Schmeichel: Giggs Can Boss Man. United Permanently

Peter Schmeichel says he can see interim boss Ryan Giggs becoming Manchester United manager on a long-term basis.

Former United goalkeeper Schmeichel told Soccer AM that he's convinced that Giggs "will get results" at Old Trafford, not least because he's got fellow members of the 'Class of 92' - Nicky Butt, Phil Neville and Paul Scholes - on his staff.

"I was so proud reading the newspapers this morning and seeing the four guys," said the Dane, who captained United to the treble in 1999. "Ryan's there with Paul Scholes, Phil Neville and Nicky Butt.

"I was a senior player when they came into the first-team squad as youngsters and their enthusiasm, willingness to learn and eagerness to win and become Manchester United players - to see that picture this morning was absolutely fantastic.

"I know there are so many rumours about who is going to be the next manager. Ryan has got four games and I'm looking at that group of players and thinking 'why not?'

"This is what Manchester United needs - a very big dose of real Manchester United. Ryan said this in his press conference - we need to get the speed, the tempo, the courage; these are all Sir Alex's words. He's been having them in in his ear for 25 years.

"I can see Ryan taking over with that kind of backroom team but I can also see someone older and more mature sitting next to him as a director of football, a David Gill-kind of guy who could support him and take some of the difficult administrative responsibilities and some of the dealings away from him because that's the difficult part.

"But in terms of working with the players that are there, I'm absolutely convinced that Ryan - who is a top guy - will get results. I'm absolutely convinced of that."

Moyes' departure was confirmed on Tuesday only 10 months after he left Everton to succeed Sir Alex Ferguson as United boss.

Schmeichel said he found the brevity of Moyes' reign hard to accept and accused some of United's players of letting the Scot down by underperforming.

"I'm struggling with that [the sacking] because if you go by results you say 'yes, the results have not been great'. A club like Manchester United should be in the Champions League as a minimum; it should be competing for some kind of silverware," he said.

"On the other hand I don't like Manchester United being a football club that has that kind of impatience and to say '10 months and that's not good enough; let's move onto the next manager'.

"As everybody else who supports Manchester United, I'm very, very disappointed with how the season has gone and on the other hand if we can turn it around and be competitive again I think we will appreciate it more because of what has happened this season.

"In all fairness in the last 20 years we've been spoilt with great results. We should be strong and be big enough to deal with one year of poor results.

"The whole combination just didn't work this season. Once you get to the football club you realise how big it is and you can't do everything. You've got to find your way.

"David Moyes came into the club with a mentality of what he had at Everton where he was doing all of the coaching, all of the management; he was doing everything at Everton. You can't do that at Manchester United - you have to delegate.

"I think it gets time to get to the point where he would know exactly what everybody could do and is capable of doing so he could delegate. A lot of people at the football club need to take responsibility for the way this season has gone and a lot of them are players; some of them have been very disappointing in the way they've performed and the way their attitude has been in football games.

"We played Liverpool at home and they got a couple of penalties and some of the players just gave up and I've never, ever seen that in my life. I think that has been happening throughout the season - players haven't been giving it 100 per cent, which you should expect from Manchester United players. For me that has been really disappointing."

Massive job

Schmeichel sounded shell-shocked when he was interviewed on Sky Sports News on the day it was confirmed last May that Ferguson would be leaving United at the end of last season.

Looking back, the former stopper remains surprised at the timing of the announcement, not least because it left Moyes with little time to prepare for that summer's transfer window.

"It came out of absolutely nowhere," recalled Schmeichel. "I woke up that morning and had a text from someone I know at the club with a link to an article saying this could have traction, and it was a story that he might leave that very same day.

"It was completely out of the blue. Sometimes with these things you hear little bits and pieces now and again but absolutely nothing had come before that. I texted this guy back and said 'I don't believe this' and within two hours it was confirmed.

"It really was a shock. I had no idea what made Sir Alex decide that it was that day exactly but from that moment on everything changed. Something must have gone on because, for me, it was very, very sudden.

"I thought it was a very good decision [to appoint Moyes]. David Moyes has been on Sir Alex's radar for a long, long time - even when Moyes was at Preston Sir Alex was trying to get him in as his number two.

"I think he always looked at Moyes as a potential successor. The stability that he provided at Everton and the fact that he really did a great job with them, meant that the credentials were there.

"But Manchester United is a massive job and you need time to get your head around the job and prepare yourself. David Moyes would have been prepared for a transfer window with Everton and, no disrespect to Everton Football Club, it's different when it is Manchester United. They need different types of players and he just didn't have any time to scout Europe for whatever players he thought were needed at the club.

"We have to remind ourselves that Paul Scholes left the club and so did David Gill; Gill was doing all of the football 'shopping'. He was so experienced in the transfer market and Ed Woodward took over and he didn't have the experience and I think that's been a factor as well."