After the resignation of Franco Foda as the manager of Austria’s senior men’s football team, Ralf Rangnick has been penned down as the rightful candidate to replace him The Trumpet gathered.
Foda has tendered his resignation following his inability to qualify Austria for the Qatar 2022 World Cup having suffered a 2-0 defeat from Wales.
His successor, Rangnick, took over Manchester United in November 2021 in the interim after United sacked Ole Gunnar Solskjaer after a poor run of results.
Despite the German not meeting up to the expectation, having produced inconsistent results this season, with Ajax’s manager already announced to replace him by the end of the season, Rangnick has been offered a consultancy role until 2024.
According to the terms discussed with United, the consultancy role will see Rangnick undertake advisory tasks at the club for six days a month.
With this leverage in time, the interim manager of Manchester United will be able to combine the Austria national team’s job with his consultancy role at Old Trafford.
Earlier on, the Austrian daily Kurier broke the news of a meeting between Austria sporting director Peter Schottel and Ralf Rangnick in Manchester United; a report that was denied by the Austrian Football Association (OFA).
However, with the recent development and the imminent announcement of the Rangnick underway, after the OFA would have finalised the terms, it corroborated the earlier report by Austrian daily Kurier.
Rangnick, after the 1-1 draw against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, told Sky Sports that “What I can tell you and confirm is I will definitely continue with my consultancy role at the end of the season and for the next two years.
“I’m very much looking forward to it. We haven’t spoken, Erik and myself, we’ve spoken with the board about the contract and the profile of the job, the content of the consultancy role.
“That’s why I can confirm I will continue at the end of the season,” he added.
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Reacting to the development, soccer pundit and former Manchester United defender Gary Neville disapproved of Ralf Rangnick’s duality of tasks as a sporting director in Old Trafford and Austria national team manager.
He conveyed that the Austrian national team need a lot of commitment from Rangnick who will have to keep tabs on the Austrian players consistently.
Neville wondered how the German coach would be able to pilot the consultancy role effectively without giving priority to the other.
According to Sky Sports, Neville said, “As Manchester United’s sporting director, or consultant, can he really be going to look at Austrian players week in, week out and then selecting them for a national team?
“The Austrian national team have got pride, it’s a great country with great players, so he’ll have to watch them play every week. Then he’s going to go and coach them for two weeks in September, October, November, and March.
“So then you’re thinking ‘what’s happening to the Man United consultancy and advice? Where’s the priority?’ because there’s a conflict there.
“I don’t see how that can work because if you’re a national team manager and I’ve worked under a national team manager – I know that they have got to be present watching their players play week in, week out. And he can’t be at Old Trafford every single week – not watching an Austrian player play.
“I don’t know how that’s going to work if it is something that’s true.
“It’s messy. Man United can’t afford to have distractions at this moment in time, they can’t afford to have a poor communications plan around the idea that Rangnick’s the football consultant, but he’s seen watching German football three times a month and then going off to coach the Austrian team.
“There needs to be laser focus, clean lines, people staying in their lanes, understanding what their jobs are, and communicating to the fan base that this is a real change and different than it has been for the last 10 years,” he added.
The Austrian FA (OFB) will hold an executive committee meeting on Friday morning when Rangnick’s potential appointment is expected to be given formal approval by board members, and an announcement could follow shortly after that, Sky Sports revealed.
