It should be remembered that when Manchester United appointed Ralf Rangnick as their interim manager in December, it was a move that received widespread, if not universal, approval. With his track record of building teams and clubs from the ground up, his arrival was seen as a positive first step in putting the Red Devils back on the right path.
The problem? They appointed him to the wrong position. Rangnick’s stellar reputation was built as a senior management or executive figure, not as a coach. Sure, he had coached. But in the decade before taking the United job, Rangnick had managed 88 matches in two stints at RB Leipzig.
So, in hindsight, and with the context of the wider sh*tshow at Old Trafford, we shouldn’t be too surprised that he failed to have the influence it was hoped he might. Now Rangnick won’t be taking on a role he is well-qualified for, because he flopped in a role he wasn’t.
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The German is probably relieved to be out of Old Trafford. The prospect of even a six-day working month with United likely filled him with dread after what he has witnessed since December.
What would have been the point anyway? No one at United listened to Rangnick when he was a full-time presence at Carrington; the prospect of the hierarchy taking a blind bit of notice of him during a monthly conference call is even more remote.
No party ignored Rangnick more brazenly than the players. He got off to a poor start after it emerged one senior star had to google who the new manager was. His appointment apparently underwhelmed the Premier League’s most pernickety dressing room and the United squad tuned out before Rangnick could say ‘Gegenpress’.
The German tried to implement the style he’s renowned for, and the players gave it a whirl. For approximately a game and a half. By then it was already clear that the squad was unable or unwilling – probably both – to…
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