Former Manchester United striker, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, has appointed as Jose Mourinho’s interim successor.
Solskjaer scored the goal that won United the Champions League in 1999 – one of 126 goals he netted for the club in his 11 years there as a player.
Here, we take a look at his coaching career to date.
Early coaching career
Solskjaer called time on his career after appearing for Manchester United’s FA Cup final defeat to Chelsea in 2007, a result that denied him a second domestic double. But it was not to be goodbye to the club as it was where he took his first forays into coaching.
The Norwegian served as a striker coach with the first team during the 2007-08 season before taking over the reserve team the following year. His two-and-a-half years in that role saw him win the Lancashire Senior Cup and the Manchester Senior Cup in 2009, before going on to win the Premier League reserve league in 2010.
Success at Molde
Norwegian club Molde was where Solskjaer’s playing career had begun and so it followed that it would be his first managerial appointment at first-team level in 2011. He won the title in each of his first two seasons in charge, the first of which was the club’s centenary year. It was a huge achievement given that the club had never won the league before.
Struggles at Cardiff
When Cardiff City came calling in January 2014, Solskjaer did finally make the move to the Premier League but it proved a struggle for him in south Wales. The club had been just above the drop zone when Bluebirds owner Vincent Tan decided to sack Malky Mackay but Solskjaer fared even worse, suffering 4-0 defeats to both Hull and Sunderland.
The result was that Cardiff were relegated in last place. And yet, he retained enough faith to be given the opportunity to continue in the job the following season. There was to be no turnaround, however, and a poor start to the season in which Cardiff lost more of their first seven games than they won saw Solskjaer sacked after eight miserable months.
What has he done since?
Solskjaer returned to Molde yet again in October 2015 and immediately saw his side beat Celtic 3-1 in the Europa League his first game in charge following his return. While he has not been able to repeat the title wins of his first reign, results since have been respectable enough. Twice he has guided the club to second-place finishes in the league.
He has kept an eye on events at Manchester United too. As long ago as 2016, during Van Gaal’s reign at Old Trafford, Solskjaer was bemoaning what had become of his old club. “I am very disappointed in the quality over the past few years,” he said back then.
