And Solskjaer Has Pod It!
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is the new (interim) Manchester United manager and the fans are loving it! The Norwegian has brought positivity, eight goals and two victories, turning around the mood in the club almost overnight.
Ed & Paul discuss Ole’s first week in charge, looking back on Ed Woodward’s decision to appoint the former United forward on an interim basis, and on victories over Cardiff and Huddersfield. Bonus content is brought to you by our Patreon backers and available to everybody this week.
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Not sure about this. Bit cheerful tbh.
And solskjaer has pod it…. oh dear. Good work as ever though boys?
I winced when I saw what Ed had done…
And thanks! Happy New year to you and yours Shazad!
Absolutely no sense of humour!
Yessssss. The sheer joy in Paul and Eds voice got me woke up feelin fine! Feels like I have come out of a bad dream ❤️❤️❤️❤️
Presumably the “What if we sack him now – not in May?” conversation was instigated by Woodward, but let’s be clear, Solskjaer + Phelan was Ferguson’s idea.
The super-smooth handling of the whole thing however? That was something new from this Executive Vice Chairman. Letting the outgoing manager go to Anfield, so Ole would get that kind 5-fixture honeymoon period before Spurs away, but waiting a couple of days so the decision didn’t come across as all about Liverpool, then still making it look like Ole hadn’t been lined up all along. Impressive.
Team selection since has been fascinating, and the results unarguable, but things will get more complicated when our wonderful caretaker starts feeling the need to start the likes of Lukaku and Sanchez in some games. Allowing United to stabilise first, before introducing Bailly into an otherwise settled line-up, was masterful management of a misfit – until the player showed he was a red card waiting to happen (that high kick follow-through a few minutes before, was a sending off in itself). Personally I’d rather see Pereira and Fred given proper game time before Lukaku and Sanchez, but I suspect there’s still a pecking order in play here, with the Brazilians down the list of a club that will prioritise its Top 4 percentages ahead of rehabilitating fringe players.