Home » Manchester United target Brendan Rodgers as Ole Gunnar Solskjaer successor

Manchester United target Brendan Rodgers as Ole Gunnar Solskjaer successor

by Scott Eckersley

Manchester United are reported to have earmarked Leicester City coach Brendan Rodgers as the prime candidate to take over from under-fire Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

A poor run of results, including one-sided hammerings at the hands of bitter rivals Liverpool and Manchester City, have punctured any pre-season optimism and left the Norwegian on the brink.

The MEN today reports that “United have privately decided a change of manager will be required following the morale-crushing defeats.”

Despite having overseen a mediocre five wins from 11 games, Foxes’ coach Rodgers is supposedly seen by the Reds’ hierarchy as “the most suitable successor to Solskjaer.”

Confusingly, the report seems to suggest that United are intent upon replacing Solskjaer while also having no fixed plan as to when the change will take place.

Despite already being said to have made succession plans, it’s also claimed that “It is still unclear when the club intends to sack Solskjaer as they mull over an arrival time for a replacement.”

Which doesn’t seem to make much sense. Surely Solskjaer either has the support of the club or has lost said support and urgently needs to be replaced?

It’s even suggested that, due to a dearth of quality managerial options, Solskjaer could remain at the helm as a dead-man-walking until the end of the current season.

Whether this would be brought forward if results continue to follow the current worrying trajectory isn’t really explained.

Aside from Rodgers, it’s believed that the Old Trafford bosses “are impressed by Ajax coach Erik Ten Hag and the Spain coach Luis Enrique.”

Whether that admiration could lead to a move remains frustratingly unclear. As does the failure to mention French legend Zinedine Zidane, who has also been heavily linked with the United hotseat.

In all honesty, there doesn’t appear to be much substance to the ‘news’. Despite the mention of senior club sources, there’s very little that hasn’t already been covered elsewhere.

If Rodgers really is regarded internally as the best available option, we can only assume that manager scouting follows a similarly uninspired and conservative path as player scouting.

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