Revealed: 10 things a Manchester United fan must know about Ralf Ragnick,indeed his stats are great

 There has been much written

 and said about Manchester United's

 new interim manager Ralf 

Rangnick in the past few days 

but how well do you know the 

German's fascinating background?

We have compiled a list of 10 things that

 you might not have stumbled across when 

delving into the story of the much-respected

 63-year-old as we await confirmation of when

 his work visa will be processed so he can 

be in the dugout at Old Trafford...

1. Ralf was born in June, 1958, a month after

 United played in the FA Cup final, losing 

2-0 to Bolton Wanderers at Wembley. 

Nat Lofthouse scored both goals in front 

of almost 100,000 fans but the Reds had done

 unbelievably well to reach the showpiece 

occasion, of course, after the tragic Munich 

Air Disaster occurred earlier that year. 

2. As part of his English and PE degree, during

 his student days, he lived for a year on the south

 coast and attended Sussex University. This is 

where his love of the country's football blossomed

, as he recalls visiting the likes of the Goldstone

 Ground (Brighton), Highbury (Arsenal) and 

Upton Park (West Ham United) and savouring 

the special atmosphere. "Those memories still

 give me goosebumps," he admitted. "It 

was about football, passion, emotions and the

 love of the sport."

3. One game he remembers attending was a 

home fixture for Brighton against Liverpool 

in 1979, and, as a follower of the Seagulls, 

the youngster will have been well versed 

in the side that would play United in the 1983

 FA Cup final. Indeed, five of the players involved

 at the Goldstone Ground played at Wembley

, as the Reds eventually won 4-0 in a replay

 (Graham Moseley, Steve Foster, Gary Stevens

, Gerry Ryan and Jimmy Case - who joined 

Albion from the Merseysiders). John Gregory

, who was with Brighton in the late seventies,

 would later be the Aston Villa manager who

 had to be convinced to sell Dwight Yorke 

to United in 1998.

4. Ralf played at non-league level for 

Southwest  in the 1979/80 season, taking 

part in 11 matches in the Sussex County Division

 One. The team finished runners-up in the 

table that campaign but the German had a 

spell on the sidelines after needing hospital 

treatment when suffering a punctured lung 

and broken ribs during a game. He could operate

 in midfield or at full-back.

5. During a player profile at the time, he 

cited Garry Birtles as his favourite footballer

. The striker was impressing for Brian Clough's

 Nottingham Forest, who won the European 

Cup in 1979 and 1980, before going on to 

join United for £1.25 million. Birtles took 

some time to break his league duck for his 

new club but scored 11 times in total before

 rejoining Forest in 1982.

6. As a coach, he is known as the 'Godfather

 of the gegenpress' and is given credit for influencing

 the work of the likes of Jurgen Klopp, 

Thomas Tuchel, Julian Nagelsmann and Ralph

 Hasenhuttl. He himself had developed ideas from

 tacticians such as Valeriy Lobanovskyi and

 Arrigo Sacchi, putting these into practice when

 showing his prowess with Ulm, who have 

only ever played one season in the Bundesliga.

7. The countdown clock was a training method

 he has used to develop the quickness of mind

 in his players. "We've had a countdown clock

 custom made for us," he said during his time 

at Hoffenheim. "The assistant coach activates

 it and it starts ticking. We use it for a game 

called the eight-second rule. The players 

can hear that ticking and they know they 

have to get the ball back within eight seconds 

or, if they have possession, they need to take

 a shot within 10 seconds. It can be irritating 

for them at first but what we noticed is this 

type of training can affect players. Within

 weeks, they adjust their style of play and 

it becomes an instinct."

8. Ralf was Schalke boss when the club met

 United in the 2011 Champions League semi

-finals, the first time the Bundesliga club had

 ever gone this far in the competition. 

After topping a group containing Lyon, Benfica

 and Hapoel Tel Aviv, they knocked out

 Valencia and Internazionale, hammering

 the Italian giants 7-3 on aggregate. Sir 

Alex Ferguson's side proved too big a hurdle

 at the last-four stage, despite Manuel 

Neur performing excellently in the first 

leg, with 2-0 and 4-1 wins setting the Reds

 up for a final date at Wembley with Barcelona.

9. Rangnick was interviewed for the England

 job before Sam Allardyce was handed the

 role in 2016. FA technical director Dan 

Ashworth  had targeted the German for 

the West Brom post and retained an interest

 in his services. "After the Euros, he called 

me again and asked if I would come for 

an interview for the England job," Ralf

 revealed to FourFourTwo. "I said: 'How 

realistic is that?' He said that, if it was up 

to him, it would be very realistic, but that there

 were some other people on the board who 

thought it should be an Englishman. Of course

, that's normal. Three days after I went for 

the interview, they informed me that Sam 

Allardyce would be taking over as manager."

10. When asked which rule change he would

 bring in, the tactician made an interesting 

point about the size of the goals, after also

 suggesting five substitutions should remain

 because "it makes the game faster, reduces

 injuries and keeps the squad in better spirits

". Ralf said: "I believe we should discuss 

an issue I brought up 15 years ago. Are the

 dimensions of the goal still reasonable? 

When the goal was defined to be 2.44m high

 and 7.32m wide, the average person - and 

that includes goalkeepers - was 10cm shorter

. If you made the goal 30cm wider and 20cm 

higher, you would certainly see a few 

more goals."