The woes of Manchester United continued on Wednesday night with a shock defeat in the League Cup to Grimsby Town on penalties. As pressure mounts on Ruben Amorim, the club appear to be putting together contingency plans.
Following their exit in embarassing fashion, the Ineos Group have asked the football department to draw up a shortlist of potential replacements, should it be necessary to sack Amorim. That is according to Indykaila, writing on Caught Offside. The Portuguese manager was brought in on a big-money deal from Sporting CP, but patience is wearing thin after a 16th-place finish.
Andoni Iraola amongst candidates
One of the names on that shortlist is Bournemouth manager Andoni Iraola. The Basque coach has earned widespread plaudits for his work in the Premier League, and was amongst the candidates to replace Ange Postecoglou at United’s Europa League final opponents, but has been successful at the more modest Mirandes and then Rayo Vallecano in Spain too. Another name on the shortlist is Crystal Palace coach Oliver Glasner.
Iraola impresses across Spain
Iraola was already being heralded for his work in Spain before making the jump to Bournemouth. It has always been taken as a given that at some point he will coach Basque giants Athletic Club, due to his close ties to the club, having spent almost all of his playing career at San Mames. With Ernesto Valverde in charge though, Athletic have not had need for a new coach in recent years though.
Barcelona have also decided to monitor his progress over the last couple of years, while Real Madrid also shortlisted Iraola earlier this year as an outside candidate in the event that Xabi Alonso did not join the club. Certainly Iraola’s stock is at a high, and it is no surprise that Europe’s top clubs are taking note.
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