Why Man Utd legend and Salford co-owner Ryan Giggs is in dugout for Man City clash
Share:
Ryan Giggs will be spotted sitting alongside Salford City manager Karl Robinson in the team's dugout for their FA Cup third round clash with Manchester City on Saturday evening. Giggs has taken on the role of Director of Football at the League Two side, as well as acting as one of the co-owners, alongside fellow Class of 92 members Gary Neville, Paul Scholes, David Beckham, Nicky Butt and Phil Neville.
Following a management restructure, Butt, Giggs and Scholes took on a more hands-on role at the club. Giggs has combined his job as director of football with directly assisting Robinson on matchdays. The arrangement started back in October when one of Robinson’s assistants, Simon Wiles, left Salford to take charge of Manchester United ’s under-15s. Robinson's other deputy, Alex Bruce, then suffered the devastating family tragedy of the death of his four-month-old nephew.
THE FA CUP GIANT KILLERS: Get your special edition magazine celebrating some of the game's greatest-ever upsets. Bruce was handed a leave of absence ahead of the trip to Crewe Alexandra. And with Robinson set to be the team's lone coach for that game, Giggs decided to step in to assist the manager.
Giggs has continued his matchday role ever since, despite Bruce's return, helping the Ammies to go on a run of just two defeats in 17 matches. That has sent them charging into the promotion places, with Giggs keen to continue in the job. “Karl was literally going to be left on his own. So I said, ‘Right, I’ll come on the bench with you’. It was just me and Karl, the physio, goalkeeping coach, and sport scientist. I enjoyed it. Karl enjoyed it," he told The Athletic.
