Man Utd sent three clear demands to entice top-class manager as talks prepared
Micah Richards, Alan Shearer and Gary Lineker have given their thoughts on Manchester United’s search for a new manager following the dismissal of Ruben Amorim this week.
Manchester United have been warned that they need to grant their manager greater control at the club if they want to entice top-tier candidates in their hunt for Ruben Amorim‘s replacement. United decided to sack Amorim earlier this week, following his fiery post-match interview after the 1-1 draw with Leeds United.
His remarks suggested friction between himself and technical director Jason Wilcox. The club is now focused on identifying a replacement, with their immediate priority being to appoint an interim manager until the end of the current campaign, before securing a permanent successor in the summer. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is set to hold talks with the club over the weekend while Michael Carrick is said to have spoken to them already about taking the interim job.
Various names, including Oliver Glasner and Thomas Tuchel, have been touted for the permanent role. Speaking on The Rest is Football Podcast, Gary Lineker questioned whether United could still appeal to elite managers given their recent difficulties.
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Micah Richards argued they could, but only if the incoming manager is permitted to select their own signings, enjoys complete autonomy and isn’t subject to interference from above.
“I still think they’ll want the job,” he said. “As a manager, you’ll always think you can turn it round. I think the key question will be, ‘do you have full control?’
“Are you a coach, or are you a manager? Do you get to pick the players that you want? Are you having people above you meddling with what you want to do on the pitch? If you have full control, 100 per cent.”
After Lineker pointed to Enzo Maresca’s exit from Chelsea as evidence of modern managers lacking complete authority, Richards responded with: “I understand it.
“For a little bit of balance, if you have a manager that comes in and he buys all these players and then, the new manager doesn’t like those players and wants his own players. You end up with a huge bill, you might have paid massive transfer fees for these players and they say they’re not moving because they don’t like the options that are presented to them.
“Then you end up with an unsettled dressing room. I do understand why they get involved, but they need to work together.”
Alan Shearer then gave his thoughts. “If you look at the top three in the league at the minute, Arsenal, City and Villa, all well run. All heavily influenced by the head coach or manager,” he said.
“There’s no way anyone is coming into City without Pep’s say-so. There’s no way anyone is coming into Villa without Emery’s say-so and I’d say the same with Arsenal.
“When you look at those three clubs, maybe I’m wrong, but is it a coincidence the managers have a big say on who comes in?”.
Before securing a permanent appointment, United must appoint an interim manager. Former boss Solskjaer and Michael Carrick are the frontrunners to take over until the end of the season.
Discussing the situation, Lineker raised concerns about certain choices made by Sir Jim Ratcliffe and the United leadership, including the prospect of Solskjaer making a comeback to Old Trafford. He also suggested that the club’s current state might affect whether top managers would be willing to take the job.
“I think they’re already starting to make strange decisions even post-Amorim,” he said. “Bring in Darren Fletcher, fine, perfectly understandable to bring someone in like him to run the team,” he said.
“Then, they’re talking about bringing in another interim to run the team until the end of the season which doesn’t make much sense. Who that will be, I don’t really know. Who would go there?”.
“There’s a few people available, you mentioned Thomas Tuchel. But, why would someone of that grade walk into that club because of all the examples that Alan gave?”.
“It’s become a bit of a basket case of a football club. There’s clearly all sorts of shenanigans going on at the very top and it’s been significantly worse since Ratcliffe came in.
“You can speculate all you like as to who might be next but if they give it to Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and he does okay, then they’ll be in a position, again, where they have to probably give it to someone that they don’t really want to give it to.
“I don’t know. They disposed of him just a few years ago.”
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