Man United supporters have named Erik ten Hag as their dream successor to Ralf Rangnick.
Following the sacking of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer last month, United have taken the interesting step of hiring the renowned coach Rangnick on an interim basis until the end of the season, after which he will then move upstairs into a consultancy role.
It’s a clear plan of action that has been uncommon at United in recent years and has supporters thinking about who will eventually take over the reins permanently.
Nearly 10,000 United supporters took part in our Big United Survey, and the majority named Ajax boss Ten Hag as the perfect man to take over from Rangnick in the summer.
The Dutchman has been at the helm in Amsterdam for nearly five years now and in that time he developed several exciting youngsters in one go and guided them to a remarkable semi-final finish in the Champions League.
He then had to rebuild his side after losing several of his best players and now Ajax are once again in the European knock-out stages this season, playing a thrilling brand of football.
Ten Hag is admired at Old Trafford and he recently suggested that he would be interested in a new challenge.
“I think I’m ready for it [coaching abroad]. I would be happy to take up that challenge.” Ten Hag told de Volkskrant
But I’m not chasing it. If it turns out that that step will never come, I will not say that my coaching career has failed.
“But I think I have sufficient competencies to take on that challenge.”
In second place came Mauricio Pochettino, a manager United have previously passed up on the opportunity to recruit but who could soon be available again.
Despite being clear at the top of the league and into the next round of the Champions League, the Argentine still doesn’t appear to have fitted in at Paris Saint-Germain.
United approached the French side about hiring him following the sacking of Solskjaer but were knocked back and instead went with their interim plan.
Zinedine Zidane also came in for some votes, though there doesn’t appear to be interest from either party on that front.
However, 79 per cent of voters said they had no confidence that the current ownership would make a good appointment when they finally replaced Solskjaer on a permanent basis.
When we asked fans if they supported the interim management plan, 54 per cent were actually in disagreement. Yet Rangnick has already moved to show it was a good move after he made a bright start with a 1-0 victory over Crystal Palace on Sunday, with the German’s methods already having a clear impact despite little time on the training field.
Fans also gave their views on the club’s transfer policy during Solskjaer’s stint in charge and, although they were highly critical of the majority of aspects of the Glazer family’s ownership, they were largely positive.
54 per cent of fans said that they were satisfied with the transfer strategy under Solskjaer, which has seen the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Jadon Sancho, Raphael Varane, Bruno Fernandes and Edinson Cavani arrive at the club.
A majority of 57 per cent also believe that United have spent enough money to be a successful team.