Former Manchester United goalkeeper tips surprise candidate to succeed Ruben Amorim

Former Manchester United goalkeeper Mark Bosnich has labelled the club a “complete mess” and believes Gareth Southgate should be brought in to provide stability.

United this morning sacked Ruben Amorim after 14 uninspiring months in charge amid suggestions of a fall-out with sporting director Jason Wilcox over his unwillingness to move away from a preferred 3-4-3 system.

It means the club are now looking for their seventh full-time manager since Sir Alex Ferguson left in 2013. United are currently sixth in the table.

Bosnich told BBC Radio 5 Live: “Behind the scenes has to be cleared up. They thought they were putting in a team that were in it for long-term success but it hasn’t quite worked.

“And coming back to the talk on egos and so forth, it should be quite clear. It should be manager/head coach, whatever you want to call them, he is the one that has to set the tone, he is the one that has to set the culture because it is his name that is on the project.

“The others? Regardless of ego, it should be about the club and the team doing well because right now, the supporters – and I can understand this – will be tearing their hair out because they want to know what’s going on and they deserve to know what’s going on. Right now, it’s a complete mess.”

Southgate linked with Manchester United before

Southgate was linked with the post before Amorim got it and Bosnich thinks he could replicate the job he did with England which saw the Three Lions reach two successive European Championship finals.

He added: “I’m biased because I’m a friend of his, but I would go for Gareth Southgate. We know he was touted before Ruben Amorim.

“He took England when they were at an all time low and brought them to two major finals in terms of the European Championship and the semi-final of the World Cup.

“He’s great at personal relationships and I really think right at this moment in time, he stands out.”

It has been reported United will seek to appoint a caretaker manager until the end of the season, a situation that could appeal to Southgate, who has made clear he has little appetite for another long-term project.

Under-18s boss and former United midfielder Darren Fletcher will take the team for Wednesday’s Premier League clash at Burnley.

By waiting until the summer, United could have the pick of several club and international managers whose contracts are due to expire, including Oliver Glasner, Thomas Tuchel, Julian Nagelsmann and Carlo Ancelotti.

Meulensteen demands United pick someone with charisma and pedigree

Whoever they go for, former United coach Rene Meulensteen believes it needs to be someone with “pedigree”.

He said: “They don’t want to make another mistake and very quickly go for someone that they’re sort of trying to fill the void with. They need to really look.

“At the end of the day, this is not all about Ruben Amorim. It’s about Ineos and the whole team behind it, as well. Because they’ve basically not backed up what they’ve been saying. So there’s some questions to be asked as well. They don’t want to make the same mistake.

“They have to be really calm and say ‘what do we need?’ What do we need to make sure that United is going to get back on track in the way that is the United style?’

“They need somebody with pedigree. Someone who understands the Premier League, who’s been successful in the Premier League. Someone with a strong personality, with charisma. Someone with good vision about how to take Manchester United forward.

“The most important thing is that they need to get things right in the background first. And be very, very clear that when they do make an appointment that everything is aligned.

“At this moment in time, it wasn’t aligned.”