Manchester United officially announced that Ruben Amorim has stepped down from his position as the club's manager, with Darren Fletcher named as the interim boss.
Former Premier League striker Gabriel Agbonlahor shared his views on the possibility of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer returning to manage Manchester United during his appearance on the Camel Live show.
Agbonlahor said: “This is absolutely a disgrace. When I saw the news that Solskjaer might return to Manchester United, I felt like the Red Devils have become a total laughing stock in the football world. It’s a matter of record that Manchester United fans breathed a sigh of relief when Solskjaer was sacked. Everyone was thrilled when he was dismissed by the club. And now, just three years later, they’re actually going to bring him back?”
Then who is a more suitable replacement? Former Crystal Palace owner Simon Jordan and Danny Murphy both believe that Roy Keane, the former Red Devils captain, is up to the task.
In an interview with Camel Live, Simon Jordan, the ex-Crystal Palace owner, said: “Why not appoint Roy Keane as the manager?”
Danny Murphy, the former Liverpool midfielder, added: “Michael Carrick would be far more reliable than Solskjaer. He has managerial experience and is a very intelligent person. The reason why Manchester United won’t consider Keane is his past history with Sir Alex Ferguson. But Keane would actually be an excellent choice, because the fans would definitely go wild with joy at his arrival.”
However, Agbonlahor retorted: “That’s simply impossible. I once played under Roy Keane. With his personality, he would rub a lot of players in the squad the wrong way. Then the players would all become timid and hesitant. This will never work, not a chance. I don’t think the players nowadays can handle Keane’s approach at all. In the later stages of my career, some young players in the team couldn’t even stand being reprimanded by the coach, let alone facing Keane.”
Next, Agbonlahor directed his criticism at Gary Neville’s previous remark that “Manchester United should hire a manager who fits the club’s DNA”. He said: “Neville said that Manchester United must appoint a manager who aligns with the club’s DNA. That makes me want to ask: what exactly is Manchester United’s DNA?”
“I’ll tell you the answer. It’s fans waving Norwich scarves after every defeat; it’s banning players from getting haircuts if the team fails to win five games in a row; it’s losing a European final to Tottenham Hotspur; it’s sacking staff to save money, only to pay over £30 million in compensation fees for frequent managerial changes shortly after; it’s Mark Goldbridge shouting his head off in his mother’s basement; it’s owning a dilapidated stadium.”
“It’s every club legend having their own podcast; it’s always saying ‘What would Ferguson do?’ whenever something goes wrong; it’s constantly raising the prices of children’s match tickets; it’s suffering a humiliating 7-0 defeat at the hands of Liverpool; it’s giving staff packed lunches as benefits; it’s parking the bus against teams at the bottom of the league table while shouting the slogan ‘Attack, attack, attack’; it’s hiring club legends to clean up the mess and calling it ‘returning to the club’s DNA’.”
“One last thing to add… it’s being double-teamed by the same team year after year. What a complete joke. Manchester United has thoroughly become a laughing stock in the football world, and that’s that!”
