Manchester United head coach Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has felt the need to come out and refute media claims that he has told his players that he will be sacked if they suffer defeat against Tottenham and Manchester City in their next two Premier League games.
The games are tough ones for a Red Devils team who have produced unconvincing form of late in the English top-flight.
An underwhelming campaign so far
This season has been underwhelming by most teams’ standards for Manchester United and boss Solskjaer. The new manager-bounce the Norwegian enjoyed during his interim spell as head coach is well and truly over.
Instead of challenging for the top-four of the Premier League, the men from Manchester are ninth place in the table, having picked up a meagre 18 points from 14 games. The Red Devils are as close to the relegation zone as they are the top-four. A recent run of just one win in four Premier League games is poor especially, as known of the teams faced in that period are regarded as top teams.
Results need to improve and quickly for United to have any chance of saving what is fast becoming a lost cause.
Solskjaer looking out of his depth
For all his cult hero status at Manchester United, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is out of his depth as Red Devils boss. If he did not have a glorious playing past with United he would have been nowhere near the job.
His managerial credentials prior to his appointment were mediocre, to say the least. However, the United hierarchy believed that his appointment would help recover some of the spirit shown in those great Sir Alex Ferguson teams.
History and status at a club will only get you so far. Helping Manchester United back to the top of the English football tree was a massive job. Even one of the best coaches of his generation Jose Mourinho struggled to bring back the glory days, although he did win silverware in Manchester.
If will be difficult for any coach to take United back to the days of topping the Premier League table, as times and teams have changed. With every game that goes by it is becoming clearer that Solskjaer is not up to the job.
It is not his fault that he took the job, as he was hardly going to turn down the chance to manage his former club. He may become a top coach in years to come, but at the moment he is floundering in what of the biggest jobs in club football.
Pochettino hanging over his head
The fact that the highly-rated Mauricio Pochettino is now out of a job following Tottenham firing him will not have helped Solskjaer’s peace of mind. Pochettino in the last few years has permanently been linked with the United job.
Pochettino is currently the favourite to be the next Manchester United boss at odds of 15/8. On paper, the pair fit too, which is even more worrying for Solskjaer.
The former Spurs boss would no doubt be a very good appointment for the Red Devils. He worked wonders sat Tottenham and United are arguably in a similar sort of position to Spurs when he took over.
No doubt Solskjaer will get more time from the fans and more important from the hierarchy. However, at the minute it does not seem like he is the manager to move the team forward in the near future.
Is Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s future at Manchester United secure?
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