Manchester United urged to sack Ole Gunnar Solskjaer

 

Utd urged to replace Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and move Ed Woodward to different role

Manchester United have been urged to sack Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and move Ed Woodward to a commercial role in a bid to reverse the club's ailing fortunes.

United boss Solskjaer is again coming under increasing pressure having overseen just two wins in their last six games.

And he is not being helped by an injury crisis with key players Paul Pogba, Harry Maguire and Scott McTominay all sidelined.

Woodward's leadership of United has come under constant scrutiny too, with the executive vice-chairman having overseen several managerial appointments with little success since Sir Alex Ferguson retired in 2013.

He has also been criticised for a transfer policy during that period which has similarly failed to restore United to the glory days they enjoyed under Ferguson.

Mark Ogden, who covers United for ESPN, says Woodward should be moved to a commercial role - a field in which he has a proven track record of success.

The pundit says Woodward should be replaced at the top of the club by an experienced football administrator - whose job it would be to appoint a top-class manager of same kind of pedigree as Jurgen Klopp, Pep Guardiola or long-time target Mauricio Pochettino.

"Ed Woodward has been the consistent thread throughout the post-Ferguson years," Ogden told ESPN FC . "He's made some bad managerial appointments, he's overseen some terrible recruitment of players.

"He’s obviously a commercial genius, he’s the guy who made the club so much money. Maybe you have to put Ed back in a different role, on the commercial side.

“Then, you bring someone in, a football administrator, who knows how to run a football club. His responsibility will then be to get a new manager, a new coach."

Solskjaer was handed the manager's job on a permanent basis last season after an impressive run as caretaker boss, but Ogden says he is not the world-class coach a club of United's standing requires.

“For all Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s popularity, he’s not qualified to manage that football club,” he said. “He’s not a coach of the yield of Jurgen Klopp, Pep Guardiola or Mauricio Pochettino - who is available.

“You look at him and say ‘how has he got that job?’

“He’s got the job because he used to play for the club, but this is the guy who got Cardiff relegated from the Premier League and spent the rest of his time managing in Norway.

“That’s off the pitch - on the pitch, they’ve just got problems in every area.”