Ole Gunnar Solskjaer podcast: Seven things you might have missed - Man Utd sacking & Harry Maguire verdict

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has provided several intriguing insights into his time as Manchester United manager during his appearance on the Stick to Football podcast.

The Norwegian spent just under three years in the hotseat at Old Trafford and, like all managers since Sir Alex Ferguson’s departure, oversaw highs and lows during his tenure. He enjoyed an initial upsurge after Jose Mourinho’s departure, but the team ended the 2018/19 campaign in dire form, losing the final match of the season at home to already-relegated Cardiff City.

But the following campaign, which saw the Covid-induced break, ended with a third-place finish. Solskjaer went one better in 2020/21 as United finished second and reached the Europa League final, before the wheels fell off in spectacular fashion. 

Bruising defeats to Manchester City and Liverpool were followed by a pummelling at Watford, which spelled the end of Solskjaer’s time as manager in October 2021. Speaking to former team-mates Gary Neville and Roy - plus Jamie Carragher, Jill Scott and Ian Wright - the 51-year-old reflected on that period, giving headline-grabbing details on Cristiano Ronaldo, Erling Haaland and Jude Bellingham.

Yet there was plenty that may have flown under the radar from the 80-minute interview. We’ve picked out seven topics that may have passed supporters.

Knew sacking was coming

Solskjaer’s dismissal didn’t take him by surprise, and the Norwegian said he knew it was coming at half-time in the defeat at Vicarage Road.

“It hit me hard the first day because I knew the day before, 100 percent at half-time against Watford I knew, that’s it. So, the team talk at half-time was about whoever wants to play, can play, get your hand up if you don’t want to play, made a few changes, couple of the lads in tears, and I had a go and then after the game I knew.

“Didn’t hear anything, but I still knew – and then the next morning you get a text, ‘I want to see you in your office’, so I knew. I just left my wife at the airport and then text her, ‘I think I’ll be coming back with you’, and it took about five minutes with Ed [Woodward] and then stayed and spoke to some of the lads and did an interview. I needed to do it properly because I’ve always seen managers when they leave, it’s like two months later, slag someone off and that’s not me. I’m like no, I want to do it now, tell everyone that I’m proud and privileged and move on.”

“When we started that season [in 2021/22], we all agreed that we have the fourth best squad, after Liverpool and City, and we felt Chelsea had a better squad than we had. Champions League [qualification] was the target. I’m 100% sure that we would’ve done, if I had stayed that season – what happened after I left didn’t really improve things.”

Declining the captaincy

In a recent interview, Solskjaer said certain players turned down the chance of being captain, comments he clarified during the podcast.

“No one said no to being the club captain, it was just for certain games. But they didn’t want to say it themselves, they had other people come up to me and say it. It was disappointing. It’s a different generation, its Gen Z. It’s petty and shows a lack of ambition.”

Complicated transfer

Solskjaer also revealed how convoluted transfer could be during his his stint at United, with the manager, scouts and owner all having a veto on player arrivals.

“You sign a deal whenever you take a job, and you have bosses. It wasn’t like David Gill and Sir Alex Ferguson, when those two just ran the whole thing. There were more departments above me that I had to go through to get decisions made.

 “The scouting process was very thorough – maybe too thorough. I came up with names as well, but they need to be well scouted. I had a veto, the scouts had a veto, the owners obviously had a veto too. I never signed a player that I didn’t want, and the scouts never said yes to a player that they didn’t want. The owners, and Ed [Woodward] never signed a player that they weren’t comfortable signing.”

Leaks are inevitable

Disappointing multi-millionaire stars on a weekly basis has its costs, said the former striker.

“I felt we [coaching staff] had a very good rapport with the players, but there are always one or two in a squad that leak things because they are unhappy. Being a manager, you play a game Saturday, Wednesday, Saturday, you sack about 14 players every game and the next morning you have to tell them they have another chance.

“There are only a certain amount of times you can say, “I’ll give you that game, you’ve got a chance.” In the end, they go sour, we had a big squad with too many players. If you have too many players, they get unhappy.”

Managerial offers

Solskjaer said he’s enjoying a break from the limelight and has turned down offers from elsewhere.

“I needed time out, and I have properly enjoyed it. Just prioritised myself, family – and I have had a few offers and it’s like, ‘Nah, I’m not ready’. It’s one of them, it’s got to be somewhere where I can be myself, not like anyone dictating, ‘You need to do this, you need to do this’, because when you’ve been at United, you manage them, you learn a few things, and you want to do it your way next time. So, yeah, I’ve enjoyed myself.

“That’s the thing, you think, ‘I don’t really need a job’, but then if something pops up then yeah, why not?”

Fernandes loses control 

“I knew Bruno Fernandes had captain qualities when I was manager at Manchester United. He’s got the personality and quality, but he knows and I’ve told him, that he’s too passionate at times and he loses a bit of control. I loved Harry Maguire as a captain, he was the leader in that group for me when I was at the club.”

Maguire’s character

 “The way that Harry Maguire has handled himself with everything happening to him at Manchester United is top class and just shows the character he’s got, that I want in players. They dig in, don’t jump ship at the first opportunity, stay in there and do the best you can.

“I remember his first training session and he looked like a man mountain compared to the others, and he came in and played well, but obviously over time, he got lots of criticism.”