Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was supposed to be a breath of fresh air at Manchester United following the sacking of Jose Mourinho in 2018. Ole came in amid a lot of goodwill, with the Norwegian promising so much. With almost three years in, Ole has been relieved of his job, failing to deliver on the promises he made.
Will history be kind on Ole after his managerial stint at United? It depends on what side of the divide you are on. The stats say so much about his United stint. Of the four managers who have managed the club post-Ferguson, the Norwegian boasts the poorest record, and he was only kept at the job by nostalgia.
The United debacle is what happens when accountants are left to adjudicate over football matters. Ed Woodward has managed to oversee the worst period of Manchester United’s history.
What next for Solskjaer after a United managerial career to forget? The man answers the questions in a recent interview following his sack.
What the future holds for Solskjaer
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was relieved of his job on Sunday after another poor result. The sack came after Watford imposed on United another humiliating defeat. It was another in a long line of embarrassing defeats that sounded the death knell for Solskjaer.
In a recent interview with MUTV after his dismissal, Solskjaer explained what plans he has lined up as he promised to support whoever takes over the reins after him.
The Norwegian wants to spend some time in Norway and has promised that United’s new manager would have his full support to succeed on the job.
Michael Carrick was announced as the caretaker manager as the club continue their search for an interim manager to help the club through the season. Solskjaer said in the interview that Carrick has his full support.
In the interim, Ole intends to return to Norway to be with his family. The pandemic forced his separation from them.
A tearful Solskjaer said he would create a football environment as he claimed to have laid the foundations for the next manager to succeed. He also promised the fans that he would be back at the club and thanked them for their support since his playing days.
United continue their non-footballing approach
If United tried in Solskjaer to create a Zidane or Guardiola image, they failed woefully, as his three-year coaching stint at the club proved. It brings Ole to two unsuccessful coaching stints in the Premiership. He led Cardiff to relegation, and then at Manchester United, he failed to win any silverware. Ole has on his scorecard the result of a failed manager.
The United hierarchy are also not doing the fans any favours by tinkering with the managerial position at the club. They have Carrick as a caretaker coach, an extension of Ole’s failed tenure before they get an interim coach till the end of the season. United, have in a few words, given up on the 2021/22 season.
At the moment, bookmakers have Zidane as the favourite to land the United job, but the Frenchman has so far remained quiet on reports linking him to Old Trafford.
By :
Steven D. Thompson
