Man Utd warned Gareth Southgate is ‘not a popular appointment’ by Michael Owen | OneFootball

Michael Owen has warned the Manchester United board that rumoured Gareth Southgate would not be a “popular appointment” should he be given the job.

United are searching for their next head coach after Ruben Amorim’s sacking on Monday and former England boss Southgate has long been linked with the role.

The 55-year-old, who has not managed in club football since 2009 with Middlesbrough, is admired in the INEOS setup but Owen warned his unattractive brand of football may not please United fans.

“He’s a name that has been banded about and comes with a… It’s weird for him because obviously what he did with England, but his club record goes back a long way now with Middlesbrough, which we don’t really know what manager he’ll be,” Owen exclusively told F365, courtesy of Casino.org.

“I think that Gareth Southgate, in general, would not be a popular appointment with the fans that has to be taken into consideration. And I think that’s the big negative with Southgate. I don’t think he will appeal.

“England fans have seen him do particularly well. I mean, the most successful manager for a long, long time. However, was the style of play attractive? Manchester United demand a certain style of play. I think there’s a lot of scepticism about that appointment.

“However, on the flip side, he is a very smart guy. He could be the absolute type of person that could run a club of that size, get them right back on the straight and narrow, work with the hierarchy exceptionally well.

“I mean, it could be slick and it could be extremely professional, and it could be the best appointment out there. However, as I say, there’s a massive if, and that is the feeling amongst the fans. I think lots of them would not approve.”

Owen’s advice is similar to a lot of former United players as he believes the club should return to the past and hire a character like Roy Keane or Gary Neville.

“It’s a fascinating one,” he said of the recruitment process. “I mean, what is the perfect scenario? I don’t know. People have different views.

“When all is said and done, I think lots of fans like the idea of going back to basics, going back to their roots, going back to an ex-player, going back to someone who knows the club. I think you have that cycle as a fan and as a person in lots of things in life.

“But you have that cycle. If you want the new foreign sexy football tactical master and all the rest of it and then reality is you get bored of that after a little bit and you think ‘Do you know what? Let’s go back to a Roy Keane, a Paul Scholes or Gary Neville, Nicky Butt, that generation of players.’

“So I think lots of people are feeling that way at the moment, emotionally are feeling that way. Let’s go back to that type of manager. I think the owner and the board are quite experienced in this, not in football, necessarily in this situation, but in business. And I think they’ll be able to cut through a lot of that and just think straight and what’s best for the team.

“You want a bit of everything, don’t you? You want experience. You want somebody who understands the club. You want attacking football. You want aggressive football. You want so many things but in reality, is there a manager out there that holds all those aces that can offer all those things?

“I’m not sure. It’ll be interesting to see whether they go with an interim until the end of the season, because obviously, if they do that, then that opens up more managers. But then again, you’re Manchester United, you don’t want that over your head for too long. And it’s a long, long wait to the end of the season.

“I know they did this with [Ole Gunnar] Solskjaer, but there is still half a year to go. Important as well is the future of the club, Champions League qualification, all these things have a massive bounce. You can’t just poodle along with something that you’re not happy with.”