There’s a lot more to being a success at one club than just coaching ability though, it’s just as much about being the right fit at the right time. I’m convinced a lot of whether a manager succeeds or fails is circumstantial, and one manager succeeding at one club might do terribly at another and vice versa. Nobody considered Ole a top coach before 2018, especially after he tanked at Cardiff, but there’s something about the dynamic at United that seems to work. Better than anyone else post 2013 anyway.
It’s almost a mystery why some appointments work and some don’t, and you never know until you try. I’m sure that’s why you have some chairmen appointing people like Bruce, Moyes and the same old faces who keep failing upwards because who knows, their club might be different. Or why you get clubs appointing the likes of Lampard, Gerrard, Scott Parker, Arteta. There’s no science behind it, you take a punt, watch it for 18-24 months and see what happens. If it fails, take a shot on somebody else. Ole seems to have something about him when in the dugout here that didn’t apply at Cardiff. Gary Neville failed at Valencia, but I think he could walk into Wycombe Wanderers tomorrow and for whatever reason it might just click.
Just because Ole doesn’t have the CV of Jose Mourinho doesn’t mean he isn’t the right manager for us. As the saying goes, it isn’t stupid if it works. At the minute, in my view it’s working.