'I'd hope Eddie Howe would resist Man Utd - but it's still a once-in-a-career chance'

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In the 12 full seasons since Sir Alex Ferguson retired, Manchester United have failed to win a Premier League title. That can happen to great English football clubs.

After winning the old Division One in 1989-90, Liverpool won their first Premier League title in 2019-20. Twenty-one seasons have passed since Arsenal won their last Premier League title.

Success is no club’s birth right. The game in this country has always been cyclical.

Since Ferguson called it a day, Manchester United’s average finishing position in the Premier League table has been between fifth and sixth. In that time, they have won the FA Cup twice, the EFL Cup twice and the UEFA Europa League.

For an institution of Manchester United’s grandeur, not great. But it has hardly been a descent into desperate obscurity.

As always happens, their relative struggle has been in the context of rival clubs finding new strength, normally through fabulous investment. Chelsea, champions in two of the post-Ferguson seasons, had the unimaginable backing of Roman Abramovich while Manchester City - seven-times winners in that period - have been owned, essentially, by one of the world’s richest states.

Football’s financial landscape changed. That does not mean Manchester United fans should not be dissatisfied with a solitary second place since the Ferguson days and a few cup triumphs. After gorging on success, a diet which involves frequent ‘failures’ is hard to stomach.

But when the FA Cup tie against Brighton and Hove Albion kicks off, there will be over 70,000 people inside Old Trafford. And if it held more, there would be more.

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Globally, United’s games still attract more interest than the games of any other English club. Perhaps not always for the right reasons in recent times, but the fortunes of Manchester United remain - whether supporters of other teams like it or not - English football’s most compelling storyline.

Which is why an elite manager with ambitions of leaving an indelible impression on the game should find it extremely difficult to resist an offer, should one come from Old Trafford. Which is why Roy Keane’s suggestion that Manchester United should have Eddie Howe as a target is not as vaguely preposterous as it first sounds.

Howe is at a great club, with great fans, now has some serious financial backing, and has a contract that, apparently, has a minimum of three years to run. And he is a loyal guy.

I would hope Howe would resist if Manchester United came calling - and I think he would. Because again, Newcastle United is a great club.

But Manchester United is Manchester United. An offer to manage them is once-in-a-career stuff. And when the 12 seasons without a Premier League title soon becomes 13 (it already has, in reality), the challenge of ending the run should become more alluring.

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The manager who wins the first Premier League title since Ferguson will, indeed, have an indelible handprint in the club’s history. Of course, the mountainous problem is assembling, managing and coaching a squad that can become champions.

In an era when there are so many formidably well-organised operations, the competition is fierce. Manchester City have, almost casually, just paid over £60million for a player of immense talent and have the competition’s best striker signed up until the year dot.

The reigning champions spent over £400million on new players last summer. And both currently trail the capital city’s powerhouse club. But when a permanent successor to Ruben Amorim is sought in the summer, only the creme de la creme should be pursued.

Whether that be Howe or whoever. Because while it seems, since Sir Alex, to have been a poisoned chalice for so many, it remains one of the game’s greatest honours.

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