Man Utd boss Solskjaer warned not to speak about ONE person if he wants job full time

Posted Saturday, January 19, 2019 by Express.co.uk

Man Utd boss Solskjaer warned not to speak about ONE person if he wants job full time
Solskjaer has won all of his games in charge of United (Image: GETTY )

MANCHESTER UNITED caretaker boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has been warned by expert Ian McGarry NOT to speak about Sir Alex Ferguson.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has name-dropped Fergie ever since he replaced Jose Mourinho at Old Trafford last month.

In his first interview after being appointeed, the Norwegian said he has got his managerial style from the Scot and says he's "been the biggest influence" on his career.

The Ferguson references - the man he affectionately calls 'gaffer' - have kept on coming but McGarry thinks that it could harm Solskjaer's chances of getting the job.

That's because he believes the Manchester United owners don't want Fergie to have too much influence at the club.

"Solskjaer’s been very verbal and very open and there’s nothing wrong with that in his gratitude to Sir Alex Ferguson in terms of his advice and his help since he has come in," he told the Transfer Window podcast.

"It’s natural that a player who spent so many years under his guidance and is such a massively influential figure would consult the greatest manager the club has ever had coming into a crisis situation as he did and then taking that on.

"I’d say to Ole: be careful what you talk about in public or even in private, because it is absolutely the case that when the Glazers were negotiating Ferguson’s retirement in 2013 that they did so on the basis that they wanted more influence in the football department and football operations because Ferguson, as we all know, was king of all that was surveyed at Old Trafford and beyond.

"So they effectively ostracised Ferguson for four, five years during the reigns of David Moyes, Louis van Gaal and then also Jose Mourinho.

"And Ed Woodward, in direct correlation with Avram and Brian Glazer, were responsible in terms of transfer policy, recruitment, research and then of course the actual signing of players.

"I’m not saying there was no inclusion of any of the coaches at that time, but what we know from Jose Mourinho’s time there is that he didn’t get the players he wanted."

Solskjaer has won his first six games as boss - the highlight of which came last week when United downed Mauricio Pochettino's Tottenham 1-0.

Man Utd boss Solskjaer warned not to speak about ONE person if he wants job full time
Rashford scored the winner against Spurs last Sunday evening (Image: GETTY )

McGarry continued: "What the Glazers don't want come the summer is a fan clamour for Solskjaer to be appointed with the correlation or the admission and also daily intervention of Ferguson in Solskjaer’s reign as a coach at Manchester United.

"That’s not what they want because then, I think everyone that knows Sir Alex Ferguson will attest he’s not someone who just puts one sugar in his tea, he’ll put four sugars in his tea if that’s gonna be an advantage for him in anyway, and by that I mean he will give more advice rather than less.

"So if I was Solskjaer and I’m sure he does have ambitions to take the job full-time, then I would be careful, certainly at least what I admit publicly about the man he calls ‘the gaffer’ giving him advice."