Could CQ Quit?
Could Carlos Queiroz throw a spanner into United’s succession by quitting the club to manage Portugal after the Euro 2008 Championships?
Last week, Sir Alex described his assistant as a “strong contender” to take-over the United job when the vacancy arises.
Publicly, Sir Alex will not set a date for his retirement. That may no longer matter as the United coach is sure to be on the shortlist of Portugal’s football authority, following indications that current team boss Luiz Scolari will leave his post next year.
With Jose Mourinho ruled out, Queiroz would be a good bet for Portugal’s top job. The coach is highly-regarded in football and is revered for discovering Portugal’s “golden generation” of great players such as Figo, Rui Costa , Joao Pinto and Jorge Costa.
Scolari has already accused the United assistant manager of trying to ingratiate himself with the decision-makes among Portuguese football’s top brass, in the hope that he might be called home.
“It seems he is trying to return to the Portuguese national team, where I am coach,” Scolari said last January. “He is working on it in the mass media.”
How will United respond to any attempts to lure Queiroz to Portugal? In a curious repetition of history, the club lost Steve McClaren to Middlesbrough in similar circumstances when Sir Alex reneged on his retirement plans.
Allowing Queiroz, to discuss his future with Portuguese headhunters could be interpreted as a clear sign that Ferguson has no short term plans to retire. It could also mean that United’s owners plan a clean break after the manager’s retirement. Equally, a decision by Queiroz not to allow his candidature to go forward, would lead to intense speculation that perhaps assurances have been made as to his future as Ferguson’s heir.
The expected interest from Portugal could not be better timed for Queiroz who has made no secret of his interest in becoming United’s manager.
“It is not up to me, but it is logical that I would like to be one day the manager of Manchester United,” he told the Sunday People newspaper last June.
The comment did not provoke uproar as Queiroz’s stock is rising at United after a difficult beginning to his second spell at the club. Those fans who blamed him for dull, sterile, safety-first football, were answered emphatically by the swashbuckling style that United displayed en route to winning the title for the first time since 2003. It is now hard to argue against the view that Queiroz’s coaching has been instrumental in United’s return to the Premiership summit.
However, the United director Sir Bobby Charlton, has suggested that the club should look to make a clean break after Ferguson’s retirement by appointing an ‘outsider.’
Charlton told the Sun newspaper today: “I think their have been a lot of mistakes made by a lot of clubs in getting managers who have already been some part of the club in their career.
“I don’t buy that. If he’s a good manager it doesn’t matter who he is, where he comes from or even what nationality he is. In fact, in lots of cases, I’d say it was a hardship now to have a club background.
“People say only an old player could do it but maybe it’s better to have a clean bill of health. Maybe give it to somebody who will really clear the decks.”
The comments have been taken as a sign that the next United manager will not be drawn from the pool of outstanding managerial talents who have also been United players. This might appeal to Queiroz as much as he would be alarmed by Charlton’s advice that United’s owners should “clear the decks.”
It is said that at 54, Queiroz yearns for one last big job. Will it be in Manchester or in Lisbon?
READ: The Succession
