Giggs future plans can wait



Speculation is mounting that Manchester United will appoint Louis van Gaal as their new manager next week after holding talks with the Holland coach this week.

Whether Giggs stays on as part of the Dutchman's staff remains to be seen.

United are keen to keep a sense of continuity but they will not force the new manager to keep Giggs, or any of his coaches, at Old Trafford next year.

A number of scenarios could play out this summer

Giggs could coach under Van Gaal, he could play for the Dutchman or he may depart for pastures new after 24 years at Old Trafford.

But Giggs will not consider any of those possibilities until his four-match spell in charge has ended.

"My concentration is on the remaining three games and then I will see what happens at the end of the season," Giggs said.

"I have got to decide if I want to play or not so there is no point thinking if I want to be an assistant or if I want to be a manager somewhere else.

"There are so many things to think about, but that's in the future.

"I honestly don't know (what I will do)."

Giggs, signed by Sir Alex Ferguson as a schoolboy in 1990, knows the day he hangs up his boots will be an emotional one.

But the idea of leaving Old Trafford to coach elsewhere will surely be even more difficult for the 40-year-old after the support he has had in his role as interim boss over the last 10 days.

When the 75,000 fans inside Old Trafford stood to applaud Giggs as he strolled down the touchline in his club suit last Saturday, it was like a scene from a Hollywood film.

If Giggs is to say goodbye to United this summer, there are only two more chances for him to run out onto the pitch at Old Trafford.

Giggs will not ditch his suit and slip on the United kit for Saturday's match against Sunderland and there is a possibility that he will not turn out in the final home match of the season against Hull three days later.

"As footballers, we are pretty superstitious so (I will keep) my suit on (for the Sunderland game)," Giggs said before quickly following up with: "Unless I am playing, of course!

"I am still training and doing bits and pieces so I am still in the frame for playing the remaining games or being involved.

"It is just a case of keeping myself fit

Hopefully we win every game and I might not get back in."

Not even the prospect of scoring in his 21st consecutive Premier League season would affect Giggs' judgement on the matter.

"It would be nice (to score) but I am not too bothered about that," Giggs said.

"My priorities have changed a little bit."

Giggs will also find himself in another unusual situation this weekend when he tries to manage a team to victory over former team-mates

"It will be great to see Wes (Brown) and John O'Shea back," Giggs said of the former United duo, who left for Sunderland in 2011.

"They are in really good form, and Phil Bardsley is as well.

"The service they have given to this club will never be forgotten

They were great team-mates."

Gus Poyet will send Sunderland into battle hoping to make a decisive breakthrough in his most eventful season in football.

The 46-year-old head coach has experienced a derby double, victory at Chelsea and a Wembley cup final at the same time as fighting a season-long battle to prevent the club from slipping out of the Barclays Premier League.

That fight has taken a significant turn for the better in recent weeks with a return of seven points from a possible nine - remarkably four of them collected from trips to title challengers Manchester City and Chelsea - having eased the Black Cats out of the relegation zone.

A continuation of that record at United on Saturday would provide further hope as what has proved to be a gruelling campaign heads towards its conclusion.

Poyet said: "It's the most up and down

I don't remember having a season like it.

"I have been in teams where we have been poor for a long, long time and we played for relegation - I remember in Spain and even the last year at Spurs, my last year was quite difficult.

"Then in another place where everything goes for you and you are winning all the time...

"But to have so many ups and downs? No, I don't remember."

Source : PA

Source: PA