Depending on which Sunday newspaper you read either Jose Mourinho or Ryan Giggs will takeover at Old Trafford once Louis van Gaal goes, which looks to be sooner rather than later.

Now I totally get why Ryan’s name is up there, the man is a Manchester United legend after all. But the simple truth is that he isn’t ready for the top job with the ‘Red Devils’.

The forty-two year old is still learning the managerial and coaching ropes. He’s only been a number two for two full seasons and before that he was player coach under David Moyes and he had a small stint as caretaker boss in 2014.

In both the Moyes and Van Gaal regimes things haven’t gone swimmingly at all. Now I don’t think we can blame Giggs for these sticky eras but he has to be associated with them and even slightly tainted. It was his remit to make these managers understand the United way and he hasn’t managed to get through to either one of them.

People are quick to point at Pep Guardiola and say he was bossing the Nou Camp dressing room at the age of thirty-eight. But there is a huge difference in the Barcelona squad Pep inherited in 2008 to the Man Utd squad Giggs would take on if he got the managers job this summer.  The Barca project was in full swing come the Guardiola appointment whereas a new one needs to start at Carrington.

Pep also managed the Barca B team for a season leading up to his stint in charge of the first team. Plus lets not forget that the strain of the job eventually took its toll on the Spaniard and he quit after four years.

Then you look at the troubles another member of the ‘class of 92’ has suffered in his first foray into management. Gary Neville has looked seriously out of his depth at Valencia and there isn’t any real evidence to suggest that Giggs would be any different with this current United team.

We have to also be mindful that not all great players become great managers. Look at the amount of former Sir Alex Ferguson proteges that have taken the leap into management, most are classed as decent at best!

A big negative in my book, that would make me wary of hiring Giggs at Old Trafford, is the fact that he has Ed Woodward running the football side of the business. Ed has gone from one debacle to the next since taking the Executive Vice Chairman’s role. His dealings in the transfer market have been poor to say the least and lets face it he needs a proper Sporting Director there to help him out.

It could be a case of the blind leading the blind if you have Giggs and Woodward heading the United ship. A more experienced manager would clear the decks and would hopefully bring more stability behind the scenes. Really Van Gaal should have done that by now.

The appetite amongst the United fans does’t seem to be high on Ryan taking over at the club either. Whether that’s because they are a bit cautious after the last two gaffers or because they associate him with those failings I don’t know. But it does suggest that they wouldn’t be as patient as they might have been back in 2014.

So I think there are only two realistic options open to Ryan Giggs at this moment in time.

He can stay at Manchester United and become a number two to the next guy (possibly Mourinho). He could learn from a very successful manager and then at the right time inherit a decent squad at Old Trafford.

Or he could decide to look at going to another club and start his managerial odyssey away from the United glare. Then he could try and work his way into the Man Utd manager’s chair through his CV and not worry as much about proving himself as being worthy of the hotseat.

I think we shall know soon enough what’s next for Ryan Giggs, I just hope he doesn’t rush in and regret his choice.

Posted on February 22nd, 2016 by scott
Filed under: Article