Former Barnsley head coach Gerhard Struber turns down an opportunity to become Manchester United assistant manager
According to the Sky Sports in Austria (h/t Yorkshire Post), former Barnsley head coach Gerhard Struber turned down the opportunity to become the Manchester United assistant manager.
The vacancy was open following Ralf Rangnick’s appointment as interim manager until the end of the season. The German was keen to add the Austrian to his management team but that does not appear to have happened.
Currently, the manager of New York Red Bulls, Man United’s approach has been rebuffed by both Struber and the MLS side. The 44-year-old had earlier worked with Ragnnick at RB Salzburg and confirmed that an approach had been made.
“There has been a request.”
Despite having a great opinion of Rangnick, Struber has hitched his wagon onto New York Red Bull’s future. The Austrian believes he has a good thing going in the MLS and is not keen to abandon his project midway.
“I do not want to give up with New York overnight.”
Missing out on one’s top targets is never a good sign and it is unfortunate that Struber has opted against moving to Old Trafford. The Red Devils were also rebuffed by another of Rangnick’s associates, Lars Kornetka earlier this month. He chose against moving to Man United and instead took Rangnick’s place at Lokomotiv Moscow.
It has however not been all doom and gloom on the recruitment front. Man United ex-MLS coach Chris Armas and sports psychologist Sascha Lense to the coaching staff. Who else will follow remains to be seen.
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While we applaud Struber’s loyalty, an opportunity to help manage a team such as Manchester United does not come by very often. Whether Struber will regret his decision in the future remains to be seen. Vy then however the ship would have already set sail.