One former Manchester United boss admitted he was left sad after a telling meeting with the club’s hierarchy
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer revealed he was left reeling after being informed he was sacked as Manchester United manager. The former Red Devils boss was appointed caretaker manager at Old Trafford in December 2018, following the sacking of Jose Mourinho.
He was then given the permanent job in March 2019, following a period of successful results – a status he retained until he was fired in November 2021. Solskjaer, who spent 11 years of his playing career at United, oversaw a summer of huge spending in his final summer transfer window, with Cristiano Ronaldo making a triumphant return to Manchester.
The £72million acquisation of Jadon Sancho had fans exciting while Real Madrid defender Raphael Varane was signed after a 10-year spell in Spain. In what was a superb start to the 2021/22 season, United won four of their first five Premier League games.
However, the wheels began falling off for Solskjaer as United fell to five defeats in their next seven games, leaving them seventh in the table. It was a humiliating 4-1 defeat away to Watford that turned out to be the Norwegian’s last game in charge, as his sacking was announced the following day.
Speaking four years after his disappointing exit from Manchester, Solskjaer spoke to the BBC and revealed that while his exit was warranted, it no doubt quelled the sadness he felt when being informed of his termination.
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Speaking to Kelly Somers, the 52-year-old said of his time at Old Trafford: “That pressure is a privilege because I was allowed to do that and I was allowed to deal with it in my way and that was [by] having great staff around us.
“[The] environment in and around the club was very positive. But in the end, it doesn’t matter if you enjoy coming to work everyday, you need results. We unfortunately had a very bad six-week spell and that’s too long at a club like Man United and they made a change which is fine.
“It was sad, we lost to Watford of course and I knew this was more or less the end. [I] drove my family to the airport, they went back to Norway actually and I was going to work. I got a text, ‘Ole, I need to see you in my office’, and I knew what was going to happen so I rang my wife straight away.
“‘I’ll be back, I’ll catch you up’, I said. I think it’s sudden but not surprising. If you don’t get results, you do make a change in football but I felt we had something going.” Taking the United job is a daunting prospect at any time, especially for a manager who hadn’t even coached a side in the English top-flight as was the case for Solskjaer.
But even for the most seasoned of bosses, it was a job that proved too pressurised, according to the Norwegian. During the interview with the BBC, he claimed that then-Everton boss Carlo Ancelotti said he wouldn’t want the United job mid-way through a clash against the Toffees.
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With the likes of Juventus, AC Milan, Chelsea, Paris Saint-Germain, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich on his CV, it was quite the statement from the Italian. Solskjaer explained: “I remember one game – Everton. Stood there in my technical area.
“Carlo Ancelotti comes across, so he’s more or less in my technical area. Fourth official says, ‘Carlo, you need to go back into your technical area, unless you want Ole’s job.’ And he said ‘no, no, no, too much pressure.
“That job is too much pressure’. You know pressure is a privilege, he’s always said that as well, and I felt privileged to be the manager of Man Utd, but of course, you’re the face of everyone, everything surrounding Man Utd.”
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