Ole Gunnar Solskjaer sacked by Manchester United after Watford defeat

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has been sacked as manager of Manchester United after almost three years in charge.

A miserable run of five defeats and just two wins in their last seven league games, including a humiliating 0-5 defeat to Liverpool at Old Trafford, has seen the Norwegian removed from his post.

“Ole will always be a legend at Manchester United and it is with regret that we have reached this difficult decision,” read United’s official statement.

“While the past few weeks have been disappointing, they should not obscure all the work he has done over the past three years to rebuild the foundations for long-term success.

“Ole leaves with our sincerest thanks for his tireless efforts as Manager and our very best wishes for the future. His place in the club’s history will always be secure, not just for his story as a player, but as a great man and a Manager who gave us many great moments. He will forever be welcome back at Old Trafford as part of the Manchester United family.”

United also confirmed Michael Carrick will now take charge of the team until an interim manager is appointed till the end of the season. Backroom staff Mike Phelan and Kieran McKenna will remain in their positions.

At the time of sacking, Manchester United are seventh in the Premier League table, but they are already a massive 12 points behind league leaders Chelsea and barely look capable of picking up even a point let alone the run of wins they would need to close that huge gap.

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Solskjaer took caretaker charge of the Red Devils in December 2018 and went on such an impressive run of results, including an incredible 1-3 win against PSG in Paris, that he was given the job full-time.

However he didn’t manage to recreate that initial burst of form until Bruno Fernandes arrived at the club in January 2020, at which point United started to look like they may actually return to the top level.

That never materialised, though. Successive Europa League exits, one in the semi-final and another in the final itself painted the picture of a a manager unable to do the one thing he did so well as a player: win trophies.

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Who are the favourites to be next Manchester United manager? (odds via Sky Bet)

• Brendan Rodgers (2/7)
• Zinedine Zidane (7/2)
• Mauricio Pochettino (12/1)
• Erik ten Hag (14/1)

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With pressure mounting the arrival of Cristiano Ronaldo and Raphael Varane saw the club shift into a “win-now” mentality and yet the team just went backwards. The coherence of the side evaporated and they were relying on an unsustainable series of comebacks to maintain the illusion that they were a competitive side.

How the internet reacted:

Marcus Rashford seemed to be the first United starter to post on social media following this morning’s news.

Club legend ♥️ pic.twitter.com/Dhef4U0T2A

— Marcus Rashford (@MarcusRashford) November 21, 2021

Gary Neville thanked Solskjaer for restoring “some soul” to the club while others expressed anger toward the boardroom.

Thank you Ole. You did us proud . The last two months were tough but before that you restored some soul into the club. ❤️ pic.twitter.com/cseYVIFgqK

— Gary Neville (@GNev2) November 21, 2021

I feel very, very sad.

Ole had to go. Yesterday was obscene.

But the rot starts at the top and our club is broken.

It ultimately wasn't good enough but thanks for trying.

We had some moments.

A good guy surrounded by chancers.

Ed Woodward notches up another failure.

— Barney @Red News (@barneyrednews) November 21, 2021

He was also described as a “really promising director of football who was hired for the wrong job.”

It ended badly, but that shouldn’t overshadow the important work Ole did to turn the club around at a crucial time after Van Gaal and Mourinho.

A really promising director of football who was hired for the wrong job, in all honesty. https://t.co/2tXtrDuI5Q

— Tom Doyle (@TomJDoyle) November 21, 2021

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