Will he or won’t he?

With wonderkid Wayne Rooney itching to get back to first-team action there were rumours that he could be brought back, in some role, for the Manchester United v Everton game. Highly unlikely that something like this would happen, what with World Cup 2006 still fresh in SAF’s mind.

Personally I’d rather see him rested and brought back to action AFTER the Chelsea game, but with Manchester United already behind in the points stakes it won’t be enough to get a draw at home and Rooney will be needed. If necessary, he could come off the bench for cameo roles against Sporting and Chelsea next week, but I’d much rather have him in the stands than on the bench or the pitch, at least for now.

Apparently Sir Alex Ferguson was kicked by someone while he was traveling by train. Rumour has it that it was Seba Veron and he was pissed at SAF for ruining his career, but according to the police reports it was a drunk man who thought he was shadow-boxing with a SAF look-alike. Yup, every SAF look-alike I’m going to meet, I’m going to punch them in the groin and then headbutt the next police officer I see, too. Nut.

Red Rants has a piece about the ‘next’ Manchester United manager, and I have to say I’m disappointed in what Sailesh Ganesh has to say. It’s not so much as his dismissal of Jose Mourinho but his reasoning given for his choices. To claim that Reading were the only club apart from Arsenal or Manchester United to play attacking football last season is an insult to several other clubs and not just Chelsea or Everton or Tottenham.

I’ve written about this before on Soccerlens, but for a quick recap:

Mark Hughes, Steve Coppell and Roy Keane are all good managers and worthy of a shot. I’d pick Keano over Sparky but Coppell is a different animal and I’m sure he would do well at any club that he goes to and he’s as good as Sparky, if not better. The only thing holding Keano back is that he’d be managing players he was kicking ball with just a few years ago, and that doesn’t always work out well. I’m not concerned about his experience - everyone starts somewhere, right?

A continental coach won’t be a bad option, provided he was someone who could handle the media and handle the tactical and motivational aspects of managing in the Premier League. Guus Hiddink, Felipe Scolari, Juande Ramos and Marcello Lippi are my picks, but who knows? Quieroz won’t be a bad choice but I’d rather have change than consistency here.

Jose Mourinho would make an excellent Manchester United manager, but I don’t know if Manchester United’s owners (and fans) would accept the sort of battering that Chelsea has attracted due to JM’s presence. Other than that, he is someone who can win plenty of titles with United.

What do you guys think? When should Rooney be brought back and who do you back for the next Manchester United manager?

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