Football News: Does Ole Gunnar Solskjaer have what it takes to be a permanent Manager of Manchester United

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A month ago, Manchester United didn't have a single world class player, in fact none bar maybe 2 or 3 were apparently fit to wear the shirt. The logic was, if a world class manager like Jose Mourinho couldn't get them playing to their potential then no one could. The same logic was thought of at Real Madrid prior to them appointing Zidane. They had world class manager after world class manager who struggled to get the best out of a hugely talented squad.

Now our squad is no where near the quality as Real Madrid's, yet something similar has happened. An ex-player and club legend has taken over and has drastically improved the performances of practically every player in the squad where a renown world class manager had failed.

Could we have stumbled across the right man by accident? I think very few of United fans trust Ed Woodward's judgement when hiring managers, his limited understanding of the game and his throbbing attraction to a big name who'll make selling merchandise and gaining sponsorship deals easier, seems to make him constantly go for the wrong option.

To be honest, it's hard to blame him, he doesn't know or understand football, so expecting him to make a smart footballing appointment is like asking a blind man to pick out his favourite porno. So he makes the decision that makes most sense to him.

That is why many of us feel that it was of vital importance to bring in a Director of Finance (DoF) before making a permanent managerial appointment so that someone with the correct football nous is in charge of that decision.

However, with how things have worked out it is going to be practically impossible to find a DoF before we appoint our next manager, plus that DoF would need time to access the club, work out the vision, work out how to achieve that and start implementing that plan. That is a process that would likely take 6-8 months at least, if not longer.

So any new DoF would likely have to come in, and make a quick decision. It's a gamble either way. If they say goodbye to a club legend who has done well and has the fans on side they are on a hiding to nothing, they would need their hastily appointed manager to hit the ground running and be a huge success. If they stick with Ole then next season it doesn't work then the fans will blame them for not going for someone like Pochettino.

Very few competent people would be happy to leave a good job and walk into that kind of trouble. However, if a new manager is already appointed then at least if that doesn't work out, they can pin the blame on the previous person who hired that manager.

For as much as I would love Pochettino, I still have reservations about his ability to lift a team from being excellent to being winners. Also, would Pochettino have got our current side playing this well this quickly?

Ole showed yesterday that he can outsmart tactically astute managers and get a result away to a side currently on paper at least better than us, while playing good football.

The next four league games are very winnable, at least on paper. Brighton, Burnley, Leicester and Fulham. Even the FA cup tie against Arsenal shouldn't be something to fear on current form.

The games that will highlight whether Ole has what it takes are the games against Arsenal, Liverpool, Chelsea and Manchester City. Any results in the UCL against PSG or anyone else are a bonus, but would be intriguing to see. If he can get 6-7 points or more from the league games against those teams above us it will be very hard to not give him the job full time.

Maybe Woodward has made his masterstroke appointment by simple blind luck.

Written by Shappy January 14 2019 12:39:46