How have Sir Alex’s former Man Utd players fared in management? Keane, Bruce, Giggs…

Cameron Loftus
1 April 2022

Sir Alex Ferguson is a legend of world football and many of his former players have followed him into management, with varying degrees of success.

Ruud van Nistelrooy will be the latest to try his hand in the managerial arena when he takes over at PSV, where he is the current under-21 manager.

The 45-year-old, who will succeed Roger Schmidt when his contract expires at the end of this season, has cut his teeth in coaching at both PSV and the Dutch national team as assistant coach.

He also has the benefit of having played under one of the best, if not the best, manager the game has ever seen.

However, that is no guarantee of success as some of these former United stars have proven.

Roy Keane

Keane had an explosive start to his life as a manager, helping Sunderland to the Premier League promotion and he went on to take charge of the Black Cats for 100 games before he stood down in December 2008. Four months later he went to Ipswich Town but didn't make much of an impression and was dismissed in January 2011. It was his last managerial role.

Since then, he has been assistant at Republic of Ireland, Aston Villa and Nottingham Forest.

He looked all set to return to Sunderland earlier in the season but seems comfortable judging rather than being judged, airing his outspoken views as part of Sky Sports' punditry team.

Gordon Strachan

Strachan played under Sir Alex in his countryman's early days at the club and took his first steps into management in 1996 with Coventry City.

His best days as a manager came over 10 year later when at Celtic, as he guided the Scottish outfit to three consecutive SPL titles as well as the Scottish Cup and two Scottish League Cups.

The former midfielder's most recent managerial job came with Scotland's national team between 2013 and 2017 but after failing to qualify for the 2018 World Cup, Strachan resigned.

Steve Bruce

Former centre-back Bruce has experienced a long managerial career spanning 24 years and 11 different clubs across the Premier League and Championship.

Bruce's most successful spell came in charge of Birmingham City who he led to the Premier League twice in six years between 2001 and 2007. He also achieved two promotions to the Premier League and an FA Cup final appearance with Hull.

The north-easterner made over 300 appearances for the Red Devils and is currently in charge of West Brom who have slipped out of the play-off picture under his watch.

Ryan Giggs

Giggs spent four games as United player/coach at the end of the 2012/13 season following David Moyes' sacking. He then served as assistant manager at Old Trafford for two seasons and in 2018 became Chris Coleman's successor as coach of the Welsh national team.

He helped Wales qualify for the Euro 2020 tournament, but has not been seen in the dugout since due to an ongoing court case.

Gary Neville

Appointed Valencia manager in 2015, the former England right-back lasted only 28 games in charge. His Valencia side failed to win any of his first 12 league games and were hammered 7-0 by a rampant Barcelona outfit in the Copa del Rey semi-final first leg, described by Neville as "one of the worst experiences I've ever gone through in football".

Neville, who didn't speak Spanish, has since returned to punditry, admitting it was a huge mistake on his part to accept the job.

Phil Neville

From one Neville brother to the other. Phil Neville was assistant of England's under-21s, Man United and Valencia before taking over as the England Women's head coach.

He led the Lionesses for three years in which time they won the SheBelieves Cup in 2019. After leaving the Lionesses, Neville took over at David Beckham's MLS franchise, Inter Miami.

His first managerial role in the men's game didn't get off to the best of starts and his team went on to finish 11th of 14 teams in the Eastern Conference.

Four games into this season Miami are bottom with just a point to their name.

Mark Robins

Forever known as the man who saved Sir Alex's Man United job in 1990 thanks to a winning goal in the FA Cup against Nottingham Forest, Robins looks to have learned a lot from his former manager.

Spells with Rotherham, Barnsley and Huddersfield provided the hands-on experience and Robins has since taken a Coventry side beset by on-field problems from League Two all the way to the upper reaches of the Championship..

Mark Hughes

The Welshman has enjoyed a lengthy managerial career and recently took charge of League Two outfit Bradford City.

It is a long way from the Premier League, where Hughes has managed Stoke City, Manchester City and Fulham. The former Barcelona striker was also the Welsh national team boss between 1999 and 2004 and has overseen more than 600 games on the touchline.

Wayne Rooney

An all-time great in Manchester, Rooney is one of the most recent ex-Sir Alex disciples to throw his hat into the managerial ring, doing so for the first time in 2020 when appointed as part of a four-man interim management team at Derby County.

The Championship side were impressed with what they saw from Rooney and appointed the former England international on a multi-year contract. When appointed, Rooney was still a player/manager, but removed himself from the playing staff in time.

Although the club have faced many financial problems, Rooney has earned plaudits for the job he has done in the Midlands giving them a fighting chance of escaping the drop from the Championship despite a huge points deduction.

It has seen Rooney talked up as a future manager of Everton and Manchester United.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer

One of few former Man United players to have managed the club, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was in the hot seat at Old Trafford for almost three years, including his spell as caretaker, before suffering the sack in November 2021.

His managerial career had been unremarkable before the United appointment with two spells at Molde sandwiching an unsuccessful stint at Cardiff.

Nevertheless, he managed 168 games in charge of United, though he was always one game from the sack for the majority of them.

Paul Ince

Ince showed promise in stints at Macclesfield and MK Dons but his spell in the Premier League with Blackburn Rovers is best forgotten - Rovers won just three of his 17 games in charge.

Following that six-month spell at Ewood Park he had another stint at MK Dons before further unsuccessful tenures at Notts County and then Blackpool.

Nine years after leaving his role at Blackpool, Ince resurfaced at Championship side Reading where in partnership with Michael Gilkes he is looking to stave off the drop to League One.

Paul Scholes

Another from the Class of '92 to make the list, Scholes' spell in management was almost shorter than Gary Neville's flight to Spain!

Scholes took over at his boyhood club Oldham Athletic in 2019, but it was only a flying visit lasting seven games and 31 days after an apparent fall out with the club's hierarchy.

Bryan Robson

Robson will be best remembered for his first spell in management, with Middlesbrough between 1994 and 2001. In that time he guided Boro to three Wembley finals (all were lost unfortunately) and two Premier League promotions.

The Chester-le-Street born manager has since taken charge at Bradford, West Brom and Sheffield United and even tried his hand at international management with Thailand.

That was his last job as a manager and he has spent the past 10 years as Manchester United's club representative.