Roy Keane launched a pointed criticism of Manchester United’s leadership this week, arguing that the continued presence of former figures has hampered successive managers. The former club captain singled out Sir Alex Ferguson and David Gill as lingering influences and suggested their roles on the club board remain a problem.

“You see who’s making the decisions at Manchester United ,” Keane tailed off during a rant on Sky Sports this week, “you still have Ferguson and David Gill hanging on like a bad smell.” Ferguson and Gill remain non-executive directors and regular figures at Old Trafford, a reality Keane said affects those appointed after Ferguson left the dugout.

The club’s history was used as context. United hold a joint-record 20 top-flight titles but only three managers are responsible for those successes. Ernest Mangnall led in the first decade of the 20th century, Sir Matt Busby oversaw the club’s peak across the 1950s and 1960s, and Ferguson later dominated for decades. Busby, like Ferguson, did not fully relinquish influence when stepping away. After appointing Wilf McGuinness as his successor in 1969, Busby kept the title of manager while McGuinness was designated “chief coach.”

“Not everyone, sadly, would play for Wilf,” United’s David Sadler would later reflect. “The side as a whole did not give 100% effort for him. It was as simple as that.” Busby returned for an ultimately doomed second spell, a fate Ferguson has so far avoided.

Keane also directed his ire at the club’s recent recruitment and decision-making, criticising minority co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe and director Jason Wilcox for their roles during Ruben Amorim’s “disastrous 14-month reign.” “What happens in these job interviews? I’m intrigued,” Keane asked, his beady eyes dancing around the Sky Sports studio. “Why do they keep giving certain people a job? What happens in the interview that they sit there and go, and 12, 14 months later, ‘he’s not the guy for us.’

“Almost forget the CV,” he added. “You need something on your CV, of course, that you’ve won a trophy or managed a long time. But you’ve got to look somebody in the eye and go, ‘Are you the man to get us places?’” Keane dismissed the idea of Darren Fletcher as the permanent manager and expressed a preference for Eddie Howe.

Reports linking Xavi Hernández to Manchester United have some basis, but the momentum appears to be coming chiefly from the coach rather than the club.

A first full season in charge at Barcelona delivered the Spanish Super Cup and the 2022–23 La Liga crown ahead of a Real Madrid side led by Karim Benzema. The tensions beneath that success then surfaced in the next campaign, which ended without a trophy and finished with Xavi relieved of his duties.

According to Fabrizio Romano, Xavi is “ready” to return to management, “would love to take a job in the Premier League” and is “very open” to the Manchester United opportunity created by Ruben Amorim’s departure. The same report also stressed that “nothing advanced” and “nothing concrete” has arisen between the club and Xavi.

Xavi’s return to Barcelona was presented as a restoration of a long tradition. As Pep Guardiola put it, “Johan Cruyff painted the chapel,” Guardiola once mused. “And Barcelona coaches since merely restore or improve it.” With just a little more than two years coaching in Qatar on his résumé, Xavi made clear his commitment to possession football: “We cannot lose our ‘house style,’” he declared. “That’s the thing which has made the club great.”

During his two full seasons as Barcelona boss, the team averaged 64% possession in La Liga, but sustained penetration was often lacking. The 2022–23 title owed as much to Robert Lewandowski converting half-chances as to a tight defence. Half of Barcelona’s league wins in that period were by a single-goal margin and 1–0 was the most common scoreline.

Xavi himself acknowledged the frustrations: “I lose my patience because I see the pass but what I think should happen doesn’t happen,” he admitted shortly before announcing his decision to quit in January 2024. The hierarchy persuaded him to stay, confirming that decision in April, and his dismissal was revealed in May. He often said that “Barcelona is the most difficult club to manage in the world.”

As ex-United defender Gary Neville noted on Sky Sports, “Barcelona will never change for anybody,” he told Sky Sports. “I don’t believe United should change for anybody. The club has to find a manager who has got experience and who’s willing to play fast, entertaining, attacking and aggressive football.” Given the current picture, any move for Xavi would require careful thought on both sides.

Roy Keane has publicly identified Eddie Howe as his preferred candidate to become Manchester United’s next permanent manager. Keane, speaking in his role as a Sky Sports pundit, highlighted Howe’s experience and temperament as reasons he would back the Newcastle United manager for the Old Trafford job.

The context of the discussion is a club in transition. The breakdown of Amorim’s relationship with key figures at United—namely technical director Jason Wilcox—has been cited as the primary reason for his departure, although results have remained inconsistent this season despite being an improvement on the record low 2024–25 campaign. Former United midfielder Darren Fletcher is currently minding the ship while the club looks for an interim manager to take them through to the end of the season. Ole Gunnar Solskjær and Michael Carrick are the two leading candidates to return to Old Trafford.

Keane was clear in his preference. “I’d go with Eddie Howe. I like him,” Keane said. “I like what he’s done. He’s managed a lot of games. When his teams are at it, they’ll play good football. He has his critics, but I like what he’s done at Newcastle.

“He’s managed seven or 800 games. He’s still a young man. I love his calmness. Maybe Man Utd need a little bit of that.

“We’ve seen with our previous [appointments], we like people with emotions, but he’s got that calmness. The job he’s done at Newcastle, Champions League and winning a cup, I’d be happy to see him go in there.”

Keane added: “Do I think Fletch is the man to do it? Absolutely not,” he continued. “But he’s stepping into do it for a few weeks and a few months. He’ll probably win a few games. If they go with Ole, good luck to them. I wish him well.

“They need to get a top manager in to get a grip of the dressing room.”

Howe’s record at Newcastle is outlined in basic figures: 203 games managed, 103 wins, a 50.74% win rate, best Premier League finishes of fourth in 2022–23 and fifth in 2024–25, and the 2024–25 EFL Cup among his achievements. Howe has been at St James’ Park since November 2021 and has repeatedly stated his current commitment to the club. “No, not at this current time. The most important thing for me is happiness in the role, happiness in the job. The relationships I have with the people around me.

“Now, that’s not always been consistently good and things can change at any football club. But, at the moment, I am very happy. We have made some great appointments in the roles we needed to fill and as long as I can express myself in the best way possible, the best version of myself to help the players and the club [I’ll stay].

“Because ultimately, for any club to be successful, there has to be unity from top to bottom and a good feeling between everybody. I’ve had an unbelievable relationship with the board here since I’ve come to the football club and that’s never changed.

“I’m very happy and I hope that continues for a long time.”