Who will succeed Fergie?

The script might have been written a number of times, but this United team never gets tired of rewriting it again and again. Manchester United‘s synergy, enthusiasm and never-say-die attitude turns setback into success regularly. It’s certainly an extraordinary habit and was most recently displayed in the 4-3 win at Old Trafford against the Magpies. It was the eighth time in 19 games, that the team has transformed a failure into a fantastic finish this season.

We all wonder what the source of inspiration for those players is. In Sir Alex Ferguson’s biography (Football- Bloody Hell!, by Patrick Barclay), he shared his half-time speech from the ’99 Champions Leagues final which went like this:

“At the end of this game, the European Cup will be only six feet away from you, and you’ll not even able to touch it if we lose. And for many of you, that will be the closest you will ever get. Don’t you dare come back in here without giving your all.”

Having just turned 71 on 31st December, he is still working his magic, jumping around in the sidelines and showing no signs of pulling the curtains on his career any time soon. Sometimes it seems like he could go on forever. However, as unlikely as it seems, he will eventually have to retire and the United camp should start searching for his replacement soon.

Sir Alex, personally, favours Pep Guardiola as his successor. Why? Because Pep won just about every trophy possible in his four-year stint at the Nou Camp. Being a product of the Barcelona youth system, and a follower of the that system, Guardiola even has the right philosophy for Manchester United, a club that likes to bring players through the ranks and add talent from elsewhere as and when it is required.

Another candidate is the ‘Special One’, Jose Mourinho, who is very highly rated by Ferguson.

“Jose Mourinho is very intelligent,” Ferguson said to academics at Harvard Business School in Boston, “He has charisma, his players play for him and he is a good-looking guy. I think I have most of those things, too, apart from his good looks”.

The head-to-head stats reveal why he thinks Jose has the calibre to replace him. They have locked horns 13 times, with the United manager only winning twice and Jose winning six times. Ferguson has won 16 domestic titles (13 at Manchester and 3 at Aberdeen) as opposed to Mourinho’s 7 domestic titles (2 each at Porto, Chelsea & Inter and 1 at Real Madrid). Both of them have won two Champions League Title.

However, the longest Jose Mourinho has managed is a little more than three seasons with Chelsea, hardly the type of stability that Manchester United will be looking for when Sir Alex does decide to step down.

Which would bring Scotland into the picture, as the Scots are regarded as the best when it comes to producing managers, some of them being Sir Matt Busby, Kenny Dalglish, Alex McLeish and David Moyes.

With more than ten years at the helm with Everton, David Moyes is doing a fairly good job there with a club which is severely lacking in financial resources. Moyes has been able to consistently finish in the top ten and also managed to push them into competitive European campaigns. Moyes has the kind of stability which Mourinho lacks; however, the fact that he hasn’t managed a major European Club and big-name players may well work against him.

Another one, whose name hasn’t been discussed at all, is Mike Phelan (current assistant manager of Manchester United) who may be able to fill in the shoes of Alex Ferguson, just as Tito Vilanova did for Pep Guardiola. Phelan played over a 100 games for Manchester United and was part of the 1992-93 Premier League winning team under Ferguson.

He has the advantage of already being more than familiar with the club; he spent 4 years there as a player and served for five years as assistant manager. In January 2010, Phelan was linked with a return to his first club Burnley as manager following the departure of Owen Coyle. However, he was persuaded to stay on by Sir Alex Ferguson and work as his right hand man, which spanned over three Premier League title campaigns, followed by a Club World Cup, two League Cups and two Champions Leagues finals. During Mike Phelan’s time as first team coach, Manchester United won three Premier League titles, one FA Cup, a League Cup and a Champions League.