Manchester United have made a mockery of Ralf Rangnick’s comments on his role as interim coach after confirming his exit on Sunday.
Rangnick was appointed as United’s interim coach in December on a deal until the end of the season but it had been agreed that he would continue at the club in a consultancy role for two years. However, that plan has now been scrapped.
The 63-year-old will take the reins of the Austrian national team after leaving Old Trafford and the decision has been made for him to part ways with United. Erik ten Hag is the new United boss on a permanent basis, having joined the club from Ajax, but Rangnick will no longer be associated with the club.
Rangnick accepted the role having rejected a similar position at Chelsea the previous year, after the Blues approached him in January 2021 having sacked Frank Lampard midway through the campaign. The Blues initially approached Rangnick with a view to him taking over at Stamford Bridge until the end of that campaign, but he rejected the offer.
Chelsea went on to appoint Thomas Tuchel, who would win the Champions League within four months, but Rangnick had explained that he had no interest in taking a short-term role at a club without any further guarantees beyond that point.
The veteran boss explained in an interview with The Times earlier this year that there was a conversation with the Blues, but the nature of the job being on an interim basis was off-putting to him at that point.
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"‘I said: ‘I would like to come and work with you, but I can’t do it for four months. I’m not an interim coach. To the media and players you would be the ‘four-month manager’, a lame duck, from day one."
A Man United statement on Sunday confirmed the departure of Rangnick: “We would like to thank Ralf Rangnick for his efforts as interim manager over the past six months. By mutual agreement, Ralf will now focus solely on his new role as manager of the Austria national team and will not therefore be taking up a consultancy role at Old Trafford. We would like to wish Ralf the best of luck in this next chapter of his career.”
Rangnick’s tenure at Old Trafford is likely to be viewed as disastrous; with the club losing each of their final six Premier League matches of the season and missing out on a top four finish by double digits, while ending the season trophyless.
