Gareth Southgate is “not a contender” for the managerial position at Manchester United, despite the former England coach’s availability and strong connection with the club’s executive branch.
David Ornstein (The Athletic) reveals Southgate was not approached by the Red Devils in the summer as the club conducted a comprehensive ‘end-of-season’ review, which saw a number of managers considered as potential replacements for Erik ten Hag.
Eventually, United reached the decision to stick with Ten Hag, rewarding him with a one-year contract extension and throwing their weight firmly behind the Dutchman over the summer.
An abject start to the season, however, which offers uncomfortable flashbacks to last year’s dismal campaign, has already dialled the pressure Ten Hag is under up to a suffocating level.
There is widespread dismay amongst the club’s fanbase that the positivity of the summer transfer window, which saw five European stars (Joshua Zirkzee, Leny Yoro, Matthijs de Ligt, Noussair Mazraoui and Manuel Ugarte) signed for a combined fee in the region of £180 million, has immediately been lost with results, and performances, woefully short of the requisite standard.
The fact that Ten Hag chose to bench three of these signings for yesterday’s trip to Villa Park, and selected a centre-back partnership of Harry Maguire and Jonny Evans, speaks to the disconnect between the highs of the summer and the lows of early Autumn.
And, most concerningly, it was the right decision. Maguire and Evans offered the best defensive performance of the season, while the Dutchman’s former acolytes at Ajax – De Ligt and Lisandro Martinez, signed for a combined £100 million – began the game from the bench, after their horror show mid week.
Sir Jim Ratcliffe, watching from the stands as United battled to a 0-0 draw against Aston Villa, is unlikely to have been impressed that Ten Hag actively chose to bench many of the signings INEOS sanctioned in the summer, as well as ones the 54-year-old coach has pushed for in previous windows.
Ratcliffe was joined by Sir Dave Brailsford, the INEOS Sport Director, and the club’s executive structure, comprised of Omar Berrada, Dan Ashworth and Jason Wilcox. Sir Alex Ferguson was also in attendance, offering a salient reminder of the standard this selection of men must aspire to help United capture once more.
But it feels increasingly unlikely that this improvement on the pitch will occur with Ten Hag stationed in the dug-out off it.
His side are still making the same mistakes in his third season as they were in his first. The same problems which plagued the club last season have reared their ugly head this year, and any attempts the Dutchman makes to improve them creates new problems elsewhere.
United were much improved defensively against Villa, compared to Thursday night’s debacle against Porto, which saw the Red Devils ship three unanswered goals in twenty-three minutes, despite being two-nil up. Yet this came at the cost of any meaningful attacking threat at Villa Park, while United were able to score three in Portugal just four days prior.
Top clubs can attack and defend in equal measure. Ten Hag’s United can just about do one, but only at the cost of the other.
The club’s rulers, including Ratcliffe and fellow co-owner Joel Glazer, are scheduled to meet this week with the executive branch. These are planned meetings, as are customary during the international break, but the topic of Ten Hag will be high on the agenda, regardless of what the club says.
A report relayed by The Peoples Person indicates United are “lining up” Thomas Tuchel as a “potential replacement” after the club had considered appointing the German in the summer. Negotiations ultimately broke down, but there appears to be willingness on United’s side to “reignite” a pursuit for a manager who could begin work at Old Trafford immediately.
And Southgate is another name who has constantly been linked with the United job, owing to both his availability as well as his strong connections with Ratcliffe and Brailsford. Reports suggest United’s co-owner wants a “best of British” manager at the helm at Old Trafford, with Brailsford a staunch supporter of the former Three Lions boss.
However, Ornstein contends these rumours are unfounded and the former English coach was “not a contender” to replace Ten Hag in the summer, further stating there is “no information” to suggest this situation has changed. “I wouldn’t expect [Southgate] to be a head coach or manager of Manchester United in the foreseeable future,” Ornstein concludes.
This is likely to come as a significant relief for the majority of United fans who will have been fearful of Southgate’s INEOS connection gifting him a job his coaching CV is woefully short of being qualified for.
While Ten Hag is very unlikely to be the right man for the role, Southgate is definitely not either.
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