Ole Gunnar Solskjaer | W15 D2 L4

Is Ole a good appointment?


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Frank Grimes

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I'd be more excited for Ole if he were taking over a finely tuned squad, like the inexperienced Zidane did at Madrid. I believe deep down that the powers that be knew and still know that Poch is the type of manager we need at this time. Proven track record of meeting expectations and more importantly of developing talent. And maybe even more importantly for our mediocre owners, doing it all on a relatively limited budget.

Being as incompetent as they are has left them in a situation where they couldn't hire Poch now if they wanted to, and instead will hand the keys over to an old familiar face that conjures up the romantic feelings of past eras. So insecure (and rightly so) in their own poor decisions of the past 6 years that they'll have no choice but to succumb to emotion over logic. You'll have to forgive me for thinking this might not end well.
Good post, I agree.
 

JohnnyKills

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I'll be disappointed if Solskjaer is our next manager, he's done well in his interim role and I love him but I have serious doubts he is the required standard.
I felt the same but after the PSG result feel like we've got to give him a chance now.

There aren't many alternatives and he's a low-risk bet. If Poch got the job they'd be hounding him after every defeat asking why OGS didn't get the job.

We should give him a two-year contract and see how he goes. Poch will still be available in a year's time it seems.
 

ForestRGoinUp

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I felt the same but after the PSG result feel like we've got to give him a chance now.

There aren't many alternatives and he's a low-risk bet. If Poch got the job they'd be hounding him after every defeat asking why OGS didn't get the job.

We should give him a two-year contract and see how he goes. Poch will still be available in a year's time it seems.
Not quite sure Poch would just be sitting around waiting to make a deal with the dopes who (probably) had him believing he was theirs, only to have the rug yanked out from under him. Could be wrong though.
 

MikeKing

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Don’t think it’s that easy. Poch is a certainty to develop talent. It can’t be denied. How could we know if Solskjaer will develop talent at Poch’s level?
Uhm. Don't want to exaggerate my point here, but Ole was coaching our U21's too. He should know a thing or two about it. I believe he was the first coach to play Pogba in the more advanced midfield position on the left, before he left us and continued in that role for Juventus. I could be wrong but I seem to remember Ole claiming this himself a few years ago.
 

ForestRGoinUp

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Uhm. Don't want to exaggerate my point here, but Ole was coaching our U21's too. He should know a thing or two about it. I believe he was the first coach to play Pogba in the more advanced midfield position on the left, before he left us and continued in that role for Juventus. I could be wrong but I seem to remember Ole claiming this himself a few years ago.
Ok...but I mean giving Pogba a little more freedom in a U21 setup vs. supplying virtually half of England's best World Cup team in a pretty long time.
 

Catt

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I'll be disappointed if Solskjaer is our next manager, he's done well in his interim role and I love him but I have serious doubts he is the required standard.
Unfortunately I agree and I think the club is in for an unpleasant ride. He's brought back the feel good factor but you need more than that to succeed at this level.

You can't make these desicions based on emotions.
 

Striker10

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I'm pretty confident but there are a few things. One is that the Glazers have to back him. Second is even if they back him, the market is wrecked. Third is that even if we spend a lot? Other clubs will strengthen so we're playing catch up anyway. Because even to buy a squad player now or a punt, costs now typically in excess of 6/7 what Roy Keane did when we bought him. People need to be realistic and not stupid and reactionary. Jose should have understood the club. LVG should not have given certain players away for cheap. Moyes should have done more to keep the backroom staff. There is a lot for us to do but the foundation in terms of how we want to play is there and the players believe in him and I think they know Ole better then what we do. So there are reasons to be optimistic but let's not be stupid. The only certainty is uncertainty. At least until the foundation is in place. Let's wait until the end of the season.
 

Jonas Hagman

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There is one thing people don't calculate when they discuss this matter and that is that Ole learns more about being a United manager everyday that's passing and now he had some hard times lately, let's see how we respond to this before we draw any final conclusion . Ole's at the wheel, have faith !
 
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Phil Osophy

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At this point I find it comical to read that the main reason to appoint Solskjaer is emotionality, old memories and all that.

http://solskjaertabellen.com/

He's got more points than anyone else since he came (including 10 points more than Pochettino), taking over in December a depressed team that he didn't build, that he didn't know deeply, implementing changes in the way we played. And still made us competitive in the league, FA Cup and CL with all the limitations we have, and suffering a plague of injuries by the way.

The man has brought energy, ambition, he's been flexible tactically and we've seen glimpses of brilliance after dark times. He has revalued players who were totally lost for the cause, and we've destroyed under him all kind of historic records. With these cards on the table any manager would be the favourite to get the job regardless of being a club legend or not.

Pretending this is about emotions and blind faith is nothing more than a bad joke. If anything, logic suggest us to appoint the one with +10 points and not the one with -10, even more when Solskjaer is doing it here already which is yet to see with any other candidate. Also let's not forget that Ole has surely identified all our flaws and how to fix them, while any other manager will take time to analyze the team from zero. So again based on logic there isn't a better candidate than Solskjaer to make us competitive from the first game of next season.

Then, things like hunger, bravery and desire to be here should be taken into account. I feel that Solskjaer wants this chance badly and is determined to succeed. He's fearless about it and you feel the man is living a dream. He's well surrounded too, knows every corner of the club and its entourage and is respected by everyone, an authorized voice. That's another clear advantage.

With Pochettino I don't know what he's thinking, but to me he seems reluctant at the moment to leave his comfort zone to face a challenge like this one, probably more after seeing two legends of the game to fail here miserably in the last years. So if I'm right and he's doubtful about coming, we better leave him there meeting the season expectations. Probably when Ole leaves in 2025 Pochettino will be there still and yet to win a trophy.
 

Handré1990

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At this point I find it comical to read that the main reason to appoint Solskjaer is emotionality, old memories and all that.

http://solskjaertabellen.com/

He's got more points than anyone else since he came (including 10 points more than Pochettino), taking over in December a depressed team that he didn't build, that he didn't know deeply, implementing changes in the way we played. And still made us competitive in the league, FA Cup and CL with all the limitations we have, and suffering a plague of injuries by the way.

The man has brought energy, ambition, he's been flexible tactically and we've seen glimpses of brilliance after dark times. He has revalued players who were totally lost for the cause, and we've destroyed under him all kind of historic records. With these cards on the table any manager would be the favourite to get the job regardless of being a club legend or not.

Pretending this is about emotions and blind faith is nothing more than a bad joke. If anything, logic suggest us to appoint the one with +10 points and not the one with -10, even more when Solskjaer is doing it here already which is yet to see with any other candidate. Also let's not forget that Ole has surely identified all our flaws and how to fix them, while any other manager will take time to analyze the team from zero. So again based on logic there isn't a better candidate than Solskjaer to make us competitive from the first game of next season.

Then, things like hunger, bravery and desire to be here should be taken into account. I feel that Solskjaer wants this chance badly and is determined to succeed. He's fearless about it and you feel the man is living a dream. He's well surrounded too, knows every corner of the club and its entourage and is respected by everyone, an authorized voice. That's another clear advantage.

With Pochettino I don't know what he's thinking, but to me he seems reluctant at the moment to leave his comfort zone to face a challenge like this one, probably more after seeing two legends of the game to fail here miserably in the last years. So if I'm right and he's doubtful about coming, we better leave him there meeting the season expectations. Probably when Ole leaves in 2025 Pochettino will be there still and yet to win a trophy.
If you’d left out the last paragraph more people would agree. The rest is perfect as is :keano:
 

Phil Osophy

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If you’d left out the last paragraph more people would agree. The rest is perfect as is :keano:
The truth is I don't expect everyone to agree, just sharing a feeling there. I rate him as a coach and he's built a very good team there, but if he wants to be considered one of the best coaches he needs to take risks and give steps forward. He's been there for 5 or 6 seasons now and I still don't see the man forcing his way to a higher place. He's comfortable there doing the same every season apparently, so let's not disturb the man while he meets the goals of the season for 5 or 6 years more.
 

EnelDoobacabra

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I think they'd be absolutely pants on head mad not to appoint Ole as manager. However, I think they should wait until the end of the season to announce it - more to fend off the naysayers more than anything, by the end of the season he will either have continued to flourish or have flatlined (like some believe). There will be a much clearer argument one way or the other.

I really believe that people advocating for Poch to be appointed are the ones having a knee-jerk reaction. I feel like most of these people had already made up in their mind, before Ole was announced as interim, that Poch was the only solution to United's problems. Now it's almost as if there is this idea that you should hunker down and defend that sentiment despite Ole's dream start to the role (despite him accomplishing a lot of what people were saying Poch was going to accomplish).

So I really see no reason as to why Poch is seen as superior fit anymore. If you are looking for counterarguments as to why Ole should not fill the role, then stuff like Di Matteo's interim spell at Chelsea (winning the Champions League and then the club's catatonic heart attack the following season) would be good grounds to advocate caution. However, Solskjaer has maintained already a much stronger PL record, so there's also that. But all this chat about Poch is nonsense and getting a little silly/tiresome now. I think he's a good coach but I just don't think Spurs have ever been what people have started cracking them up to be the last few years. Yeah they're better than they used to be, but they are still trophyless.
 
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JohnnyKills

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There is one thing people don't calculate when they discuss this matter and that is that Ole learns more about being a United manager everyday that's passing and now he had some hard times lately, let's see how we respond to this before we draw any final conclusion . Ole's at the wheel, have faith !
Nah, sorry. We can't just go into this on romance and emotion. It has to be the right decision. We also can't afford to be work experience for the guy who takes over.

If we take Ole he needs to be the best available candidate right now. No more reciting terrace songs or waffling about the United way, understanding the club etc. It needs to be a hard, cold footballing judgement.

(BTW I agree Ole should get the job - I actually think he's been tactically impressive in his first few games and saying he's still learning is actually doing him a disservice).
 

Catt

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Should be a 1 year contract but I'm not sure if they do that.

Anyway, congrats Ole!