 

NM

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Dominos said:
If this was the general forum I'd be posting a facepalm gif right about now...
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Knew somebody would bite!

On a serious note though, I wouldn't mind a young unproven manager. We aren't going to win as much as we did with SAF anyway. I'd rather somebody who sticks with our style of play, the focus on the youth academy etc. rather than a Mourinho who is focused on instant success and not the long term future.
 

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acrebo said:
Phil Jones as player manager I reckon.
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That would be a demotion, since right now he's got the top job - being Phil Jones.

For those talking about Ole needing to test himself in a better league before we start to consider his name: he's being tested just fine in Norway at the moment. Unless I'm very much mistaken Molde are at the bottom of the table with just one point after six games.
 

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Raoul said:
If Fergie is retiring this summer, its likely that Mourinho and Mendes know about it and would suggest Joe-Say would come to OT rather than Chelsea. Even if he goes to Chelsea, he would almost certainly leave after a year or two and come to OT once Fergie eventually retires.
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Zen86 said:
I'd say all signs point to Guardiola.

He wants to come to England and could've walked into either City or Chelsea if he really wanted to this summer. Fergie's still at United for another few years, so I won't be surprised at all if his retirement coincides with Guardiola leaving Bayern.
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Fergie has said he'd like 2-3 more years which falls into Zen86's post - I also think Guardiola would like to manage United and with the stories of Pep and Fergie meeting in NYC over last summer I wouldn't be shocked to see it happen. I like Pep and his style of management more than Maureen so it would be interesting to see him take a chance at it when the great man finally steps down.
 

rednev

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Let's wait and see who the most suitable candidate is...in 10 or 15 years.
 

LawCharltonBest

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I understand people being anxious to know who our next manager will be because unfortunately Fergie will leave us sooner rather than later. But if Fergie were to leave this Summer, I would be as nervous as a bird being approached by a cat. Fergie is the absolute best manager in the World, IMO by some distance, at this moment in time.
 

RDCR07

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And if Klopp takes over, we might actually get some German players in our side. OMG!
 

manusteve

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Sojiro said:
very true :D however that gives an indication of staying on rather than retiring right away and given his age (although his spirit still is as sharp as ever) leads me to think hes being a bit more honest this time around.
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Health notwithstanding, as soon as that 3rd Champs League is won, he's out!

I don't see the likes of Solskjaer and Moyes being contenders at all. This is Manchester United - it will need a big name.
 

Sparky_Hughes

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manusteve said:
Health notwithstanding, as soon as that 3rd Champs League is won, he's out!

I don't see the likes of Solskjaer and Moyes being contenders at all. This is Manchester United - it will need a big name.
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jan vennegoor of hesselink ? That's pretty big?
 

Carl

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Brightonian said:
That would be a demotion, since right now he's got the top job - being Phil Jones.

For those talking about Ole needing to test himself in a better league before we start to consider his name: he's being tested just fine in Norway at the moment. Unless I'm very much mistaken Molde are at the bottom of the table with just one point after six games.
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:eek: Really? That's disapointing to hear. Hopefully he turns it around.
 

Raoul

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Sojiro said:
Fergie has said he'd like 2-3 more years which falls into Zen86's post - I also think Guardiola would like to manage United and with the stories of Pep and Fergie meeting in NYC over last summer I wouldn't be shocked to see it happen. I like Pep and his style of management more than Maureen so it would be interesting to see him take a chance at it when the great man finally steps down.
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Fergie managing 2-3 more years also wouldn't rule Mourinho out, especially given how managers under Abramovich rarely last more than two years.

As for Guardiola, it would be nice to see how he would fare at clubs who aren't already at the pinnacle of European football to get a decent sense of whether he's legit, or a one hit wonder.
 

Comsmit

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Nobody knows when Ferguson will call it a day....I don't even think he truly knows. Personally I think Pep Guardiola going to Bayern tells us a couple of things....he wants a stable base to build from (Chelsea will never offer him that), and he is keeping his options open for a potential move to England. Becoming Manchester United manager must be incredibly appealing to him as, like Bayern, there is that incredibly stable base offered by Ferguson's tenure.

Both have great youth facilities, infrastructure and scouting networks, a winning mentality plus huge financial resources to tap into. United are keenly following the Bayern club model by installing club figures in prominent positions and this is sure to help any incumbent manager settle with the support they require. Cutting his teeth at Bayern will give him a taste for a different culture, a different club structure and release some of the intense pressure he endured at Barcelona.

From United's POV he must be attractive in the sense that he does not court controversy, is humble and modest with his achievements, shares a passion for developing young players and is a visionary coach and mentor. Simply following Ferguson may not be enough, the new manager will need to supplement the core base with his own ideas, helping the club evolve and not become stuck in the transition between past & present.

He would be my personal preference....by quite a margin.
 
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