Leicester City: Ryan Giggs a dark horse candidate as manager
Manchester United legend Ryan Giggs has thrown his hat into the ring for the vacant Leicester City manager position and is a dark horse candidate for the role.
After the sacking of Craig Shakespeare as Leicester City manager, the club board has a choice to make as to what type of appointment they make. They can opt for an experienced manager with a proven track record, or they can take a gamble on an inexperienced manager that can be at the club for a long-term and build his reputation there.
There are pros and cons to either path, but if the club opts for the latter, then Ryan Giggs has made himself available. Giggs has not managed at any level since taking over as interim manager at Manchester United in 2016 but has expressed interest, as quoted by BBC Sport, in the two vacant Premier League roles at Leicester and Everton.
"“For me these are clubs I would be interested in. I think you look at those two teams, Leicester being champions two seasons ago, Everton being a fantastic club with a fantastic history. However, there are a lot of coaches out there who would be interested in those positions.”"
The Welshman has decades of experience at the Premier League level, but this, of course, came as a player and not as a manager. However, if you believe in a player learning from his superiors, then all of those years spent with Alex Ferguson should surely have done him some good.
The worry about hiring someone like Giggs is that his inexperience as a manager could lead to further struggles for the club, and they simply cannot afford to let him learn on the job. He could, however, be a managerial prodigy in waiting, who just needs a chance at the top level.
There is also the fear that a young manager like him could simply see the club as a steppingstone to his next position. He has no previous attachment to the club, so it’s not as if his heart would keep him in the East Midlands for the next decade or so, assuming, of course, that he is successful.
More experienced managers such as Claude Puel are considered the bookmakers’ favourite for the position, but as stated earlier, this decision would have to come down to the club’s philosophy moving forward. Perhaps, if this was not a mid-season hire, then Leicester City could gamble on Ryan Giggs or another young unorthodox candidate.
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Hiring Giggs or someone like him would send the message to the fans that the club is willing to try new things and take risks in order to prove their ambition. However, given what is at stake, an experienced manager is a much more likely and understandable way to go.