Let's Try This Again

Ranking United’s managerial options

Somewhere in a boardroom at Old Trafford, there’s a stack of papers with names on it. Nagelsmann, probably. Carrick, maybe. Allardyce, definitely not. Doubtless a few others too - and some that have already been crossed off. Someone has drawn lines between them, rated them on criteria that probably include “tactical flexibility” and “works within a hierarchy” and other phrases that sound good in PowerPoint presentations made by some executive recruitment firm.

This is how Manchester United make decisions now. Processes. Criteria. Org charts. The language of management consultancy applied to football, as if hiring a manager is the same as hiring a regional sales director. Somewhere, a McKinsey graduate is earning a fortune for this.