On Sunday, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer ceased to be Manchester United manager. He was relieved of his duties following a rash of embarrassing results that left United 8th on the log. As the search for an interim manager continues, Michael Carrick is to hold the fort.
The club expects that a permanent manager will take over the reins at the end of the season. The pickings are slim as United continues their pursuit of a manager who will be there for the long haul. The pool is limited, and United don’t enjoy the best of reputations at the moment.
Several names are on the list, with Zinedine Zidane ruling himself out. Talks have also surrounded the recruitment of Brendan Rodgers, Erik ten Haag or Mauricio Pochettino, but it has been all speculation.
In recent days, Mauricio Pochettino emerged as the favourite to land the job, following Zidane distancing himself from the job. Despite the rumours, the PSG manager has maintained radio silence on the matter.
Pochettino dismisses links to United
Rumours have been rife about Mauricio Pochettino taking over as the new manager of Manchester United. The Argentine was heavily favoured to get the job permanently following the dismissal of Solskjaer.
According to ESPN, the Argentine is the preferred choice among the United hierarchy. They believe that the former Tottenham manager would be willing to consider the Old Trafford vacancy. In response to the speculations surrounding his links to the United job, Pochettino has dismissed it as mere paper talk.
The Argentine claims he is happy managing Paris Saint-Germain but claims football is about today, not tomorrow.
Following the dismissal of Jose Mourinho at Old Trafford in 2018, Pochettino also emerged as his successor. Nothing came of their interest as the United board made a galactic mistake in appointing Solskjaer as successor to the Portuguese.
With Pochettino removing his name from the pool, the search for a successor to Ole Gunnar Solskjaer continues with top-level managers a scarce commodity. Perhaps, following the Red Devils victory over Villarreal on Tuesday, United might be forced into handing the job to Michael Carrick.
What Pochettino has said
Paris Saint-Germain are in Manchester to take on United’s city rivals in a Champions League Group A clash. Manchester City lost the first leg 2-1 and would be baying for blood at the Etihad.
The presence of Pochettino in Manchester has fueled talks of the Argentine discussing with the United hierarchy about taking on the United job.
Pochettino said ahead of the game that it would be a mistake to talk about the vacancy at United while still contracted to PSG.
Pochettino said he remains focused on football and that after 12 years as a coach, he knows the rumours will be there. Pochettino further stressed that he understood what was happening, but he will not be distracted.
The Argentine was effusive in his rejection of the rumours but was shy of speaking of his admiration for Sir Alex Ferguson as he tried to avoid fuelling the speculations.
By :
Steven D. Thompson
