Solskjaer: I don't pity sacked Mourinho… he was given the perfect job - 7M sport

Solskjaer: I don't pity sacked Mourinho… he was given the perfect job

Special One was axed by Manchester United after moaning he was the victim of a 'manhunt' following stinging club legend attacks on him


Posted Sunday, December 23, 2018 by Thesun.co.uk

Solskjaer: I don't pity sacked Mourinho… he was given the perfect job
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer insists he does not feel sorry for Jose Mourinho

OLE GUNNAR SOLSKJAER admits he can’t feel sorry for sacked Jose Mourinho.

The Special One was sacked by Manchester United on Tuesday after moaning he was the victim of a “manhunt” following stinging club legend attacks on him.

But Solskjaer claims nobody should have sympathy for any axed United manager - because it’s the dream job.

The smiling assassin is the club’s fifth manager since the great Sir Alex Ferguson retired five years ago, following David Moyes, Ryan Giggs (caretaker), Louis van Gaal and Mourinho.

And after being installed as United’s new interim manager until the end of the season, Solskjaer declared: “I’m coming in after two of the best managers in the world in Mourinho and Van Gaal.

“But feel sorry for a Manchester United manager? You never feel sorry for them. They’ve got the dream job.

“I never want anyone to feel sorry for me. There are always consequences to what your actions are. This is a dream. It’s a big job, but a dream job.”

Solskjaer will always be a United legend after scoring the Treble-clinching winner in the 1999 Champions League final triumph over Bayern Munich.

But he knows he will, like Mourinho, still get slammed by Gary Neville, Paul Scholes, Rio Ferdinand, Roy Keane and Co if he cocks it up.

The ex-United stars attacked Mourinho over his negative tactics, his public rows with Paul Pogba and other first-team stars.

And Solskjaer added: “I won’t get an easy ride. Do you think Gary Neville will ever give anyone an easy ride?

“I sat next to Gary for 11 years in the dressing room and he is different class. He is paid to be a pundit now and I think he is fantastic at his job. Gary is unbelievable.

“But he has been a manager as well. He was caretaker manager at Valencia, so he knows what position I’m in. He’s been a player, he’s been a manager, and now he’s a great pundit.

“There’s also Scholsey, Rio, Keano. They all have strong opinions and are entitled to those opinions. But they know me as a person. They know how I work and how the club works, so they understand the decisions I will make. They understand that results don’t just come with a flick of my fingers.

“But for me this job is about getting better performances and getting the team to improve. If the performances improve then the results will come. If not….then we’ll see.

“Results have been mixed this season, but the Premier League has changed. When I played here we maybe had one challenger in Arsenal for a period and then Chelsea. Now there are five or six teams challenging, so it is a completely different competition.

“I never thought I would be manager here so I’m just going to enjoy these five months and do the best I can. It’s about getting the fans smiling.”

And in a timely reminder to Pogba and Co, he added: “I remember Sir Alex telling us many times that we are playing for the supporters. That’s the privilege of being a United player. You are playing in front of the best fans in the world because they are so positive.”

Solskjaer may only be back at United on a “loan” from Norwegian club Molde while executive vice – chairman Ed Woodwards targets Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino to take charge next summer.

But he added: “This feels like coming home and when you’ve been away for many, many years. I have only been into the training ground once since I left.

“And you know when you meet your friends after not seeing them for three or four years, and you feel like you’ve never been away? That is the feeling this place has for me.”

The 45-year-old who quit playing with knee problems in 2007 was manager of United’s reserves for two years until leaving for his first spell in charge of Molde in 2010.

He is delighted to be back not only for himself but the kids he once described as “Mancs”, saying: “For them it is coming home too. Noah is 18 and he was 11 when we moved back to Norway. Karna’s 15. Elijah, he was two-and-a-half when we moved away so he doesn’t really know Manchester.

“But he watched the defeat against Liverpool and said :‘Daddy, when Liverpool come to Old Trafford I want to be there because I want to feel the atmosphere there.’ And now suddenly I can say, ‘son, you are going to be there.’

“We weren’t going to be there because it is two days before my birthday and I was supposed to be at a training camp with Molde.

“I was able to take the kids to the Juventus game and there was that thrill of the Champions League night, the kids with their iPhones filming. Now on Boxing Day they will be seeing their dad standing out there at Old Trafford as manager.”



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