The Naked Truth

Is Mark Hughes really the bookies’ favourite to succeed Sir Alex when he steps down as United boss?

That’s what the Manchester Evening News is saying. A hack at the Lancashire Telegraph went further and added credibility to his tip by quoting a William Hill source.

“Even Sir Alex cannot go on forever, but he will be a tough act to follow and there will be no shortage of world-class candidates” said Hill’s spokesman Graham Sharpe.

“Roy Keane and Carlos Queiroz are joint second favourites, followed by Martin O’Neill; Jose Mourinho; Marcelo Lippi and Sven Goran Eriksson.”

Both newspaper hacks were clearly impressed. After all, bookmakers don’t amass Bentleys and mansions by acting on wrong intelligence. As such, the MEN scribbler claimed that not only was the succession done and dusted but that Hughes would take over from Ferguson to universal acclaim.

“When that day eventually arrives there wouldn’t be a dissenting voice among the Reds’ faithful if the 44-year-old Welsh warrior was handed the job,” the newspaper thundered. “Take a look back in the archives of the kid from Ruabon, in North Wales, and it’s a career path forged by the football gods. His progress will be monitored closely in the red half of Manchester and it might just be worth a flutter - the bookies are seldom wrong.”

Hughes’ candidature would have looked so much stronger had United not sauntered past his Blackburn side just one week ago, as Sir Alex was quick to remind her Majesty’s press corps.

“Whenever I play a team managed by one of my former players it crops up. It’s unfair and I’m almost being shoved out of the door quicker than I want to! But I’m fit and healthy and as long as I am I’ll want to carry on.”

Yet as the manager starts his 22nd year in charge at United and edges ever closer to 70 years of age, the list of those worthy enough of inheriting the Red Kingdom is being refined. Hughes, smart, resourceful and a rising manager with impeccable Red credentials, has never had so many media champions.

Writing in the Telegraph, telly pundit Alan Hansen stated: “If you are a chairman of a leading club, you do not necessarily want a manager for whom flamboyant football comes as standard. You want someone whose first priority is to make the side hard to beat and who then builds on that. You want someone whose record in the transfer market is solid - because you would be trusting a manager with £20 million cheques. Hughes’ record in all these respects is very similar to that of Ferguson himself.”

Hansen had more to say in a long homage to Hughes but the Welshman hardly requires another to talk up his right to be considered a serious contender for the United throne.

“I like to think that the job I’m doing, people think that I have the capability to take a top job,” he volunteered. “As a player I always wanted to be the best that I could be, and as a manager I’ll try to do the same. How far that takes me we’ll have to wait and see.

“I’ve shown I can affect football teams and make them better than they were before I was involved. I think I’ve shown I can do that on two occasions now.”

Nevertheless, the casting for the new United king is unlikely to be a Red beauty contest. Despite Hughes’ qualities, the gaps in his CV surely defy the bookies’ favourable odds. His record as Wales boss is mixed but deserving of more respect than current Wales boss John Toshack has mustered. European failure also counts against the Red legend too.

However, his work at Blackburn is impressive, even though the team has yet to contest a major cup final or threaten seriously the Champions League grip of the Big Four. Last week’s Old Trafford mauling gave little hint that Blackburn are better prepared for the task this term.

When the Glazers, or their successors, sit down to choose the new United helmsman, Hughes is likely to feature on the shortlist. Surely, only Ferguson’s insistence that he should be followed into the hot seat by his former leading striker would put Hughes at the very top. Having tipped Carlos Queiroz as a “strong candidate” last September, Ferguson has already given a powerful indication of his preference.

Louis Saha is another United striker with much to look forward to and a lot more to prove, as he revealed to United radio listeners.

“I get fed up always talking about my return, so I’m very happy to be back on the pitch,” he said. “The team are playing good football, scoring goals and are up for the challenge of maintaining this form for the rest of the season.
“The confidence in the dressing room is high. We have three world class players in Cristiano Ronaldo, Carlos Tevez and Wayne Rooney, and it’s tremendous to have them in the side.

“They’re all younger than me but I can learn so much from them. I’m pretty happy right now and I couldn’t ask for more. I like to see the team playing well and scoring goals, so if I can be part of that I’m happy.”
Saha’s joy is matched only by Sir Alex’s contentment as he surveys the strongest squad he has directed in 21 years at United.

“The point I make is that in terms of the size of the squad and the quality I think it’s the best we’ve had,” he said. “This is what I have been working towards. I don’t like the short-term fix — I prefer to see a pool of players emerge and develop into something special which, believe me, is what is happening this season.

“The signs are good, although we have to keep winning to show how good we are.”
What possessed the manager to make public such private confidence? The Guardian offered an essay in deciphering Ferguson’s motivation.

“A manager’s comments are seldom dictated by a craving to tell the truth and Ferguson could be determined to wrench away a spotlight trained on Arsenal,” the newspaper advised. “Such a message might also be designed to maintain excitement at Old Trafford.

“Ferguson’s current delight is probably specific and one of his purposes was to stress the sheer number of accomplished players in his squad. That wealth of alternatives has already served him well and it is harder than ever to be certain of what the strongest Old Trafford line-up now is.”

What is certain is that Ferguson has added fresh urgency to the inevitable discussion of how success will be measured this season? Not so long ago, former boss Tommy Docherty was roundly scolded when he claimed that United needed to win the Quadruple in order to justify Ferguson’s summer spending. That is a pipe dream now but if this is Ferguson’s strongest ever squad, is it not right to imagine that another Treble is within United’s compass?

Surely, massive disappointment followed by recrimination will be the order of the day if United cannot match the silverware delivered last term, as a minimum requirement. Perhaps, that was Sir Alex’s point – a mind game on his own players?
However, the Mirror’s Oliver Holt and other Fergie-baiters will know a hostage to fortune when they see it. Their vitriol in the event of a United stumble will be terrible and dreadful.

The Guardian advertised why some observers still believe United have questions to answer and cannot take for granted an open-topped bus tour around the streets of Manchester next May.

“In some respects the awe over United depends on a mass outbreak of amnesia,” the newspaper ventured. “Have the memory banks truly been robbed of the recollection that the Premier League schedule opened with a goalless draw at home to Reading? Half a dozen fixtures ensued in each of which United scored just once.

“It is too soon to visualise United as winners of the Champions League. Has enough altered since Milan’s contemptuous 3-0 victory at San Siro in the semi-finals?

“For the time being the present line can nurse its dreams while being proud just to have stirred memories of great days at Old Trafford.”



Source from absolutelyunited.com