Ralf Rangnick, Man Utd’s worst manager in history, leaves the club and will not be consulting next season

Former Manchester United interim coach Ralf Rangnick, will not fulfil his two-year consultancy role at Manchester United, according to the Mancunians’ press office.

The German specialist became Manchester United’s coach on 29 November last year and entered into an agreement under which he was to take over as the club’s consultant at the end of the 2021/2022 season. At the end of April, it was revealed that Rangnick would take charge of the Austrian national team. Due to the demands imposed on the national team coach, Rangnick will not be able to combine his work for the national team with his consultancy job at Manchester United. 

“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.”

United said in the official statement.

This news seems particularly unfortunate given the poor state the Mancunians are in. At the end of the recent campaign, the Red Devils finished only sixth in the English Premier League. The 63-year-old German, who has been able to get to know the club very well in the meantime – was supposed to be a great help to the newly arrived coach Erik ten Hag and his assistants. Why the German has accepted a new job in spite of his agreement with the English club is unclear.

However, for some fans, the current unfolding is no surprise. For example, Garry Neville, United legend, was quick to openly express doubts about Rangnick’s ability to combine two jobs:

“Manchester United’s Sporting Director or consultant can he really be going looking at Austrian players, week in, week out? And then selecting them for the national team? The Austrian national team has pride, great country and some great players so he’ll have to watch players all week then he’s going to go and coach them for two weeks in September, October, November and March. So you’re saying to yourself what’s happening with the Manchester United consultancy advice? Where is the priority? There’s a conflict there.”

said the Englishman once on his podcast.

“It’s messy. Man United can’t afford to have distractions at this moment in time, they can’t afford to have a poor communications plan around the idea that Rangnick’s the football consultant, but he’s seen watching German football three times a month and then going off to coach the Austrian team. There needs to be laser focus, clean lines, people staying in their lanes, understanding what their jobs are and communicating to the fan base that this is a real change and different than it has been for the last 10 years.”

In his essence, Ralf is at his most effective when he can focus specifically on working from the back, rather than being on the edge of the pitch. In coaching, his experience is extremely limited, and while his advisory role was not questioned by the fans, his appointment as an interim manager proved to be an absurd decision, as the results show and is further exacerbated by the German’s departure from the club.

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• Ralf Rangnick’s points-per-game (1.5) and win percentage (42%) are both the lowest of any Manchester United manager in the Premier League.