According to Martin Samuel, United seem scared to appoint a manager in the Sir Alex Ferguson mould as Conte would demand the control that Solskjaer does not have
The strangest thing about the current band of United executives is they seem terrified of ceding control to anyone who wants to be manager, but are happy to take instruction from the one guy who doesn’t.
Sir Alex Ferguson’s appearance at the Manchester United training ground this week was interpreted as offering tacit support for Solskjaer, even if it may just have been coincidence.
Certainly, his name was inserted into briefings that made plain Solskjaer would be keeping his job. And that’s how it should be. Ferguson was a brilliant manager. What sense would it make to not seek his counsel?
Yet a man like Antonio Conte has an exceptional record, too. Ten titles, split evenly as player and coach, across two countries. Surely his thoughts would also be worth hearing? Yet United seem scared by them. One of the reasons Conte may not be Solskjaer’s successor is because he would want something called ‘control’.
He would like to decide who to buy and who to sell. Some marquee names may not fit his style. You know, just like when Ferguson was manager. Didn’t work out too badly, did it? Finding a good football man and letting him do the football. Doesn’t sound so outlandish put like that.
So why the fear? Who better is there to direct football at Old Trafford now? It is not as if the club has a Marc Overmars or Txiki Beristain figure for a manager to rub against.
Are they worried that while the marketing department schemes the second coming of Cristiano Ronaldo, a headstrong manager might ask impertinent questions like how does he play, where does he play and what makes you think he gets in my team? Isn’t that what Ferguson would have done in similar circumstances? Isn’t that exactly what a good manager is supposed to do?
There are those who think Ferguson’s presence places pressure on Solskjaer. This is nonsense. If anyone has the right to sit in that stadium it is the man who as good as built it, the man with the stand named after him. He did three decades and left them as champions, with 13 titles. He has the right to say whatever he wants. Ferguson has not uttered a single, public word that would undermine any of his successors.
Yet, equally, the idea that he remains the United kingmaker is bizarre given he relinquished the job in 2013. In his autobiography, Patrice Evra said that Ferguson spoke of giving David Moyes ‘the biggest chance of his life’. There is no denying his influence, yet that was eight years ago.
Surely, what United need now is another manager with a personality strong enough to embrace the challenge. Another Ferguson, in fact. Conte wouldn’t be around 27 years, but he might be there long enough to identify what is going wrong and address it. Is that what United’s board truly fear? That it isn’t just Solskjaer, or the players, who the new man would judge.