Preview: It used to be that Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson's retirement date kept changing, until the Scot himself said a few months ago that he will only stop if his health tells him to. For someone like him who is the longest-serving manager in the cut-throat world of the Premier League, it is widely-acknowledged fact that whoever eventually becomes his successor will have big shoes to fill. But just what kind of person to replace Fergie if he decides to call it a day? Speaking from the viewpoint as a Manchester United supporter who know that Ferguson will not be in charge of her club forever, the latest edition of the weekend unofficial football focus series will be having yours truly finally breaking her silence on the matter.
I once thought about the prominent names being linked to the Manchester United job, especially since in 2002 when Sir Alex Ferguson talked about when he could possibly retire. Ferguson could have being the byword for successful football management these days, Manchester United could have been considered as one of the major football clubs in the world...those actually almost never happened. The club was almost a shadow of its former self until Ferguson arrived on November 1986.
Back in the days when he was still the plain old Alex Ferguson, it was his success at Aberdeen earning him interest beyond the Scottish shores. Apart from the likes of Tottenham Hotspur, Arsenal (yes, you read that correctly) interested, his former club in his playing days in Rangers was also interested as well. But it is the Arsenal interest which got me interested because it happened in the midst of Scotland's 1986 World Cup campaign when he was the caretaker coach of the national team after Jock Stein collapsed and died after Scotland secured qualification through a play-off against Australia. I never knew about the Arsenal interest until a radio interview which came out a few months ago. Who knows what may happened between Arsenal and Manchester United today had Ferguson gone to Arsenal instead.
Because current Manchester United director and club legend Sir Bobby Charlton revealed in an interview that the club board had wanted to go for Terry Venables. But the former 1966 World Cup winner wanted the man who had managed a European Cup Winners' Cup win over Real Madrid with Aberdeen, and Charlton got what he wanted. Look what has happened to the club since. Sir Alex Ferguson may have his run-ins with various people and institutions over the years, but one cannot deny the achievements he has at Manchester United. Until my father once told me that Ferguson has been the manager of the club in the year before I came into this world, I only know Ferguson has been the Manchester United manager for as long as I can remember. My father became a Manchester United supporter a few years after the club won the then-European Cup (predecessor to the Champions League) in 1968 against Benfica at the Wembley. In my father's lifetime so far: He had seen his club got relegated once, Liverpool stealing all the glory from United (my father was actually part of the generation whom witnessed Liverppol's dominance actually), United becoming a shadow of their former self since the heydays of the Matt Busby era, four years was what took Alex Ferguson earning his first piece of silverware in the FA Cup before he started collecting honours left, right and centre...which even included the famous 1999 Champions League win over Bayern Munich at Barcelona's Camp Nou. While they are still haunted by how Manchester United came from a goal down to snatch the title away from them in Germany even a decade on, my father once said something along the line that the Champions League win against Bayern is ranked as among the best moments in his life as a Manchester United supporter. He will always get lightened up even if I just casually mention it.
1999 was the year when it was the final year in my primary school education and so it was mainly about schoolwork and examinations for me. Football was not something I will always talk about like these days because I was still in my early days of reading the newspapers and learning to understand about the world around me (even if I do read the sports pages then). Whatever happened in Barcelona on May 1999, I depend on my father and watching clips of the match on YouTube. I only finally decided to adopt Manchester United as the football club I support three years later after those so-called brief flirtations (it was all thanks to me growing up listening to my father talking about the club he support since as a teenager). Wrong timing, I eventually found out. That year became a time of upheaval and change at the club. It was said to be Sir Alex Ferguson's (he was knighted in the wake of Manchester United's treble season, which was capped by the Champions League triumph) final season in charge before he changed his mind about his retirement date. Even if the club broke the bank time and again on high-profile signings which some worked and some did not and still managed to survive somehow even with Chelsea's prominence due to a certain Jose Mourinho, questions of how long the Scot will be at Manchester United still continues to linger.
There is a reason why I use the term 'so-called brief flirtations' in the previous paragraph. I am trying to tie in what I am about to discuss. The England job might had been described as 'some kind of secondary school romance', the current England coach Fabio Capello could had almost become Sir Alex Ferguson's successor at Manchester United had he got his way three years ago when speaking in an interview ahead of his then-Juventus side playing Arsenal in the Champions League semi-final second-leg in Turin. As they say in Italian, si. It all goes back to what I typed in June: Just the thought that the first match the Italian watched was between Aston Villa and Manchester United in the third round of the FA Cup last year considering his loving glances once darted into the direction of the club I support in United somehow came one full circle before he started work proper at the FA headquarters of Soho Square.
I know all about 'secondary school romance'. Sigh, I once experienced that, though in my case...I have no idea if the guy I had a crush on in my class knew about it. It all happened eight years ago, when I was still in secondary school. The early years of my secondary school education included schoolwork, the pressure of examinations, friends and...that. It was all so new to me, after seeing how teenage hormones had affected my classmates then. In some way, the constant flirtations of wanting to work in the motherland of football for Fabio Capello had some resonance with me. At least the Italian managed to land the job he had always wanted - the England job. Me? Don't even talk about it, even if I eventually revealed to my close friends back in secondary school on whom was the person I had a crush on all along.
Coming back to the original topic, just imagine if the England job never came into being for Fabio Capello...the Italian could be possibly bidding his time before the opportunity presents itself. But then he could possibly have a rival for the Manchester United hotseat. Jose Mourinho. It is due to the self-styled 'Special One' (he earned it during his time at Chelsea) constantly dropping hints about being Sir Alex Ferguson's successor which sparked off this entry. The Inter Milan coach did it again on Tuesday. Mourinho? During his time as Chelsea manager, that was also the time I never really liked the club. Years of Manchester United success under Sir Alex Ferguson being threatened by a charismatic Portuguese. As a supporter back then to say the least, I was not amused. It used to be that my club has a rivalry of sorts with Newcastle (during Kevin Keegan's first managerial stint at the club in the 90s), Arsenal (it started when Arsene Wenger arrived in 1996)...then a club which is bankrolled by the most richest man in Russia in the form of Chelsea? I will be lying to say that when Chelsea was having their glory years under Mourinho that I was not the least jealous about it.
But is Jose Mourinho the legitimate successor to Sir Alex Ferguson? Few years ago I would had say a 'No' at once given of his Chelsea connections. Now, I have mixed feelings about it. Will the Portuguese be able to continue the legacy left behind by the Scot? Just like his famous compatriot Sir Matt Busby, Sir Alex Ferguson built on the foundations which Busby first laid on. Grooming potential footballers. That was what Sir Matt was best at. The team playing good football while grooming footballers was also another hallmark shared by both Busby and Ferguson. Other than that, as much as I am a fan of Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger and I respect what he has done there despite both Manchester United and Arsenal once had a real heated rivalry which used to be nasty at times, I also know it is impossible for him to be Sir Alex's successor. Because Arsenal has been shaped into his own image.
Still, Jose Mourinho is not the only name being touted around as a potential successor to Sir Alex Ferguson. A handful of Fergie's former players had also being mentioned before. Among those who had gone into management, current Bordeaux coach Laurent Blanc just stands out for me. Gordon Strachan (formerly at Celtic, because he had since being given the boot) and Alex McLeish (currently at Birmingham City and he will be meeting his former manager on the first day of the 2009/10 Premier League season) might had won league titles with Scottish clubs but, both guided Old Firm clubs to it (McLeish's case was Rangers). Then you also have people like Steve Bruce (Sunderland), Mark Hughes (Manchester City), Roy Keane (Ipswich). Outside from those who used to play under Ferguson apart from Mourinho, there was also at one time, Everton manager David Moyes and Aston Villa's Martin O'Neill.
It was at Wigan where Steve Bruce made his name as manager and the club's 11th place was considered a very good performance from the Lactics' perspective. Bruce's successor in former player Roberto Martinez will have a lot to live up to. Before Mark Hughes's current employers Manchester City became the most richest football club in the world, the former Wales coach's work at Blackburn had got observers saying that the club is being seen as being shaped into Hughes's own image from his playing days. The club was almost in a freefall after Hughes left and before Sam Allardyce stepped in. Roy Keane's first season with Sunderland when the club was still in the second division of the Championship got observers saying the former Manchester United captain has got what it takes to success his former manager. It was due to the fact that Keane led Sunderland to promotion at his first attempt as manager. It did not really went that well in the second season in the Premier League and he left. Only to be turned up becoming Ipswich manager.
David Moyes only really came into picture days ahead of Everton was due to play Manchester United in the FA Cup semi-final. The Scot who eventually become the League Managers Association's Manager of the Year in May, was lauded for the fact that despite Everton was operating on a budget which is considered small as compared to the 'Big Four' (Manchester United, Chelsea, Liverpool, Arsenal), he had managed to lead the club all the way to the FA Cup final (which they eventually lost to Chelsea) despite Everton having a string of injuries on the striking front. Not only that, Moyes is the third-longest serving manager in the Premier League after his fellow compatriot Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsenal's Arsene Wenger.
In the case of Aston Villa manager Martin O'Neill, the Ulsterman (he's from Northern Ireland) has been more commonly linked to the England job even before Fabio Capello landed it eventually. In fact O'Neill, who was part of the Northern Ireland side which featured in the 1982 World Cup in Spain, was once mentioned as a possible successor to Capello. The fact that O'Neill had often being linked to such high-profile jobs is of no surprise. It was his time at Celtic where he was more widely known for his work at the club on the domestic front and later on as well with how they did in Europe. After a hiatus in management to take care of his wife, he went to Aston Villa. Villa almost had a perfect season in my opinion in the previous Premier League season due to the fact that especially in the first-half of the 2008/09 season, they managed to gate-crash into the top four. During those times, even I myself seriously believed that they could be the side to break up the monopoly in the top four.
At the end of the day, Aston Villa can be proud of the fact that they continue with the tradition of supplying players to the England national team given statistically they provided with the most amount of players. It was especially comforting with the fact that despite their owner is American businessman Randy Lerner, the backbone of the current squad is very English. Villa's last major triumph was the 1982 European Cup final when they beat Bayern Munich. But they had showed cash-rich Manchester City that it is also possible to build a squad where it almost has an-English feel to it.
Looking beyond British shores, even if Laurent Blanc's eventual arrival at Manchester United which also coincided toward the final days of his playing career did not live up to the billing, he still managed to command a form of respect which was evident during his time with the French national team when he was nicknamed 'Le Président'. His first coaching job after he hung up his boots at Bordeaux almost never happened. Blanc was rejected by clubs (Marseille, Monaco, Auxerre were the ones) before Boredaux took a chance with the former 1998 World Cup winner. In the 2007/08 Ligue 1 season which was his first as coach, he pushed Lyon down to the final day before the latter clinched the title. His second season eventually became a breakthrough. It was his side which eventually ended Lyon's dominance in the French top-flight. But just like the season before, they were made to wait for it on the final day when Marseille were also neck-on-neck with them for the title. For someone like Blanc who is not afraid to mince his words, his Bordeaux side has been seen as being shaped into his own image. Not bad because for long, Bordeaux is rather more famously known for its wines.
At the end of the day among those potential candidates to replace Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United which I had mentioned here, I have no idea who is the perfect fit for the Old Trafford job actually. Ever since Fabio Capello declared that the England job will be his last, his name has been mentally strike off my list since. Unless the Italian decides to surprise us all and reverse his decision (he once hinted about managing the British Olympic football team come the London 2012 Olympics given he was being denied of the chance of Olympic football in his playing days), like he does in his team selections and the like from time to time. For me, a little bit of Jose Mourinho, a little bit of David Moyes, a little bit of Martin O'Neill, a little bit of Laurent Blanc and a little bit of Arsene Wenger is fine in regarding on who could be Ferguson's potential successor.
I might had begun to support the club partly in view of my father always talking about it when I was still growing up, but I do want to see the right person to continue Sir Alex Ferguson's legacy. Technically he is the most successful in British football, even eclipsing Sir Matt Busby's achievements at Manchester United.
