While we wait for Solskjaer. We had a longer wait after the exit from Old Trafford in November 2021, which “everyone” now sees was a completely unnecessary dismissal in 7th place in the Premier League. Then a guest appearance as Besiktas coach with everything from hero status after victory against Athletic Club, as well as against city rivals Fenerbahce and Galatasaray, to some tough points losses in the Süper Lig and far too early exit from playing in Europe. At Turkish clubs, everything is great, until the next month is completely unforgivable. Now Solskjaer is again available for new assignments, we don’t think the wait will be as long as after the Man Utd trip.
Following Ruben Amorim’s inability to win two Premier League games in a row after the 3-1 loss to Brentford, English Goal reported that there is increasing pressure from Man Utd supporters to bring back Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. Then came a 2-0 win against Sunderland, three points that gave Amorim peace of mind into his international duty. Now Solskjaer is again being linked to the coaching job, but not at Old Trafford.
After the short but intensive period as Besiktas coach, the United legend is once again ready to be brought into meetings about various coaching jobs. “Our man” is of course again linked to the Swedish national team coaching job, after the Dane Jon Dahl Tomasson fails to lead Sweden to goals and victories, even with Gyökeres and Isak at the top.
This time it’s about the job of managing the club in a football-mad city with one of the world’s most notorious city derbies. Yep, it’s about Glasgow Rangers, where the Old Firm against Celtic are games that set the mood in Glasgow for the rest of the year.
After parting ways with Russell Martin, Rangers have been heavily linked with former manager Steven Gerrard, but reports have now suggested that the Liverpool legend has turned down the opportunity to return to the Ibrox Stadium. Now Solskjaer has emerged as one of the favourites to take the big job, the odds of him becoming Rangers manager have been cut sharply from 33/1 to 7/2.
The sudden change in odds comes after Solskjaer’s former United teammate Paul Scholes strongly hinted that the Norwegian would have a meeting with Rangers about the job.
On an episode of his The Overlap podcast, Scholes said, “I was actually with a guy the other night who told me he was actually going to face the Rangers. I’m not sure if he did, but his name hasn’t been mentioned. I don’t think he was looking for the job. They contacted him and he was supposed to meet them in London the next day.”
Former teammate and podcast host Nicky Butt then added, “Oh, I know who you mean.”
However, Scholes rejected attempts by comedian Paddy McGuinness to confirm that it was Solskjaer he was talking about, smiling as he replied: “No, no comment.”
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer led Besiktas to victory against city rivals Fenerbahce with an angry Mourinho on the sidelines, the same against then-unbeaten Galatasaray.
And the city derby in Manchester? We let Manutd.com summarize in the November 2021 Solskjaer match against Pep Guardiola:
“Solskjaer has won four of his eight meetings with Guardiola in all competitions, which is the best win rate of any manager who has faced the former Barcelona manager at least five times.”
“Ole is also the only manager who has beaten Guardiola more times (four) than he has lost to him (three) – again, it is of those who have faced Pep in at least five games. Guardiola may have several well-known rivals, such as Jürgen Klopp, José Mourinho and Thomas Tuchel, but Ole’s numbers stand comparison to the best of the Spaniard’s opponents.”
In other words, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer must probably be the most competent coach to lead a club in the toughest city derbies. No wonder Rangers have the United legend on the block.
