Former Manchester United striker Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has returned to the club as caretaker manager following the sacking of Jose Mourinho.
Here, Press Association Sport looks at five more former United players who starred under Sir Alex Ferguson before moving into management.
Steve Bruce
Defender Bruce helped form the bedrock of Ferguson’s first swathe of sustained United success, before moving straight into management at the end of his playing career in 1998. Bruce’s first lengthy managerial spell came at Birmingham, where he led the club into the Premier League in 2007. A change of ownership saw Bruce leave the club in the November of that top-flight campaign however, with him eventually ending up at Wigan. Bruce kept Wigan in the Premier League in the 2007-08 campaign before guiding the club to an 11th-place finish the following year. Industrious spells at Hull and Sunderland followed before his Aston Villa tenure ended with the sack in October – one day after a fan threw a cabbage on to the pitch in protest.
Roy Keane
Forever remembered as Ferguson’s midfield attack dog, the fine Republic of Ireland midfielder has also enjoyed a lengthy managerial career. Two-year stints with Sunderland and Ipswich preceded five years as Republic of Ireland assistant working under boss Martin O’Neill. Keane and O’Neill helped Ireland reach Euro 2016 via the play-offs, but were knocked out 2-1 in the last 16 by France. The duo relinquished their national roles in November 2018.
Paul Ince
England midfielder Ince dipped his toes into managerial waters in a role as player-coach at Swindon back in 2006. Another player-manager gig followed at Macclesfield, before stints with MK Dons and Blackburn. Ince returned to MK Dons in 2009 but a year later wound up at Notts County. His last managerial role came at Blackpool, in 2013/14.
Ryan Giggs
Wales wing Giggs stepped straight from his near-peerless 24-year playing career at United and into the club’s backroom staff, as a player-coach assistant to new boss David Moyes. Giggs took a caretaker player-manager role until the end of the season, before moving fully into coaching at the club under Louis Van Gaal. Giggs left Old Trafford on Jose Mourinho’s managerial appointment in July 2016. In January 2018 he succeeded Chris Coleman as Wales manager.
Teddy Sheringham
Like Solskjaer, another 1999 treble winner, and another goal-getting replacement for perhaps Ferguson’s greatest United side. The former England forward took an attack coach role at West Ham in 2014, and was credited with expanding the Hammers’ style of play. Sheringham stepped up to a full managerial role at Stevenage in May 2015, but only lasted until the following February when he was dismissed with the club 19th in League Two. Sheringham’s six-month spell coaching Indian Super League outfit ATK ended in January 2018.
