Manchester United remain undecided over who will lead the senior team for the remainder of the 2025/26 season following last week’s dismissal of Ruben Amorim. Ole Gunnar Solskjær, currently listed as the club’s U18s manager, is among those being considered for a more formal interim role until a permanent appointment is made in the summer. A potential complication for his case is a lack of clarity over which coaches would form his backroom team.

Other internal and former figures are also under consideration. Michael Carrick and Ruud van Nistelrooy are on the list, with Carrick having been the first to hold a face-to-face meeting with senior staff. Solskjær followed suit on Saturday. Van Nistelrooy has not yet met the hierarchy. ESPN notes that Fletcher has impressed the club hierarchy, while Van Nistelrooy is said to believe he features lower down the list of options.

The question of support staff is acute given Solskjær’s recent managerial path. His last Manchester United support team included Mike Phelan, Kieran McKenna and Carrick. He inherited McKenna and Carrick and later brought Phelan back. McKenna is now a manager in his own right, and it is unclear whether Carrick would accept a return to a support role.

Amorim’s entire coaching team were sacked alongside him and are likely to remain aligned with the Portuguese coach in whatever role he takes next. That continuity contrasts with Solskjær’s more fragmented coaching links since leaving Old Trafford in 2021. His brief spell at Beşiktaş was his only managerial job since that departure, and in Türkiye he reunited with Erling Moe, his former Molde assistant from eight years earlier. Moe did not follow Solskjær to Manchester in 2018 and instead replaced him at Molde.

Given those circumstances, the club faces a familiar choice between short-term stability and a broader search. At present, who would be available and willing to form a Solskjær backroom remains unclear.

Kobbie Mainoo has been described as “in a good place” by caretaker boss Darren Fletcher as Manchester United prepare for life after Ruben Amorim. Fletcher said Mainoo has been calm around the squad and that a run in the team could be close.

Things became difficult for Mainoo earlier in the season. He requested to leave the club on loan in the summer and was thought to be pushing for a temporary exit this month, only for Amorim to insist he should remain as valuable backup to Bruno Fernandes. With Amorim gone, Mainoo is thought to be in higher spirits behind the scenes.

“He seems in a good place,” Fletcher explained. “Kobbie doesn’t give you much, so you wouldn’t know if he was in a good place or not so good. He’s like that. That’s his natural way.

“But I know him well and I’ve known him for a long time. I’ve seen him around throughout the season and I’ve had conversations with him in general, but he’s in a good place.

“I know Kobbie and I think he knows me and he knows [interim first-team coach] Travis Binnion, so he’s comfortable with his environment, he’s in a good place, he’s trained well.”

Mainoo’s future at Old Trafford is expected to be one of the first matters for United’s interim manager. Former players Ole Gunnar Solskjær, Michael Carrick and Ruud van Nistelrooy are all thought to be under consideration for a role that would buy the club time as they search for a permanent replacement to Amorim.

Fletcher will take charge of Sunday’s FA Cup third-round game against Brighton & Hove Albion, a match that could hand Mainoo just a second start of the season after the infamous Carabao Cup defeat to Grimsby Town.

“I think we’ve had good success in the competition in recent years—won it a couple years ago, lost in a final,” Fletcher continued. “It’s an amazing competition. It’s the first trophy that I won as a player. It’s a special tournament.

“With the season so far—not in Europe, out of the League Cup, Premier League obviously—the FA Cup’s a trophy that we should be vying to win and giving ourselves every opportunity to win.”

Since Sir Alex Ferguson’s retirement in 2013, Manchester United have appointed a succession of permanent managers with mixed results. None have matched the sustained success of his era, and even the brief high points came with damaging lows.

Ruben Amorim
Games Managed: 63 Win Percentage: 39.68% Trophies Won: 0
A win rate just below 40 percent, the club’s lowest-ever Premier League finish and no trophies in a 14-month spell define Amorim’s time at Old Trafford. Tactical inflexibility and an outspoken approach meant early sympathy for the coach faded as results and performances deteriorated. His tenure is described plainly in the record: a complete and utter disaster.

David Moyes
Games Managed: 51 Win Percentage: 50.98% Trophies Won: 1
‘The Chosen One’ was less Anakin Skywalker and more Jar Jar Binks as David Moyes failed to even see out his debut season as Ferguson’s immediate successor. Moyes did lift the Community Shield over Wigan Athletic, but a poor Premier League campaign and cup defeats to Sunderland and Swansea City led to his dismissal before season’s end. Ryan Giggs finished the 2013–14 season as interim manager as United ended in seventh, their lowest top-flight placing at that time.

Erik ten Hag
Games Managed: 128 Win Percentage: 56.25% Trophies Won: 2
Ten Hag delivered the Carabao Cup and FA Cup, the second-best trophy haul among post-Ferguson managers. Early signs were positive with a third-place finish and two domestic finals, but a dramatic fall in form followed. An eighth-place league finish and poor European results preceded his exit a few months into the 2024–25 season.

Louis van Gaal
Games Managed: 103 Win Percentage: 52.43% Trophies Won: 1
Van Gaal recovered from a poor start to clinch fourth and return United to the Champions League, and later won the FA Cup after a season of mixed domestic and European results. European failures and domestic inconsistency, including a heavy League Cup defeat to MK Dons, ultimately cost him his job.

Ole Gunnar Solskjær
Games Managed: 168 Win Percentage: 54.76% Trophies Won: 0
Solskjær produced memorable nights: a comeback at Paris Saint-Germain, big wins over Manchester City and a 9–0 victory over Southampton. Yet, despite the good atmosphere and some iconic moments, no silverware arrived and United moved on.