'It can eat you alive' - What Manchester United need from their next manager

When it comes to Manchester United's struggles to replace a manager who shaped the club to his own personality, Sammy McIlroy has seen it all before.

The Northern Irishman was Sir Matt Busby's last professional signing and then spent 11 years at United as various managers came up short when measured against their iconic predecessor.

McIlroy only had an FA Cup to show for his time at Old Trafford and that curse of replacing Busby was only lifted when Sir Alex Ferguson arrived. Now, history is repeating itself.

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Ferguson was the fifth permanent manager to follow Busby (after his second spell ended in 1971) and United are now on to their fifth attempt to find someone who can even come close to following in the footsteps of the Scot who has a stand named after him, a statue outside the ground and a seat in the directors' box.

McIlroy has watched this unfold from the stands rather than the pitch, as an analyst from MUTV and a regular matchday host in corporate boxes, and he's in no doubt what the focus needs to be on this summer.

"Personality is a massive thing for me now as a manager, they need to have a strong personality but also have experience, European experience, a winner, a man with a vision of knowing what United’s history is all about," he told the Manchester Evening News .

"It’s not just about winning games, you’ve got to win by entertaining. A manager has to come into the club knowing it’s about winning trophies, entertaining and handling the pressure.

"It’s alright from the outside looking at the club and thinking ‘it’s United, massive history’, but once you’re here you realise what it’s all about, it can eat you alive. You’ve got to be able to handle