Rangnick backed to remain as Man Utd boss on two conditions
Ralf Rangnick has a strong case to stay on as Manchester United’s manager if he meets two criteria this season, according to Simon Jordan.
United put a sticky patch of form behind them with a 2-0 win over high-flyers Brighton on Tuesday, a result that lifted them back into the top four.
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Despite some fierce criticism and reports of discord among his players, Rangnick has lost just one of his 14 games as United boss in regular time.
And Jordan believes he’s got the club moving in the right direction, and should be considered for the full-time role.
“He’s dragging these players to a different place,” Jordan told talkSPORT. “And eventually we’re going to see that lag being shortened and we’re going to see this team get better.
“Now whether he can do it within the timelines that are sufficient enough to convince those that make the decisions…
“They beat Brighton last night, Brighton are in form, they haven’t been beaten in seven Premier League games, they’re a good side.
“They’re fourth in the league, I think they’ll stay fourth in the league, I think they’ll beat Atletico [Madrid], I think they’ll go deeper in the Champions League than people anticipate, and then what’s your argument against Rangnick?”
Mauricio Pochettino, Erik ten Hag, Luis Enrique and Brendan Rodgers are all thought to be in the running, but Rangnick is also in the frame despite the plan being for him to move into a consultancy role at the end of the season.
But Jordan believes things at United aren’t as bad as people are making out and Rangnick should not be ruled out.
“We’ve got all these arguments railing about whether he’s tactically sufficient, if he’s actually a super coach or it’s all a myth, if he handles players the right way, a la [Jesse] Lingard, a la [Anthony] Martial.
“His argument will be, look at the body of work I’ve done, look at it over the time I’ve been here, we’re in the Champions League for next season we’ve got deep into it this season so the revenue’s been generated.
“I have done what you wanted me to do, we were never going to win the league, we were never going to win the Champions League, so with all that in mind, what did you expect me to do? I’ve done it!
“What we’re doing at this moment in time is looking at it going, ‘look at the quality of play, look at the way they’re giving up leads, look at the adversity off the pitch’.
“All of this was coming, and I think it would have been worse under the previous manager, so you’ve got to give Rangnick his head.”
