OGS had exceeded my expectations for the next permanent manager. His class and swagger had made football enjoyable again and I'm fully backing him as the permanent manager. Patch the defense and we are golden!
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer | W15 D2 L4
- Thread starter Tom Van Persie
- Start date
One thing is for certain, that even if OGS doesn't get the job here, he'll certainly find a good club in Germany etc. I think his minor tactical changes etc(for eg subbing off Dalot and Fred in his second match just to gain more control) have been overlooked by us and the focus has been on players. De Gea's distribution has looked twice as good under him too.
Funny though I thought De Gae's distribution is still pretty shit. I noticed at least one of his kicks went straight to the other team player in the middle of the pitch with no United players around in the last 2 games.
Phelan has to be retained under a new manager as well i feel.
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Still feel people are getting carried away. He's done brilliantly so far, but things can change very quickly for managers in football. Couple of months ago Eddie Howe was being tipped for a big job and now he can't win a game. There's still a lot of football to go.
I'm not sure. Only 2 clean sheets in half a season with Mourinho and negative goal points.
I think Oles Molde would have won against Manchester United with Mourinho.
Agreed on this. Ole has done a terrific job thus far and he can only beat what’s in front of him (he’s not only won these games but the manner of the victories has been very impressive) but stronger tests certainly lay ahead. Newcastle away on Wednesday is certainly his toughest assignment to date and if we come away with a victory there playing in the same vein as we have been this past fortnight, I will certainly start to get giddy.
The transformation in attitude and atmosphere around the club has been incredible, however, it has to be said. That’s Ole’s greatest achievement thus far, for me.
He’s done well but I think he has to be nothing more than a caretaker. There is a huge difference between what he is doing now and being the boss full time.
Mourinho was doing such a bad job that anyone who followed him couldn’t lose. Ole has handled it very well though and made the team enjoyable to watch.
Mourinho was doing such a bad job that anyone who followed him couldn’t lose. Ole has handled it very well though and made the team enjoyable to watch.
I don't think that's true. If Ole hadn't done such a brilliant job - and our results were still patchy (like they were under Jose) - we'd be constantly talking about him being out of depth or the squad being very poor. You would see the many Jose loyalists + pundits still argue that it was wrong to fire Jose and a major overhaul of the squad is required under the new manager.
Giggs got the job for 4 games after Moyes - and he couldn't make the team bounce in the same way. His was also a 'couldn't lose' job - but he was inexperienced to handle it as well as Ole has done (I think there were reports that he broke down after that spell as well due to the pressure). Credit where its due to Ole!
Mou bought the right players in his second season at Chelsea, he asap needed a striker and a creative force in midfield, diego costa and fabragas + a gap in LB after cole's departure, as he brought Luis Felipe. Perfect players to make Chelsea champions. City needed new fullbacks, gk and quality players to play Pep's brand of football, he also bought the right players to make them champions. Klopp also bought perfect players for his sistem and fill in the gaps to make them very powerfull.
How good is Ole with transfers i wonder?
How good is Ole with transfers i wonder?
Too early to tell whether Ole is good enough to compete with Guardiola/Klopp/Poch or even Sarri and Emery. The first 3 games were relatively very easy. The 2 months from Spurs away (13.01) to City home (14.03) and especially the PSG games will tell us whether the team is making serious progress. If the signs are really encouraging, he might sign a new contract already in April.
Imagine if we hired someone else, and that guy didn't do half as well as Ole did in his 6 months here. 
It occurred to me yesterday watching that game, that if the players really like Ole, and are enjoying playing his style of football, they will play out of their skins to do well to try and persuade the board to keep him as manager. Better the devil you know. Pun intended.
Well I’m still one of them. I voted No because I don’t like decisions that are (or at least appear to be) based on sentimentality and nostalgia; not because I thought Ole was necessarily a bad manager.
I reserve the right to change my mind though
In fairness to Ole, we were going to Brighton, West Ham, Southampton and such places without picking up wins.
We were dropping points at home left right and centre.
Even if we continue to struggle against the top teams, i think it would be unfair to say he hasn't improved us. Dropping points to the lesser sides has been a massive problem for years now.
The signs are definetely encouraging. The team is much better to watch now.
There's no evidence that the decision to appoint Ole was based on sentimentality and nostalgia. He was a known quantity in terms of personality and intelligence, had previous coaching experience at United, has 10 years of experience as a manager, and was known to understand and believe in the culture and ethos of the club, i.e. assertive, entertaining play.
Given the limitations imposed by the desire to only offer the position for six months, Ole seems like an extremely rational, intelligent choice. You really think Woodward is sentimental?!? He worked for JP Morgan ffs!
Great post.
Solskjaer is in a no-risk, no-pressure situation right now. We've got good players and they clearly hated Mourinho, so they'd have played for anyone who came in. The league campaign's already ruined so anything we do from here is a bonus. He can only succeed.
Judging him on this season is impossible and hugely risky in any case. We need to get the next appointment spot on and hire the best manager available, someone who's been doing it in high-pressure environments consistently.
We should all enjoy the ride and put the speculation about long-term appointments to bed.
Imagine if we hired someone else, and that guy didn't do half as well as Ole did in his 6 months here.
That's a genuine possibility I feel, the idea of starting from scratch again fills me with dread.
As Keown said, Solskjaer is being patronised. He's been painted as some sort of clown that is just making people happy and that's why we are playing well.
The man has managed over 100 games. No one is talking about what adjustments he's made tactically. He has aackear idea of how he wants his team's to play. It's disrespectful.
The man has managed over 100 games. No one is talking about what adjustments he's made tactically. He has aackear idea of how he wants his team's to play. It's disrespectful.
We've played three games. Against Cardiff, Huddersfield and Bournemouth.
And on the background issue: would you be happy to take a manager from Scandinavian football if he had no United connection?
What is wrong with Scandinavian managers? It's not like scottish football is very impressive to watch yet SAF ended up being the best manager in history arguably.
Sure, if he is the right person and has gone through the process.
But Ole has an advantage that he already coached at United for several years, a point some fans are neglecting as it doesn’t fit the narrative of being inexperienced
As far as I’m concerned Ole is having a 6 month interview. Why would people want him to fail when he’s shown he understands United more in 2 weeks than Moyes, LVG and Mourinho ever did in years?
Better the red devil legend you know
Different era though isn't it. A top PL side would never take a manager from Scottish football now.
No-one wants him to fail. You're drawing a straw man there. It's just some people are worried we're getting carried away and don't want to see another mistake.
Fair enough, we are all getting a bit carried away that’s true. It’s hard not too when the previous manager could barely get a tune out of the same players and called them all crap on a frequent basis. Yet Ole has them playing like Liverpool under Klopp, free flowing.
My fear is that we will bring another manager, I’ve seen Conte and Allegri touted, in who again won’t get United and will resort to defending first priority. I for one cannot take that anymore, it’s not United and secondly the current trend is that the attacking teams are the successful ones.
Management is management, doesn't matter where they come from. We've signed players from Mexican, Scandinavian and Czech leagues before now and they've gone on to be a success at the club, geography doesn't mean shit, it's all about mentality. Especially when the current manager, who happens to be born in Norway, through no fault of his own, is having a prolonged interview with us and getting great results.
Pellegrini, Mourinho, Zidane, Pep, Klopp and many more have managed shit teams or in shit, obscure leagues before now but someone took a chance on them and they've all won titles.
I'm certain of one thing, if Solskjaer ends up not being the man to take us forward, I guarantee another major European club will happily take him on as long as they have a similar philosophy to us.
Exactly and he has managed far more than 100 games actually, excluding the United reserve games he took charge of. He had already managed 100 games the first time he left Molde (125) and he has managed 118 Molde games since he returned. His win percentage both times around is very impressive and lets not forget some of those matches include fixtures against teams like Sevilla, Ajax and Fenerbache.
For those who are interested here's a 40+ minute tactical analysis of Ole's Molde teams I found online:
It might help some people realise Solskjaer didn't just trip and fall into management, he's actually been doing this for the best part of a decade and knows what he's upto.
Loving the performances of course. You can feel that the 'United ethos' is back in the team...however, to be fair Ollie hasn't really had a serious test up until now. And even Sir Alex's United didn't pull their weight in the CL as often as they should have.
The Tottenham game will be interesting to watch, as will the next set of CL games. That's when i'll be able to decide whether to back OGS for permanent manager or not. That and how we perform in the transfer market. If there was one thing i always envied about pre-United Mourinho, it was his presence and execution in the transfer market. We need to be able to stay on top of that aspect of the game to be able to compete for the PL title.
Oh, and Mike Phelan. People tend to forget that Rui Faria left the club in the summer. It was undoubtedly a bigger shock to the club than any of the politics at the top, including our failure in the transfer market. Good first team coaches to support the Manager is everything
The Tottenham game will be interesting to watch, as will the next set of CL games. That's when i'll be able to decide whether to back OGS for permanent manager or not. That and how we perform in the transfer market. If there was one thing i always envied about pre-United Mourinho, it was his presence and execution in the transfer market. We need to be able to stay on top of that aspect of the game to be able to compete for the PL title.
Oh, and Mike Phelan. People tend to forget that Rui Faria left the club in the summer. It was undoubtedly a bigger shock to the club than any of the politics at the top, including our failure in the transfer market. Good first team coaches to support the Manager is everything
Agenda poster of the year is...
My first choice is Pochettino but the man is far more qualified than Pep or Zidane when they go their roles.
He's no mug.
When you had Mourinho it was entertaining watching you lose. Now it's entertaining watching you fullstop.
I very much doubt Woodward had ever heard of Ole before someone (presumably SAF) suggested him. And yes, I reckon his being a fan favourite and totally unlike Jose were more important factors than his previous managerial experience. Which I do believe to be grossly underrated by many, incidentally.
United has a long history of making managerial appointments on the basis of getting someone who is as unlike the failed predecessor as is possible.
Some people love Pochettino more than staying true to what we are.
He's also won more trophies that Pochettino, including league titles.
The kind of negative nelly that will be saying stuff like "its only top 4" , it's only the fa cup etc.
Just one of life's joyless types
I agree if the upturn in form continues and we go on an incredible run, a big club will come for him if we decide against. I feel really happy for Ole, cause it just seems like destiny has thrown him into the spotlight and now is his time after years of quietly and professionally learning his trade with Molde. Not the right time or club in Cardiff city, but now is the time. Desperate for him to succeed.
Or maybe just a note of caution?
We have two very tough away matches coming up in the league. I’m pleased as punch with what I’ve seen so far, but am not getting carried away just yet.