A Common Fan’s Sports Diary

To be a BIG Club Man City first need a BIG Manager. Like one of these guys

When Jose Mourinho went to Inter, the likes of Didier Drogba and Frank Lampard were ready to go join him.

When Luis Felipe Scolari came to Stamford Bridge, Deco and Bosingwa followed

As soon as Carlo Ancelotti became manager of Chelsea, rumours of Kaka and Pirlo joining the Blues started doing the rounds

In Mark Hughes’ reign at Man City, the only player willing to come to Eastlands purely because of the manager has been Roque Santa Cruz.

See the difference.

Forget tactical acumen and man management skills, Mark Hughes is light years away from the likes of Mourinho, Scolari and Ancelotti, when it comes to having the persona and the resume to attract big name players to come and play for them.

In the case of Man City this becomes an even bigger handicap because they are a second rung club – not big enough in their own right for the big names – a club which for all its riches has managed to sign just a single world-class player; and that guy supposedly thought he was joining Man United and often appears to be disenchanted at the club. The club has suffered the humiliation of having its overtures for the likes of Kaka and Buffon turned down in spite of tabling bids which would have dwarfed previous transfer records. And that too in today’s recessionary times.

You can argue that Mourinho, Scolari and Ancelotti can attract these players only because they have coached them previously and the superstars are very comfortable playing for them again. But that is exactly the point that we are trying to make.

Big time players want to move to a club primarily for two reasons – either because of the club’s name or because of the star power of the other players playing for the club. Man City have neither. They are the poor cousins of Man United, have never won anything and I don’t know any super stars who are dying to rub shoulders with the likes of Stephen Ireland and Richard Dunne.

They cannot change their history or their stature overnight. And they don’t even have European football to offer.

As for raising the quality of their players, that is exactly what City are trying to do in the first place -they are caught in a classic catch-22 situation. Until, they get the first lot of quality players, other big names are not going to join.

That brings us back to our original argument now that we have exhausted all the other options.

The most sure shot way of getting the first lot of superstars is to target the ones who are willing to move with their manager. And the easiest way of doing that is by getting a manager who has managed a clutch of big name players. Once City have their manager and their first set of big names, the others will automatically follow. They will be assured in the knowledge that this club is now on the move in the right direction.

Additionally having a big name manager helps in keeping the inflated egos of the superstars in check. Do we have any evidence to believe that Mark Hughes can handle the tantrums and mood swings of players like Didier Drogba or Cristiano Ronaldo or Zlatan Ibrahimovic? Especially after having seen Robinho toy with him on a regular basis.

That leaves us with one last question.

How hard will it be to get a world class manager?

Not too hard at all.

There are scores of great managers around. In addition to big bucks, which is quite an incentive in itself, City also offer any manager a fresh challenge, a complete free hand to run things and an opportunity to build a world beating club. Great managers have fallen for far less.

It is difficult to understand the reluctance of the Abu Dhabi Sheikhs in parting with Mark Hughes. Even from a purely footballing standpoint, he has fared worse than his predecessor Sven – Goran Eriksson and that too with a far bigger budget.

Time is running out fast. Ideally City should have moved into the top 6 in the 2008-09 premiership season and put on a good show in the Europa League to establish their credentials as a club growing in stature. That would have helped in attracting big time talent. Now they are hopelessly running from one agent to another, chequebook in hand. They will end up signing a bunch of mediocre names or some talented malcontents, much like their efforts in the January transfer window. With Florentino Perez back at Real Madrid and Chelsea looking to start afresh under Ancelotti, the bidding war for big names is going to be hotly contested.

Man City with Mark Hughes doesn’t have a chance to compete with these big boys.

That is unless they decide to get a big boy of their own.

As a United fan, one of my favourite mental exercises is speculating, who the next United manager will be. I don’t want Fergie to step down or anything. On the contrary I have all the respect and admiration in the world for him – for all that he has done for the Club. It’s just that he is already 67 and someday soon he will have to go.

The speculation also stems from the reality that I have never seen a change of guard at Old Trafford in my football-watching life. United sides have always been such an embodiment of Sir Alex’s own personality and without him the club would probably be completely different from the one I dearly love. Therefore, the fact that something which I have never witnessed in my life is about happen and that the change will have far-reaching implications forces me to think about it very frequently.

How will life be without him

I and many others, I am sure, have often assumed that the next guy will be someone who has been associated with United as well as Fergie in the past. How can an outsider ever understand what it means and takes to be a Red Devil? After all, United are one of those rare big clubs which have maintained their old world spirit and identity in spite of all the corporatization of sport. And why not attempt some kind of continuity by bringing in someone who’s well indoctrinated in the ‘Ferguson way’

I want a Red Devil to take over

That the person should also have excellent managerial credentials is quite obviously an unconditional pre-requisite

There has been no shortage of suitable candidates – at least ones who have seemed suitable.

The list and the conjecturing started with ‘Captain Marvel’ – Bryan Robson – one of United’s greatest players as well as a legendary captain. He made a great start to his managerial life with Middlesbrough and I remember, once, how in spite of Boro beating United 3-2 in , I hadn’t felt bad – I had thought that the future United manager was coming along well. Sadly, save for some great Cup runs with Boro and later a relegation survival with West Brom, Robson has been a failure as a manager. And he’s had enough opportunities at various clubs to eliminate any elements of bad-luck. He clearly isn’t up to it.

The next really big hope was Roy Keane – another commanding mid-field general in the mould of Robson. His successes with Sunderland and his clear-talking and honest ways seemed like a fairy-tale. Just that he lacked the eye for talent and tactical nous so important for a manager. He has exited Sunderland with his head held high but his managerial pedigree in tatters. I expect him to give it another shot. But it will take a lot of success over a considerable period of time to exorcise the ghosts of his first stint and be considered again.

Another United legend and former captain in the fray is Steve Bruce. He’s had decent success with various clubs. But the problem is that he’s had too many clubs – he’s on his sixth one in ten years of managerial life – the exact antithesis of Fergie and United. Also in spite of such a long career he is still stuck with the smaller clubs – hasn’t even moved up a notch to the second rung of the premiership. It is more likely that he will end up becoming the next Harry Redknapp and not the next Fergie.

A candidate with a less glorified United connection but better managerial record is Celtic’s Gordan Strachan. A Red Devil from 1984-89, he has managed at a top British club for more than three years now. And remember, Sir Alex also came from a successful Scottish club. But then again, times are different now. How big is Scotland’s biggest club in today’s world – possibly smaller than even the likes of Man City and Tottenham. Also his association with Fergie was long ago and I doubt if he’s a true United disciple. And he is too much of a strict disciplinarian and there are doubts about his ability to handle big name players. Will rule him out as well.

Next in consideration is Mark Hughes – another crowd favourite at Old Trafford. As a manager he got the Welsh national side to overachieve and then had a solid stint with Blackburn. He’s bought smartly in the transfer market and has handled some massive egos pretty well. His appointment as Man City boss was another sign of his growing reputation. But the Man City job with a massive war-chest to boost could be the reason why he will probably never end up as United manager. He will either use the funds well and go onto achieve greater glory with City – in which case there will be no reason to leave for United if the opportunity came , or he will be a failure – in which case his stock as manager will fall and he won’t be considered at Old Trafford. That he manages United’s bitter rivals will be just a secondary point. Mark Hughes had all the right credentials and before his appointment as City manager he was probably way out in front in this race. Sadly he has discontinued running it.

Hughes’ successor in the Blackburn job, Paul Ince is another contender. He’s had a miserable stint in the premiership after success in the lower leagues. He still has an outside chance if he can revive Blackburn and have solid run for 4-5 years. Anything else and his chances are zilch.

There is another guy with a United connections who had a shot once upon a time but he is completely out of it now.

Steve McLaren never played for United but was an assistant to Sir Alex in the treble winning side of 1999. But we all know what happened when he became manager of England and now his stock has fallen so low that he coaches a nondescript Dutch side. I would kill myself if he ever became United manager.

That sadly is the end of the list. Amongst the currently active lot, I would rate Gary Neville as the best manager material. But he’s still playing. And it will take a long time for him to establish his managerial credentials. I don’t think Sir Alex can wait that long.

That leaves us with the hard truth that a Red Devil will not be replacing Sir Alex Ferguson whenever he decides to retire.

So much for continuity and finding someone who knows the ways of United.

By the way I just remembered about Joe Paterno. He’s 82 years old and has been coaching the football team at Penn State University for the last 42 years – and quite successfully too – he won the conference championships this year. Fergie’s just 67, right. So he could be in the job for another 15 years. Now, that will give me enough time to draw up another list of managerial hopefuls from the Red Devils community.

At United we never give up.