Martin O’Neill – Currently Unemployed

Three Scottish Premier League championships, a lost UEFA cup final, sixteen top-flight Manager of the Month awards (nine in the SPL, seven in the Premier League) in Great Britain, and a promotion to the Premier League are just something of what this Northern Irish 59-year old has achieved during his managerial career.

Is that enough to make it as a Manchester United manager though?

Pros

O’Neill is an experienced bloke when it comes down to British football. Three league championships during his five-year tenure at Celtic proves that he’s able to lead a side where the only result good enough is to win the league (though Rangers are the only competitive side, as we all know).

His British focus at Aston Villa is something which surely will suit Old Trafford. Players like Barry Bannan, Marc Albrighton, Gabriel Agbonlahor and our own Ashley Young are players that should have O’Neill’s name on their Christmas card list every year.

Managers should always look to promote players within their club’s academy if they are good enough before looking elsewhere. I feel that it’s vital that United’s squad has a strong home-grown feel to it, which maintains our club’s proud tradition and values.

Cons 

The former Northern Ireland international was maybe hotter during the 2001/02 season, before Sir Alex made his well-known U-turn. Back then he was the favourite to land the Old Trafford hot-seat and despite being only 59, is not getting any younger.

With even years more to his life than the likes of David Moyes and Jose Mourinho, he may be slightly too old, despite it’s still possible for him to stay in the branch for ten more years. And if Fergie’s replacement does, we will have to be satisfied. 

The main handicap, as I see it, for the man who played 285 league games and bagged 48 goals for Nottingham Forest between 1971 and ’81, is the lack of Champions League experience that he’s got which last happened back in the 2004/05 season. In other words, some recent degree of European success is required. Then again, maybe not.

Josep Guardiola, Manager of Barcelona

Despite his tender age, many consider Pep Guardiola the most obvious choice to succeed Sir Alex. He may be the youngest, but he’s also the most merited of the candidates that have been put forward and has taken to management like a duck to water.

Claiming the role as Barca manager in 2008, Guardiola showcased his leadership skills, and eye for talent, as he did in his playing straight away, leading Barcelona to three consecutive La Liga crowns and two Champions League victories.

In those two European Cup wins (as if we’ve forgotten) Barca beat United convincingly. Some may call him a footballing genius, but could he really be the man to carry on the legacy created by United’s almighty Scot?

Pros

Statistics have proven that Guardiola may very well be the next in line when Sir Alex calls it a day. Renowned for his ability to give young players a chance, as well as sticking them into a sound system, Guardiola resembles Sir Alex in the way he goes about his business.

Always protective of his players, he also establishes a feeling of comradely within the dressing room. Where many managers leave player to fend for themselves, Guardiola and Ferguson make sure everyone is taken care of, everyone is given special treatment. As well as being protective, they also give players time and have trust in them.

Both are stubborn and want their philosophies and visions to shine through, which is needed at the biggest level. Their stubbornness has led both United and Barcelona to glory, meaning that Guardiola could handle the pressure at a top club better than the other possible candidates for the job.

Along with his analytic, as well as calm, persona, Guardiola brings with him his youth system. A man sworn into the Barcelona youth academy, popularly known as ‘La Masia’, Guardiola is the man credited for the evolution of players such as Pedro Rodriguez and Sergio Busquets.

A football philosophy where physical abillity is not the strong point, Barcelona have build a footballing empire on solid passing game and calmness on the pitch. And if they lose the ball, their aggressiveness wins them the ball back within two-three passes from the opposing team.

That very strategy has beaten Manchester United twice in the Champions League final and has demolished Real Madrid with stunning results such as 6-2 and 5-0. That’s an impressive resume, to say the least, for a man who in the twilight of his playing career was wanted by Sir Alex.

Cons

You cannot deny that Guardiola is in his own court at Barcelona. As mentioned, he was born and raised into the Barcelona-system. He knows it better than some of us know our own mother. He eats, sleeps and breaths Barcelona.

To give you an example; he refused to get a television set in his office room because he did not want to cause any ‘nonsense’ expenses on Barcelona. To go even further, he was offered a car by one of Barcelona’s main sponsors when he took the job, but refused to accept it because the other members of his traning staff were not getting what he was getting.

In that way, Guardiola is very attached to Barcelona. A change of climate, language and football tradition could derail his ever-growing career in football. Known for being a man of adventures, and interest in football, Guardiola could be more bark than bite if he was to overtake as head of state at the red side of Manchester.

As some people might say about players, but which is very relevant here, could Guardiola survive a cold December’s eve at the Britannia Stadium versus Stoke? Most of the other candidates have proven able.

Guardiola, from a city known for its great uniting of a centralized big city and a holiday paradise filled with beaches, may just find himself running for the beaches if he gets too much on his plate too quickly and jumps on the potential chance at going to Old Trafford.

So, is Guardiola the right man? Well, he certainly has the accolades to voice his candidacy, if it was to become an option. Nevertheless, the depth and strength in the Barca team he fields every week would be any manager’s dream.

The big question would be; could Guardiola handle the change of personnel, the change of climate and the change of talent? An appointment of Guardiola would bring with him plenty of questions, but if there’s one man who can answer them all, it’s ‘Pep.