Mourinho pre-contract gives opening for Ryan Giggs to become Manchester United manager
Jose Mourinho’s pre-contract leaves a valuable opening for Ryan Giggs to become United’s new manager
The Premier League news cycle has been lit ablaze with the news that Jose Mourinho has signed a pre-contract with Manchester United to become their next manager. The mutual interest between Mourinho and United shouldn’t surprise anyone. What is a surprise, is that the Special One signed a deal that leaves such a large opening for Ryan Giggs to swoop in and steal his dream job.
Reports indicate that Manchester United would owe Mourinho up to 15 million pounds if they do not sign him to a managerial contract prior to June 1st. It really is a curious agreement on behalf of both parties. The obvious question is, if United really wants Jose Mourinho to be their manager next season, why not go ahead and sign him to an air tight contract.
After all, the United job is reported to be Mourinho’s dream job so you have to believe that he’d jump at the chance to sign a more decisive agreement. Given his desire for the job, it’s clear that United is trying to leave themselves some wiggle room in the deal. That wiggle room could be a golden opportunity for club legend Ryan Giggs.
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Clearly the agreement with Mourinho indicates that Louis van Gaal is on thin ice with the club. Let’s not mince words, he has had a terrible run as the manager of the club. Many fans believe that his tenure as boss at the club is even worse than David Moyes’ much maligned reign.
If United isn’t trying to leave the door open for van Gaal with the Mourinho pre-contract, the only other reasonable alternative is they want to give Ryan Giggs a chance. The path to give him a chance to earn the Manchester United job would be pretty simple for the club.
Just imagine for a moment that the Red Devils suffer a crushing defeat in the next week or two. It could be in the Manchester Derby today or really any other match in the immediate future. A loss would cause the calls for van Gaal’s firing to truly reach a fever pitch.
Ed Woodward and company could capitulate to those fan demands and finally axe van Gaal with minimal fuss. The obvious solution in the interim period would be to let Giggs take over for the remainder of the season. If that happens, he would be the recipient of a golden opportunity to seize the job he so desperately wants.
Giggs would then have a run of games to try to impress the higher-ups at the club. I believe Manchester United would be hoping and praying that Giggs inspired the team to go on a magical run. That would allow them to sever the relationship with Mourinho and justifiably appoint Giggs as the team’s manager.
That’s really the only scenario in which they could possibly give Giggs the job over Mourinho. The Special One is infinitely more qualified than the former United player. Club officials would be crucified if they tried to appoint Giggs over Mourinho without a justifiable reason. The only possible justification would be a successful Giggs run as interim manager.
I admit that what I’m describing is a rather hopeful and rather complicated scenario. However, so is the pre-contract between Mourinho and United. It would be far easier for both sides to agree to a more permanent arrangement, United is definitely leaving an opening for a reason.
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That reason is the club would love to see Ryan Giggs earn the job. Him going on a magical run with the club would be just the sort of fairy tale that United covets above all else. It would also allow the club to avoid the pragmatic cynicism of Jose Mourinho.