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

Ødegaard

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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.
That just doesn't sound true to my ears.
Ole was hired because of his job as interim manager, and he got the job as interim manager based on his status at the club while being a manager with some experience.
 

sglowrider

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Couldn't you have stuck this in one of the other million threads where people bash his CV?
I think Sterling is what is known in life as a one-trick pony.

I bet he has had the same convo with his mates who have since avoided his utter monotony like the plague. So he has only us sods left on-line.

I suspect Ole has become some sort of scapegoat to all the ills of his/her life.
 
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"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."

So there are two opinions regarding Ole?

One side is "fairly questioning Oles ability", while the other side has "only hope in their eyes" and have "intolerance for opposing views"?

That last bit is especially ironic given you've tried (and failed) to show you have no tolerance for some poster views.

A new thread just to say you think Oles time at Molde was average and you want him out? Could have just added a post in one of the other, existing threads.
 

Lemansky

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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.
It’s margins really. The biggest upside for Moe has been that Eikrem have come back to the club. He is their best player and have been fantastic.
 

matt10000

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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.

SeasonManagerPositionPointsGoals ScoredGoals Allowed
2009some dude2nd566235
2010another dude11th404245
2011Ole1st585438
2012Ole1st625131
2013Ole6th444738
2014a different Ole
(Skullerud)
1st716224
2015both Oles6th526231
2016Ole5th454842
2017Ole2nd545035
2018Ole2nd596336
2019New dude (Moe)1st687231
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.
So in 6 seasons where Ole was solely in charge he won 2 league titles and runners up twice and you are using this as a reason to bash him!

I am not saying his time at Molde proves anything but those stats are pretty good and he won the Norwegian Football Cup.

You conveniently missed some managerial stats:

Manchester United Reserves
Premier Reserve League: 2009–10

Premier Reserve League North: 2009–10

Lancashire Senior Cup: 2008–09

Manchester Senior Cup: 2009

Again doesn’t prove anything at Premier League Level but if you are going to use previous managerial stats to bash him I don’t see how you can apart from Cardiff.

His stats for Man Utd Reserves and Molde are pretty good.
 

JB7

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Oh yay another ridiculous pointless thread about our manager who has just beaten Mourinho and Guardiola in his last two games. Get a fecking life and support the man.
 

Lemansky

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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.
Before 2014 Molde also invested in a lot of quality for the Norwegian league. Fagermo even called them a buying team and said the our sovereign wealth fund was the only thing with more money than Moldes budget.

The players that was bought before 2014. A lot of quality for the Norwegian league

Sigurdarsson
Diouf bought back
Singh
Moi Elyounoussi

Your presentation have zero value as there is no context at all in it.
 

SoCross

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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?
Maybe he would have if the fans hadn't been impatient and called for his sacking.

:lol:

Context man, context.
 

7even

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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.
No!

Maybe you’re trolling but if not this is plain wrong. The reasons the club has been is such a mess since Sir Alex retirement is because the club haven’t done their homework properly. It’s an odyssey of bad decisions based on a poor recruitment process.

So far Ole’s results with us match quite well his earlier career as a manager. From one extreme to another.

As at stands he’s doing a great job with re building our squad, changing the culture and giving youth opportunities. What we can question is his coaching abilities, especially against teams on the bottom half of the table. Time will tell if he has the ability to improve our overall results or not but based on his earlier achievements I think it’s fair that some of us are still skeptical.
 

KM

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No!

Maybe you’re trolling but if not this is plain wrong. The reasons the club has been is such a mess since Sir Alex retirement is because the club haven’t done their homework properly. It’s an odyssey of bad decisions based on a poor recruitment process.

So far Ole’s results with us match quite well his earlier career as a manager. From one extreme to another.

As at stands he’s doing a great job with re building our squad, changing the culture and giving youth opportunities. What we can question is his coaching abilities, especially against teams on the bottom half of the table. Time will tell if he has the ability to improve our overall results or not but based on his earlier achievements I think it’s fair that some of us are still skeptical.
What the hell are you talking about? Ole's skills in Norwegian league was never a factor in his appointment. He was appointed cos he was an ex-player. Do you think the next time there's an United vacancy, managers managing in Norwegian league would be considered?
and hence his work in Norwegian League is irrelevant when we're discussing whether he's good enough for United job or not.
 

tenpoless

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After seeing this thread I feel like there's one more Grim Reaper :lol:
Like Jose had his 4 staunch acolytes on here. Ole has the Grimm reaper (@fergiesarmy1), MisterLooper (@MisterLupus) and Sugar Puffs (@Class of 63). Each is more mental than the last.
Don't really see the point of this thread but the way someone just came out of nowhere to defend Ole as He did in other 20 threads is funny.
 

Samid

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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.
Yup. Some of the factors are:
  • Huge turnover of players before every season (the league in general, not just Molde). Both incoming and outgoing. You've almost got to start from scratch every year. Keeping any sort of stability is difficult when you're forced to replace key players with unknown quantity. This league is basically just a stepping stone to bigger and better things.
  • Molde's entire budget in 2017 was around £8m. Rosenborg's is constantly around £20m. If the latter play their cards right they should be finishing above Molde every season.
  • Unpredictability. I've seriously lost count of the amount of times a team has finished top 3 one year only to be battling relegation the next. We've had newly promoted teams fight for top 3 the following seasons. Just this year Bodø/Glimt were favourites to finish rock bottom but somehow found their mojo in pre season, unearthed a 19 year old gem who won POTY (Håkon Evjen, already sold to AZ) and miraculously finished 2nd.
  • Fine margins. The quality difference between Molde/Rosenborg players and lower half players is nowhere near the difference between Liverpool/City players and West Ham/Bournemouth players. So whenever Molde/Rosenborg have an off period for whatever reasons they struggle to even get a win on the board.

It's hilarious how biased the OP is though. So Ole only won because Rosenborg sucked in those years yet there's no mention of Rosenborg sucking when Ole hasn't been there. Like them being in the relegation zone after a third of the 2019 season.

Also there's no mention of Ole winning an EL group with Fenerbache, Celtic and Ajax in 15/16, the season before the latter reached the final. In the following round they also punched massively above their weight by winning the home leg vs EL heavyweights Sevilla. But yeah that doesn't suit our 'Ole sucks ass' agenda so let's not mention that.
 

simmee

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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.

SeasonManagerPositionPointsGoals ScoredGoals Allowed
2009some dude2nd566235
2010another dude11th404245
2011Ole1st585438
2012Ole1st625131
2013Ole6th444738
2014a different Ole
(Skullerud)
1st716224
2015both Oles6th526231
2016Ole5th454842
2017Ole2nd545035
2018Ole2nd596336
2019New dude (Moe)1st687231
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.
Damn, you just got the analyst who was supposed to look at Ole's previous results on Wikipedia before hiring him fired.
 

andersj

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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.

SeasonManagerPositionPointsGoals ScoredGoals Allowed2009some dude2nd5662352010another dude11th4042452011Ole1st5854382012Ole1st6251312013Ole6th4447382014a different Ole
(Skullerud)1st7162242015both Oles6th5262312016Ole5th4548422017Ole2nd5450352018Ole2nd5963362019New dude (Moe)1st687231
In other words, Ole built a Molde side that won the title. Their first title ever. In his first job. And he repeated it winning it twice in a row. He had one poor season and then left. He left behind a team good enough to win the title again under a manager who has been average (or below) everywhere he has been. Never won anything, anywhere. Ole then took over a team in decline and gradually built them into a contender again, finishing 2nd twice in a row. He then left behind a great team again who his assistant were able to win the league with. Every side playing attacking football with young, exciting players.

Another spin; Ole took charge in 2011 - 9 years ago. Since then they have won the title four times (before that they had never won) and finished second twice. Won the cup twice. In the decade prior to Ole, with the same owner, they managed to finish 2nd twice and won the cup once (two times in their history)

And this resume is somehow negative. Not agenda driven at all...
 

roonster09

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Yup. Some of the factors are:
  • Huge turnover of players before every season (the league in general, not just Molde). Both incoming and outgoing. You've almost got to start from scratch every year. Keeping any sort of stability is difficult when you're forced to replace key players with unknown quantity. This league is basically just a stepping stone to bigger and better things.
  • Molde's entire budget in 2017 was around £8m. Rosenborg's is constantly around £20m. If the latter play their cards right they should be finishing above Molde every season.
  • Unpredictability. I've seriously lost count of the amount of times a team has finished top 3 one year only to be battling relegation the next. We've had newly promoted teams fight for top 3 the following seasons. Just this year Bodø/Glimt were favourites to finish rock bottom but somehow found their mojo in pre season, unearthed a 19 year old gem who won POTY (Håkon Evjen, already sold to AZ) and miraculously finished 2nd.
  • Fine margins. The quality difference between Molde/Rosenborg players and lower half players is nowhere near the difference between Liverpool/City players and West Ham/Bournemouth players. So whenever Molde/Rosenborg have an off period for whatever reasons they struggle to even get a win on the board.

It's hilarious how biased the OP is though. So Ole only won because Rosenborg sucked in those years yet there's no mention of Rosenborg sucking when Ole hasn't been there. Like them being in the relegation zone after a third of the 2019 season.

Also there's no mention of Ole winning an EL group with Fenerbache, Celtic and Ajax in 15/16, the season before the latter reached the final. In the following round they also punched massively above their weight by winning the home leg vs EL heavyweights Sevilla. But yeah that doesn't suit our 'Ole sucks ass' agenda so let's not mention that.
Good post, this is what I was asking for. You need to know the context instead of just checking the league positions on wiki. People who watch the league can give detailed analysis, which actually helps the discussion instead of blindly following the numbers.
 

roonster09

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Another spin; Ole took charge in 2011 - 9 years ago. Since then they have won the title four times (before that they had never won) and finished second twice. Won the cup twice. In the decade prior to Ole, with the same owner, they managed to finish 2nd twice and won the cup once (two times in their history)

And this resume is somehow negative. Not agenda driven at all...
That's a good point, wonder if Molde fans rate Ole as the manager who changed the club to win 4 titles in 9 years or the manager who won 2 titles but could have won more.

Remember watching one of his interview where Ole said he wants to change everything at Molde and wants to replicate what was followed at ManUtd.
 

Bilbo

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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.
Curious, but not curious enough to do more than 5 minutes of research before starting this thread. Be honest, you were just looking for a fresh angle to spread negativity about Ole.
 

ReddBalls

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Threads like this makes me wonder if some of the posters on here also have this approach to forming their opinions about football: Reading stats without watching the games.
 

troylocker

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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?
In your desperate attempt to make a point here, you seem to forget that he took over the reigning champions after round 18 of 30 in the following season, and they were 7th in the league at the time and struggling to produce results. Sorry if that didn't fit your narrative.

Worth mentioning is that there of course also is a lot of factors playing in other than points won, goals scored/allowed and placement on the table (just like here now):

Some 2015 Molde context:

-Three key players left before or during the 2015 season:
Hovland to Rosenborg.
Chukwu had left for adventures in China
Nyland was sold to Germany in the summer.

-Their Ryan Giggs, midfielder boss Daniel Berg Hestad (40 at the time) was fading out.

-Norways flagship in football, Rosenborg, took back their throne that season, won by 12 points and went on to win the next 3 titles as well, looking to regain their position as undisputed #1 in Norway, but Rosenborg has fallen like a rock after a lot of disturbance within the club last season (sacking their manager and assistant midseason after winning everything three seasons in a row, but failing to produce in Europe)and continuing into this season with a the new manager. This left the 2019 title open for grabs, and cudos to Moe (Ole's assistant btw) for taking it, but it would have been another 2nd if Rosenborg didn't go completely kamikaze on themselves. Rosenborg has the money and culture to make tippeligaen a one-team-league, like they did in the 90s and early 00s with 13 straight titles from 1992-2004 in the SAF-esque reign of Nils Arne Eggen and winning half the titles (7) since, but has been struggling to reproduce the results after Eggen resigned due to constantly sacking managers and changing directions (yes, much like us).

- Also worth mentioning is that Ole managed Molde to their 3rd Norwegian cup title in 2013 and took them to Europa Leagues round of 16 once (Which is fantastic for a team worth 10M)
OGS regained Moldes position as the second strongest team in Norway, which under the circumstances were the best he could do (with Rosenborg back on their winningspree)

The 2014 season with Skullerud, where Molde won both the league and cup, was a job well done by him and the players. Unfortunately for him he couldn't replicate it, and the next season started catastrophic and ended with him being sacked after 18 matches, placed 7th.

One more thing: About Ole getting Cardiff relegated. He did and he didn't. They were rockbottom of the table, played crap football and looked doomed before Ole got in there. He didn't save them, that's true, but they were getting relegated no matter who they brought in there. Ole did however leave them in a worse state than he entered, and that's on him. He made some poor signings and struggled to find the right approach on matchdays, and it didn't look like he was getting there either. Do I think he learned from that year in Cardiff? Yes!
 
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Samid

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The last two games have certainly rattled a fair few posters. They were ready with the pitchforks and were licking their lips at the prospect of two losses. Those games didn't at all go as expected so desperate times call for desperate measures.
 

7even

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What the hell are you talking about? Ole's skills in Norwegian league was never a factor in his appointment. He was appointed cos he was an ex-player. Do you think the next time there's an United vacancy, managers managing in Norwegian league would be considered?
and hence his work in Norwegian League is irrelevant when we're discussing whether he's good enough for United job or not.
Ouch! You‘re right but maybe I misunderstood you because I was talking about that our recruitment process has been poor. That we appointing a ex player who have a questionable CV is a huge gamble and not based on some intelligent strategy from our CEO. He (Ole) could be a future success but that has nothing to do with a proper due diligence, something that is necessary to run a successful business long term.
 

BazzaBear

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Molde often seems to improve significantly when Ole leaves and then dip upon his return.
I especially like that line. Includes stats showing that he's only 'returned' once, and the results then improved - albeit slowly. Concludes that results 'often dip' when he returns to the club.

Clearly this is a dispassionate and unbiased look at his Molde history, with no attempt at all to prove a particular point.
 

podurban2

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In your desperate attempt to make a point here, you seem to forget that he took over the reigning champions after round 18 of 30 in the following season, and they were 7th in the league at the time and struggling to produce results. Sorry if that didn't fit your narrative.

Worth mentioning is that there of course also is a lot of factors playing in other than points won, goals scored/allowed and placement on the table (just like here now):

Some 2015 Molde context:

-Three key players left before or during the 2015 season:
Hovland to Rosenborg.
Chukwu had left for adventures in China
Nyland was sold to Germany in the summer.

-Their Ryan Giggs, midfielder boss Daniel Berg Hestad (40 at the time) was fading out.

-Norways flagship in football, Rosenborg, took back their throne that season, won by 12 points and went on to win the next 3 titles as well, looking to regain their position as undisputed #1 in Norway, but Rosenborg has fallen like a rock after a lot of disturbance within the club last season (sacking their manager and assistant midseason after winning everything three seasons in a row, but failing to produce in Europe)and continuing into this season with a the new manager. This left the 2019 title open for grabs, and cudos to Moe (Ole's assistant btw) for taking it, but it would have been another 2nd if Rosenborg didn't go completely kamikaze on themselves. Rosenborg has the money and culture to make tippeligaen a one-team-league, like they did in the 90s and early 00s with 13 straight titles from 1992-2004 in the SAF-esque reign of Nils Arne Eggen and winning half the titles (7) since, but has been struggling to reproduce the results after Eggen resigned due to constantly sacking managers and changing directions (yes, much like us).

- Also worth mentioning is that Ole managed Molde to their 3rd Norwegian cup title in 2013 and took them to Europa Leagues round of 16 once (Which is fantastic for a team worth 10M)
OGS regained Moldes position as the second strongest team in Norway, which under the circumstances were the best he could do (with Rosenborg back on their winningspree)

The 2014 season with Skullerud, where Molde won both the league and cup, was a job well done by him and the players. Unfortunately for him he couldn't replicate it, and the next season started catastrophic and ended with him being sacked after 18 matches, placed 7th.

One more thing: About Ole getting Cardiff relegated. He did and he didn't. They were rockbottom of the table, played crap football and looked doomed before Ole got in there. He didn't save them, that's true, but they were getting relegated no matter who they brought in there. Ole did however leave them in a worse state than he entered, and that's on him. He made some poor signings and struggled to find the right approach on matchdays, and it didn't look like he was getting there either. Do I think he learned from that year in Cardiff? Yes!
This should replace OP’s post, which is lacking in both thought and execution.
 

roonster09

Hercule Poirot of the scouting world
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The last two games have certainly rattled a fair few posters. They were ready with the pitchforks and were licking their lips at the prospect of two losses. Those games didn't at all go as expected so desperate times call for desperate measures.
Shame Jose didn't show what a clueless clown Ole is, as some were expecting/hoping.
 

Chesterlestreet

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Oct 19, 2012
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19,534
Think a lot of posters would like New Dude
Sounds like a breath of fresh air. Personally, I'd look into Another Dude too. Not to mention this dude:

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.
Imagine having that fecker in the dugout, pointing to his wristwatch, Fergie style:

 

lemmiwink

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Basing anything on the Norwegian league is pure intellectual dishonesty. This league has a reset button every year and literally anyone can win the league if Rosenborg is having an off season.
 

Lynty

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Stop looking backwards.

Chelsea are within touching distance, we have a very good chance in Europe and the domestic treble is still on :wenger:
 

SparkedIntoLife

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1,149
Some people need to calm down and leave the OP alone in terms of personal attacks. He's allowed to post his views and I don't think it's unfair to look back and try to understand Ole's career from a longer period of time.

Two great wins don't suddenly make Ole our saviour. We could lose the next 6. So far, he had a phenomenonal period as interim manager, then a terrible period, then a mediocre to bad period and now a very promising upturn. Having long term faith in Ole is admirable but logically the jury is still out.

As for saying OP presented stats out of context, ever consider he posted this in order to explore the bigger picture? He's correct that the Molde record isn't as glowing, on paper, as some people have previously represented it as being. I've seen Norwegian fans here who are split on Ole. I didn't get the impression from the OP that he wasn't open to hearing more about the context behind the league finishes. Quite the opposite, in fact.

Some of you should just be a bit nicer.
 

Bilbo

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The last two games have certainly rattled a fair few posters. They were ready with the pitchforks and were licking their lips at the prospect of two losses. Those games didn't at all go as expected so desperate times call for desperate measures.
Being proven right on an internet forum is more important to a lot of people than how the team actually do. Look at how the post counts on the Ole threads are slowing this week. If people cannot moan and vent their frustration they would rather not post at all - or in the case of this thread they look for a new angle. Its quite sad really. Is this indicative of the modern football fan?
 

Bilbo

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14,303
Some people need to calm down and leave the OP alone in terms of personal attacks. He's allowed to post his views and I don't think it's unfair to look back and try to understand Ole's career from a longer period of time.

Two great wins don't suddenly make Ole our saviour. We could lose the next 6. So far, he had a phenomenonal period as interim manager, then a terrible period, then a mediocre to bad period and now a very promising upturn. Having long term faith in Ole is admirable but logically the jury is still out.

As for saying OP presented stats out of context, ever consider he posted this in order to explore the bigger picture? He's correct that the Molde record isn't as glowing, on paper, as some people have previously represented it as being. I've seen Norwegian fans here who are split on Ole. I didn't get the impression from the OP that he wasn't open to hearing more about the context behind the league finishes. Quite the opposite, in fact.

Some of you should just be a bit nicer.
Ole didn't get the job based on his achievements at Molde though - that's the point. He was made permanent based on his results as United interim manager - something that was almost unanimously supported by United fans. There is nothing to be gained by looking at Oles record before this - it wont make any difference to what happens to United from here.

Personal attacks are never warranted - agree with you there.
 

roonster09

Hercule Poirot of the scouting world
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Whatever was the intention of the OP, at least there was some very good posts from people who watch Norway league.
 

SparkedIntoLife

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Ole didn't get the job based on his achievements at Molde though - that's the point. He was made permanent based on his results as United interim manager - something that was almost unanimously supported by United fans. There is nothing to be gained by looking at Oles record before this - it wont make any difference to what happens to United from here.

Personal attacks are never warranted - agree with you there.
But that's kind of the point. Anyone's managerial history should certainly be considered carefully if chosen to be manager of Manchester United. Same as with players, otherwise we might have signed Amr Zaki a few years back based on a hot streak of scoring for Wigan. Everything needs to be put in its proper context.

There's still a big concern for a lot of us that Ole was appointed on sentiment and on the strength of a hot streak as interim manager on the rebound from a miserable last few months under Mourinho.

For me, this thread has been useful, even though I might not agree with all of the OP's sentiments. It has encouraged those more in the know on Norwegian footy to share more about the issues Ole dealt with at Molde to put his achievements, and occasional struggles, in the proper context. I feel more encouraged as a result.

Most of us deeply care about this club. I personally would love Ole to succeed but I still have doubts. We can't be too reactive on 2 incredible wins just as we shouldn't be reactive in the face of losses to Astana, Newcastle, Bournemouth etc. It's important we try to take a long term view. Factoring in Ole's history, understanding his development as a manager and knowing him better beyond nice guy club legend is important.

Whatever the case, we should all just try to be as decent to each other as possible and remember that it's just football, ultimately.