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Diego Simeone would be perfect fit for Manchester United | John Giles

Leeds United and Ireland legend John Giles believes that Diego Simeone is the ideal candidate to replace Ole Gunnar Solskjaer as Manchester United manager.



Diego Simeone would be perfect...
Soccer

Diego Simeone would be perfect fit for Manchester United | John Giles

Leeds United and Ireland legend John Giles believes that Diego Simeone is the ideal candidate to replace Ole Gunnar Solskjaer as Manchester United manager.

Simeone, who will be 10 years as Atletico Madrid boss this December, is still reeling from Los Colchoneros' 3-2 defeat at home to Liverpool in Champions League Group B on Wednesday.

The Argentinian is known for his passion both in and out of the dugout, and Giles reckons that sort of emotional intensity would work really well should he take the reins at Old Trafford.

Speaking to Nathan Murphy on Thursday's Off The Ball, Giles said of that intensity: "Players don't like it, but they respect it."

"I came across players myself who played in a team where they liked the manager, but [they would say], 'oh, he's too soft, he's not good'."

"When they get a hard manager, they do moan about it, but they get on with it; they respect him."

"[With] most of the successful managers I came across in my time with players that I played against, they didn't like the manager, but they respected him."

Giles: "Managers want to be known as a hard nut"

In particular, Giles hinted that managers deliberately create a rough exterior to preserve the chain of command: "Managers don't want to be liked - they want to be known as a hard nut."

"If players are winning matches, they know there are doing the right thing."

"The manager might give them a good telling off - they mightn't like it, but he'd be right, and they'd go play again."

Giles gave an anecdote about Stan Cullis, the legendary Wolves manager who guided the team during their golden age in the 1950s.

Giles recalled: "I spoke to a well-known player who played for him once we'd both finished playing."

"I said, 'what was Cullis like?' and he said, 'he was the biggest so-and-so I've ever met in my life, but he was a great manager."

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