Our senior Manchester United writer Tyrone Marshall answers your questions on the club and what is going on at Old Trafford, including the latest on the manager situation and what could happen in the January transfer window.
United are on the hunt for a new boss
United are on the hunt for a new boss(Image: )
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Welcome to our latest Manchester United question and answer session with senior club writer Tyrone Marshall. As you'd expect, there's a very obvious theme to this week's questions, with everyone keen to know what the club's next move will be following the sacking of Ruben Amorim.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is in the frame to return on an interim basis, but he's not the only former player to have been sounded out by the Old Trafford hierarchy. Will it be Solskjaer? Who could the permanent replacement be? And are there any wildcard options on the table that United could consider turning to? We've got all the answers to your questions below.
It's easy to forget that the January transfer window is open given the focus on the manager situation, but we've got the latest on the transfer state of play below.
We will be running weekly question and answer sessions from now, so keep an eye on our social media feeds and get your questions in as we seek to keep you plugged in to everything going on at Old Trafford.
It sounds as if United hadn't planned to sack Amorim, but you'd still expect due diligence to be in place as a continuity measure. Is there any indication that the club has a preference for a manager that plays a similar system (e.g. Glasner) or might someone like Eddie Howe (albeit he'd be difficult to acquire) be preferred?
I don't think the club will be focusing only on managers who play a back three. If anything, Glasner's preference for an almost identical system to Amorim would set alarm bells ringing, although it won't be enough to put them off and the Austrian will insist he can adapt whereas Amorim couldn't.
You would expect every elite club to always be aware of the managerial market, just in case. There's no doubt the speed at which things unravelled for Amorim have caught some people on the hop, and it's also true that there aren't many elite managers out there at the moment, so that does add a layer of complication. Glasner and Iraola look solid candidates, for example, but this would be a big step up for both of them.
I've seen Roy Keane pushing Howe but I don't see it. He's done a pretty good job at Newcastle but nothing that makes him a candidate here, I don't think. There is no suggestion he is someone who features near the top of the shortlist.
Has McKenna a genuine chance?
I don't think so, not this time. He was in the conversation in the summer of 2024, when Ten Hag survived by the skin of his teeth, but it would have been a gamble then and would be a gamble now. Ipswich were relegated last season and while that was expected, it is still a mark on his CV.
They are third in the Championship and if McKenna can get them promoted again and then enjoy a solid campaign next year, maybe he will be in line for a top job, but handing the United job permanently to someone currently working in the Championship feels a bridge too far.
United are constantly linked with many much-needed midfield players for targets in the summer transfer window. Carlos Baleba is one who has been strongly linked for some time now. Would it not be sensible to avoid more AFCON players in future as the team has struggled for form by losing them and having significant injuries too? I would much prefer Adam Wharton and Elliot Anderson to be targets, although I fear they might prefer to go elsewhere with all the turmoil at the club.
This is something clubs have had to live with for a while, but changes to the AFCON structure should make it a less pressing concern moving forward. The tournament will now be every two years rather than four, although it does seem possible there will be an event in 2027 and 2028 before then having one in 2032, 2036 and so on.
That brings it in line with the European Championship schedule and clearly makes a lot of sense. It might yet alter so that there aren't two AFCONs in two years, because that would clearly be madness as well. But either way, it should make it less of a concern for clubs, especially if United end up with three or four players eligible for African nations as well.
Don't you think Man United should not sack the next coach for at least 3 years, regardless of what happens bar relegation, so that there could be some continuity? After all, a child takes at least 3 years to be able to walk properly.
That's an interesting analogy! It's a nice idea, but it runs the risk of just wasting three years. Does anyone truly believe that things would have been much better if Amorim had another 18 months? He wasn't going to change a system that was defensive and dull and it was clearly going nowhere.
There is a balance to giving a head coach time but if anything I would say Amorim had more than enough time. He was fortunate to survive beyond the end of last season.
Are Manchester United really ready to bring back Ole Gunnar Solskjaer on an interim basis?
This one has clearly split the fanbase. I can see why people think it's a backwards step and it wouldn't please everybody. But in the circumstances, it might be the best of a bad bunch of options.
Appointing a new head coach now won't be easy. Glasner won't leave Palace before the end of the season and why pay compensation for him or Iraola, or even Marco Silva, when all of them are out of contract at the end of the season? If it's a bigger name United go for, then Nagelsmann and Tuchel could both be available after the World Cup.
So they need a reliable short-term option, giving them the best chance of European qualification and ideally the top five. I think Solskjaer does that. He knows the club, plays a style of football that players are used to, has a light-touch approach suited to making an impact in little time and has done this before. It won't be universally popular, but it might just do the job.
Which coach do you think can be brought in in the summer and will be capable of delivering the trophy most fans are craving?
That's the million-dollar question. I think I would be leaning towards Tuchel. He's won big trophies, managed elite clubs, had success elsewhere and carries himself like someone who wouldn't be intimidated by the size of this job.
My second choice would be Iraola over Glasner. I think his approach is more suited to a club like United and would be easier to scale up. He has talked impressively every time he has faced United as well.
Do you think it is possible for Manchester United to get a quality defensive midfielder in this January transfer window?
I think it's pretty unlikely. It's so hard to do deals in January and if you want a quality defensive midfielder, you will almost certainly be getting them from a club with ambitions of their own for the rest of the season.
In that case, you have to ask why that club would sell at this point? Semenyo was an easy deal to do because of a release clause, but I don't see Brighton, Forest or Palace even considering selling Baleba, Anderson or Wharton this month.