Gareth could get Reds job...with bit of luck

IF you were to hand Sir Jim Ratcliffe and Sir Dave Brailsford a blank sheet of paper and ask them to draw up their perfect United plan, you would get some intriguing answers.

- TYRONE MARSHALL

Football club owners almost never get a clean slate to work with and that has been the case for Ratcliffe since his £1.25bn investment into the Reds. He has made significant staff and structural changes since taking over, but there isn't a lot he can do about the squad or stadium he inherited.

The biggest decision facing Ineos remains over Erik ten Hag and the delay in concluding the end-of-season review is an indication that the outcome is no foregone conclusion.

Ten Hag earned credit for the manner of the FA Cup final success and there is no outstanding candidate to come in and replace him.

But if Ratcliffe and Brailsford could pick any manager they wanted right now, then the odds are that they would opt for Gareth Southgate. They admire him, he has a long-standing relationship with incoming sporting director Dan Ashworth and his work in developing a new culture around the England national team is considered relevant to what Ineos want at

United. The problems with that appointment are mainly two-fold.