Who will be the next Man Utd manager?
The news has broken today that Manchester United have sacked manager Jose Mourinho in a move that will largely please their fan base. Whether it is his players, the board, the fans or the media, Mourinho has seemingly fallen out with someone whilst at United on a weekly basis. That may be forgiven when he is leading the team to victory week in week out, but when they are struggling like they are this season, cracks begin to appear and people begin to lose faith.
As soon as the news came out about Mourinho’s sacking, bookmakers quickly through together a list of potential candidates for the job. When placing a bet on this market, you are backing who will take the job full time, not who will be the caretaker manager so this is something you should consider before putting your money down. On the Betfair betting market, a permanent manager is someone who is in charge for ten or more games, so that could be someone who comes in and takes charge for the remainder of this season before someone else takes over in the summer, a move that has already been speculated.
The names on the list are a mixture of top quality coaches from around Europe, including the Premier League, and also people that have links to Manchester United from their past, something the board see as important.
The betting list right now is headed by former player Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, he is the current 1/3* favourite for the job. Although he is unlikely to be given the role for a long time, he is exactly the type of person that United would like to see at the club for the remainder of this season.
Behind Solskjaer in the betting are two people that would both be long term prospects for the job. Those are two Frenchmen, Laurent Blanc at 9/1* and Zinedine Zidane at 15/2*, both of whom are well respected within the footballing world and would be prime candidates for a position like this. Zidane has been spoken about as a potential Manchester United manager for the past 12 months, this could be their time to get him in.
If United want to employ someone with Premier League managerial experience then the shortest man in the betting is current Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino. He is available at 12/1* in the betting, and while he may be someone that United really want at the club, being under contract at Tottenham does complicate things for them.
Whoever Man United bring in, the club needs to do something to get people back on side. The first job has to be to get an arm round Paul Pogba and sort his situation out. He fell out with Mourinho, but there is no doubt that he is one of the best players in the world and with him in the team and enjoying his football, United are a better team. Pogba can be a real asset if the new manager treats him right, and that should be their first task after taking over.
What is Next for Jose Mourinho?
For as long as Zinedine Zidane has been touted as a potential Manchester United manager, Jose Mourinho has been touted as a possibility for Real Madrid. The Spanish giants are still struggling and they have had three different managers in the past 12 months, including Zidane.
There is no doubt that Mourinho would be a huge gamble, and he would split the fans and the dressing room, but now would be a great time for him to move to Spain and take charge. He would be taking over at Madrid while they are at their lowest, and he would love nothing more than to walk into that club, make things right and show the footballing world that he still has what it takes to be a successful club manager.
Other than him going to Madrid there doesn’t appear to be too many options for Mourinho to look at. It is possible that he could move into international management to take the stress away from being a day to day manager, and obviously Portugal would be his number one destination. They are doing pretty good right now though under Fernando Santos, so their FA may not be willing to give Mourinho a chance with them.
Wherever he decides to go, he will no doubt continue to attract the type of controversy that we have seen and loved before, but for now it's farewell to "the special one".
*all odds correct at time of writing 10pm 18/12/18
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