Sir Alex Ferguson to retire this summer, Manchester United confirm Surprised? Expected? Who will replace him?
Surprised. Thought he was going to put in another year or two. Much respect to him; his shoes will be difficult to fill. Legend.
Not surprised. I think he would have retired last year if they weren't beat out at the last second by Man City. Don't think he can truly be replaced. Perhaps Man U will go through some growing pains with new managers? Much respect for him for being able to stay at the helm for so many years, it will be weird to see someone else takeover.
The British bookies have David Moyes as the 1 to 4 favorite to take over. His contract is also up this summer at Everton and ManU seems like a club that would prefer someone like him as opposed to a big name foreign coach that stays for 2-3 years then presses on...and thinks he 'special' :roll:
With his age and the pending hip surgery, I'm not surprised. Agree with Joe re Murinho, plus there are rumors that he's already got a deal in process with chelsea. Moyes seems like a good long term replacement and fit at United. But there will be questions about his lack of Champs Lg experience. I wouldn't be surprised to see them make a run at Klopp (Dortmund) but I question whether he'd leave the Bundesliga. He might though if his team gets poached by the super clubs as is rumored. Very. What's next? No Wenger and his puffy jackets at Arsenal?
Brit sites already reporting that Moyes will be moving to Old Trafford as soon as the final whistle of the season is sounded. I first heard the "Moyes is the next United manager" about 6 years ago, so I'm not surprised. Also, a columnist somewhere in the football world -- I really must play closer attention -- said that the timing of the announcement is no surprise -- United is trying to take the spotlight away from City's FA Cup final on Saturday. Finally, for my money, SAF is the very best manager I have seen. Regardless of who he has in his squad, he alters tactics to get the best out of them. Also, for my money, this means that the best manager in the world is The Special One who, by the way, is pretty much a shoo-in for the Chelsea gig. I'd be thrilled to get Di Matteo to replace Jol, but ... .
It's hard to argue against SAF as the best. Even taking economies of scale into consideration, his record is the most impressive. Murinho's great, but I think he'll have to quit being such a nomad to challenge SAF in greatest ever conversations. As for us, I just want someone who can get the best out of what he's got to work with and isn't wed to one style come hell or high water. You have to love the Brit commentary. The anti-Moyes argument is that he hasn't won anything. Nevermind that he doesn't manage any of the big 6 and his side have easily been the "best of the rest". Heck, they usually beat out one of the big 6. Roy at Liverpool is the other arguemnt but I don't think you can compare Roy to Moyes. Roy was far more of a system coach than Moyes and that system doesn't play well with superstar players. Looks like Roy has adapted from that experience based on his work with England.
Say what you will about SAF and United (and I have from time to time), you simply cannot argue with the results. An ESPN commentator tried to come up with an equivalent in American sports and couldn't . The best he could muster was a hypothetical (Bill Belichick with another 10-12 years and another 3-4 Super Bowl wins under his belt). Even then, it may be stretch to compare the two. I honestly don't think we'll ever see the likes of him again in any sport.
Of course there is no American equivalent to Sir Alex because there is no American sport where the playing field is sooooooo uneven when you add up league titles. Don't get me wrong I think Sir Alex has done an outstanding job but let's not pretend that when it comes to league titles he is not playing in a four team league. To put it in perspective in twenty-six years Sir Alex only managed two Champions League (or equivalent) titles. If you throw in Belichek's divsion and conference titles next to his Super Bowls I would bet the gap is not as wide as most would think. None-the-less, Sir Alex is certainly one of the greatest ever managers if he is not on top of the pile.
Truly a legend, and a great "red ass." With regard to Barry's comment re Belicheck and Ferg, I'd even submit that Joe Torre would be in the conversation too - or Casey Stengel, or (grrr) Tommy Lasorda, or Bobby Cox or Phil Jackson, or Red Auerbach, or Pat Riley. The playing field isn't the same, so the multiple championships (division, league, finals) the aforementioned won would be in the conversation. But, Sir Alex has 27 years at the same club - that is amazing and would never happen in U.S. professional sports.
This one's a bit difficult for me to gauge, given my relative newness to the sport. The record is amazing, by any standard. Some of the points relative to the actual competition are valid, but a trophy is a trophy, and a championship is a championship, whether the playing field is level or not. It's always nice to have a big, mean target to knock off their pedestal, though. As a human, he's earned the right to enjoy his twilight years. You never know for sure how many you have left. Does this mean they need to step up and knight another football manager, so we'll have a "Sir" to poke fun at?
A late Rio Ferdinand winner gives SAF a victory in his final match at Old Trafford. Classy moments as he stepped up to address the stadium following the final whistle. He encouraged the fans to stand behind the new manager and paid a nice tribute to Paul Scholes who also had his final home match.
