Solskjaer's legacy and his future

I expect for those of us who never bought into the romanticism of his arrival to begin with, and therefore were able to separate the player with the manager, his legacy as a player will remain unchanged. That includes many fond memories, some fantastic memories, and one exceptional memory.

As a manager I really find him quite irritating, but once he's gone I'll forget about Solskjaer the manager and move on, and all that will remain is Ole the player.
 
Ferguson’s Hairdryer said:
Also, as a manager, a hypocrite who sets one standards for other managers then lowers the standards when it him in the same position

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That is absolutely terrible. Lowered the standards to match his ability. Did him no favour buying 3 good players in the summer.

Will rightly be remembered as a very good squad player, scorer of our most famous goal, and a true professional. And as a terrible manager.
 
Mother of God, someone pull the trigger. Love turns to pity turns to frustration turns to anger. Get him out while there's still some affection there.
 
This all just highlights how slow, ponderous and hesitant the Glazers are. We all thought Moyes was the one who dithered over transfers but it is now clear it was them. Almost every transfer we made in the last 8 years was incredibly dragged out. The director of football role took years to happen.
As soon as Ronaldo, the commercial dream, is available they get it done in a day
 
I've always said that, to me, his failure as a manager wouldn't affect his legacy, but that derby game changed my mind.

I've never seen such a cowardly display in a Manchester derby. We actually went into the game waving white flags and had no intention to win. It was "just don't get battered". Even when City were shit and we were good, I can't remember them EVER coming into a derby like that. Back then, the difference was huge, but they always fought, whereas, today, we're supposed to be competing with them for trophies so the gap obviously isn't as big as it was back when they were fighting relegations.

At least against Liverpool we went in trying to win. We just got battered by a better team. The approach to the derby was a disgrace, though.
 
Spoony said:
Fans who remember his time as a player will always hold him high regard. The rest not so much.


Bloody Ole Ole Ole I love you.
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I would've agreed until the derby game. Even after the Liverpool shambles. There's no excuse for going into a Manchester derby with white flags being waved from kick off. There was a bigger gap between us and City before their money than there is now and City always came into derbies ready to fight.
 
First and foremost he seems a really decent guy and nothing he has said or done in his time as a coach has tarnished that.

As a player his contribution to Utd was fantastic but he is not one of the greats.

As a manager he will now have a decent cv courtesy of the players he has had at his disposal, but tactically he is out of his depth and his interviews are cringeworthy. It is now a question of when, not if as to his departure date. Better all round if it is sooner rather than later.
 
He'll always have his achievements as a player. Nothing will ever diminish that. He was phenomenal for us even if you take out that goal.

As a manager I don't think he's anywhere near the worst we've ever had, and he's done a fantastic job getting the squad up to a much higher quality. The obvious issue is that he is not good enough to get those players working anywhere near well enough together, so thank you and good luck but it's time now.

Unfortunately I think he has an absolutely unbreakable belief in himself, which is of course a good trait to have but is now preventing him from realising he's out of his depth.
 
Yagami said:
I've always said that, to me, his failure as a manager wouldn't affect his legacy, but that derby game changed my mind.

I've never seen such a cowardly display in a Manchester derby. We actually went into the game waving white flags and had no intention to win. It was "just don't get battered". Even when City were shit and we were good, I can't remember them EVER coming into a derby like that. Back then, the difference was huge, but they always fought, whereas, today, we're supposed to be competing with them for trophies so the gap obviously isn't as big as it was back when they were fighting relegations.

At least against Liverpool we went in trying to win. We just got battered by a better team. The approach to the derby was a disgrace, though.
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I'm exactly on the same boat as you. The fact that he didn't set the team up to have a right go in the second half (being two goals down is hardly game over especially playing at home in a derby) changed my mind. His cowardly approach was pure selfishness on his part to keep the scoreline as respectable as possible, fully knowing that a drubbing would've effectively had him sacked right after the final whistle.
 
Ferguson’s Hairdryer said:
Also, as a manager, a hypocrite who sets one standards for other managers then lowers the standards when it him in the same position

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When he said we're not talking about winning titles and we weren't title chasers is exactly when the wheels started to come off. If you look at out form since then, it's been up and down. That was March if I remember correctly. Go and look at our form since then. I think that's when he started to lose players, and supporters.
 
Solius said:
He'll always have his achievements as a player. Nothing will ever diminish that. He was phenomenal for us even if you take out that goal.

As a manager I don't think he's anywhere near the worst we've ever had, and he's done a fantastic job getting the squad up to a much higher quality. The obvious issue is that he is not good enough to get those players working anywhere near well enough together, so thank you and good luck but it's time now.

Unfortunately I think he has an absolutely unbreakable belief in himself, which is of course a good trait to have but is now preventing him from realising he's out of his depth.
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To add to this, perhaps (and hopefully) the silver lining here is that the cub stop drowning themselves in nostalgia and hoping things work just because it did with Fergie.

The club needs to separate themselves from the past. We used to laugh at Liverpool for it and now we're doing the exact same thing.
 
VanDeBank said:
  • Turned around a very toxic environment
  • Okay transfer record
  • Played awful football for 3 years without winning anything
  • Was a terrible manager outside of his interim period
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Summed up perfectly. I'll remember that he came in during an extremely low and dark period for the club and lifted the mood, spirit and atmosphere. He served his purpose for a very short period, but was found to be severely lacking even before the original intended interim period was out. Should not have stayed in the position beyond the intended interim period.
 
Green_Red said:
When he said we're not talking about winning titles and we weren't title chasers is exactly when the wheels started to come off. If you look at out form since then, it's been up and down. That was March if I remember correctly. Go and look at our form since then. I think that's when he started to lose players, and supporters.
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Exactly. I remember last year when we were first for a bit he instantly went on the defensive and we started dropping points. People will say but Klopp underplayed his title chances even when they were 15 points clear, the point is Liverpool had become amongst the favourites and not getting complacent was what Klopp guarding against. Whereas last year United needed the motivation, they needed to believe they could win it.
 
Solius said:
He'll always have his achievements as a player. Nothing will ever diminish that. He was phenomenal for us even if you take out that goal.

As a manager I don't think he's anywhere near the worst we've ever had, and he's done a fantastic job getting the squad up to a much higher quality. The obvious issue is that he is not good enough to get those players working anywhere near well enough together, so thank you and good luck but it's time now.

Unfortunately I think he has an absolutely unbreakable belief in himself, which is of course a good trait to have but is now preventing him from realising he's out of his depth.
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Great summary.
 
this is a quite huge turnaround for a lot of fans. it is best for everyone if he is replaced. That Ralf bloke would be a great choice if he agrees to be an interim manager.
 
He will always have that legacy as a player but his managerial one is being tainted by not resigning after Liverpool
 
I’m struggling to find anything beyond the initial first few months as an interim manager ,which was as much to do with the turmoil Jose had left than Ole’s managerial abilities, that could qualify this sorry episode as success. Even the much spoken about man management skills don’t stand up to scrutiny. He clearly favours a small group of players to the detriment of those players’ fitness and the harmony within the squad. It was evident throughout his tenure but most of us were oblivious to the obvious. It was most noticeable in his bizarre treatment of Sergio Romero, repeatedly dropping him for finals and semi-finals despite De Gea’s shaky form and then exiling him from the squad for a year because his wife spoke out against how he was being treated.
 
It's genuinely a shame ole will likely undo all the good work he has done since being in charge by staying on at this point
 
Manager - Failure

I think he escapes a lot of criticism last season. Last season was a weaker Premier League than the season Leicester won it. He escaped with coming second, a mile off Man City, who didn't even post an impressive points haul.

Failed to win the Europa League in two attempts, even though we had the best team by a long way.

In three years, he has failed to make the team look organised.

There has been no substantial improvement in terms of results. Season results: 66 points; 74 points; 59 points (extrapolated). So, it is actually getting worse, now.

All this whilst having a massive spend. Net spend: £295.05m Gross Spend: £412.74m


He is also our second biggest spender, post-Ferguson, and has won nothing.

Gross spend % since Ferguson
Moyes - 5.7% (Nothing)
Van Gaal - 26% (FA Cup)
Mourinho - 34.4% (League Cup, Europa League)
Solskjaer - 33.9% (Zilch)

This is the definition of failure, and being our worst manager.
 
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The Irish Connection said:
This all just highlights how slow, ponderous and hesitant the Glazers are. We all thought Moyes was the one who dithered over transfers but it is now clear it was them. Almost every transfer we made in the last 8 years was incredibly dragged out. The director of football role took years to happen.
As soon as Ronaldo, the commercial dream, is available they get it done in a day
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There were rumours a year or two ago that the Glazers liked transfer saga’s to go on until the last few weeks of the transfer window to save on players wages.
 
His legacy as a player remains untarnished. In a few years from now his management stint will be laughed about. In the long run it will hurt his feelings more than it will the fan's feelings.
 
smi11ie said:
His legacy as a player remains untarnished. In a few years from now his management stint will be laughed about. In the long run it will hurt his feelings more than it will the fan's feelings.
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If he stays the whole season and doesn’t make top 4 the club will suffer a massive setback. Loads of players are halfway out of the club and we have to hope the board are competent for once in appointing a proper replacement to cover the big gap between us and City, Liverpool and Chelsea. Nothing funny about it to be honest.
 
I’ll remember him as the best manager post Fergie if he leaves soon. If he continues to stay I will always defend those first few seasons as they matched expectations and he has delivered some wonderful memories that I just didn’t get under the other managers. Shame he’s now fallen short and the hyperbole is out but I think he can hold his head up high and say he’s a good manager, just not good enough for the very top.
 
Ronaldo's ego said:
If he stays the whole season and doesn’t make top 4 the club will suffer a massive setback. Loads of players are halfway out of the club and we have to hope the board are competent for once in appointing a proper replacement to cover the big gap between us and City, Liverpool and Chelsea. Nothing funny about it to be honest.
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Not funny but getting sacked for a bad season, after having a couple of decent seasons, is forgivable. He is just a crappy manager, not a crappy person or crappy player.
 
smi11ie said:
Not funny but getting sacked for a bad season, after having a couple of decent seasons, is forgivable. He is just a crappy manager, not a crappy person or player.
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His decent seasons need to come with a huge asterix stating that he was basically gifted top 4 with all the injuries and overhaul the top clubs all went through and spent the most during his stint.

He's right up there as one of the worst manager ever to have coached in the premier league. The sooner he feck off the better so we can all start to forget he ever took charge of him and appreciate him as a former player instead.
 
'crappy manager' he's clearly not, but the level of the PL is passing him by unfortunately.

Still, he's still offered many memorable and enjoyable games for me, more than any post SAF manager/coach.
Can't remember one memorable game I enjoyed under Jose. The EL final was a total slog.
 
TrustInJanuzaj said:
I’ll remember him as the best manager post Fergie if he leaves soon. If he continues to stay I will always defend those first few seasons as they matched expectations and he has delivered some wonderful memories that I just didn’t get under the other managers. Shame he’s now fallen short and the hyperbole is out but I think he can hold his head up high and say he’s a good manager, just not good enough for the very top.
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Juanfield, van Gaal's 1 pre-season, smashing City 4-2, Liverpool 3-0, Rashford's sudden breakthrough, winning the FA Cup under van Gaal doesnt compare to the memories we had under Ole? Bare in mind that Ole's tenure has spread over 4 seasons now nearing a 3 year reign.
 
AjaxCunian said:
Juanfield, van Gaal's 1 pre-season, smashing City 4-2, Liverpool 3-0, Rashford's sudden breakthrough, winning the FA Cup under van Gaal doesnt compare to the memories we had under Ole? Bare in mind that Ole's tenure has spread over 4 seasons now nearing a 3 year reign.
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We certainly had our moment under LVG.
I think LVG high points, interms of enjoyment and style of play, surpass Ole but we've had some great individual game under Ole too.
Heck, even under Moyes I enjoyed our CL run to some degree.

Jose can get in the bin though.
 
AjaxCunian said:
Juanfield, van Gaal's 1 pre-season, smashing City 4-2, Liverpool 3-0, Rashford's sudden breakthrough, winning the FA Cup under van Gaal doesnt compare to the memories we had under Ole? Bare in mind that Ole's tenure has spread over 4 seasons now nearing a 3 year reign.
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Nah LVGs football was fecking atrocious more often than not. Ole gets stick but in our best spells we have played far better football than under the previous regimes. Paris alone though was better than any of those games.
 
His managerial legacy for me will be just the exciting first few months as interim. Everything else has been totally forgettable and I have been Ole out since the end of that first season.
I actually preferred winning trophies under Jose and LVG and when Ole is finally (deservedly) let go his tenure will live on as longs as Moyes' did in my mind.

I will always remember his playing days fondly though.
 
TrustInJanuzaj said:
Nah LVGs football was fecking atrocious more often than not. Ole gets stick but in our best spells we have played far better football than under the previous regimes. Paris alone though was better than any of those games.
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Well you were talking about memories, but I guess you were talking about the average Ole match compared to the other managers then, which is fair enough.

Paris was an awesome match, but we were incredibly lucky and didnt play well by any means. I cant imagine that to be better than Juanfield, or repeatedly beating City/Liverpool/Spurs by decent margins in short time spans.

But I was just curious and it is your opinion ofcourse, which is fair enough.

FrankDrebin said:
We certainly had our moment under LVG.
I think LVG high points, interms of enjoyment and style of play, surpass Ole but we've had some great individual game under Ole too.
Heck, even under Moyes I enjoyed our CL run to some degree.

Jose can get in the bin though.
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Moyes vs Bayern was quite surprisingly good. Olympiacos was kind of a moment, but was terrible to be there in the first place. Breakthrough of Januzaj was nice.

Under Jose, I think the start when Lukaku had arrived was promising, there was a period were Zlatan was playing very well but we just couldnt seem to finish it off. EL is a bit mixed, did win it but not convincingly enough I guess.
 
TrustInJanuzaj said:
Nah LVGs football was fecking atrocious more often than not. Ole gets stick but in our best spells we have played far better football than under the previous regimes. Paris alone though was better than any of those games.
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I always felt that if LVG had a prime Rooney we would have more games. The amount of time the attacks used to break when Rooney had the ball was ridiculous.

Also, we really needed fast wide attackers. I remember we wanted Mane but the 30m was too much for the board.

Oddly enough LVG had this stubbornness to play Rooney, and avoid using Herrera whenever he had the opportunity. The same could be said with Ole's stubbornness to use McTominay and Fred and not use Donny.

Ole, has more favourites thann both LVG and Mourinho which is why his fate will be like the rest of the post SAF managers.
 
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