Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is more than just a super sub; he’s a super guy and Manchester United legend
- The Norwegian was the only player who gave Peter Schmeichel problems during training
- He would study opponents while on the bench, ready to torment them once he was brought on
The Ole Gunnar Solskjaer love-in will continue among Manchester United fans for as long as his team play well. There’s relief from fans – 80 per cent of whom, according to one poll, wanted Jose Mourinho out in the week before he went.
Solskjaer is a club legend at United. Not quite a top level hero who’d be considered for a statue like Edwards, Law, Best, Charlton, Giggs, Robson, Cantona or Keane, but in the highly esteemed tier below.
Diego Forlan, another former United striker, is clear how important Solskjaer, who was not a regular starter, was. “He played in that great United team which won treble in 1999, with Dwight Yorke, Andy Cole and Teddy Sheringham in attack,” said Forlan.
“Four strikers playing for two places and all four were needed throughout the season. If one combination wasn’t working then there was always other options.”
It was Solskjaer, signed in the summer of 1996 after United lost out on Alan Shearer, who scored the near-miraculous treble-winning goal in Barcelona. Yet he was almost unknown when he arrived at Old Trafford as one of five foreign signings in the summer of 1996 alongside Ronny Johnsen, Jordi Cruyff, Karel Poborsky and Raimond Van Der Gouw.