Roger Alton Roger Alton

Poor Ole wasn’t cut out for Man U

[Getty Images] 
issue 27 November 2021

Manchester United have ended up with a temporary coach before they look for an interim manager. Haven’t we heard that before? Oh yes, a few years ago, shortly before Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was given the job. It sounds like United haven’t got a clue what they are doing. Which is a bit rum for a stock-market-listed club and one of the biggest brands in the world.

Poor old Ole just wasn’t cut out to be an elite football manager. But could anyone cope with the presence of that choleric United legend, Sir Alex Ferguson, up in the stands shaking his head mournfully at some on-field idiocy before burying his head in his hands in a piece of theatrical despair? Solskjaer wasn’t helped by his players: goalkeeper David de Gea observing that United just didn’t know what to do with the ball, for instance.

Why United won’t look at an English manager seems a mystery

The truth is, though, that Fergie’s 25-year reign was the aberration.

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