Replacing Fergie the toughest job for Manchester United

Manchester United have made the announcement; German Ralph Rangnick as the new manager, albeit on an interim basis for the remainder of the season. The search for a long-term manager at United continues, as Rangnick is thought of as a consultant in the long term. This appointment makes him the fifth man to take charge of United since the legendary Alex Ferguson left seven years ago.

Five managers in seven years just about says it all about how tough the search for Alex Ferguson’s replacement has been. It has also been expensive for United, even though the
club is known to have very deep pockets. The club has spent a total of £37.5m in payouts after sacking managers.

The most recent sacking was that of club legend Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, the longest serving manager after Ferguson and the one with whom the club showed the most tolerance and
also the poorest performer of them all, in terms of trophies won. He actually won nothing after overseeing 168 matches. Towards his final matches in charge, Manchester United lost
the competitive mettle and were easily dismantled by otherwise weak opposition. With the change that saw Michael Carrick take temporary charge, even their match previews on Wincomparator’s sport prediction improved. The Norwegian’s sacking came with a £7.5m payout.

Before ole Gunnar’s appointment, the position was occupied by controversial Portuguese manager Jose Mourinho, who oversaw 144 games at the Old Trafford outfit and returned three trophies in that spell. He was sacked in December 2018 in a decision that saw United pay him £15m, making him the highest paid of all the managers sacked after Fergie’s departure.

Mourinho had succeeded Dutchman Louis van Gaal, whose spell was even shorter, overseeing just 103 matches, though he delivered one trophy. Van Gaal, who served with Ryan Giggs as his assistant had served two of his three-year contract by the time he was sacked in May 2016. His severance pay was £8.4m.

The man who took over right after Ferguson, was David Moyes, perhaps the man with the toughest job then, but having been handpicked by Ferguson, he came with a lot of trust from the United faithful. The transition from Fergie to Moyes wasn’t easy and after 10 months, he was off, having overseen just 51 games, and won one trophy. On his departure, he was paid a severance fee of £7m.

All the four managers that came after Ferguson managed a combined four trophies. Nothing close to the great Scot, who led Manchester United to a remarkable 38 trophies, having led
the team out in 1500 matches. By virtue of his performance, Ferguson remains a key figure at United and it is said he had a big hand in bringing Ole Gunnar at the club, as well as
engineering the return of Cristiano Ronaldo.

Should he get his papers ready in time, the incoming manager Rangnick will have his first game at home against an Arsenal side that has been doing well lately.