Moyes is on the brink... but who could Man United turn to if they sack the manager?

NEXT MAN UNITED MANAGER

Coral have Louis Van Gaal and Sir Alex Ferguson (6/1) as the favourites to be the next Man United manager, with Jurgen Klopp (7/1) and Ryan Giggs (12/1) close behind.

David Moyes is hanging to his job at Manchester United by a thread after yet another humiliating defeat at Old Trafford.
The boss has overseen home defeats against Manchester City and Liverpool in just over a week, with dissenting voices now growing louder.
Moyes was confronted by a supporter during Tuesday's 3-0 hammering at the hands of City, while security guards had to stand by his 'Chosen One' banner.
Is time running out? Sportsmail takes a look at the potential successors to the Scot if he were to be given the sack by the Reds.

Disappointing: David Moyes is on the brink at Manchester United after yet another embarrassing defeat

Dissenting voices: One fan confronts Moyes towards the end of the 3-0 defeat against Manchester City

Thoroughly beaten: Yaya Toure scored the third as Manuel Pellegrini's side humiliated the champions

 

RYAN GIGGS 

The word around Carrington is that United will turn to Giggs for the remaining games of the season if the pressure to sack Moyes becomes intolerable. The Old Trafford veteran is understood to have become an increasingly peripheral figure in Moyes’s coaching set-up and there is widespread surprise that Giggs has not played more as United’s season has unravelled.

Watching on: Ryan Giggs wasn't even named on the Man United bench for Tuesday's dismal home defeat

SIR ALEX FERGUSON

The fans’ frustration towards Moyes is starting to deflect onto the man who chose the Everton boss as his successor ninth months ago. If United decide to wield the axe now, would Ferguson feel obliged to leave the directors’ box and take the reins on a temporary basis, just as Sir Matt Busby did after Wilf McGuinness’ ill-fated tenure in 1970? 

Come back trail? Sir Alex Ferguson may feel the need to step out of the directors' box to help the club's plight

 

MIKE PHELAN

Ferguson’s former No.2 has been out of work since Moyes replaced the backroom staff following his appointment last year. Phelan knows the club and the players inside out and could be trusted as a safe pair of hands to guide United through the most turbulent spell in their recent history until a permanent successor could be found.

Trusty pair of hands: Mike Phelan was Ferguson's assistant for years and wants to get back into the game

LOUIS VAN GAAL

The Holland coach has made no secret of his desire to manage in the Premier League after the World Cup this summer and has already been linked to Tottenham. Whether Van Gaal would be able to (or want to) step in immediately is another matter but he is bound to be on the list of long-term replacements if Moyes goes.

Looking for a move: Holland coach has made no secret of his desire to manage in the Premier League recently

JURGEN KLOPP

The Borussia Dortmund coach’s stock has risen steadily and he would come into the reckoning as a permanent successor to Moyes who, coincidentally, was mentioned as a possible replacement for Klopp while at Everton. With Dortmund through to the Champions League quarter-finals against Real Madrid, the German is unlikely to quit his current job right now.

Man going places: Dortmund coach Jurgen Klopp is revered as one of the best bosses on the continent

PEP GUARDIOLA

Likewise, there is little chance of Guardiola leaving the Allianz while Bayern – who face Moyes’s side in the Champions League – remain on course to retain their European crown after winning the Bundesliga again. But divisions are believed to have opened up between the Spaniard and his Bayern bosses Franz Beckenbauer and Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, leading to speculation that Guardiola may leave after only a year in charge.