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.

Darren Fletcher has moved to protect Manchester United’s academy after remarks from Ruben Amorim left the club’s youth pathway under scrutiny. Fletcher, serving as caretaker manager, emphasised the academy’s long record while preparing his squad for Sunday’s FA Cup third round tie with Brighton & Hove Albion.

Mainoo has played just 228 minutes of Premier League football this season—he was starting for England in the Euro 2024 final 18 months ago—and Amorim was at risk of becoming the first United manager since 1937 not to name an academy product in a matchday squad when he picked up an injury in November. The record was preserved when Amorim selected Jack Fletcher, Darren’s son, to be on the bench—though he was criticised for many considered to be a “token gesture” selection.

“We are not going to stop with academy players. It doesn’t matter about the result. We will continue with these small details which are the foundations of our club,” Amorim said after that game about United’s youngsters. His subsequent comments painted a very different picture.

Fletcher, who took charge of the 2–2 draw with Burnley on Wednesday, has assumed responsibilities that include dealing with the media, something Amorim was loathe to do. He used his first full briefing to distance himself from a narrow narrative and to underline the club’s history of producing talent.

“I just think historically, and this club’s built around the academy, we’ve got an amazing academy,” Fletcher told reporters. “Our record speaks for itself. I’m not going to sit and stand here and say anything other than that. We’ve got an amazing record. I think it’s hard to beat in terms of the history of clubs around the world. I think we’ve got some amazing players, some amazing talents.

“I think what I see is a lot of hard-working, humble young players who aren’t perfect because they’re young and they’re learning and they’ve got a lot to do.”

Fletcher also addressed availability issues around Bryan Mbeumo and Noussair Mazraoui, both at the Africa Cup of Nations, and the situation around Harry Maguire’s return. “I don’t think so. I think it’s too close a turnaround, so we’ll have the same players available for the game as we had against Burnley,” he said of the AFCON duo. On Maguire he added: “He has been out for a while, so it’d probably be looking at his load and things like that. That decision’s not been made, but I think you’ve seen the players coming back the other night.

“You’ve seen Mason, you’ve seen Kobbie, you’ve seen Bruno. There has to be some understanding of their first minutes. They might have to be careful a little bit with that process to build back in. So I think Harry will probably be in that situation for the weekend.”

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.”