The Wizard and Quieroz
And so it comes to pass, the hybrid creature that is Fergoz has struggled for too long and must tear itself back into separate entities once more.
Well what do we think of Carlos? He has been made the scapegoat on many occasions for United’s brief, fallow, period of 4-5-1ness but the facts look upon him kindly. The only league titles we have won in recent years have been on his watch and as such he should be judged favourably.
It has taken time, but his pragmatism has finally found a way to marry itself to Fergie’s ‘all eggs in the striker basket’ approach and it has brought us Europe again. I wish him all the best and etc. but am more concerned by how this effects our club in the immediate future.
The papers have instantly latched on to his Portugeseness and how that ‘may’ alter the home address of Mr. C. Ronaldo, but they’re just looking to put more miles into that story.
The key thing is that our 66 year old manager gets a replacement in to help him run the club soon and prefereably, obviously, somebody good. Carlos has been making ‘I want to move up in the world’ type comments for a year now so you hope that The Wizard has a few files ready to be looked at. I, for one, had the notion they might hit up Hughesie when this happened, but his dreadful alignment with with Mordor now rules that out.
So what to do? Here’s an idea, promote Mike Phelan to the bench and have Giggsy and Neville do a year as part time player-coaches, grooming them for future things. It is not as if they are ever going to leave United, and it is a good solution because Carlos is pretty much gone.
July 11th, 2008 at 10:01 pm
I disagree on promoting someone from the inside, with the exception of Rene Meulensteen. I think we need someone from the continent with experience outside of England, who has played at the highest level and has vast experience coaching the highest level players. Obviously this is a tough task to fill this job but I like the look of Mancini (ex-Inter) and Laudrup (ex-Getafe). Laudrup might be a bit short on his coaching experience and Mancini might not want to be a #2 after being the big honcho at Inter. On the other hand, I’m sure that Sir Alex has a few others in mind. I just don’t want to see someone from the old-school, a la Jim Smith, etc. I think this is at best a time-saving appointment, and at worst a step backwards from the progressive era of Quieroz.
July 12th, 2008 at 1:41 pm
I have always admired Meulensteen’s work chuck, but when you look at the job he did at Brondby you would have to say that he is as much of a roll of the dice as anybody else really.
July 12th, 2008 at 9:45 pm
true. In retrospect he would not be the best option. I meant that the wily/crafty/continental, I feel, is the best choice. Someone who can take them to the next level from were CQ took them. Winning the EPL can be done with any old fart with the team we have. What is needed, IMHO, is a coach who can bring them a 2nd successive CL title. CQ gave them a sound defensive base, now they need someone who can get Rooney, Tevez, (forward to be named), and Nani to score more goals. Man U will not surprise anyone next CL unless they look at re-shaping their attack and involving others besides Ron-ego.
July 14th, 2008 at 4:01 pm
I like the way you think mate. Another trip up the steps after a European final would be fantastic, but you only need to see what a jungle football is during the summer nowadays to wonder if it is going to get any easier.
Bayern, Ajax and Real have all won 3 on the trot, I fear that may never happen again.
I think the criteria for the next ass. man. should be based around whether or not he can do the job rather than his craftiness or foreignness. You know what though, the key factor is actually going to be how well he can get on with Fergie, I can see phone calls going out to mates personally…