Posts Tagged ‘Sir Matt Busby’

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In the first two or three weeks of the Mourinho reign at Manchester United it became fairly obvious that the leopard was trying to change some, if not all, of his spots.

He and the players were seen arriving at games in the standard issue club blazer and tie. He even managed to fasten the top button on his shirt. (more…)

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Some people, who shall remain nameless, even if their name is David Moyes, think that Louis van Gaal should be given more time.

Had Moyes himself been given more time, United could well be in the Championship by now which might have made them a less attractive proposition for an arrogant egotist like van Gaal.

Moyes would still have been sacked but United would have somebody other than the Dutch clown in charge, which would probably have been a good thing.

Moyes is currently touring the TV channels in his new found vocation as an ‘expert’. He has been a guest on Clare Balding’s show on BT, he has appeared on BBC to give his views on the FA Cup. Sky has welcomed him to their studios, once for a match and once for ‘Goals on Sunday’ so he could be asked infantile questions by the infantile Ben Shephard. (more…)

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If, as is widely expected, Jose Mourinho becomes the next Manchester United manager, he will take over at the start of next season.

This is the only logical explanation as to why Louis van Gaal is still there. It would appear that Ryan Giggs has turned down the opportunity to take over until the end of the season, having decided that he wants the job on a permanent basis, or not at all.

This looks like leaving him with his second option, at least for the time being so, unless Mourinho wants him as a coach, Giggs may have to leave to come back. This is not necessarily a bad thing as nobody really knows if he is up to the United job or not and, as Wilf McGuinness proved when taking over from Sir Matt Busby, a loyal ex-player is not always the best choice for the Manchester United manager’s job, particularly when it is his first managerial appointment.

This leaves United with two further options. Either keep van Gaal until the end of the season, risking further wrath from the supporters and probably ending the season trophy-less and outside the top four, or fire him now and bring in Mourinho while there is still a chance of winning the Europa League and/or the FA Cup, even finishing in the top four would be looked at with renewed optimism if there was a change of manager. (more…)

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(Are there really three candidates? It’s doubtful, but we look at them anyway!)

Jose Mourinho

Jose Mourinho is by far and away the most qualified for this prestigious position. He also has the added advantage of actually wanting the job! Currently out of work, there would be no compensation to pay and the transition from van Gaal to Mourinho would be seamless.

Having won titles and Champion’s leagues with different clubs in different countries Jose has proven on many occasions that he is the right man for the job.

Unlike David Moyes, he would not find the task daunting or too big and would relish the opportunity of pitting his wits against Pep Guardiola again, this time in Manchester. Unlike Louis van Gaal, his methods and tactics are not so dated that the players would have to bale him out if the going got tough.

Quite why he hasn’t been appointed just yet is a bit of a mystery to a lot of United fans. It certainly doesn’t look like this team is going to achieve Champion’s League qualification but, if they were to bring in Mourinho now, there would still be a possibility. Then it wouldn’t look quite as bad on van Gaal who, by the end of this season, will have spent two years and ÂŁ258 million on taking the team backwards! (more…)

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A lot of people, when Sir Alex Ferguson retired, were under the impression that Jose Mourinho would be the next United manager.

At that time, people involved in the decision making process would have included Ferguson, Bobby Charlton, Ed Woodward, one or more of the Glazers, another director or two and probably David Gill.

My guess is that Ferguson favoured Mourinho and he would probably have had the support of his friend, David Gill. That the vote obviously went against the “Special One” is probably due to Bobby Charlton and the other directors. This would be particularly true if any of them, like Charlton, were there during the Busby era.

Back in the seventies when Tommy Docherty had an affair with Mary Brown, the wife of United’s physiotherapist Laurie Brown, the club waited for Busby to return from holiday for a decision on Docherty. Within hours of Busby’s return, “The Doc” was fired, even though he later went on to marry her. This way of thinking, whereby nothing can be done to tarnish the image of the club, stays with Charlton, but he appears to be the last of a dying breed. (more…)