Man United icon Ruud van Nistelrooy should have replaced Sir Alex Ferguson's saviour

Few figures who have left the Manchester United dugout since Sir Alex Ferguson's retirement have been serenaded by the Stretford End in their last game.

Even ever-popular Ole Gunnar Solskjaer witnessed a toxic end to his tenure at Vicarage Road albeit he has managed to redeem himself with the fanbase. And yet, Ruud van Nistelrooy managed it as his time at Old Trafford came to an end before the international break with a comfortable victory over Leicester City.

The next day, the Dutchman left United for good as Ruben Amorim welcomed his own backroom staff to the club. While it was disappointing to see Van Nistelrooy leave, it is clear that he deserved more than an advisory role at United should he have stayed for the Amorim premiership and thus he jumped quickly into the process of finding a new job.

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Perhaps the biggest currently available job in the United Kingdom is in the Midlands where Coventry City controversially parted ways with Mark Robins at the beginning of the month. Robins once scored the goal that arguably saved Ferguson's career at Old Trafford and it would have been fitting to see one ex-United striker be replaced by another.

However, it is not just sentimentality that points us to this solution. Van Nistelrooy came to United in the summer after an impressive managerial stint at PSV Eindhoven and it is clear the Reds' disheartened squad responded to the Dutchman's tactics during his brief interim role.

But despite this, it looks almost certain that Coventry will overlook him in favour of Frank Lampard. The former Chelsea man enjoyed a good spell at Derby County as a manager but that is five years ago now.

Since then, he has returned to Stamford Bridge twice for two poor spells and was mediocre at best with Everton albeit he did help them to survive in the Premier League. From a Sky Blues perspective it is an underwhelming appointment should it be confirmed.

With a trio of bad tenures under his belt, Lampard represents a huge risk for the Coventry boardroom particularly if, as their supporters fear, he has been brought in because he is a big name. Van Nistelrooy could have also provided that while also giving fans a coach who is coming in on a high.

Coventry seems to have committed yet another error in what has been a bad month for the club and their ownership could live to regret overlooking Van Nistelrooy.