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Man United man to return?
Written by JR Walker | 13th August 2006 | 0 Comment(s)
Manchester United assistant manager Carlos Queiroz is an early frontrunner for the vacant managerial position with Porto.
The Portuguese champions parted company with Co Adriaanse earlier this week, with the Dutchman citing a breakdown in confidence between him and the club board.
With Porto on tour in England, President Pinto da Silva perhaps gave an indication of his intention to speak with Queiroz by saying:
"We intend to resolve the situation by the weekend."
Manchester United will not stand in Queiroz's way if he was to be offered the job.
The Portuguese coach had a disastrous spell at Real Madrid during the 2003-04 season, before returning to United after getting the sack at the Spanish giants, where he contributed to their worst ever run of defeats in La Liga.
However, life has not always been that bad for Queiroz, and he is the man credited with producing Portugal's ‘Golden Generation' from the time he was U-21 manager when players such as Luis Figo, Rui Costa, Joao Pinto and Jorge Costa were making their way in the game.
Previously to his spell at Madrid he was credited with re-organizing the Manchester United defence to help the club catch Arsenal and claim the title in 2003, for which Roy Keane sung his praises loudly.
Queiroz's relationship was likened to the one Ferguson had with now England manager Steve McClaren, his instincts being on the technical and scientific side, which the United manager allegedly lacked.
There does seem to be a shift of power occurring at United in the last two season's as Sir Alex, advancing in years, has lightened the burden of the job.
In the past Ferguson was renowned for his incredible attention to detail and meticulous preparation but he is now prepared to let Queiroz share much of the responsibility. Fergie has even gone on record as saying he would like him to succeed him as manager at Old Trafford. Whether the Glazer family agrees with him is another matter?
At the end of 2005 Carlos Queiroz was and still is heavily rumoured to be one of the main reasons for Roy Keane's unlikely departure.
According to Roy Keane he didn't like the way Queiroz was given so much responsibility as if he was manager of the club and he didn't like the tactics that Queiroz employed. One of the main outbursts of Roy Keane's now infamous MUTV interview was aimed directly at Queiroz. As nobody in the media has ever seen this tape it is difficult to gather what was said.
During May 2006, reports were linking him with a return to Portugal as manager of Benfica. Those reports ended up being just rumours, which Queiroz promptly denied and later laid to rest after Benfica hired Fernando Santos for the spot.
However, with rivals FC Porto now in need of new leadership Queiroz may be tempted to return to his native land, but a lot may depend on Sir Alex Ferguson's wishes for this to happen.
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