The day will come. The day every Manchester United supporter fears. One day Sir Alex will step down from the throne and allow a new manager to carry on his legacy. He has been one hell of a manager, earning himself a knighthood along the way. He is recognised as the possibly greatest football manager of all time, with a never satisfied hunger for trophies and success. Whenever we’ve had a disappointing season, you could bet your life on his hunger to grow even stronger. But heroes can't last forever. As for players, we've seen great players leave, when the time was right or for other reasons. The question would always be whether we'd manage or not. And we have. Sir Alex has always had the mentality that no player is bigger than the club, and when a great player has left, we'd rebuild as a team. We've seen players like Kanchelsksis, Beckham, Van Nistelrooy and Ronaldo leave, and still managed. And this is one of the greatest strengths of Sir Alex Ferguson; making the most out of every player to work in a bigger system. Our squad for the 2010/2011 season was far from the greatest. Some called it one of the weakest sides for years. Yet we stood champions of England when May came around.
When a manager like Sir Alex has been in a club for over 25 years the whole club will be heavily shaped by said manager. How can a new manager come in and be able to carry on the legacy laid down piece by piece through devotion and hard work by the greatest manager ever?
Enter Ole Gunnar Solskjær. Ole will always be a United legend for his contributions, and most of all for THAT goal. The goal that gave us The Treble in '99, and that has made United supporters randomly yell "AND SOLSKJAER HAS WON IT!" ever since. At least I do that. The 20LEgend banner that was put up at Stretford End shows how much he means to the fans. When he retired he stayed within United. He worked for Sir Alex Ferguson as a coach for the first team strikers during the 07/08 campaign. Before the summer of 2008 he was placed in charge of the reserves. During his time with the reserves, he won the Premier Reserve League North (and beat Aston Villa in the play-off final to claim the Premier Reserve League), the Lancashire Senior Cup and the Manchester Senior Cup. When Molde wanted him as their first team manager in 2010 he could not resist the urge to go back to the club Manchester United bought him from. He signed a contract in November 2010 and joined Molde in January 2011 prior to the start of the new season. In his first season he led Molde to their first ever Norwegian Premiership title. There is undoubtedly manager potential, but could he step up to the Premier League and succeed Sir Alex?
Ole will always be hailed as a striker with an eye for goal. In 366 matches he scored 126 goals for us, most of these after coming on as a substitute. How could he come off the bench and slot in goals like that? Ole was one of those players who always seemed to know how to be at the right place at the right time. He displayed a piece of his deadly efficiency in the 98/99 campaign when Nottingham forest were battered 1-8 away from home. He came on as a substitute as per usual after 72 minutes and managed to bag 4 goals in 12. By doing that he set a record of being the fastest scorer of a four goal haul, and the record of goals scored by a substitute in one match. I would like to point to Ole's extraordinary ability to analyse. He would sit on the bench for 70 minutes, analysing the opposition. Their strengths, their weaknesses, their "gaps". When he came on he knew what he needed to do and where to be. And this was not something he only did from the bench. On the pitch he also had a certain awareness. He would always move around to find the optimal position, and when he got the ball he didn't need to look around for options. He would already know where his teammates were. He would always turn his head around when off the ball so that when the ball was played to him, he wouldn't waste any time. This ability has undoubtedly helped him a lot as to how to instruct his players. Either before the match or during it, if things didn't go to well.
He was humble as a player and knew that the team would always come first. In the match against Newcastle in the 97/98 campaign we had to win to still be in for the title. On the score 1-1 we pushed a lot of men forward to try and bag that winning goal. A corner from Beckham was deflected and played forward to Rob Lee. Lee got the ball in his own half and started rushing towards our goal. There was no one between him and Raymond van Der Gouw in our goal. Conceding seemed inevitable, but Ole would have none of it. Starting 10 yards behind Lee he ran after him and recklessly tripped him from behind just outside our box. He knew the red was coming and walked silently towards the bench. He received a consoling pat on the back from Beckham and a standing ovation of applause from our fans. I believe this mentality, the team being most important of all, is what the man in charge of our club needs.
There's no doubt that Ole changed Molde. He didn't accept straight away when the proposal came. He carefully assessed the club to find their strenghts, their weaknesses, in what positions new players where needed and whether such players were available. He also looked at the staff and told Molde that he would need to be given absolute control. When he found the results and answers satisfying he took the job, and got his name inscribed with gold in Molde's history. He also changed the managerial system, taking on the role as a traditional English manager, which is not so common in Norway. He is involved in everything around the club, not just coaching, tactics and occasional transfers as most Norwegian managers. He brought Mark Dempsey and Richard Hartis with him from Manchester United as part of his staff. Magnus Wolff Eikrem also followed him. Magnus never got the chance to shine for United, but was described as a very intelligent footballer with deadly set pieces and pin-point passes. He also captained the reserves. Under Ole's supervision he has bloomed in Molde, and he was pivotal in their title win, controlling the midfield. He was awarded Young Player of the Year, and was also nominated for Player of the Year. Now Ole is in the difficult second season, expected to follow up on his brilliant first season. They had a dodgy start with 3 losses in their first 5 games, but have now sharpened up with 5 wins in a row. They are currently in second place, 1 point behind leaders Strømsgodset. The fast, technical and strong striker Davy Claude Angan has for a long time struggled with his efficiency, but Solskjær has sorted it out. He is no longer allowed to shoot from more than 25 yards out, and must try to score from within the box. Ole is also coaching him in finishing. This now bears fruits, as Angan is this season's top scorer with 8 goals in 11 matches.
It is no secret that Ole has ambitions of being a Premier League manager, and recently Aston Villa came around and named him as a candidate. I won't go into details, but you know the story. Things got a little out of hand, but it seems like Ole will have another season at Molde. I believe Sir Alex said that he would be in charge for 3 more seasons and then call it a day. That was one year ago. I believe Ole would be up for the task. He knows the club. He knows what it's like to be a player, to work for the club and to work as a coach. He knows the club's proud history, traditions and what is expected from the manager of one of the biggest clubs in the world. After his testimonial, Ole held an emotional speech thanking the fans and especially Sir Alex. The tears he shed after his testimonial shows how much this club means to him and how much Sir Alex has meant to his career and his personal life. Much can happen in two years time, should Sir Alex be around for two more season. If Ole can do well with Molde and qualify for the Champions League he would get invaluable experience. I can also see him take over a lower Premier League side next summer. This would be two seasons of gold's worth for him, and I would love to see him succeed Sir Alex after that. In all honesty though, I'd take him next summer if it would come to that. If it's true that Sir Alex would like some sort of position at the club after his retirement, he would be the perfect mentor for Ole. Ole would still be the boss, but he would receive invaluable advice and have someone to consult. Some might say Sir Alex would "pull the strings", but he knows how important it is to carry on his legacy, and I think he would trust Ole to do that while still adding his personal touch.
Ole Gunnar Solskjær will always be a legend in the red part of Manchester, in Norway and for many football fans all over the world. I wish him all the best for the future and as you may have guessed, I hope with all my heart that said future lies with us. I believe Ole Gunnar Solskjær can carry the torch and the proud legacy after Sir Alex Ferguson. Do you?
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