The Daunting Task

Manchester United is said to be looking for a replacement to fill the shoes of the irreplaceable Sir Alex Ferguson, and the board of directors are going to be wearing their shoes thin trying to find a suitable successor.

According to a couple of the English tabloids, Ferguson has told the board that he has more year and then he is done.

Sadly, Ferguson is going to eventually call it a day on his tenure as the United boss within the next couple of years, but it will be hard to find a replacement for him, because that person will be compared to him on all levels.

Ferguson, 68, has been at Old Trafford since November 1986, but it took him almost four and a half years to win over the United supporters, so that same set of patience will need to apply to his replacement as well.

Over the years, numerous top managers have been linked to eventually take over for Sir Alex, but it is going to take someone with very tough skin to handle not only the pressure that is associate with being the United manager.

Not only does that candidate have to replace the most successful manager in the history of English football, but also meet the expectations and standards that the United supporters expect.

Mistake
Back in 1969, United faced a similar situation with the task of finding someone to take over for Sir Matt Busby, and they made a decision to promote within and they appointed Wilf McGuiness.

McGuiness, who was 31-years old at the time of his appointment, had the daunting task of leading United into a new era, but with the majority of the same players that were there under Busby, so he could not get the respect of the dressing room.

While young Wilf knew the club and what it was all about, but he struggled to get players like Sir Bobby Charlton, Dennis Law and George Best to take him seriously and buy into his management style.

McGuiness only last 18 months at the helm of United and was replaced by his predecessor, Busby, as United started their search for a new manager.

Ideal
A lot of managers have been linked with a move to the fill the eventual vacant United hot seat, but that list is very slim.

A manager that would be a great replacement for Ferguson would be Fabio Capello, because he has a very similar management style, which demands respect and is not afraid to let his players fear his wrath.

Capello, currently the England national team manager, would be ideal, because of the solid core of British players within the United squad, and his relationship with Wayne Rooney would be the icing on the cake.

However, Capello is almost 64-years old, so he would only be a short-term replacement, which is not what United has ever been about, because they have always believe that stability starts with the manager.

Potential
One manager that is a good age, has a good mentality, knows what it takes to be successful and will give youth a fighting chance to compete for places is Aston Villa manager, Martin O'Neill.

O'Neill has done a great job bringing Villa to d bringing to the verge of breaking into the big four in the Barclays Premier League in the last couple of seasons.

Despite not having the luxury of a large squad, the manager from Northern Ireland has led Villa to final of the Carling Cup, the semi-finals of the FA Cup and is in a four-team battle for the final three European places for next season.

Back in 2001, when Sir Alex was about to call it a day on his career back then, he was an admirer of O'Neill then as well, because of the success he had at Leicester City and Celtic.

Worrying
A manager that has been linked with replacing Ferguson since his sudden rise to fame is Jose Mourinho.

Mourinho, the current manager of Inter Milan, spent three successful seasons in England with United's title rivals Chelsea - winning two Premier League titles, two League Cups, the FA Cup and the FA Community Shield.

But his outrageous and explosive personality has limited longevity in any of his managerial positions, which is something that must concern the board of directors.

It will be cold, sad day when Sir Alex Ferguson eventually walks away from his post at Manchester United, but hopefully the board will appoint someone that will remain at the club for years to come to continue the tradition of stability that has led to the success over the last 23 years.