Ole Gunnar, I’ve got three very quick questions for you.
- How long would you like on your contract?
- What would you like your salary to be?
- And where would you like the statue?
Hope they didn't start building that statue… pic.twitter.com/HZKVPDKJi1
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) March 16, 2019
We all get a little carried away sometimes and, in fairness to United fans, they had gone straight from Jose Mourinho to an unbelievable result in Paris under the stewardship of a club legend who didn’t seem to know nothing else but winning.
But since that 3-1 away win in PSG set up a Champions League quarter-final tie with Barcelona, it just hasn’t been the same for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
United since PSG
- Lost to Arsenal
- Lost to Wolves (put out of cup)
- Beat Watford (being outplayed at home)
- Lost to Wolves
Three points from a possible nine in the Premier League, eliminated from the FA Cup and the verve that came with the first 10 games seemingly evaporated. It will take more than removing the shackles to have a long-term impact at Old Trafford and, for a team that needs to recruit two centre halves, three midfielders, a wide player and probably another attacker, the blame can’t all be laid at Ole’s door.
But United have a habit of dishing out new contracts to managers when they’re not even close to being bent over a barrel. In fact, Solskjaer was awarded his after stringing together two successive losses for the first time. Whilst not catastrophic, just strange timing from Ed Woodward whose biggest flaw, honestly, seems to be bowing too much to the knee jerk of fans.
When Mourinho was bizarrely offered an extension, only 18 months into his original contract, it was applauded. He had come off the back of winning the League Cup and the Europa League and had the United supporters in his corner. It wasn’t long ago when the same manager had the backing of Old Trafford and expertly managed to turn the gallery on Woodward for not giving him even more money to piss away and the Executive Vice Chairman’s worst mistake was trying to keep that mob happy. The mob who backed Mourinho to the hilt.
There was going to be a big job cut out for the new United manager, whoever it was, but there was no reason to jump the gun in March.
Solskjaer had signed an interim deal until the end of the season, Pochettino was looking like he’d be available, and the least a steady hand would’ve done was played out Ole’s contract and took stock in summer, spoke to Pochettino if needs be or give Solskjaer the job then.
Instead, in his rush to satisfy the masses, Woodward reacted to the manager’s first run of bad form and shook his hand with a three-year deal way earlier than he needed to.
Solskjaer is a good man, he has done well, and he could yet prove to be a genius with a full season under his belt and with a transfer window to invest in but only the future can tell us that and the future wasn’t under any threat. But, in all their wisdom, the United board put their eggs in a basket that they are yet to feel the depth of yet, and they only did it to please the fans – who will turn anyway if results don’t.
So, in 2019, United have appointed their third manager since David Moyes departed, four managers in the span of David Moyes’ contract until May 2019.
The funny thing is, if they had stuck with Moyes all this time, they wouldn’t have won the league in that time either. And they’d probably still be fifth, too.
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