It’s been a mixed season for Manchester United and the speculation that Manager, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer will be sacked continues to grow. The 46-year-old, previously a forward at the club and nicknamed the “Baby-faced Assasin”, may himself be facing the chop if the bookmakers’ odds are to be believed. Solskjaer is considered to be the top-flight manager in peril by bookie Betway who offers odds of 11-4 that the Norwegian will be the next Premier League Manager to go.
The ready availability of ex-Tottenham Hotspur manager Mauricio Pochettino is seen as an added incentive for the club to push Solskjaer out. Bookmaker Marathonbet offers odds of 27/25 that the Argentinian will be the next Manager of Manchester United. But Solskjaer, undoubtedly aware of the speculation, refuses to be fazed and pledges to do what is best for the club by, for example, eschewing short-term tactics in terms of transfers to protect his job in favour of a long-term strategy for the betterment of the club. He says “I am not going to protect myself. I am going to do what is best for the club…I will never put myself before the club”.
United’s 4-0 win over relegation-risk Norwich City on Saturday may have brought a faint smile to fans’ lips, but there is real anger about the underperformance of the mighty club and this boiled over at the match with fans chanting about the owners “We want Glazers out”. At the moment the Red Devils are fifth in the Premier League with 34 points after 22 matches, some 5 points behind fourth placed Chelsea and a whopping 27 points behind unbeaten LIverpool.
In addition to general disappointment over the team’s performance this season, fans are still smarting over the 3-1 defeat at Old Trafford by arch-rivals Manchester City in the first leg of the semi-final of the Carabao Cup. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer needs some good news to reassure fans and management that the Red Devils are heading in the right direction to return to Champions League football next season and, vitally, win trophies both at home and abroad.