The more you think about it, the madder – and funnier – it all seems.
Mourinho deserved the sack, and while Solskjaer felt like a crap appointment there was at least some logic. And it worked – there was an upturn in form and the mood improved around the place. But despite saying a decision would only be taken in the summer, Woodward makes him permanent boss off the back of the PSG game. Completely unnecessary as there was no chance Solskjaer would go elsewhere, but he was desperate for a PR win after years of bad press. A leader would have ignored the hype, and taken stock with a clearer head – said that while Solskjaer had an impact, he wasn’t getting the full-time job. That was the brave move, not to hand him the keys to the place after a fluke win.
What’s happened now is so, so predictable. Reckon any chairman has to ask themselves if the manager at their club is the very best they could have. There’s no way Woodward can think Ole is the best United can get – but he’s backed himself into a corner and now needs to back Solskjaer as to do otherwise would probably lead to him standing down as well having got yet another managerial appointment wrong. Who knows, maybe there’s an acceptance that United wouldn’t be getting top four under any manager so they may as well keep Ole around as a kind of sacrificial lamb. The fans won’t turn against him en masse because of what he did as a player, so it’s a form of protection for Woodward and the owners.
Even better, they’re probably going to miss out on Pochettino, a genuinely elite manager who they’ve coveted for years, because making a change is too embarrassing!
