Tick tock doc

Anyone seen the terrible Al Pacino movie 88 minutes?

If you haven't, then I wouldn't bother, because it's terrible, but the basic premise of the film is that Al's forensic doctor character keeps getting phone calls from a serial killer telling him he has 88 minutes to live. Said killer always ends his calls with the phrase "tick tock doc".

This line came to mind after seeing the headlines in this mornings evening news about the managers position at United. Not because any of our directors only have 88 minutes left to live, but because time is ticking on before the start of the season and an appointment doesn't seem to be imminent, with a press conference scheduled for this afternoon now cancelled.

"We’ve got Paul Carden in temporary charge and if he has to take the team on August 8, so be it," said Chairman George, the same man who last Saturday told our favourite family newspaper: "We're hoping to be able to unveil the new manager on Monday, which is what we've wanted to do all along."

A spanner in the managerial works then? It's a bit worrying that this delay has coincided with the name of Jerry Gill being banded about, suggesting that perhaps the board are having second thoughts on the merits of Martin Ling, or - more likely - vice versa. Gill may well be a promising young manager ala the Brabinator, but now is not the time for a novice. In my opinion we need an older head who is going to be used to coming in and working with a ready-made squad.

Employing a young manager is a gamble at the best of times, but dropping one into a situation where there is no room for manoeuvre in the transfer market is even more dangerous. Perhaps the most worrying aspect of this story is that, at the age of 38, he reportedly wants to carry on playing, thus his arrival would also provide defensive cover. The whole thing screams cheap option. Loudly.

Anyway, yeah, we'll have to wait and see. But let's hope a decision is made soon, we need a manager before the season starts, whatever the chairman says. Tick tock docs.