Gunnar go for it
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer admits he would love Man United job permanently
OLE GUNNAR SOLSKJAER admits he would love to have the Manchester United job on a permanent basis after his six months in a caretaker role.
Solskjaer has been appointed in the wake of Jose Mourinho’s sacking but only until May while they search for a new boss with Spurs’ Mauricio Pochettino top of the list.
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But Solskjaer said: “When you get a job like this and they ask you to sign for six months you say 'yeah'.
“I’m happy to help out and my job now for the next six months is to do as well as I can and move the club forward as well as I can.
“I understand there are so many managers who would love to be manager of Manchester United and I am one of them.
“But it is not something we've talked about, they'll do a process now for the next six months.”
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Solskjaer’s first job will be to lift the gloom that had enveloped the club in the final weeks of Jose Mourinho’s reign.
Then it is about making up that 11-point gap to the top four places starting at Cardiff tomorrow.
Solskjaer said: “I think the first thing is the first game, think about getting my principles into the boys, get the players to understand how I want them to play and let's take the results later on, see how many points we can gather.
“This club has made many, many points before but I'm not going to set that target now.
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“My job is to help the players, make them grasp the opportunity. They all want be part of Manchester United.
“I'm here to help them, help the team, it’s down to man management.
“I had the best manager as a player and coach to deal with players and it's about communication.”
That includes those who will not be playing and nobody knows about that better than the club’s own super-sub.
He said: “I'll sit down and speak to the ones not playing.
“When you're at Manchester United there are a set of demands and one is to be a team player and I don't think anyone has been on the bench more than me!
“My comeback to players is, ‘you might come on... make an impact’.”
Solskjaer has also promised a more positive style of football than United fans grew used to under Mourinho.
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He said: “It's about getting every player to be the best, speaking to them on training ground, philosophy, principles, how we want to play.
“It does not matter what team you're coaching, they all want to have a picture of how you want to play.
“They are quality players so it will be easier to get players expressing themselves.
“You play with courage, go out there and express your skills, go out and express, take risks."
Solskjaer has of course learned from the best after playing under Sir Alex Ferguson who then gave him a job with the youth and reserve teams.
He was one of the first he turned to for advice when he got this job.
Solskjaer said: “He's influenced me with everything to be fair, the way he's dealt with people the way he was manager of the club, how he kept 25 international players happy and hungry wanting to improve.
"But also the staff in and around the place, he's been my mentor but I didn't understand early on he'd be my mentor.
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“Maybe after my injury in 2003, I was making all the notes about what he did in certain situations and I've already been in touch with him, there's no one to get better advice from.”
That schooling under Sir Alex, however, did not serve him too well during his spell in charge at Cardiff in 2014.
He took them down from the Premier League and they were struggling in the Championship when he was fired. His record was; 30 games, five wins, 16 losses.
Solskjaer says he has learned from that experience either side of his two spells in charge of Norwegian side Molde.
He said: “I've had about 300 or 400 games as a full-time manager now and that period in Cardiff was a huge step for me.
"I've evaluated, reflected, made a few mistakes but if you don't make mistakes you're not gonna learn.
"I made a few of them, but they’re in the Premier League now.”
Solskjaer called for smiles as soon as he arrived at yesterday’s press conference and had one throughout his 20 minutes in front of the media.
All his messages were positive ones. As were those from the last manager, the one before that and the one before that.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has been given the manager role of Manchester United until the end of the season
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