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speculated as to why Cantwell never took the reigns at Old Trafford, and while in many respects Busby and Cantwell were very similar – both were men of integrity and natural leaders, they liked and respected each other, they were obsessed with football, and they liked to analyse and study the game – they were also very different. They both had their own ideas on how the game should be played. The bottom line for both was exciting and attacking football, but Busby believed in natural instincts, adventure and richly talented players, while Noel was more philosophical and from a more theoretical school, believing passionately in the benefits of careful coaching.
    This difference of opinion was apparent from their early days at Old Trafford. Soon after his arrival at Old Trafford, Cantwell, who would have been familiar with Carey’s languid style from his days with Ireland and would have expected a more tactical and strategy-based management system in England, told friends that he was taken aback by Busby’s pre-match talks, which apparently involved little more than wishing the players all the best and telling them to enjoy themselves. This also formed the basis of Johnny Carey’s style of management, especially with Ireland, and this laid-back attitude must have been difficult to accept by a thinker of the game. Used to the tutelage of Ted Fenton and his café meetings with his West Ham teammates, Cantwell would have been looking forward to receiving complicated tactical insights from Busby. These insights were not forthcoming, however, and Cantwell was appalled to discover Busby believed that if he had to tell his footballers how to play, he wouldn’t have signed them in the first place. Indeed, later in life Noel went on to describe the Matt Busby approach as being ‘so simple it was frightening’. However, while Johnny Carey held little power within the Irish set-up, Busby held all of the power at United and to challenge his way would have been detrimental to Cantwell’s United career.
    Shortly after retiring from international football, Cantwell was approached by the FAI to become the manager of the Ireland team. He agreed and indicated to the FAI that Sir Matt Busby would release him as required. Prior to his appointment, both Charlie Hurley and Cantwell had already looked after team affairs for a double match with Czechoslovakia; however, with the team requiring stability and a manager, Cantwell, who had also managed the Ireland Under-23 team for a match against France, was the FAI’s first choice and was appointed Ireland manager. Despite his appointment to the Ireland side, Cantwell was also being sought to manage clubs in England.
    In fact, a move into club management was imminent, but instead of assuming United’s reins, Cantwell took over from Jimmy Hill at newly promoted Coventry City, guiding them clear of relegation during their first term in Division One. This proved to be disastrous for the Republic of Ireland team, however, as he had to resign from his role as Ireland manager due to his commitments with Coventry and was only in charge for one game, a 2–2 draw with Poland.
    Over the next four years, he impressed at Coventry, leading the Sky Blues to sixth place in 1970, ensuring qualification for the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup. That first European campaign saw them perform admirably before they bowed out at the hands of the mighty Bayern Munich.
    There were more relegation battles for Cantwell and his Coventry team, but despite the pressures he was intent on building for the long term, launching a successful youth policy. Unfortunately, Cantwell would not be around to see his plans come to the fore, because he was sacked in March 1972 – as the chairman rather eloquently put it at the time, ‘results have not come up to expectation’ and ‘we want jam today, not tomorrow’.
    Of this first experience of being fired, Cantwell later reflected, ‘The sack came as quite a shock. I had no idea what to