Ole's Resume | An overview of Molde's 1st ever title-winning manager

I mean, it's not true. At all. I have a strong opinion and voice it. But I admit when I'm wrong and change my opinion as things play out and evidence stacks up to convince me.

I did start a thread after we lost to Astana because I thought it was ridiculous to send a youth team out there without securing the group. I also didn't expect much from City and Spurs and wanted to build some winning momentum for the team prior to those games. But I also put my hands up and accepted that my reaction was a bit much after realizing that most of the squad was actually official first team members, albeit really young.

And as for seeing the Molde results and wanting to know more, I had first started wondering back before the Villa game I think. At that point I even posted about it in the other threads, feeling like it needed to be addressed considering the poor run. But it went mostly ignored. After the wins against City and Spurs you can see my posts about how I hoped this to be a turning point. That I want to be wrong about my doubts.

I ironically called Ole Smeagul earlier in response to a poster referring to Jose as Maureen. My point was that whether former or current, a bit more respect might be in order when debating about Manchester United managers. That was of course taken out of context and labeled as my true colors showing.

But then you go back to the summer and I was vehemently defending Ole for the lack of a replacement striker coming in. Kept reminding people that he had been openly asking for a replacement only to be let down by Woodward. At some point that turned to criticism because I'd have wanted the manager to put a little more pressure on his boss to get these deals done.

All said, I'm posting my opinions on things as they are in front of me. I genuinely have seen more detailed explanation from our Norway contingent now that I've questioned the actual seasons. Prior to this all I heard was sunshine and flowers about Ole at Molde, comparisons of breaking Rosenberg dominance with Sir Alex and the Old Firm. And I believed it without thought then. But now I'm revisiting and feeling it was not a complete picture.

With the momentum and positivity around the last two games, isn't this a better time to visit a testy issue? Because the point isn't to try and dig the nail deeper...if that were the case it could have been said weeks ago.

And all that aside, isn't the point to be able to freely express opinions and ask questions? Even if it's an unpopular opinion or an ill educated question. Why is it okay to be met with vitriol? Why is anyone questioning Ole met with such animosity? Isn't the end game to find the best manager for United? Is it fair to crucify someone for voicing their opinion on what they think is best for the club?

I'm embarrassed to see the type of responses on here. Opinions become agendas. Discordance makes you a bad fan. Wanting more information makes you ignorant. I'm not going to walk on eggshells because the mob can't handle it.
Dude just admit you want Ole out, almost everything you have posted recently has a clear agenda, I would respect it more if you just come out and said it.

I mean, I've openly advocated for the Saudi's to take over and I took the flack I knew would be coming because of it.

It's your opinion, embrace it. Just don't expect a good reaction when you start a thread with a clear agenda (regardless of what you say now.)
 
Fantastic post and tyvm for taking the time to write it up

Ole was clearly successful in Norway

Taking the Cardiff job was a mistake but I’m sure he learned a lot from that experience

For a moment I thought that you went full welsh. :lol:
 
1. What a completely dishonest OP. The Sun would be proud. Presenting it as an overview and summary, yet systematically selects facts and overlooks others in propagandic fashion. Claims to look at context (in alleged contrast to what the United board and followers of the Norwegian league did), yet has no context and instead speculates wildly. Claims to not want to pollute with personal opinions, yet is completely one-sided in all presentation, selection and speculation, and presents the discussion as between posters asking fair questions vs a blind mob stigmatizing their opponents. Bad results are spoken of as reality and seeing the whole, good results are connoted with blind optimism. It’s how Trump readsthe Bible, and so opinionated Vladimir Putin would be proud.

2. I wasn’t going to dignify it with an answer, but as a Norwegian follower, I actually have context, and seeing such good work put into misrepresentation, I fear even intelligent readers may get swayed by the facetious factitiousness of it all. Here is some actual context:

2009-2011: Molde were mostly an elevator team until 1998. They had two runners up positions and a cup win in all their history, the latter two feats acheived by now National coach for Denmark, Åge Hareide, who has since won the Double in both Norway (with Rosenborg) Sweden and Denmark. In 1998, billionaires Røkke and Gjelsten went in with a lot of money, with ambitions of winning the league. (This was the same duo that bought and wrecked Wimbledon FC). After that, Molde made four runner up spots and two relegations, the last one in 2006. Another big spree saw recent Swedish Double winner Kjell Jonevret take a strong squad back up in 2007, and after a ninth place in 08, reached 2nd in 09. After that they combusted, like most Norwegian teams do after a good season, and was in danger of relagation again when Jonevret was fired and Uwe Rösler stepped in to save the place. So Solskjær took over a good team with a shaky morale, and Røkke/Gjelsten boosted that with another spree. Solskjær implemented a possession style football inspired moatly by Guardiola/Barca, and fairly consistent with Jonevret. Jonevret and R/G must have some of the credit for that first title, while at the same time, R/B had pumped money into the team for 12 years without a league win, so Solskjær definitely breached a barrier.

2012-15: What is notable in Norwegian football, is that only a few teams in the league history has managed back to back league wins. It’s to do probably with the professionality level, the fine economical margins and the best players constantly being picked off by bigger leagues. But also the small societies influences the squads, where players level of motivation varies a lot and motivational factors play a bigger part than in bigger leagues. Winning the league back-to-back was really seen as something special in Norway. My team Vålerenga did it once, in the early eighties, and I still live off it. For Molde to do it was seen as a proof to most that Solskjær was too good for the Norwegian league.
2013: The normal backlash, players now older, more satisfied, suffered a backlash in the league, before they turned it around towards the end, and also won the cup (In a 30-game league, a spell of bad form is often enough to cement you in the relegation zone.) part of the background was also that Solskjær (and the players) were deemed to be affected by the approaches from bigger clubs (like Aston Villa), and was ready to move on to bigger challenges. Upon Solskjær leaving for Vincent Tan, Solskjær’s assistant Moe continued with coaching prodigy Skullerud, playing much the same way as Solskjær. A squad of yet again hungry ‘stars’ got one more great season out of them, for which Solskjær must have some of the credit. The subsequent season, the club dipped towards relegation again under Skullerud, who never since have acheived anything similar.

2014-2018: By the time Solskjær got back, Røkke/Gjelsten had adopted an Abramovich-like approach of letting the club finance itself, and there was a huge squad overhaul imminent. Solskjær had to build from scratch, having to build on mainly young players (though without an academy of the level of Chelsea’s or United’s). He now opted for a more direct football, having studied Klopp among others. This took time and was a hilly road, but the trajectory was squarely upwards. 6th, 2nd and 2nd, having made some very impressive resuluts against superior European teams along the way. Yet again Solskjær left his assistant Moe after him, now as head coach, and the now more matured team this season won the league comfortably. But note that already the second half of last season, they appeared invincible in the league games, and it seems reasonable to give Solskjær quite a lot of the credit for building yet another league winning team.

The whole picture? Solskjær’s stints in Norway has shown tactical capasity to take good team to be consistently best, and repeatedly to punch above their weight against better teams. He has also shown the strategical capasity to build a team based on young players to consistently improve over several seasons. In Norway, under our conditions, there are hardly any coaches bar a couple of legends who have produced this kind of consistency.

Is this transferable to the big leagues? Who knows, and that was of course not the question in this thread. Has Woodward done his due diligence? Well’ I am entirely sure he and his cronies have done more than finding a table at wikipedia and do the rest by guesswork. Their agenda was probably also different.
Great post, thank you.
Kind of puts the OP’s original post in the bin - where it belongs.
 
1. What a completely dishonest OP. The Sun would be proud. Presenting it as an overview and summary, yet systematically selects facts and overlooks others in propagandic fashion. Claims to look at context (in alleged contrast to what the United board and followers of the Norwegian league did), yet has no context and instead speculates wildly. Claims to not want to pollute with personal opinions, yet is completely one-sided in all presentation, selection and speculation, and presents the discussion as between posters asking fair questions vs a blind mob stigmatizing their opponents. Bad results are spoken of as reality and seeing the whole, good results are connoted with blind optimism. It’s how Trump readsthe Bible, and so opinionated Vladimir Putin would be proud.

2. I wasn’t going to dignify it with an answer, but as a Norwegian follower, I actually have context, and seeing such good work put into misrepresentation, I fear even intelligent readers may get swayed by the facetious factitiousness of it all. Here is some actual context:

2009-2011: Molde were mostly an elevator team until 1998. They had two runners up positions and a cup win in all their history, the latter two feats acheived by now National coach for Denmark, Åge Hareide, who has since won the Double in both Norway (with Rosenborg) Sweden and Denmark. In 1998, billionaires Røkke and Gjelsten went in with a lot of money, with ambitions of winning the league. (This was the same duo that bought and wrecked Wimbledon FC). After that, Molde made four runner up spots and two relegations, the last one in 2006. Another big spree saw recent Swedish Double winner Kjell Jonevret take a strong squad back up in 2007, and after a ninth place in 08, reached 2nd in 09. After that they combusted, like most Norwegian teams do after a good season, and was in danger of relagation again when Jonevret was fired and Uwe Rösler stepped in to save the place. So Solskjær took over a good team with a shaky morale, and Røkke/Gjelsten boosted that with another spree. Solskjær implemented a possession style football inspired moatly by Guardiola/Barca, and fairly consistent with Jonevret. Jonevret and R/G must have some of the credit for that first title, while at the same time, R/B had pumped money into the team for 12 years without a league win, so Solskjær definitely breached a barrier.

2012-15: What is notable in Norwegian football, is that only a few teams in the league history has managed back to back league wins. It’s to do probably with the professionality level, the fine economical margins and the best players constantly being picked off by bigger leagues. But also the small societies influences the squads, where players level of motivation varies a lot and motivational factors play a bigger part than in bigger leagues. Winning the league back-to-back was really seen as something special in Norway. My team Vålerenga did it once, in the early eighties, and I still live off it. For Molde to do it was seen as a proof to most that Solskjær was too good for the Norwegian league.
2013: The normal backlash, players now older, more satisfied, suffered a backlash in the league, before they turned it around towards the end, and also won the cup (In a 30-game league, a spell of bad form is often enough to cement you in the relegation zone.) part of the background was also that Solskjær (and the players) were deemed to be affected by the approaches from bigger clubs (like Aston Villa), and was ready to move on to bigger challenges. Upon Solskjær leaving for Vincent Tan, Solskjær’s assistant Moe continued with coaching prodigy Skullerud, playing much the same way as Solskjær. A squad of yet again hungry ‘stars’ got one more great season out of them, for which Solskjær must have some of the credit. The subsequent season, the club dipped towards relegation again under Skullerud, who never since have acheived anything similar.

2014-2018: By the time Solskjær got back, Røkke/Gjelsten had adopted an Abramovich-like approach of letting the club finance itself, and there was a huge squad overhaul imminent. Solskjær had to build from scratch, having to build on mainly young players (though without an academy of the level of Chelsea’s or United’s). He now opted for a more direct football, having studied Klopp among others. This took time and was a hilly road, but the trajectory was squarely upwards. 6th, 2nd and 2nd, having made some very impressive resuluts against superior European teams along the way. Yet again Solskjær left his assistant Moe after him, now as head coach, and the now more matured team this season won the league comfortably. But note that already the second half of last season, they appeared invincible in the league games, and it seems reasonable to give Solskjær quite a lot of the credit for building yet another league winning team.

The whole picture? Solskjær’s stints in Norway has shown tactical capasity to take good team to be consistently best, and repeatedly to punch above their weight against better teams. He has also shown the strategical capasity to build a team based on young players to consistently improve over several seasons. In Norway, under our conditions, there are hardly any coaches bar a couple of legends who have produced this kind of consistency.

Is this transferable to the big leagues? Who knows, and that was of course not the question in this thread. Has Woodward done his due diligence? Well’ I am entirely sure he and his cronies have done more than finding a table at wikipedia and do the rest by guesswork. Their agenda was probably also different.

At least some good came out of this thread. Thanks for the detailed and educational response.
 
1. What a completely dishonest OP. The Sun would be proud. Presenting it as an overview and summary, yet systematically selects facts and overlooks others in propagandic fashion. Claims to look at context (in alleged contrast to what the United board and followers of the Norwegian league did), yet has no context and instead speculates wildly. Claims to not want to pollute with personal opinions, yet is completely one-sided in all presentation, selection and speculation, and presents the discussion as between posters asking fair questions vs a blind mob stigmatizing their opponents. Bad results are spoken of as reality and seeing the whole, good results are connoted with blind optimism. It’s how Trump readsthe Bible, and so opinionated Vladimir Putin would be proud.

2. I wasn’t going to dignify it with an answer, but as a Norwegian follower, I actually have context, and seeing such good work put into misrepresentation, I fear even intelligent readers may get swayed by the facetious factitiousness of it all. Here is some actual context:

2009-2011: Molde were mostly an elevator team until 1998. They had two runners up positions and a cup win in all their history, the latter two feats acheived by now National coach for Denmark, Åge Hareide, who has since won the Double in both Norway (with Rosenborg) Sweden and Denmark. In 1998, billionaires Røkke and Gjelsten went in with a lot of money, with ambitions of winning the league. (This was the same duo that bought and wrecked Wimbledon FC). After that, Molde made four runner up spots and two relegations, the last one in 2006. Another big spree saw recent Swedish Double winner Kjell Jonevret take a strong squad back up in 2007, and after a ninth place in 08, reached 2nd in 09. After that they combusted, like most Norwegian teams do after a good season, and was in danger of relagation again when Jonevret was fired and Uwe Rösler stepped in to save the place. So Solskjær took over a good team with a shaky morale, and Røkke/Gjelsten boosted that with another spree. Solskjær implemented a possession style football inspired moatly by Guardiola/Barca, and fairly consistent with Jonevret. Jonevret and R/G must have some of the credit for that first title, while at the same time, R/B had pumped money into the team for 12 years without a league win, so Solskjær definitely breached a barrier.

2012-15: What is notable in Norwegian football, is that only a few teams in the league history has managed back to back league wins. It’s to do probably with the professionality level, the fine economical margins and the best players constantly being picked off by bigger leagues. But also the small societies influences the squads, where players level of motivation varies a lot and motivational factors play a bigger part than in bigger leagues. Winning the league back-to-back was really seen as something special in Norway. My team Vålerenga did it once, in the early eighties, and I still live off it. For Molde to do it was seen as a proof to most that Solskjær was too good for the Norwegian league.
2013: The normal backlash, players now older, more satisfied, suffered a backlash in the league, before they turned it around towards the end, and also won the cup (In a 30-game league, a spell of bad form is often enough to cement you in the relegation zone.) part of the background was also that Solskjær (and the players) were deemed to be affected by the approaches from bigger clubs (like Aston Villa), and was ready to move on to bigger challenges. Upon Solskjær leaving for Vincent Tan, Solskjær’s assistant Moe continued with coaching prodigy Skullerud, playing much the same way as Solskjær. A squad of yet again hungry ‘stars’ got one more great season out of them, for which Solskjær must have some of the credit. The subsequent season, the club dipped towards relegation again under Skullerud, who never since have acheived anything similar.

2014-2018: By the time Solskjær got back, Røkke/Gjelsten had adopted an Abramovich-like approach of letting the club finance itself, and there was a huge squad overhaul imminent. Solskjær had to build from scratch, having to build on mainly young players (though without an academy of the level of Chelsea’s or United’s). He now opted for a more direct football, having studied Klopp among others. This took time and was a hilly road, but the trajectory was squarely upwards. 6th, 2nd and 2nd, having made some very impressive resuluts against superior European teams along the way. Yet again Solskjær left his assistant Moe after him, now as head coach, and the now more matured team this season won the league comfortably. But note that already the second half of last season, they appeared invincible in the league games, and it seems reasonable to give Solskjær quite a lot of the credit for building yet another league winning team.

The whole picture? Solskjær’s stints in Norway has shown tactical capasity to take good team to be consistently best, and repeatedly to punch above their weight against better teams. He has also shown the strategical capasity to build a team based on young players to consistently improve over several seasons. In Norway, under our conditions, there are hardly any coaches bar a couple of legends who have produced this kind of consistency.

Is this transferable to the big leagues? Who knows, and that was of course not the question in this thread. Has Woodward done his due diligence? Well’ I am entirely sure he and his cronies have done more than finding a table at wikipedia and do the rest by guesswork. Their agenda was probably also different.
5 minutes on the transfermarked site makes the OP look like a fool. The player turnover at that club is insane. Ole built a winning team, twice! Good post mate!
 
I'm mildly amused to see there are United fans who feel inspired by a thrilling, academy led away defeat of City to post an op like that. Strange times we live in.
 
The first full season with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer as manager of Manchester United has been a roller coaster of highs and lows. After what many of us felt was a disastrous summer of under recruitment, the season opening win was exhilarating and filled with optimism. Reality came crashing down hard and United found themselves near the relegation pack in the ensuing months, before another win against Chelsea to lift the mood, and then drop back down. The on-the-field decisions, results and performances have had many fans on the cafe and beyond very fairly questioning Ole's ability to lead this team. In response, there's an equally vociferous mob with only hope in their eyes criticizing doubters as bad football fans and even going so far as to accuse them of supporting other teams. It's a bit much and wreaks of intolerance for opposing views.

The boiling point was a tough set of games that might have led to Ole's sacking. However, we've now got two excellent wins against Tottenham and away to Manchester City that hit enough of a high again to momentarily lose sight of the season as a whole. But instead of looking forward, I want to go the other way and examine in more detail Ole's time as a manager before United. In a way, it's the due diligence that should have been a given before Ole went from interim manager to permanent manager.

MOLDE FK (2009-Present)
Below is a table of the last ten years of Molde FK's exploits in the Norwegian League. Keep in mind, the Norwegian League is 30 matches that run from March thru November.

SeasonManagerPositionPointsGoals ScoredGoals Allowed
2009some dude2nd566235
2010another dude11th404245
2011Ole1st585438
2012Ole1st625131
2013Ole6th444738
2014a different Ole
(Skullerud)
1st716224
2015both Oles6th526231
2016Ole5th454842
2017Ole2nd545035
2018Ole2nd596336
2019New dude (Moe)1st687231
SUMMARY



Below are some notes to give a bit more context to each of the seasons.
The years in Blue are when Ole Solskjaer was manager.

2009 - 2nd place. Some dude that got Molde promoted a few years back had them finish runner's up.

2010 - 11th place. The season started under the lead of some dude, but after 20 points from the opening 22 matches he was replaced by another dude. Molde collected another 20 points in the remaining 8 matches and brought them from relegation territory in 14th place to finish 11th.

2011 - League Title. Molde's first top division title after being serial second place finishers, led by Molde and Manchester United legend, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. They had a record low points for a champion. League was won by five points.

2012 - League Title. Title successfully defended by Ole. League was won by four points.

2013 - Finished 6th. Based on points, closer to relegation than the title. Ole declares after the first four games that Molde can't win the title. They had lost all four, the first time a defending champion had lost their opening four matches. After seven games, Molde had collected two points.

2014 - League Title with record wins and points for Ole Skullerud. Molde's first League and Cup Double. It is before the beginning of this season (March) that Ole takes over at Cardiff City (January), who were relegated soon thereafter.

2015 - Skullerud sacked in August (around matchday 18) with Molde in 7th place. There was some noise about family problems that had him considering leaving at the season end. In the remaining matches under Ole, he was able to take them back up the table, all the way to 6th place.

2016 - Uninspired 5th place finish. Ole had Molde finish 24 points off the champions but only 14 points away from relegation.

2017 - An improvement, but runners-up is a familiar place for Molde. They never had a chance as Rosenberg's title came with a record low twenty goals conceded. They were first almost completely from matchday one through the end of the season. There were only two matchdays on which they weren't in first place, interestingly it was Sarpsborg and Brann who briefly took over top spot, not Molde.

2018 - Despite finishing second, the season was mostly a race between Rosenberg and Brann. Molde nipped in at the end to finish above Brann by a point but five off the leaders.

2019 - With Ole at the wheel of Manchester United, some new dude named Moe led Molde to a very impressive finish to the season winning the league by 14 points and Molde's best scoring record of the last decade.

I don't want to pollute this overview with too much of my opinions. However, I have to say that actually looking through the history of each season paints a very different picture to the one that some of our resident Norwegians/Molde followers presented us when Ole was hired. Indeed it's commendable that he won Molde's first league titles, but in a way they appear as much to do with rivals having poor seasons than brilliance of the manager. In fact some of our deepest concerns have history here, as Molde often seems to improve significantly when Ole leaves and then dip upon his return.

Even in a simple review of the seasons there's plenty of information that could have been used by Manchester United in their managerial search. That they elected to hire Ole permanently suggests they didn't actually go through his resume with any sort of diligence. Based on what's here alone, Ole is nowhere near the caliber of appointment I would expect to take Manchester United back to its glory days. But hey, it's all a moot point now.
he was probably hired because he won 15 games on the spin or whatever ridiculous record he had vs whatever record molde had in norway

to think he was hired for his 'cv' just embarrasses you tbh
 
Couple of very good posts in response, especially @Grande @Tom Cato . Learned a lot more than I could from a quick dig around the forum and online, as I suggested. You actually can push quite well the idea that maybe Ole has it in his locker to handle the circumstances based on some of those challenges moreso than was ever apparent from the interim stint, which is what was made to seem the reason. If that never happened I wonder if there would have been more focus on this in particular and more analysis of this level to help educate the rest of us.

The other responses here? Bunch of cry babies throwing a tantrum at the timing of the post. But did any of them have the depth of knowledge to back up their instinctive 'no that's a lie,' response? Outside of hurling personal attacks, even less substance than the accused. Pathetic, presumptive and divisive in nature.
 
he was probably hired because he won 15 games on the spin or whatever ridiculous record he had vs whatever record molde had in norway

to think he was hired for his 'cv' just embarrasses you tbh
So from the extensive details from some of our Norwegian contingent that you can find in this thread, I actually am starting to feel very much the opposite. Hiring based on the interim perido was stupid and reactionary. Hiring based on the way folks like grande (see above) have better explained the time frame I'm questioning make it seem that maybe there's some real team building in there afterall.
 
The on-the-field decisions, results and performances have had many fans on the cafe and beyond very fairly questioning Ole's ability to lead this team. In response, there's an equally vociferous mob with only hope in their eyes criticizing doubters as bad football fans and even going so far as to accuse them of supporting other team.It's a bit much and wreaks of intolerance for opposing views.


The other responses here? Bunch of cry babies throwing a tantrum at the timing of the post. But did any of them have the depth of knowledge to back up their instinctive 'no that's a lie,' response? Outside of hurling personal attacks, even less substance than the accused. Pathetic, presumptive and divisive in nature.


I'd say it was mostly the arrogant, self-righteous tone and characterising of yourself as fair and those who are your opposed to your view as a "mob" that invited the criticism.

In that light the final bit about intolerance seems a bit hypocritical.

You've also been strongly pushing the Ole out message for so long that people are reasonably sceptical of your motives when initiating a discussion about the manager.
 
I'd say it was mostly the arrogant, self-righteous tone and characterising of yourself as fair and those who are your opposed to your view as a "mob" that invited the criticism.

In that light the final bit about intolerance seems a bit hypocritical.
That's not just here. That's me in general, on the cafe anyway. But I do apologise and mean it when I've crossed a line.
You've also been strongly pushing the Ole out message for so long that people are reasonably sceptical of your motives when initiating a discussion about the manager.
I was very much Ole out for a good chunk of the season. I wasn't convinced. Spurs and City were a very promising moment for me. Not for being tactical masterclasses. I considered them a sign the players were behind the manager when there was immense outside pressure on sacking. But I still have reservations about how things pan out moving forward. But I've softened from Ole out to give him the season.

Funnily enough, the replies here that didn't linger on my person and focused on the actual information about Ole's work at Molde were quite informative. Theyve softened my view and actually started to fill me with a bit more optimism. Genuinely look at that timeline in the first post. You can't look at that (maybe I could have found more details if I could speak Norwegian mother tongue) and just say oh Ole was great at Molde. You have to at least question it. I actually previewed the post with the last line as "don't want to pollute this with my opinion" before then going back and adding my thoughts. I did genuinely want to know more with the context I've given. And my phrasing really wasn't pointed enough to warrant some of what's been said here.
 
That's not just here. That's me in general, on the cafe anyway. But I do apologise and mean it when I've crossed a line.

I was very much Ole out for a good chunk of the season. I wasn't convinced. Spurs and City were a very promising moment for me. Not for being tactical masterclasses. I considered them a sign the players were behind the manager when there was immense outside pressure on sacking. But I still have reservations about how things pan out moving forward. But I've softened from Ole out to give him the season.

Funnily enough, the replies here that didn't linger on my person and focused on the actual information about Ole's work at Molde were quite informative. Theyve softened my view and actually started to fill me with a bit more optimism. Genuinely look at that timeline in the first post. You can't look at that (maybe I could have found more details if I could speak Norwegian mother tongue) and just say oh Ole was great at Molde. You have to at least question it. I actually previewed the post with the last line as "don't want to pollute this with my opinion" before then going back and adding my thoughts. I did genuinely want to know more with the context I've given. And my phrasing really wasn't pointed enough to warrant some of what's been said here.

Well at least you're self-aware, which I wasn't expecting to be honest so I've obviously judged you a little harshly.

I'm not saying you deserved it at all by the way. It was more to point out how the thread is framed can affect the tone of the replies.

To be fair some of the replies have been very informative in relation to Ole's time at Molde, although my reading of the pure results would have been that there must have been mitigating factors. Also winning the league after a manager left, when he had got them into the top two the previous two seasons, wouldn't have been a black mark against a manager in my book.

I've never been Ole out as I'm inherently optimistic about United, could see the recent improvements and felt that the team, which essentially has a new back-line, midfield pairing and strike-force, appeared to be gelling and as you say the players are definitely behind the manager.

Time will tell if Ole is the right man but hopefully they can go on a decent run towards Christmas and the mood keeps improving around here.
 
Coming off the back of two great results you choose now to create this pointless thread, that says it all really. Clear agenda against Ole.

Even worse your over inflated opinion of your own thread has you hoping the press pick up on it and heap more pressure on our manager. Feck me, pathetic really.

Nothing in your post about Ole’s previous record holds any baring on his current role as United boss. If it did real journalists would be using it as a stick to beat him with, but no just ‘fans’ on United forums do that.

The Ole you describe has:-
*14 points from 18 against the top sides this season.

*Currently 5th position with a real chance of top four, especially if he is backed in January.

*He has done the above with an overall exceptionally average and threadbare United squad (when you compare past squads under previous management.). All while missing our best player.

*Played youth consistently to great effect against the big sides, reinforcements needed with technical ability to break down defensive sides.

*He has improved almost all of the players in the core of this young side.

*Fred is a completely different player (it’s not just a feckin run of games, he’s being coached like every other player.)

*McTominay consistently improving.

*Rashford is having his best ever season.

*Ole has been the first manager to play Martial as a number 9 consistently, something the Caf has been crying out for.

*Martial and Rashfords linkup has improved as a result.

*Dan James has hit the ground running and has been instrumental in our counterattacking current setup.
I am sitting on the fence with Ole but I really cannot disagree with your points. There has been change, ups and downs, swings and roundabouts, but visible change.
 
I am sitting on the fence with Ole but I really cannot disagree with your points. There has been change, ups and downs, swings and roundabouts, but visible change.
I can understand people being on the fence, it a huge job and there is a tendency for people to worry that Ole is in the job for the wrong reasons (ie being a club legend, rose tinted glasses and all that.)

However there are these positives in amongst the poor league position, these positives haven't been seen under the previous three managers, I believe if we want an effective change for the better over the long term we need to keep treading this path and strengthen the squad accordingly.

The high press Ole is clearly trying to implement is a very positive sign in my opinion. High press is not typically something a purely counter attacking team does (something I know some fans are concerned about), it tells me that Ole is making the most of this young pacey side whilst having one eye on the long term style of play he wants for the team.
 
Couldn't you have stuck this in one of the other million threads where people bash his CV?

I thought the mods said that we should avoid mega threads. Or has that guidance changed?
Could a mod clear this up?
 
Has anyone figured out what qualified Guardiola or Zidane for the Barcelona and Real Madrid jobs?

When Ole wins a CL or league, we can make comparisons with ZZ and Pep.
As of now, Ole is not anywhere near winning a trophy for us.

Under Ole, we have endured the worst start to an EPL campaign ever! And that includes the dreaded Moyes and the final season of Jose (which was a car crash....Ole is worse).
For Ole to be mentioned in the same sentence as Pep and/or ZZ, Ole would probably need to win every remaining match of the remainder of the season.
 
All these are missing context, unless someone who watched Norway league can shed some light, all this "team x finished 2nd, then they finished 3rd" is just meaningless.

Mancini won the league, Pellegrini also won the league but Mancini's win was better as he laid the foundations, by the time Pellegrini took over, they were already top dogs. But for someone who never watches PL and just goes by Wiki, there isn't any difference.
Pellegrini got extremely lucky due to Slippy G and Liverpool's collapse at 3-0 up against Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park!
 
5 minutes on the transfermarked site makes the OP look like a fool. The player turnover at that club is insane. Ole built a winning team, twice! Good post mate!
That's a very mean thing to say.

Out of curiosity, did you only look at Molde's transfers and ignore every other club in the league? Fact is, departures and arrivals were a merry-go-round for much of the league. That's a very shortsighted comment on your part.

And to make the point more meaningful note that in 2013, when Ole finished 6th with Molde, another team won their first title in five decades: Strømsgodset. Its no mean feat for them either. Like many in the league, plenty of ins and outs. And you know who that manager is? Rony Deila. Big proponent of attacking football, studied the game from the likes of City and Dortmund to incorporate into his own. Had a series of second place finishes as well as that title. Impressive really for a club of that stature. Considering it wasn't a record low points tally like 2011, even more impressive in my mind. Know what happened to him? He went to Celtic and won two titles including a cup and league double. Did he land the next big job after that? Nope, back at a Norwegian club. You could very well argue he's more successful as a manager than Ole...

It's not as cut and dry that winning the Norwegian league, even as an underdog, makes you a suitable manager for Manchester United.
 
When Ole wins a CL or league, we can make comparisons with ZZ and Pep.
As of now, Ole is not anywhere near winning a trophy for us.

Under Ole, we have endured the worst start to an EPL campaign ever! And that includes the dreaded Moyes and the final season of Jose (which was a car crash....Ole is worse).
For Ole to be mentioned in the same sentence as Pep and/or ZZ, Ole would probably need to win every remaining match of the remainder of the season.
That's a ridiculous argument that completely overlooks the point. You were better off not responding.
 
That's a ridiculous argument that completely overlooks the point. You were better off not responding.
I think to your point, hiring Ole as soon as he finished in the academy would have made sense. Or right after his first two titles with Molde.

The concern is in the years after, how significantly has Ole improved as a manager and why didn't he land another job and show success there..in the post right above I'm talking about Rony Deila whose couple years and league title with Strømsgodset is just as impressive to me. I'm sure Norway folks can correct me with more insight there. But he went on and was successful in Scotland. There's a good precedent for success there translating to the premier league...even more recently with Rodgers.

The concern for me is, hiring Ole back then would have been an easier gamble than now after an even longer period of mismanagement. It's hindsight for sure but if you were given a five year plan a year into it after Moyes, would you take it then? Might have been easier to consider then versus now on the eve of Liverpool's impending title. It's a bigger gamble now but in my opinion, even with the insight from folks like Grande, it's not a sound one. If Ole had one more season at Molde and took those two second place finishes to win the league again I'd be more convinced. Laying foundations is one thing. Serial winner is another. Isn't that Pochs biggest thing - laying brick everywhere. But he never did win. Ole has won before, but that's so long ago. Is he up to it now. Is he really better now? Maybe. But Manchester United is his testing ground now and looking at Ed, that's a hail Mary choice. Not a sound management decision on his part. And that's what I'm most critical of. In many ways this is all about Ed.
 
I hate Molde with a passion. I really do. But even I have to give Ole a lot of credit for what he achieved there, and how he is a huge part of the transformation from a decent club with ambition, to a great club with silverware.

Sure, Rosenborg wasn't up to their usual dominant standards in those years, and sure, some super rich owners invested heavily in the squad.

But Ole won Moldes first ever league title.
He won the double (mighty impressive).
He laid a great foundation for the club to keep succeeding after his tenure(s).
He made Molde what they are today, going from perennial bottlers to a domestic powerhouse (with some success in the Europa League even).
Also, the owners would never have invested anywhere close to what they did (and still do), if not for Ole.

Molde is a tiny city, and still they are able to attract some of the best Norwegian players year after year. This is not only due to money, but because the club has an excellent record in developing talent and playing good (sometimes even great by Norwegian standards) attacking football, and winning trophies.

Now, this is not all because of Ole, but he's played a huge part in the development of the club. One of the best (if not THE best) run clubs in Norwegian football the last decade.
 
For the love of Sir Alex, stop talking about a league you've never watched.
 
That's a very mean thing to say.

Out of curiosity, did you only look at Molde's transfers and ignore every other club in the league? Fact is, departures and arrivals were a merry-go-round for much of the league. That's a very shortsighted comment on your part.

And to make the point more meaningful note that in 2013, when Ole finished 6th with Molde, another team won their first title in five decades: Strømsgodset. Its no mean feat for them either. Like many in the league, plenty of ins and outs. And you know who that manager is? Rony Deila. Big proponent of attacking football, studied the game from the likes of City and Dortmund to incorporate into his own. Had a series of second place finishes as well as that title. Impressive really for a club of that stature. Considering it wasn't a record low points tally like 2011, even more impressive in my mind. Know what happened to him? He went to Celtic and won two titles including a cup and league double. Did he land the next big job after that? Nope, back at a Norwegian club. You could very well argue he's more successful as a manager than Ole...

It's not as cut and dry that winning the Norwegian league, even as an underdog, makes you a suitable manager for Manchester United.

Twice league champions and twice runners up in six seasons is a pretty good record.

Doesn’t prove that Ole is suitable for Premier League level but seems like a pretty weak argument to say that he isn’t suitable based on that record.
 
Hiring based on the interim perido was stupid and reactionary. Hiring based on the way folks like grande (see above) have better explained the time frame I'm questioning make it seem that maybe there's some real team building in there afterall.

This is remarkable (or not).

You've gone from what looked for all intents and purposes like a blatant attempt to discredit Ole to, humbly, allowing for the possibility that he was actually hired because United (meaning Woodward, ultimately, one must assume) considered his Molde record impressive enough to warrant a permanent contract.

I don't know what your game is, mate, but let me tell you this: there's very little chance that Woodward based the decision (to hire Ole on a permanent basis) on his achievements with Molde.

Ole was brought in as an interim based on his ties with United, very likely on the direct recommendation of someone (probably Fergie), not on his record with Molde. And he was given the job permanently because Woodward considered him a popular choice (which he was, at the time).

There's nothing more to it. So, if your original stance was that the decision was "stupid and reactionary", there's really no reason for you to change it.

You can remove the "stupid" part once he proves himself, but the "reactionary" part is pretty much set in stone unless someone digs up evidence that good ol' Ed actually a) looked thoroughly at what he did at Molde and b) based his decision to give Ole a permanent contract on the latter.
 
@JarleA nice summary. Good to hear the thoughts of someone with a bias against Molde in particular to balance things out

Twice league champions and twice runners up in six seasons is a pretty good record.

Doesn’t prove that Ole is suitable for Premier League level but seems like a pretty weak argument to say that he isn’t suitable based on that record.

I can see how the post is seen that way because of so much noise surrounding Ole's tenure in general. This is a retrospective view that stems from the following:

* I did not know enough detail about Ole's time with Molde in the last decade

* I was naive about the level of success he had there and assumed that he had dominated the league consistently showing that he ought to be managing elsewhere (it was a common thing to hear that he broke the Rosenberg dominance like Sir Alex broke the old firm)

* I have an extremely strong bias against Ed Woodward and the appointment of Ole as a manager full-time was , in my opinion, premature and deserving of more criticism. The time at Molde seems like it falls somewhere in the middle of showing good potential and being a huge risk...it's not the resounding success that I was led to believe. If things don't work out with Ole, the blame should lay on Woodward. And if things work out swimmingly, Woodward should not be hailed a genius. This was a massive gamble, not the sound decision of a great CEO
 
For the love of Sir Alex, stop talking about a league you've never watched.
This is precious considering we have comments in post match reactions to the tune of, "I didn't watch the match but it sounds like this and that".

If you don't like my opinions you don't have to consider them. I've noted that others of the Norwegian contingent have educated me a great deal to fill in some gaps in my knowledge and soften my perspective laid out in the original post.

Is that not a success? Isn't that what this forum should really be about?

Disappointingly, I'm getting mostly condescension from you.
 
I think to your point, hiring Ole as soon as he finished in the academy would have made sense. Or right after his first two titles with Molde.

The concern is in the years after, how significantly has Ole improved as a manager and why didn't he land another job and show success there..in the post right above I'm talking about Rony Deila whose couple years and league title with Strømsgodset is just as impressive to me. I'm sure Norway folks can correct me with more insight there. But he went on and was successful in Scotland. There's a good precedent for success there translating to the premier league...even more recently with Rodgers.

The concern for me is, hiring Ole back then would have been an easier gamble than now after an even longer period of mismanagement. It's hindsight for sure but if you were given a five year plan a year into it after Moyes, would you take it then? Might have been easier to consider then versus now on the eve of Liverpool's impending title. It's a bigger gamble now but in my opinion, even with the insight from folks like Grande, it's not a sound one. If Ole had one more season at Molde and took those two second place finishes to win the league again I'd be more convinced. Laying foundations is one thing. Serial winner is another. Isn't that Pochs biggest thing - laying brick everywhere. But he never did win. Ole has won before, but that's so long ago. Is he up to it now. Is he really better now? Maybe. But Manchester United is his testing ground now and looking at Ed, that's a hail Mary choice. Not a sound management decision on his part. And that's what I'm most critical of. In many ways this is all about Ed.
I don't have that much time to respond so I'll bullet point the responses to the bolded:

  • Hiring at the "right time" is great with the benefit of hindsight but unfortunately, that doesn't exist in real-world decision making. Also, this doesn't really guarantee anything.
  • "One more season at Molde" - this is an arbitrary criterion based on nothing but a guess. Not sure what difference you think it would make.
  • I really hate the term "serial winner". It's an appeal to accomplishments and part of the reason why United is in this mess (see LVG and Jose)
  • When Ole was appointed manager nearly everyone agreed he deserved it based on his record at the time. Once again Ed nor anyone has the benefit of hindsight
 
I don't know what your game is, mate, but let me tell you this: there's very little chance that Woodward based the decision (to hire Ole on a permanent basis) on his achievements with Molde.
I think I may have touched on that a bit more in the post above.

It's not meant to be a game. My expectation was:
Lay some info out. See how others interpret it. Maybe some folks can add more information to get the whole picture.

The spark that seems to have set people off is suggesting Ole's time at Molde wasn't good enough in my opinion.

That's not his fault. As an anti Woodward poster, that's my real aim if I had to choose a target to discredit or criticize.

What I'm learning is there's actually more merit in hiring Ole from his time at Molde, if you look at it with a certain perspective, than there was from hiring based on the interim period.
 
When Ole wins a CL or league, we can make comparisons with ZZ and Pep.
As of now, Ole is not anywhere near winning a trophy for us.

Under Ole, we have endured the worst start to an EPL campaign ever! And that includes the dreaded Moyes and the final season of Jose (which was a car crash....Ole is worse).
For Ole to be mentioned in the same sentence as Pep and/or ZZ, Ole would probably need to win every remaining match of the remainder of the season.
I am sure when Zidane or Pep took over Real or Barcelona in year 1, they had won nothing. Absolutely nothing. At best? They coached the reserve, which Ole did too. I don't even think Zidane had good results with the reserve, they went up and then down fast in the standing, and there was some controversies about his credentials as a coach even (he did not have them when he started coaching the reserves).

In short, it means nothing right now. Ole shows things on the field that are more than interesting for me. And he should keep winning as soon as the team gains more in confidence and just go for the ball because we can do it. We probably need some bodies with technical abilities to be able to rotate in some games.
 
The first full season with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer as manager of Manchester United has been a roller coaster of highs and lows. After what many of us felt was a disastrous summer of under recruitment, the season opening win was exhilarating and filled with optimism. Reality came crashing down hard and United found themselves near the relegation pack in the ensuing months, before another win against Chelsea to lift the mood, and then drop back down. The on-the-field decisions, results and performances have had many fans on the cafe and beyond very fairly questioning Ole's ability to lead this team. In response, there's an equally vociferous mob with only hope in their eyes criticizing doubters as bad football fans and even going so far as to accuse them of supporting other teams. It's a bit much and wreaks of intolerance for opposing views.

The boiling point was a tough set of games that might have led to Ole's sacking. However, we've now got two excellent wins against Tottenham and away to Manchester City that hit enough of a high again to momentarily lose sight of the season as a whole. But instead of looking forward, I want to go the other way and examine in more detail Ole's time as a manager before United. In a way, it's the due diligence that should have been a given before Ole went from interim manager to permanent manager.

MOLDE FK (2009-Present)
Below is a table of the last ten years of Molde FK's exploits in the Norwegian League. Keep in mind, the Norwegian League is 30 matches that run from March thru November.

SeasonManagerPositionPointsGoals ScoredGoals Allowed
2009some dude2nd566235
2010another dude11th404245
2011Ole1st585438
2012Ole1st625131
2013Ole6th444738
2014a different Ole
(Skullerud)
1st716224
2015both Oles6th526231
2016Ole5th454842
2017Ole2nd545035
2018Ole2nd596336
2019New dude (Moe)1st687231
SUMMARY


Below are some notes to give a bit more context to each of the seasons.
The years in Blue are when Ole Solskjaer was manager.

2009 - 2nd place. Some dude that got Molde promoted a few years back had them finish runner's up.

2010 - 11th place. The season started under the lead of some dude, but after 20 points from the opening 22 matches he was replaced by another dude. Molde collected another 20 points in the remaining 8 matches and brought them from relegation territory in 14th place to finish 11th.

2011 - League Title. Molde's first top division title after being serial second place finishers, led by Molde and Manchester United legend, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. They had a record low points for a champion. League was won by five points.

2012 - League Title. Title successfully defended by Ole. League was won by four points.

2013 - Finished 6th. Based on points, closer to relegation than the title. Ole declares after the first four games that Molde can't win the title. They had lost all four, the first time a defending champion had lost their opening four matches. After seven games, Molde had collected two points.

2014 - League Title with record wins and points for Ole Skullerud. Molde's first League and Cup Double. It is before the beginning of this season (March) that Ole takes over at Cardiff City (January), who were relegated soon thereafter.

2015 - Skullerud sacked in August (around matchday 18) with Molde in 7th place. There was some noise about family problems that had him considering leaving at the season end. In the remaining matches under Ole, he was able to take them back up the table, all the way to 6th place.

2016 - Uninspired 5th place finish. Ole had Molde finish 24 points off the champions but only 14 points away from relegation.

2017 - An improvement, but runners-up is a familiar place for Molde. They never had a chance as Rosenberg's title came with a record low twenty goals conceded. They were first almost completely from matchday one through the end of the season. There were only two matchdays on which they weren't in first place, interestingly it was Sarpsborg and Brann who briefly took over top spot, not Molde.

2018 - Despite finishing second, the season was mostly a race between Rosenberg and Brann. Molde nipped in at the end to finish above Brann by a point but five off the leaders.

2019 - With Ole at the wheel of Manchester United, some new dude named Moe led Molde to a very impressive finish to the season winning the league by 14 points and Molde's best scoring record of the last decade.

I don't want to pollute this overview with too much of my opinions. However, I have to say that actually looking through the history of each season paints a very different picture to the one that some of our resident Norwegians/Molde followers presented us when Ole was hired. Indeed it's commendable that he won Molde's first league titles, but in a way they appear as much to do with rivals having poor seasons than brilliance of the manager. In fact some of our deepest concerns have history here, as Molde often seems to improve significantly when Ole leaves and then dip upon his return.

Even in a simple review of the seasons there's plenty of information that could have been used by Manchester United in their managerial search. That they elected to hire Ole permanently suggests they didn't actually go through his resume with any sort of diligence. Based on what's here alone, Ole is nowhere near the caliber of appointment I would expect to take Manchester United back to its glory days. But hey, it's all a moot point now.

Missed in the analysis:

1. He won their first league title. Should account for something.
2. Doesn’t take into account spending, especially that compared to other clubs
3. Doesn’t take into account the quality of the squad. Did they underperform, overperform relative to expectations?
4. Doesn’t take into account injuries to key players.
5. Doesn’t take into account improvement of the manager himself. I do believe that managers improve, just like players.
 
The spark that seems to have set people off is suggesting Ole's time at Molde wasn't good enough in my opinion.

Alright - as I suggested above, based on your responses in this thread it's possible to interpret your original intention as, let's say, legit. I'll take it as such, being an amicable sort of fecker (mostly).

But the spark that set people off was clearly not the suggestion that Ole's time at Molde wasn't good enough - because nobody with any sense would argue that what he achieved at Molde is in any way sufficient evidence to make him a plausible candidate for the United job. Nobody - not even his most ardent adherents - has claimed this.

The actual spark was the - reasonable, based on your posting history - assumption that you had dug up some numbers (without context) in order to discredit Ole.
 
Alright - as I suggested above, based on your responses in this thread it's possible to interpret your original intention as, let's say, legit. I'll take it as such, being an amicable sort of fecker (mostly).

But the spark that set people off was clearly not the suggestion that Ole's time at Molde wasn't good enough - because nobody with any sense would argue that what he achieved at Molde is in any way sufficient evidence to make him a plausible candidate for the United job. Nobody - not even his most ardent adherents - has claimed this.

The actual spark was the - reasonable, based on your posting history - assumption that you had dug up some numbers (without context) in order to discredit Ole.
If I want to discredit Ole I would just lay out what's happened since he became full time manager of Manchester United. I have posted plenty about that in previous months. I'm hoping continued good results mean I can support the manager more than just deal with the situation.

I can see it's a very thin line I'm treading on here. Maybe the best way to characterize the difference is:

who the heck hired this guy? As opposed to how awful is this guy at the job?

@DSG it's not an analysis. Meant to be a quick summary, overview of the domestic campaigns. (1) is in there. Looks like you missed it. (5) that's kind of the question I was asking. People made it seem like the Norwegian league wins were yesterday. It was before Sir Alex retired. Since then, Ole has not won a league. It looks like the team does start to build under him but it takes three or four seasons and then it's a new manager that wins the title. So question is, does Ed see that and think okay I give Ole four years to be competitive? As many have pointed out, he went of the interim period, which is ridiculous. If he did think back to Molde then I ask, can United afford to wait that long. And does Ole earn that grace period simplu for being a former player over other managers Available
 
If I want to discredit Ole I would just lay out what's happened since he became full time manager of Manchester United. I have posted plenty about that in previous months.

I can see it's a very thin line I'm treading on here. Maybe the best way to characterize the difference is:

who the heck hired this guy? As opposed to how awful is this guy at the job?

@DSG it's not an analysis. Meant to be a quick summary, overview of the domestic campaigns. (1) is in there. Looks like you missed it. (5) that's kind of the question I was asking. People made it seem like the Norwegian league wins were yesterday. It was before Sir Alex retired. Since then, Ole has not won a league.

To be fair the assumption would have been that you would have at least taken a cursory glance at Ole's wikipedia page prior to yesterday.

If you assumed the wins were more recent as you didn't bother looking into that has to be on you.
 
To be fair the assumption would have been that you would have at least taken a cursory glance at Ole's wikipedia page prior to yesterday.

If you assumed the wins were more recent as you didn't bother looking into that has to be on you.
100% on me for sure.

But I felt it was worth posting because it was never dissected to any great extent before. Even when debating early on whether to make Ole permanent, never saw an in depth critique.
 
Forgetting about Solskjaer for a minute. Why should we dismiss the possibility of lower leagues hiding a top level management talent any different to a player? It's just harder to see.

There's talk of Everton bringing Moyes back. Anyone in the world and the best they come up with is bringing back Moyes.

Getting an opportunity as a manager is massive, once you have a high profile spell of good form behind you are set for life with hirings and sackings, like Marco Silva.
 
Forgetting about Solskjaer for a minute. Why should we dismiss the possibility of lower leagues hiding a top level management talent any different to a player? It's just harder to see.

There's talk of Everton bringing Moyes back. Anyone in the world and the best they come up with is bringing back Moyes.

Getting an opportunity as a manager is massive, once you have a high profile spell of good form behind you are set for life with hirings and sackings, like Marco Silva.
Actually very much agree. When going through the Norwegian League to better understand what went on - admittedly only as deep as my resources allowed - I was pretty intrigued by Ronny Deila. He won the Tippeligaen with Stromsgodset, their first in like fifty years. Also finished second a few times with them. Then he went on to win two Scottish Premier Leagues with Celtic. His signature was this progressive attacking play. He stepped down from Celtic and went back to Norway where he's been probably over perferoming with what used to be a relegation candidate. Curious he didn't land a bigger job after Celtic.
 
What people also tend to forget, like many of Ole`s past teammates have told (look up on youtube or i`ll provide the sources) :

Ole always had an analytical approach to the game, on the bench or when he shared room with Jaap Staam. Darren Fletcher are one of many that have spoken out about Ole`s Man Utd job, here below are what he is quoted on Norwegian television almost a week ago

`He`s doing it the hard way, but the right way for Man Utd. It`s not about winning this season, it`s about winning in 3-4 seasons, and be ready to challenge then ( i`ll add a comment here: as others have said, that is likely to when Pep and or Klopp are no longer managers of `Pool or Man City). Get in the right characters, personalities. Ole Gunnar has prepared for this job for his whole life, this is what he wanted. He knows Manchester united more than any club, he knows the mentality and what it takes better than anyone*. This is therefore not so much about Molde, and or Cardiff (which was a Urias post in the first place)`

* Which also includes Man Management skills, which is why say Roy Keane et.al are not relevant to the modern era of managers, in which Ole is better suited, and is also why Mourinho seem so weird and calm and humble these days, he had to change his game (character) to not loose the players. Loose the players, and the sack is around the corner.

Ole has the match going fans with him, the team, and the board, and as long as he has that support. Youtubers and redcaf can say whatever in the heat of the moment, in the end it`s only a forum for opinions
 
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I was pretty intrigued by Ronny Deila. He won the Tippeligaen with Stromsgodset, their first in like fifty years. Also finished second a few times with them. Then he went on to win two Scottish Premier Leagues with Celtic. His signature was this progressive attacking play. He stepped down from Celtic and went back to Norway where he's been probably over perferoming with what used to be a relegation candidate. Curious he didn't land a bigger job after Celtic.

Deila got the sack from Celtic if i remember correctly. Those Catholics are very demanding. Did not have a great enough run in europe / champions league. Deila did great at Strømsgodset (SIF) Dag Eilev Fagermo did some good ground work at SIF which Deila implemented (everybody has stood on somebodies past shoulders). Like having his players on a Kethosis kind of diet (very little carbs, high fat)

Deila were a player under Fagermo at SIF, a club captain and assistent manager which also played with familiar team mates from Odd Grenland. SIF had a very good team that winning season. Some of the likes play abroad now, henche they recruited very well also, and had a loan deal with Man City.

Deila are now not doing particularily well with VIF (Vålerenga Football) but he just signed a three year contract, and (does this sound familiar) the club are now in a rebuild and want local players from Oslo at their club, young, norwegian etc ..

Deila is said to be a great manager by SIF, so and so with Celtic, and have not won the majority of the supporters at VIF (but are planning to do so - but it takes time)

So, it`s not black and white this footballing business