Roy Keane has named the “havoc-causing” manager as his preferred option to replace the hapless Reuben Amorim at Manchester United, and Gary Neville fully agrees.
Amorim has only scored 37 points in 34 Premier League games as United manager and is under pressure at Old Trafford.
The Red Devils finished 15th last season and currently sit 10th in the Premier League, and there have been few periods during Amorim’s one-year tenure at the club when he was not at risk of being sacked.
Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who hired Amorim to replace Erik ten Hag last year, moved on Wednesday to ease the pressure on the Portuguese manager.
Read more: Who will be Manchester United’s next manager if Ruben Amorim is sacked?
Ratcliffe insisted that calls for Amorim to be fired by the Glazers, who still own a majority stake in the club, were “not going to happen” and said he would not base his decision on “what some journalist says”.
He added: “Sometimes I don’t understand, members of the press. They want overnight success. They think it’s a light switch. You flip the switch and tomorrow everything will fall apart. You can’t run a club like Manchester United by just reacting instantly to some journalist who’s ranting every week.”
Ratcliffe admitted Amorim is a “good bloke” but hinted he still intends to lead United for a long time.
“He hasn’t had the best season,” he admitted. “Ruben has three years to prove that he is a great manager. That’s my position.”
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Despite Ratcliffe’s vote of confidence, pundits continue to speculate about who should replace him.
And after Paul Scholes insisted Eddie Howe should “definitely” be targeted as United’s next manager, Keane has chosen a manager who may be the opposite of Newcastle’s cautious man.
“I’ve been saying this for years,” he said on Overlap’s “Stick to Football” podcast.
“Atletico Madrid, I want to see (Diego) Simeone go in there. I want to see him go in there.
“I know his mates went to Arsenal and I think he’s just going to cause havoc, but it was a good havoc. I think he’ll run up to that place and say, ‘This is how you do it.’
“There are no guarantees, but I would like to see his character and even his track record.”
Simeone has been the manager of Atletico Madrid since 2011, winning five major titles, including two La Liga titles in the 2013/14 and 2020/2021 seasons.
He is part of the football club’s squad, but Gary Neville agreed he would be United’s best bet if they were able to poach him.
“I think I would choose it. I would choose Simeone,” Neville added.
