Ole's Resume | An overview of Molde's 1st ever title-winning manager

[Sterling Archer]

The first full season with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer as manager of Manchester United has been a roller coaster of highs and lows. After what many of us felt was a disastrous summer of under recruitment, the season opening win was exhilarating and filled with optimism. Reality came crashing down hard and United found themselves near the relegation pack in the ensuing months, before another win against Chelsea to lift the mood, and then drop back down. The on-the-field decisions, results and performances have had many fans on the cafe and beyond very fairly questioning Ole's ability to lead this team. In response, there's an equally vociferous mob with only hope in their eyes criticizing doubters as bad football fans and even going so far as to accuse them of supporting other teams. It's a bit much and wreaks of intolerance for opposing views.

The boiling point was a tough set of games that might have led to Ole's sacking. However, we've now got two excellent wins against Tottenham and away to Manchester City that hit enough of a high again to momentarily lose sight of the season as a whole. But instead of looking forward, I want to go the other way and examine in more detail Ole's time as a manager before United. In a way, it's the due diligence that should have been a given before Ole went from interim manager to permanent manager.

MOLDE FK (2009-Present)
Below is a table of the last ten years of Molde FK's exploits in the Norwegian League. Keep in mind, the Norwegian League is 30 matches that run from March thru November.

Season	Manager	Position	Points	Goals Scored	Goals Allowed
2009	some dude	2nd	56	62	35
2010	another dude	11th	40	42	45
2011	Ole	1st	58	54	38
2012	Ole	1st	62	51	31
2013	Ole	6th	44	47	38
2014	a different Ole (Skullerud)	1st	71	62	24
2015	both Oles	6th	52	62	31
2016	Ole	5th	45	48	42
2017	Ole	2nd	54	50	35
2018	Ole	2nd	59	63	36
2019	New dude (Moe)	1st	68	72	31

SUMMARY

Below are some notes to give a bit more context to each of the seasons.
The years in Blue are when Ole Solskjaer was manager.

2009 - 2nd place. Some dude that got Molde promoted a few years back had them finish runner's up.

2010 - 11th place. The season started under the lead of some dude, but after 20 points from the opening 22 matches he was replaced by another dude. Molde collected another 20 points in the remaining 8 matches and brought them from relegation territory in 14th place to finish 11th.

2011 - League Title. Molde's first top division title after being serial second place finishers, led by Molde and Manchester United legend, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. They had a record low points for a champion. League was won by five points.

2012 - League Title. Title successfully defended by Ole. League was won by four points.

2013 - Finished 6th. Based on points, closer to relegation than the title. Ole declares after the first four games that Molde can't win the title. They had lost all four, the first time a defending champion had lost their opening four matches. After seven games, Molde had collected two points.

2014 - League Title with record wins and points for Ole Skullerud. Molde's first League and Cup Double. It is before the beginning of this season (March) that Ole takes over at Cardiff City (January), who were relegated soon thereafter.

2015 - Skullerud sacked in August (around matchday 18) with Molde in 7th place. There was some noise about family problems that had him considering leaving at the season end. In the remaining matches under Ole, he was able to take them back up the table, all the way to 6th place.

2016 - Uninspired 5th place finish. Ole had Molde finish 24 points off the champions but only 14 points away from relegation.

2017 - An improvement, but runners-up is a familiar place for Molde. They never had a chance as Rosenberg's title came with a record low twenty goals conceded. They were first almost completely from matchday one through the end of the season. There were only two matchdays on which they weren't in first place, interestingly it was Sarpsborg and Brann who briefly took over top spot, not Molde.

2018 - Despite finishing second, the season was mostly a race between Rosenberg and Brann. Molde nipped in at the end to finish above Brann by a point but five off the leaders.

2019 - With Ole at the wheel of Manchester United, some new dude named Moe led Molde to a very impressive finish to the season winning the league by 14 points and Molde's best scoring record of the last decade.

I don't want to pollute this overview with too much of my opinions. However, I have to say that actually looking through the history of each season paints a very different picture to the one that some of our resident Norwegians/Molde followers presented us when Ole was hired. Indeed it's commendable that he won Molde's first league titles, but in a way they appear as much to do with rivals having poor seasons than brilliance of the manager. In fact some of our deepest concerns have history here, as Molde often seems to improve significantly when Ole leaves and then dip upon his return.

Even in a simple review of the seasons there's plenty of information that could have been used by Manchester United in their managerial search. That they elected to hire Ole permanently suggests they didn't actually go through his resume with any sort of diligence. Based on what's here alone, Ole is nowhere near the caliber of appointment I would expect to take Manchester United back to its glory days. But hey, it's all a moot point now.

 

[SteveW]

Couldn't you have stuck this in one of the other million threads where people bash his CV?

 

[roonster09]

All these are missing context, unless someone who watched Norway league can shed some light, all this "team x finished 2nd, then they finished 3rd" is just meaningless.

Mancini won the league, Pellegrini also won the league but Mancini's win was better as he laid the foundations, by the time Pellegrini took over, they were already top dogs. But for someone who never watches PL and just goes by Wiki, there isn't any difference.

 

[The Man Himself]

Sack Ole, sell Molde. Also, Sack Ed, Sell Man United. Rhymes

 

[Sterling Archer]

All these are missing context, unless someone who watched Norway league can shed some light, all this "team x finished 2nd, then they finished 3rd" is just meaningless.

Mancini won the league, Pellegrini also won the league but Mancini's win was better as he laid the foundations, by the time Pellegrini took over, they were already top dogs. But for someone who never watches PL and just goes by Wiki, there isn't any difference.

I tried to include a bit of context below the tables. Certainly could use some help from folks that watch the Norwegian league. In the case of Ole, it looks like Skullerud laid the foundations for a great team in 2014. Record points. Tons of goals. And in the following several seasons taking over that team, Ole couldn't win the title again?

But at the same time...a manager winning the Premier League sits much higher in my book than the Norwegian League almost a decade ago.

 

[DeeDee7]

All these are missing context, unless someone who watched Norway league can shed some light, all this "team x finished 2nd, then they finished 3rd" is just meaningless.

Mancini won the league, Pellegrini also won the league but Mancini's win was better as he laid the foundations, by the time Pellegrini took over, they were already top dogs. But for someone who never watches PL and just goes by Wiki, there isn't any difference.

Pretty much this. More then happy to read someones opinion and research on Ole but not with only a fraction of context. How much player turnover was there? How much money invested? Why were other clubs trash as you say?

Otherwise you just presented facts. And those are in 5 seasons at the club Ole came 1st and 2nd twice.

 

[Classical Mechanic]

I believe Molde we’re spending big in this period also while the biggest side in Norway were in a bad spot.

 

[Joeace2020]

I knew it!

 

[Sterling Archer]

Couldn't you have stuck this in one of the other million threads where people bash his CV?

Nah. Hoping Woodward sees this. Or the very least some lazy journo that steals ideas from these forums and regurgitates it on the interwebs.

 

[roonster09]

I tried to include a bit of context below the tables. Certainly could use some help from folks that watch the Norwegian league.

But at the same time...a manager winning the Premier League sits much higher in my book than the Norwegian League almost a decade ago.

Yes, not sure the point of that as I don't think anyone argues against that.

If we blindly go by wiki, Luis Enrique and Pep are equal as they both won treble in their first season but regular or even casual watchers of La Liga would give you better context.

I have no idea of his job at Molde and for me it's not important either. What he did at Molde is of no use to judge his work at ManUtd. Good record at Molde won't help him at ManUtd or his bad record at Molde won't be a problem for him. I would judge him on his work at ManUtd alone.

 

[Sterling Archer]

Yes, not sure the point of that as I don't think anyone argues against that.

If we blindly go by wiki, Luis Enrique and Pep are equal as they both won treble in their first season but regular or even casual watchers of La Liga would give you better context.

I have no idea of his job at Molde and for me it's not important either. What he did at Molde is of no use to judge his work at ManUtd. Good record at Molde won't help him at ManUtd or his bad record at Molde won't be a problem for him. I would judge him on his work at ManUtd alone.

Actually I think you've illustrated the point perfectly. With no context, if Ole had taken a winning side and won again you might not blink an eye of falsely assume greatness. I wish that were the case here.

What we've got is Ole took over a defending champion and then finished 6th, 5th, 2nd and 2nd with them. That to me begs a lot of questions. Because even without context it's a bit shocking. And reminiscent of the last time I recall a manager taking over champions and finishing not far off in 7th. That was David Moyes.

And what's the context there? Can we absolve Moyes with context? Much the way you're suggestion that context might absolve Ole here?

Or perhaps it's true that with more time Moyes could have righted the ship. And likewise with a guarantee of four years Ole can too?

 

[SteveW]

Nah. Hoping Woodward sees this. Or the very least some lazy journo that steals ideas from these forums and regurgitates it on the interwebs.

Yup, whatever it takes to get him sacked right?

 

[roonster09]

Actually I think you've illustrated the point perfectly. With no context, if Ole had taken a winning side and won again you might not blink an eye of falsely assume greatness. I wish that were the case here.

What we've got is Ole took over a defending champion and then finished 6th, 5th, 2nd and 2nd with them. That to me begs a lot of questions. Because even without context it's a bit shocking. And reminiscent of the last time I recall a manager taking over champions and finishing not far off in 7th. That was David Moyes.

And what's the context there? Can we absolve Moyes with context? Much the way you're suggestion that context might absolve Ole here?

Or perhaps it's true that with more time Moyes could have righted the ship. And likewise with a guarantee of four years Ole can too?

No we don't as we watched every single min of the league and we know completely what happened.

I didn't say context might absolve Ole here, I said without context, reading just wiki is meaningless. We need people who watched the league to shed some light on what happened.

Btw with last line, your masking is slipping. Just say you want Ole out instead of all this and its killing you that this week he won few more fans with the performance against Spurs and City.

 

[Sterling Archer]

Yup, whatever it takes to get him sacked right?

Actually, the takeaway here is that Ed Woodward should be relieved of his role.

 

[Sterling Archer]

No we don't as we watched every single min of the league and we know completely what happened.

I didn't say context might absolve Ole here, I said without context, reading just wiki is meaningless. We need people who watched the league to shed some light on what happened.

Btw with last line, your masking is slipping. Just say you want Ole out instead of all this and its killing you that this week he won few more fans with the performance against Spurs and City.

I actually have been praising Ole the last two weeks with an emphasis on hoping it's a turning point. And said not long ago too that I would love nothing more than to eat humble pie and be proven wrong. So this is the perfect time to reflect. It's not knee jerk. It's a sincere look back and to consider what are the chances we build on the last two weeks.

 

[SteveW]

The thing Sterling doesn't seem to understand is that he's wasting his energy. At the end of the day the club will assess him based on him performance in this job. So will the fans. His performance at Molde or Cardiff or even the United reserves will have zero bearing on his future here. If they thing he's on the right track he will stay. Simple as.

The obsession with trying to discredit everything about him is pretty bizarre to be totally honest. Watch the games. Try to figure out if we're making progress or not. Stop being weird. That's what most sensible people do.

Edit: Apparently Sterling is now praising Ole and thinks this thread will help get Ed sacked. No idea what to say to that tbh.

 

[roonster09]

I actually have been praising Ole the last two weeks with an emphasis on hoping it's a turning point. And said not long ago too that I would love nothing more than to eat humble pie and be proven wrong. So this is the perfect time to reflect. It's not knee jerk. It's a sincere look back and to consider what are the chances we build on the last two weeks.

And how would pointing his CV would help in building for the future when the resources available for him is completely different at ManUtd compared to his other clubs, the quality of players he has at United is completely different, don't have to sign any player who can kick to ball to scrap relegation battle.

Btw I don't agree that this is the perfect time to reflect. Finally we are having fully fit team, Pogba will be back soon and we have addressed goal scoring problems, at least for now. I wanted Ole to be sacked but in the last few weeks, there are few positive signs, especially in the way we are attacking. Lets see how he sets the team in December and whether we will address the weak positions in Jan.

 

[Bondi77]

Football is a funny old game.
When I saw that LVG was coming to the club I was thinking we have a serial winner with a great record of working with young players who is going to have a serious war chest at his disposal, here comes success.
What actually happened was he bought dud after dud and sold a few of our young players that have gone on to do well at other clubs and we played a style of football that made watching paint dry a spectacle.
I am not fussed at how a player does at another club I am only concerned at what he does in a Utd shirt and the same goes for the manager.
I think sometimes a player just fits in at a club and does really well and for whatever reason he does nothing elsewhere and it could be the same for a manager and maybe a manager who is well liked by his players has more chance of success than a superior coach who is not.

 

[jackal&hyde]

This is not an overview, it's taking some facts and dressing them in a biased/ agenda driven fashion while pretending to be objective. Should be in the Ole in/Ole out thread imo.

 

[Sterling Archer]

And how would pointing his CV would help in building for the future when the resources available for him is completely different at ManUtd compared to his other clubs, the quality of players he has at United is completely different, don't have to sign any player who can kick to ball to scrap relegation battle.

Btw I don't agree that this is the perfect time to reflect. Finally we are having fully fit team, Pogba will be back soon and we have addressed goal scoring problems, at least for now. I wanted Ole to be sacked but in the last few weeks, there are few positive signs, especially in the way we are attacking. Lets see how he sets the team in December and whether we will address the weak positions in Jan.

I think we need to back up a little bit here. Like yourself I've no problem changing my views on Ole as the season continues to progress. The thread really is an attempt to give more background. Because I have to be honest: both when Ole was hired as an interim manager and then full time I didn't look up his credentials at all. I recalled him winning the league in Norway and that Cardiff was a sinking ship anyway. I already had the opinion that much of the squad needed to go. So combined with the giddiness of that run right after Jose was sacked and that I had a sentimental attachment to Ole the player I went along with it. It was a bit lax on my part. I was surprised that the Molde years weren't more impressive even from a glance. Most of all, it just resonated extremely poor decision making from Woodward. I think that's what this reflects the most: how does the CEO decide to cancel the thorough search that was talked up and hire before the season end based on this resume and a handful of games as interim manager? That's reckless and scary for coming years. Even if Ole is successful I don't see how Ed can be anything but bad decisions to overcome

 

[roonster09]

I think we need to back up a little bit here. Like yourself I've no problem changing my views on Ole as the season continues to progress. The thread really is an attempt to give more background. Because I have to be honest: both when Ole was hired as an interim manager and then full time I didn't look up his credentials at all. I recalled him winning the league in Norway and that Cardiff was a sinking ship anyway. I already had the opinion that much of the squad needed to go. So combined with the giddiness of that run right after Jose was sacked and that I had a sentimental attachment to Ole the player I went along with it. It was a bit lax on my part. I was surprised that the Molde years weren't more impressive even from a glance. Most of all, it just resonated extremely poor decision making from Woodward. I think that's what this reflects the most: how does the CEO decide to cancel the thorough search that was talked up and hire before the season end based on this resume and a handful of games as interim manager? That's reckless and scary for coming years. Even if Ole is successful I don't see how Ed can be anything but bad decisions to overcome

This is what I'm saying, we don't know whether Molde years was impressive or not. We don't know whether they lost big players or had big injuries. We don't know whether they signed young players who took time to adapt and finally had a team to compete. In short, we know nothing about Molde except their league position.

Btw if Ole is successful then it won't be a bad decision by Woodward, it will be praised as the decision that was out of the box, hiring manager by looking beyond their CVs. If the fails then it will be a bad decision and Woodward will get lot of shit for hiring a manager who didn't have experience in handling big clubs. That's how every decision is rated with benefit of hindsight.

 

[Zen86]

Couldn't you have stuck this in one of the other million threads where people bash his CV?

No no no, he has some hot new research.

 

[Ødegaard]

This stuff just reads as if you are trying to bring down his achievement of getting Molde to win.
Time and time again people who hate Molde have praised Ole's work at the club. He did fantastic to win against Rosenborg. There is no two-ways about that.

 

[Champagne Football]

Pointless thread.

Sir Alex was sacked by St. Mirren in his first job.
Brian Clough sacked by Leeds before winning the European Cup 2 years in a row with Forest.

Ole is being mentored by the best now in Mike Phelan, and has some real talent coming through the academy to develop. I'd say Ole has learnt more with Phelan next to him in his first 3 months here, as he did in 6 or 7 or whatever years when he was out learning his trade on his own.

 

[MikeKing]

I actually have been praising Ole the last two weeks with an emphasis on hoping it's a turning point. And said not long ago too that I would love nothing more than to eat humble pie and be proven wrong. So this is the perfect time to reflect. It's not knee jerk. It's a sincere look back and to consider what are the chances we build on the last two weeks.

It certainly isn't worthless information, I'll give you that but I don't think you can use it for anything. Just to look at at something from the past and expect it to happen or make a prediction based on this information alone seems hasty and meaningless.

 

[Bilbo]

The first full season with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer as manager of Manchester United has been a roller coaster of highs and lows. After what many of us felt was a disastrous summer of under recruitment, the season opening win was exhilarating and filled with optimism. Reality came crashing down hard and United found themselves near the relegation pack in the ensuing months, before another win against Chelsea to lift the mood, and then drop back down. The on-the-field decisions, results and performances have had many fans on the cafe and beyond very fairly questioning Ole's ability to lead this team. In response, there's an equally vociferous mob with only hope in their eyes criticizing doubters as bad football fans and even going so far as to accuse them of supporting other teams. It's a bit much and wreaks of intolerance for opposing views.

The boiling point was a tough set of games that might have led to Ole's sacking. However, we've now got two excellent wins against Tottenham and away to Manchester City that hit enough of a high again to momentarily lose sight of the season as a whole. But instead of looking forward, I want to go the other way and examine in more detail Ole's time as a manager before United. In a way, it's the due diligence that should have been a given before Ole went from interim manager to permanent manager.

MOLDE FK (2009-Present)
Below is a table of the last ten years of Molde FK's exploits in the Norwegian League. Keep in mind, the Norwegian League is 30 matches that run from March thru November.

Season	Manager	Position	Points	Goals Scored	Goals Allowed
2009	some dude	2nd	56	62	35
2010	another dude	11th	40	42	45
2011	Ole	1st	58	54	38
2012	Ole	1st	62	51	31
2013	Ole	6th	44	47	38
2014	a different Ole (Skullerud)	1st	71	62	24
2015	both Oles	6th	52	62	31
2016	Ole	5th	45	48	42
2017	Ole	2nd	54	50	35
2018	Ole	2nd	59	63	36
2019	New dude (Moe)	1st	68	72	31

SUMMARY


Below are some notes to give a bit more context to each of the seasons.
The years in Blue are when Ole Solskjaer was manager.

2009 - 2nd place. Some dude that got Molde promoted a few years back had them finish runner's up.

2010 - 11th place. The season started under the lead of some dude, but after 20 points from the opening 22 matches he was replaced by another dude. Molde collected another 20 points in the remaining 8 matches and brought them from relegation territory in 14th place to finish 11th.

2011 - League Title. Molde's first top division title after being serial second place finishers, led by Molde and Manchester United legend, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. They had a record low points for a champion. League was won by five points.

2012 - League Title. Title successfully defended by Ole. League was won by four points.

2013 - Finished 6th. Based on points, closer to relegation than the title. Ole declares after the first four games that Molde can't win the title. They had lost all four, the first time a defending champion had lost their opening four matches. After seven games, Molde had collected two points.

2014 - League Title with record wins and points for Ole Skullerud. Molde's first League and Cup Double. It is before the beginning of this season (March) that Ole takes over at Cardiff City (January), who were relegated soon thereafter.

2015 - Skullerud sacked in August (around matchday 18) with Molde in 7th place. There was some noise about family problems that had him considering leaving at the season end. In the remaining matches under Ole, he was able to take them back up the table, all the way to 6th place.

2016 - Uninspired 5th place finish. Ole had Molde finish 24 points off the champions but only 14 points away from relegation.

2017 - An improvement, but runners-up is a familiar place for Molde. They never had a chance as Rosenberg's title came with a record low twenty goals conceded. They were first almost completely from matchday one through the end of the season. There were only two matchdays on which they weren't in first place, interestingly it was Sarpsborg and Brann who briefly took over top spot, not Molde.

2018 - Despite finishing second, the season was mostly a race between Rosenberg and Brann. Molde nipped in at the end to finish above Brann by a point but five off the leaders.

2019 - With Ole at the wheel of Manchester United, some new dude named Moe led Molde to a very impressive finish to the season winning the league by 14 points and Molde's best scoring record of the last decade.

I don't want to pollute this overview with too much of my opinions. However, I have to say that actually looking through the history of each season paints a very different picture to the one that some of our resident Norwegians/Molde followers presented us when Ole was hired. Indeed it's commendable that he won Molde's first league titles, but in a way they appear as much to do with rivals having poor seasons than brilliance of the manager. In fact some of our deepest concerns have history here, as Molde often seems to improve significantly when Ole leaves and then dip upon his return.

Even in a simple review of the seasons there's plenty of information that could have been used by Manchester United in their managerial search. That they elected to hire Ole permanently suggests they didn't actually go through his resume with any sort of diligence. Based on what's here alone, Ole is nowhere near the caliber of appointment I would expect to take Manchester United back to its glory days. But hey, it's all a moot point now.

Sorry but this post is laughable. You post the most basic overview possible of his tenure in Norway and then summarise by criticising the club for lack of due diligence. I'll bet everything you posted here is available on Wikipedia.

Just another pointless dig at the manager, at a time when we all have some reasons to enjoy being a United fan right now.

 

[roonster09]

The on-the-field decisions, results and performances have had many fans on the cafe and beyond very fairly questioning Ole's ability to lead this team. In response, there's an equally vociferous mob with only hope in their eyes criticizing doubters as bad football fans and even going so far as to accuse them of supporting other teams. It's a bit much and wreaks of intolerance for opposing views.

 

[Tarrou]

wikipedia due diligence

 

[MackRobinson]

Imagine making this thread after beating Manchester City and Spurs. Some people simply care to much about being "right".

That they elected to hire Ole permanently suggests they didn't actually go through his resume with any sort of diligence. Based on what's here alone, Ole is nowhere near the caliber of appointment I would expect to take Manchester United back to its glory days. But hey, it's all a moot point now.

These are two pretty ridiculous points given a couple of examples:

1. Pep Guardiola and Zidane were managing B sides before getting the two most prestigious jobs in the world.
2. United already went the "best available resume" route with hiring managers and failed miserably on consecutively appointments.

The timing and the points made it this thread are just off. Even Ole losing the next 10 matches and is sacked you don't really deserve to say "I told you so".

 

[pacifictheme]

I actually have been praising Ole the last two weeks with an emphasis on hoping it's a turning point. And said not long ago too that I would love nothing more than to eat humble pie and be proven wrong. So this is the perfect time to reflect. It's not knee jerk. It's a sincere look back and to consider what are the chances we build on the last two weeks.

Yeah but the zealots will have no bad word spoken against him. The last two matches prove it. They were right. Everyone else needs to shut up.

For me there is nothing in oles managerial history pre united that qualifies him for the job. All we can do is hope he can step up and deliver. Overall so far the jury is out, but i think he needs to be given january transfer window as the squad is very light.

 

[amolbhatia50k]

Couldn't you have stuck this in one of the other million threads where people bash his CV?

No. Couldn't you have stayed away from this thread?

 

[Ban]

Oh look, another thread about bashing Ole. I shudder to think what would have happened if we lost last 2 games. I guess there are people who need to get those kind of stuff of their back no matter what.

 

[Lemansky]

I watch the Norwegian league and I struggle to see what points the OP is trying to make. In Norway historically we have one major team, Rosenborg. They have been totally dominant since Eggens time and have bought up all of the leagues talent because of their superior economical situation. Molde have their “rich uncles” in Røkke and Gjelsten, but all they really do is letting Molde have a budget they can compete with.

The OP also misses the most important point IMO and that is the constant selling of their best players. The last example is Haaland. It’s very difficult getting quality players as replacements and there will often be a big vacuum when the club sells its best players. Ole has had a BIG input in Moldes culture, philosophy and general development. The points the OP tries to make would be very alien to people following the Norwegian league.

Quality players sold by Molde the last years (there is certainly more also):
Linnes
Mohamed Elyounoussi
Gulbrandsen
Eikrem
Pape Diou
Forren
Haaland

This is just from the top of my head

 

[KM]

I don't understand the point of this thread. Regardless of whatever Ole did or did not do in the Norwegian League, that should've never been the criteria for his appointment here. He should only be judged due to his work here. It's weird that OP went out of the way to did this research after some positivity in this forum after two amazing results.

 

[SmallCaine]

Pointless thread.

Sir Alex was sacked by St. Mirren in his first job.
Brian Clough sacked by Leeds before winning the European Cup 2 years in a row with Forest.

Ole is being mentored by the best now in Mike Phelan, and has some real talent coming through the academy to develop. I'd say Ole has learnt more with Phelan next to him in his first 3 months here, as he did in 6 or 7 or whatever years when he was out learning his trade on his own.

I agree with you on the thread but that is as bad a defense of that point as the actual one we had under mourinho last season, Sir Alex was not sacked because of footballing reasons by St.Mirren, Clough was hopeless at leeds, his sacking was well deserved and had little to do with his future success and he was a very highly rated manager, which is the reason he got the leeds job in the first place. So don't see how either situations are comparable with ole's?

Secondly please tell me you are joking about phelan, he has been the most maligned of fergie's assistants, many blame him for the quality of football going down in the last few years under sir alex and most people if asked to remember fergie's good assistants would point to kidd or queiroz not phelan. There is a reason why he went to australia, he much like ole stunk at managing in england.

 

[MackRobinson]

Has anyone figured out what qualified Guardiola or Zidane for the Barcelona and Real Madrid jobs?

 

[RUCK4444]

Coming off the back of two great results you choose now to create this pointless thread, that says it all really. Clear agenda against Ole.

Even worse your over inflated opinion of your own thread has you hoping the press pick up on it and heap more pressure on our manager. Feck me, pathetic really.

Nothing in your post about Ole’s previous record holds any baring on his current role as United boss. If it did real journalists would be using it as a stick to beat him with, but no just ‘fans’ on United forums do that.

The Ole you describe has:-
*14 points from 18 against the top sides this season.

*Currently 5th position with a real chance of top four, especially if he is backed in January.

*He has done the above with an overall exceptionally average and threadbare United squad (when you compare past squads under previous management.). All while missing our best player.

*Played youth consistently to great effect against the big sides, reinforcements needed with technical ability to break down defensive sides.

*He has improved almost all of the players in the core of this young side.

*Fred is a completely different player (it’s not just a feckin run of games, he’s being coached like every other player.)

*McTominay consistently improving.

*Rashford is having his best ever season.

*Ole has been the first manager to play Martial as a number 9 consistently, something the Caf has been crying out for.

*Martial and Rashfords linkup has improved as a result.

*Dan James has hit the ground running and has been instrumental in our counterattacking current setup.

 

[lysglimt]

Actually I think you've illustrated the point perfectly. With no context, if Ole had taken a winning side and won again you might not blink an eye of falsely assume greatness. I wish that were the case here.

What we've got is Ole took over a defending champion and then finished 6th, 5th, 2nd and 2nd with them. That to me begs a lot of questions. Because even without context it's a bit shocking. And reminiscent of the last time I recall a manager taking over champions and finishing not far off in 7th. That was David Moyes.

And what's the context there? Can we absolve Moyes with context? Much the way you're suggestion that context might absolve Ole here?

Or perhaps it's true that with more time Moyes could have righted the ship. And likewise with a guarantee of four years Ole can too?

I am sorry but this is norwegian football - not the Premier League. What happens in Norway is that if a team performs well - a lot of their best players get picked up by foreign clubs for next to no Money. So if you are gonna look at his results, you need to take into consideration which players left the club after each season. Because a lot of Molde-players left for football abroad in this period - and finding replacements it's a bit harder in Norway than in the P.L

 

[Sterling Archer]

I watch the Norwegian league and I struggle to see what points the OP is trying to make. In Norway historically we have one major team, Rosenborg. They have been totally dominant since Eggens time and have bought up all of the leagues talent because of their superior economical situation. Molde have their “rich uncles” in Røkke and Gjelsten, but all they really do is letting Molde have a budget they can compete with.

The OP also misses the most important point IMO and that is the constant selling of their best players. The last example is Haaland. It’s very difficult getting quality players as replacements and there will often be a big vacuum when the club sells its best players. Ole has had a BIG input in Moldes culture, philosophy and general development. The points the OP tries to make would be very alien to people following the Norwegian league.

Quality players sold by Molde the last years (there is certainly more also):
Linnes
Mohamed Elyounoussi
Gulbrandsen
Eikrem
Pape Diou
Forren
Haaland

This is just from the top of my head

I'm more curious to know what happened in 2014. Seems Skullred came in and did a great job with Molde. Likewise Moe. In the years between under Ole it's not appearing as impressive.

 

[UpWithRivers]

Yes it needs context and like all stats it doesnt necessarily paint the correct picture. However it definitely is an interesting and salient observation. we all know Ole was hired on the basis of one failed managerial job at Cardiff and seemingly one good managerial job at Molde. Molde are no where near the level of football as the Premiership/Seria A etc. So its factual to say he has no managerial experience at the top level except a short appointment that was a complete failure. This post at least brings into question that even his so called successful managerial spell in a sub par league may have not been as brilliant as it was portrayed. It also shows that he was hired in spite of his managerial experience as even if you start talking context there are serious questions to be asked about how successful he actually was. So if he was not hired on the back of proven managerial experience then he was obviously hired on other points - his past history with the club and probably the fact he is a jolly fellow. That does not mean he will be a failure or not. That's another argument. This thread is just clarifying as far as I can see it that his managerial history is crap. I would be surprised if anyone thinks otherwise.