FLUSHING, NY - Willie Randolph may have been the only one at Shea last night thankful for the rain out. No game meant he still had a win in his back pocket from Friday, and the good will from Oliver Perez’s performance was the only thing not washed away from the storm.

The manager, though, still has to look over his shoulder. Today’s good old fashioned double header may turn deadly for Randolph and while officials say he will last the weekend, the maligned skipper could be gone with the next small swoon.

Maybe it’s time for Randolph to go. Right now, the Mets need something to right the ship at Shea and since there’s no major trade on the horizon, replacing the field boss may be Omar Minaya’s only option to jumpstart his struggling club.

Yet, that may a good thing because Jerry Manuel, the rumored replacement, could just do the trick. Even though, many of the pundits on the radio talk shows and in print feel the former White Sox skipper may not be the right guy for the job, the Mets current bench coach has what the organization is looking for in a manger.

He’s a proven winner, as evidenced by his six seasons managing the South Side, where Manuel racked up 500 wins against 471 losses, good for fourth on the Sox all time list. Add to that the AL Manager of the Year award in 2000, when he became the fourth skipper to bring Chicago to the playoffs since the Black Sox Scandal. Sure, he had talent with those teams led by Magglio Ordonez and Frank Thomas, but so do the Mets and maybe he can relate to the $140 million payroll better than Randolph.

In choosing a manager, the Mets need to get someone who can handle the New York spotlight, because in the past, lightweights like Art Howe and Jeff Torborg proved Shea Stadium is not for the faint of heart. Manuel showed he can manage under pressure by winning in a large market, while dealing with a demanding boss in Jerry Reinsdorf. Although he doesn’t speak with the media regularly as Mets bench coach, his Chicago days gives Manuel excellent training on that end.

Let’s not forget, he also coached under Felipe Alou and Jim Leyland, which gave the 54 year-old, an excellent apprenticeship to manage in the big leagues and he said in the past those two skippers influenced his on the field strategy.

As bench coach, he does serve as Randolph’s chief advisor and as such, the perception is Manuel is just a Randolph clone. Although stoic in Queens, Manuel does have a fiery side. It was Manuel, and not Randolph, who was ejected at Yankee Stadium back in May for arguing Carlos Delgado’s blown home run call and during 2003, his last season in managing the Sox, he was tossed four times for various reasons.

That’s the personality the Mets need and maybe a little fire in the dugout will bring some life to the ballclub.

All of this doesn’t mean Manuel will turn the Mets around and his voice could fall on deaf ears in the clubhouse. But based on the alternatives, if Randolph goes, Manuel seems to be the best guy for the job.