I will never understand some posters determination to erase any shred of positivity from Ole's time here. It's nothing more than petty and agenda driven.
Yes we've gone backwards this season, prior to that we've had ups and downs but had season-on-season progression in the squad recruitment and in league position. Those are two unequivocal facts and in the absence of a prime candidate to replace him (as we are seeing all too clearly right now) it was right to continue with him, this season we have gone backwards so it's time to look at a successor, that doesn't mean his entire time here has been some sort of joke like many seem to claim.
*Before I get responses claiming 'oh Liverpool had injuries and Lamps was at Chelsea' and 'this team isn't talented / balanced' bore off with that what-iffery and nonsense. He's leaving us in a better place than his predecessors, period.
When Ole took over I was underwhelmed like many, but I had key areas I wanted to see improvement on before even thinking about competing for trophies and he quickly started to tick these boxes and being a United man it was easy to get behind him when you can clearly see he wants the best for the club every bit as much as us fans, that this was his dream job and he enjoys every moment of it and respects the badge, unlike the clown who left before him who from the moment he arrived looked like a sulking schoolboy who resented the job.
He's done a far better job of assembling a talented squad than the three men before him, a squad that many managers will be over the moon to work with. All pundits at least agree he's done a decent job of that until this point. He's had money, yes, but he's not squandered it, unless you like to pretend all his signings are rubbish when they quite clearly aren't.
His good times were much better and far more entertaining than his predecessors as others have pointed out, he's wanted us to attack and score goals freely and we've had some great results as well as the bad. The good times, lot's of dramatic comebacks and late winners have at least reminded me of what its like to have my club back, how I remember it, these results perhaps naively strengthened the backing of him from certain sections, including myself, but at least there were moments of entertainment.
I hope now he can go with some dignity and respect. I concede he's taken us as far as he can but I respect the man for re-setting the mindset here from our lowest point under Mourinho and for leaving us a better club than when he arrived, with a foundation from which to build with a new manager. It's not what we hoped he may achieve but a lot more than many expected when he took over as caretaker.