
Manchester United
Premier League • England
Next Man Utd manager: Southgate advised against replacing Ten Hag in job ‘fraught with danger’

Would Gareth Southgate make a successful Man Utd manager?
Liverpool legend Graeme Souness has warned Gareth Southgate against replacing Erik ten Hag in the summer, claiming the Man Utd job is “fraught with danger.”
Having enjoyed a productive first season at the helm in 2023/23, scooping the Carabao Cup and securing Champions League qualification, Ten Hag has endured a difficult second season at Old Trafford.
With 10 Premier League games remaining, Man Utd sit a distant sixth – nine points adrift of fourth-placed Aston Villa – having finished bottom of their Champions League group in December, losing four of their six group games.
After INEOS founder Sir Jim Ratcliffe completed a deal to acquire a 27.7 per cent stake in the club last month, there is a growing expectation that Man Utd will seek to employ a new manager in the summer.
TEAMtalk exclusively revealed earlier this month that Ten Hag is seen as a dead man walking within the club, with England manager Southgate likely to be included in the list of potential candidates – including Roberto De Zerbi, Ruben Amorim, Simone Inzaghi and Graham Potter – if a change is made.
TEAMtalk understands that Southgate, whose contract as England manager is due to expire at the end of this calendar year, would be very interested in taking up the role.
Gareth Southgate not ‘a good fit’ for Man Utd
Appearing on talkSPORT, however, Souness fears it would be a “very, very hard ask” for a character of Southgate’s nature to succeed at Man Utd, claiming the job is “fraught with danger.”
He said: “I don’t think he’d be a good fit.
“That is a job which is fraught with danger, whoever gets it.
“Maybe we’re being rude to the current manager there – he may be there next year – but being manager of Man Utd carries a hell of a lot of weight on your shoulders.
“When you’re at a big football club like that, you wake up in the morning knowing: ‘I’m going to be confronted with several issues today that are going to be totally unexpected’.
“Every day you’re under scrutiny, every single move you make is scrutinised to the skies.
“He’s a thoroughly decent man and it would be a very, very hard ask for him to do that job.
“You’ve got to be so thick-skinned to be a manager of one of the big clubs today.
“My advice to him would be ‘no’ – I don’t see that being a quick fix.
“Man Utd are where they are – they’ve been, by their standards, [poor over recent years].”
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With England among the favourites to win this summer’s Euro 2024 tournament in Germany, Souness believes Southgate – whose only previous experience of club management with Middlesbrough ended after relegation from the Premier League in 2009 – would be well advised to extend his deal with the Football Association to harness the potential of his young squad.
He said: “I believe this is a golden period for English football with this group of players. Stick with that. They should only get better given the age group.
“I think Man Utd is an enormous job. He’s had one go at club management and that didn’t go too well for him.
“He’s in a glorious position. He ended up with the job through being very fortunate with what happened with Sam Allardyce, so he inherited a situation and a group of players who were just coming on to the scene that have got better and better and have not peaked yet.
“If his intention is to take a [club] managerial job no matter what, those conversations will be taking place now.”
READ MORE: Next Man Utd boss: Seven contenders to replace Ten Hag in review should Ratcliffe wield the axe
Amid suggestions that Ten Hag’s influence over recruitment will be reduced by the new regime at Man Utd after a series of underwhelming signings, Souness fears Southgate’s lack of experience in the transfer market would count against him if he was appointed at Old Trafford.
And he remains convinced Ten Hag could yet survive into next season if he can secure Champions League qualification.
He said: “With football management, the thing you have to get right first, second and third is recruitment.
“There’s a group of people there now that are going to have the biggest say in that. [Southgate] had one go at Middlesbrough and it didn’t go too well for him.
“For over a decade now, they have given a masterclass in how not to recruit at a big football club.
“Why would they change their manager?
“If they don’t get in the Champions League, don’t win the FA Cup, then do they change their manager? I think there’s a real possibility.
“If they win the FA Cup and get into the Champions League, maybe they don’t change it. It’d be a real argument not to change it.
“Not win the FA Cup and get in the Champions League? There’s still a real argument not to change it.
“These are decisions that the new football powers at Man Utd will be discussing on a regular basis. They may have already made their mind up, one way or the other.
“But whoever gets that job – if there is a new manager coming – it is fraught with danger.
“It’s a hell of a job.”
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