DOZENS of future managers got to learn from the very best during their time as a player under Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United.
His old skipper Steve Bruce and son Darren have gone on to achieve plenty of success – but not all of them have emulated the great man.
Ex-United left-back Gabriel Heinze is the latest of Fergie’s former players to have failed in management, getting the boot from MLS side Atlanta.
Paul Scholes, Bryan Robson, Mark Hughes, Paul Ince and even current United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer have all endured tricky moments in the hot seat.
Here, SunSport take a look at five candidates that have – so far, at least – failed to make the grade in management.
Gary Neville
Neville is without doubt one of the best pundits in English football, perfecting the art of criticism since he retired from playing in 2011.
The same can’t be said about the 46-year-old’s coaching ability, however, as he won just three LaLiga games during a dreadful four-month spell at Valencia.
Neville also flopped with England as Roy Hodgson’s assistant, with the management team placing Harry Kane on CORNERS at Euro 2016.
Phil Neville
Gary’s brother Phil began his managerial career in 2018 as England Women’s coach – despite have NO experience in the women’s game.
The 44-year-old achieved some success, winning the SheBelieves Cup and guiding England to a World Cup semi-final in 2019, but was widely criticised for the team’s struggles after that.
He was then appointed Inter Miami boss by his business partner and ex-United team-mate David Beckham in January, picking up just eight points from his first 12 games – the worst record in the MLS this season.
Jaap Stam
Many thought Stam was going to be a sensational manager after guiding Reading to the Championship play-off final in 2017.
But since losing to Huddersfield, the 49-year-old has struggled – losing his Reading job ten months later and lasting less than a year at both PEC Zwolle and Feyenoord in his native Holland.
Stam is currently at Cincinnati in the MLS and has a slightly better record than his old team-mate Nev, picking up 13 points from 13 games.
Roy Keane
It’s believed Keane still has aspirations to succeed in management, despite his blossoming bromance with punditry colleague Micah Richards.
Although the 49-year-old won the Championship at Sunderland in 2007, he was gone just over a year later and didn’t impress during an 18-month spell at Ipswich.
Keane them came under criticism as Ireland’s assistant manager during a largely unsuccessful five-year stint alongside Martin O’Neill, with the pair later struggling at Nottingham Forest.
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Gabriel Heinze
Heinze was relieved of his duties at Atlanta after picking up just 14 points from the team’s opening 14 MLS games and suffering an alleged bust up with star striker Josef Martinez.
The 43-year-old’s coaching career began at Argentinian side Godoy Cruz in June 2015, lasting just three months before getting the chop.
Heinze did achieve success in his next two jobs in Argentina – guiding Argentinos Juniors to the top flight and Velez Sarsfield into continental football – but his turbulent time in the US has been met with criticism.
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