Ranking Man Utd’s post-Ferguson managers from worst to least worst

Managing Manchester United is one of the toughest jobs in football. They have tried their hand at former players, iconic managers and one of Sir Alex Ferguson’s colleagues since the legendary Scot retired.

It ended in tears for everyone ahead of current boss Erik ten Hag and it looked like the Dutchman was headed for the same fate going forward. The Red Devils decided to stick with what they got.

With that in mind, we’ve ranked all six permanent managers since Fergie left Manchester United after winning the Premier League in 2013.

6) David Moyes
On the one hand, you can say Moyes was always destined to fail given the monumental challenge of replacing Fergusonbut he still inherited a Premier League winning team and turned them into a group of players unable to compete for Champions League qualification.

The Manchester United board put a lot of faith in the appointment of Ferguson’s fellow Scot and managerial friend, offering him a huge six-year deal after Fergie himself recommended the appointment. He lasted a grand total of 10 months after a stupid amount of defeats and the Red Devils finished seventh in the Premier League.

At least they managed to beat Wigan Athletic in the Community Shield. Every cloud.

5) Ralf Rangnick
Manchester United have brought in the extraordinary Rangnick to help steady the ship following the sacking of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in 2021/22. His appointment was made with a view to him stepping into a behind-the-scenes role where he seemed to be more suited. However, Ten Hag had other ideas and did not consider working with Rangnick at the time of his arrival from Ajax in May 2022.

Rangnick’s time at Old Trafford represented colossal disarray at the club. He took the manager’s job only to become a consultant months later, something he probably would have excelled at, only to leave before he had the chance, quickly becoming manager of Austria after entering free agency.

The German spoke well – almost too well at times – saying the kind of things the Manchester United hierarchy didn’t want to hear. His claim of “open heart surgery” had a brutal truth to it, and it didn’t go well.

On the pitch, results did not improve following Rangnick’s arrival and United finished sixth in the league, 13 points off fourth.

MORE MAN UTD FROM F365
👉 Ten Hag worse than Mourinho, but it is enough to keep his job in Man Utd
👉 Premier League club ranking of Euro 2024 representatives led by Man City

4) Louis van Gaal
What a character. Seriously. From his messiness in press conferences to throw himself to the ground in rebuke to the fourth official after an alleged Alexis Sanchez dive, Van Gaal has brought light to Our League and for that we will always be grateful.

While the experienced Dutch coach entertained the masses with his antics, his football – which has an important element to it – left a lot to be desired. He was very pragmatic and took the patient, possession-based approach that served him well throughout his career. That’s the nice way of saying it. More clearly, it was boring as hell.

That style brought an FA Cup to Old Trafford, the first trophy post-Fergie. And the United hierarchy were so grateful to Van Gaal that they decided to fire him immediately after the triumph at Wembley.

3) Erik ten Haag
The man still in charge of the poisoned chalice that runs Manchester United Football Club, the Ten Hag could just as easily have been sacked as retained, despite sprinkling some FA Cup glitter on a previous season.

Ten Hag won the Carabao Cup in his first campaign, which went well with a top-three finish in the league and an FA Cup final, which his side lost to Manchester City. His second season was a stark contrast, beating City at Wembley after languishing in eighth place in the Premier League.

The Champions League campaign was truly awful, finishing last in a group they had no right not to go out of. Their Carabao Cup defense came to a painful end when United were beaten by Newcastle United – the team they beat in last term’s final – at home, and their Premier League results have been shockingly inconsistent. The FA Cup win, won with the best performance of the season, saved the season and Ten Hag.

Apparently Sir Jim Ratcliffe and his minions swallowed Ten Hag’s mitigation around the wounds which, to be fair to the Dutchman, were debilitating. But if Ten Hag has made his mark on the team, it’s still nearly impossible to find out exactly what it is.

Still, on paper, two trophies in two seasons is a good return. On grass it’s a different story, but now the Ten Hag remains, the former Ajax boss must quickly thrive in the rather more serious environment Ratcliffe seems to be creating at Old Trafford.

2) Ole Gunnar Solskjaer
Say what you will about the man. Consider all semifinal losses. Do whatever you want, my friend. We’re not interested. United have played their best football since Fergie under Solskjaer, who was sacked in November 2021 after a knock at Watford.

The club legend was handed the full-time job after an impressive spell as caretaker boss, which included an iconic Champions League comeback at Paris Saint-Germain, to which Rio Ferdinand reacted in completely normal fashion, telling BT Sport after the result :

Man United might not thank me, but take out the contract, put it on the table, let him sign it, let him write whatever numbers he wants to put on there – given what he’s done when he came in – and let him sign the contract and go. Ole’s at the wheel, man – he’s doing his job. Man United is back!

honestly speaking, we all cheered on United. He was behind the wheel during his caretaker tenure, but Ole eventually crashed and burned.

Solskjaer got the best out of Bruno Fernandes, giving him the freedom to express himself, and the Portuguese thrived as a result. He even made Anthony Martial look like a competent footballer. The comeback wins, the counter-attacking football and the incredible 20-minute bursts in games where United would kill the opposition were the most entertaining moments with the Norwegian at the helm.

1) Jose Mourinho
The Special One got the job after Van Gaal was sacked and has been the most successful boss since Ferguson stepped down in 2013. Again, his football has been far from incredible to watch but he has delivered results and that’s business with results.

His first season saw Paul Pogba and Zlatan Ibrahimovic shine as the Red Devils won the Carabao Cup, Europa League and finished sixth in the Premier League, which was inconsequential as European glory earned the club League football Champions anyway.

The following season brought Mourinho, a two-time Champions League winner, “the greatest achievement of his career”: finishing second in the Premier League, 19 points behind centurions Manchester City.

As is usually the case, things took a turn for the worse in Mourinho’s third season in charge, losing his job in December 2018 when Solskjaer took over.

READ NEXT: Sancho fails, Casemiro praised: Ranking all 60 Man Utd signings since Sir Alex retired in 2013