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MANCHESTER UNITED chief Dan Ashworth has the tough job of picking the club’s new manager after Erik ten Hag was sacked.
The Dutchman’s reign at Old Trafford comes to an end after a 2-1 defeat to West Ham yesterday left them languishing in 14th in the Premier League table.
Reuters
Dan Ashworth will lead the search for a new bossPA
Getty
PAAfter a poor season last term that saw United finish eighth and crash out the Champions League in the group stage, Ten Hag saved his job by winning the FA Cup.
But just 14 games after being handed a new contract in the summer, Man Utd are on the lookout for a new boss.
The task falls on Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s new chiefs – sporting director Ashworth, technical director Jason Wilcox and CEO Omar Berrada.
Ashworth is set to lead the search and he boasts an impressive CV when it comes to appointing the right managers for the right teams.
The 53-year-old previously worked for the FA and played a huge role in giving Gareth Southgate the England job in 2016.
He revolutionised the team and guided the Three Lions to two Euros finals that ended in heartbreak.
Ashworth then worked at Brighton, where he appointed Graham Potter as boss.
He implemented an attractive style of play and took them from near the bottom of the league to European contenders.
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Ashworth then moved to Newcastle and he gave Eddie Howe the job, who led the Toon into the Champions League for the first time in two decades.
Interestingly, Unai Emery was supposedly his first-choice at St James’ Park, but the Spaniard instead went on to oversee Aston Villa’s remarkable rise from relegation candidates to matching Europe’s elite.
Due to Ashworth’s history with Southgate, he finds himself in the running for the United job.
But it is unclear whether he would want the role after previously saying he wants a year out of football following the pressures of being the England boss.
Meanwhile, Potter is also thought to be a potential option for the Red Devils.
He has been out of the dugout for a year-and-a-half since being sacked by Chelsea, seemingly biding his time for the right opportunity.
Ex-Barcelona boss Xavi and Sporting Lisbon gaffer Ruben Amorim are among the other names being linked with the job.
But for now, club legend and Ten Hag’s assistant Ruud van Nistelrooy will lead Man Utd as interim manager.
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THIS is a mid-table squad at an underachieving club, with a lot of unwanted players on big money.
And Ratcliffe is an instinctive cost-cutter who may not pay top dollar to the next manager.
If this club wasn’t called ‘Manchester United’, it wouldn’t be an especially desirable job.
The good news for United is that their new sporting director, Dan Ashworth, is a very decent judge of a manager.
He has been instrumental in three previous managerial appointments — Gareth Southgate for England, Graham Potter for Brighton and Eddie Howe for Newcastle.
None were wildly popular at the time, all were conspicuous successes.
Interestingly, Ashworth’s No 1 choice for the Newcastle job was Unai Emery, who turned him down to stay at Villarreal but has since proved that judgment right by excelling at Aston Villa.
And the Spaniard would be an excellent fit for United — yet there is next to no chance that he would abandon Villa’s Champions League campaign to take the Old Trafford job, not least because he isn’t a stark raving madman.
Howe would be another good candidate to succeed Ten Hag but, although he has become frustrated on Tyneside, the Saudis would surely not allow Ratcliffe to poach Howe, as they reluctantly did with Ashworth.
Potter is available but his Chelsea experience and lack of charisma would make him a tough sell.
Which brings us to Southgate, who remains close with Ashworth and is an excellent man-manager who was seriously considered by United last spring.
Yet, despite having led England to two of their three major finals, Southgate’s reputation for over-caution was only enhanced during the Euros.
Mauricio Pochettino, passed over twice by United, is out of the equation having taken the United States job.
Thomas Tuchel would also have been a popular and gettable option – but England got in there first.
Likewise, Roberto De Zerbi, now at Marseille after his brief Brighton stint sparkled then fizzled out.
Kieran McKenna — a gifted former United coach who has won back-to-back promotions with Ipswich Town — is an intriguing candidate but the imminent vacancy may come a year or so too soon.
Marco Silva, the extremely under-rated Fulham boss, has been on United’s radar and should not be discounted.
Sporting Lisbon’s Ruben Amorim, last season’s ‘next big thing’, was passed over by West Ham as well as Liverpool this summer and is not an easy man to pin down.
Zinedine Zidane, who has taken over from Alan Curbishley as a 20-1 shot for every Premier League job, is a ‘figurehead’ manager and not an Ashworth type.
Ruud van Nistelrooy, the former United goal machine who joined Ten Hag’s coaching team in the summer is the bookies’ favourite. Simply because he’s in the building and he’s Dutch.
So, yes, getting rid of Ten Hag is the easy part.
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