Physical Address
304 North Cardinal St.
Dorchester Center, MA 02124
Despite Van Nistelrooy’s popularity at Old Trafford, lessons have been learnt about reacting to fan opinion on big decisions
When Ruud van Nistelrooy was appointed as Erik ten Hag’s assistant at Manchester United there was talk that an agreement was in place which meant he could not get the manager’s job if his fellow Dutchman was sacked.
There were even claims that it had been a stipulation of the appointment, signed off by Ten Hag, although this always felt implausible and has been strongly denied by sources.
Either way it does not look like Van Nistelrooy is a candidate after all.
With talks advancing over the hiring of Ruben Amorim we now know that United were being transparent when they announced, in their statement confirming Ten Hag’s departure, that Van Nistelrooy would take the team “whilst a permanent head coach is recruited”.
It is understood that Van Nistelrooy accepts that he will not be considered and it appears that, if United can close the deal with Amorim, the 48-year-old will not be given any time to prove himself anyway.
He may only have one game, in fact – the Carabao Cup tie against Leicester City on Wednesday evening with Amorim in the dug-out for the Premier League game at home to Chelsea on Sunday.
Even so, from the moment Van Nistelrooy arrived in the summer United had a ready-made replacement – however temporary – to step in should they decide to dismiss Ten Hag.
That replacement was not in place last season when Steve McClaren was the assistant although sources have also claimed that Van Nistelrooy is uncomfortable with the notion that he was brought in under this basis. In fact it has even been suggested he expects to leave once a new head coach is employed. It was never in his thinking that he was a manager-in-waiting.
Unlike Rene Hake, who was recruited from Go Ahead Eagles and had worked with Ten Hag at FC Twente, Van Nistelrooy had no previous history with the now former manager.
The debate between Ten Hag & Van Nistelrooy that went viral…During Manchester United’s 0-0 draw at Aston Villa earlier in October, fans noticed Erik ten Hag and Ruud Van Nistelrooy deep in debate 😮🗣 pic.twitter.com/lVHZaGv36O
Instead Van Nistelrooy, who had held talks to become manager of Championship club Burnley in June, believed he had unfinished business at United and wanted to continue his coaching education. But the fact that he was previously in discussions with relegated Burnley, rather than a consideration for United, shows that despite his playing pedigree and profile, he remains what he is: a relative rookie.
United have been down this path before, albeit under a different team of executives. They were swept away on a tidal wave of euphoria – with Gary Neville declaring there should be a statue erected of his former team-mate – and eschewed the “thorough recruitment process” they had promised to give Ole Gunnar Solskjaer the job.
The allure of hiring a big-name former player will always be seductive for any football club and especially one like United which has wrestled so painfully to move on from its own extraordinarily successful history under Sir Alex Ferguson who once hailed Van Nistelrooy as a “phenomenal player”.
After the chaotic 3-3 Europa League draw away to Porto earlier this month, Van Nistelrooy was the last to leave the pitch and applauded the United fans who were loudly singing his name.
But it looks like it will not be the former striker this time although he will be keen to make his mark and not least because, if Amorim is hired, it remains to be seen whether he will be kept on by United or may have to look for alternative employment.
What is interesting with Van Nistelrooy is that he has never even completed a full season as a head coach. He won two trophies and secured Champions League qualification in his debut campaign in charge of PSV Eindhoven but he resigned with one game left amid claims that he had fallen out with his assistants and several players.
Intriguingly his assistant manager was Fred Rutten, who is close to Ten Hag and turned down the chance to work with him at United in 2022 because he wanted to stay in the Netherlands. He joined Van Nistelrooy’s staff at PSV instead. For his part Van Nistelrooy cited a lack of support from the club’s management when he quit.
It is not the first fall-out and Van Nistelrooy is known as a head-strong character. A rift with Ferguson was healed, with Van Nistelrooy making a personal apology several years ago.
He told Ferguson he regretted the way he had behaved – he once had a bust-up with Cristiano Ronaldo on the training pitch and drove home after he was left out of the starting line-up against Charlton Athletic on the final day of the 2005-06 season – and admitted he had contributed to the manager selling him to Real Madrid.
Ferguson is now said to be quite close to Van Nistelrooy’s long-term agent, Roger Linse who has been spending more time in Manchester recently.
However long he is in charge, Van Nistelrooy, who took training for the first time on Tuesday after the players had a planned day off, will be keen to make his mark and stamp his authority.
If, like Solskjaer when he was the interim following the sacking of Jose Mourinho, he liberates the players and lifts the atmosphere there might still be a call for him to get the role full-time. Which is presumably why United are acting so quickly to try and secure Amorim so they can head off that dilemma.
After all they bowed to fan opinion following the FA Cup final win and retained Ten Hag when all indicators were that he should go. They cannot repeat that mistake and it appears they will not. A deal may even be struck with Amorim – who has a Portuguese cup quarter-final with Sporting on Tuesday – before kick-off against Leicester.
What it means for Van Nistelrooy, and his possible one-game audition, remains to be seen.
English