Solskjaer’s stock is dipping into the red as United start to stumble again

Inside Track with John McIntyre

ALEX Ferguson’s shadow still hangs over Old Trafford. The uncompromising Glaswegian was always going to be a hard act to follow at Manchester United, but few supporters anticipated that the club would lose its way so much over the intervening eight years.

Ferguson was United manager from 1982 to 2013 and despite the lack of instant success, he would go on to make the Red Devils the most envied club in the world. During that time, he repeatedly built, took apart and rebuilt successful teams. 13 Premier League titles, five FA Cups and two Uefa Champion Leagues were the highlights of his long tenure.

When Ferguson finally stood down, he had given his blessing to his anointed successor David Moyes, the long-serving Everton manager who made the team consistently competitive without winning any trophies. With big shoes to fill, Moyes appeared overwhelmed by the pressure and barely lasted ten months at Old Trafford having signed a six-year contract.

The sacking of Moyes – a move some former United players considered premature – has led to a managerial merry go around at the club. One of them, Ryan Giggs, briefly acted in a caretaker capacity until he was replaced by then Dutch manager Louis van Gaal in May of 2014.

His long ball tactic, the failure of some of his expensive signings to make a sustained impact – remember Argentinian Ángel Di María who came with a near £60m price tag – and lack of silverware meant van Gaal was already a dead manager walking before delivering the FA Cup to United in May of 2016. Two days later he was fired.

Egomaniac José Mourinho was next in the Manchester hot seat. One time, it might have been a match made in heaven, but the Portuguese’s tactics had become increasingly conservative and his inclination to put the blame on his players when results weren’t going their way didn’t go down well in the corridors of power.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.

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