Manchester United have confirmed the departure of Ole Gunnar Solsjkaer earlier today and the Norwegian has been relieved of his duties after a miserable start to the season.
The Red Devils were beaten by Watford 4-1 in the Premier League yesterday and it is no surprise that the club hierarchy have decided to part ways with the former Manchester United striker.
Solskjaer did an impressive job since taking over from Jose Mourinho but his side’s performances this season have been quite underwhelming and the Norwegian has struggled to get the best out of his summer signings as well.
It seems that the time is right for a change but the club hierarchy should have acted sooner.
Manchester United are currently 8th in the league table, 12 points adrift of the league leaders after eight match days, and the title race is surely beyond them now.
When the Red Devils signed players like Cristiano Ronaldo, Raphael Varane and Jadon Sancho in the summer the club officials would have expected a title challenge this season.
The lack of decisiveness from the club hierarchy has delayed the sacking of Solskjaer and it has ended up costing Manchester United their place in the title race this season.
It will be interesting to see who comes in as a replacement for the Norwegian and whether the next manager can help the Red Devils secure a top-four finish.
Solskjaer received unconditional backing from the club hierarchy and from former Manchester United players who are currently pundits in the Premier League.
The likes of Gary Neville and Rio Ferdinand constantly backed the Norwegian to succeed at Old Trafford despite the fact that individual performances often masked the real deficiencies of the side.
It appears that the pundits were more loyal to their former teammate Solskjaer rather than Manchester United.
Previous managers like Louis van Gaal and Jose Mourinho were ruthlessly sacked after disappointing performances but Solskjaer was given numerous chances to turn things around at Old Trafford. He was also allowed to spend millions of pounds on new players.
A club of Manchester United’s stature should have been a lot more decisive and ruthless in their decision-making process.
The likes of Zinedine Zidane have been linked with a move to Old Trafford now and it will be interesting to see who they end up appointing eventually.
