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Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s initial success as interim boss at Manchester United has brought about a strange and unprecedented situation.
On the one hand a vast majority of United supporters are fervidly rooting for the Norwegian to continue racking up the league wins, knowing that by doing so he will greatly increase his chances of attaining the job permanently in the summer.
On the other hand the vast majority of rival supporters who hold a lifelong hatred for the club are fervidly rooting for the Norwegian to continue racking up the league wins, knowing that by doing so he will greatly increase his chances of attaining the job permanently in the summer.
This unique, communal desire only gets weirder still when it’s acknowledged that the reason behind each identical wish is also the same. What differs – substantially – is the perception of that reason.
Solskjaer’s impact at Old Trafford since his festive arrival in the immediate aftermath of Jose Mourinho’s sacking has been substantial and transformative. From a floundering position beyond the top four the Reds are now firmly in contention to secure Champions League football after hitting upon a rich vein of form and results.
More so, a toxic atmosphere in the dressing room has given way to unity with the players visibly enjoying their weekends again, reassured and instilled with belief. They are released hostages shaking their heads clear of the Stockholm Syndrome fostered under Mourinho’s reign. They are good players again with a license to express their talent.
It is a dissipation of hostility and pessimism that has also been witnessed on the terraces with warring factions divided in their feelings towards the once Special One now coming together for the greater good. All told then, given the magnitude of change that has taken place it is little wonder that United are now a completely different proposition to what they were prior to Christmas.
Furthermore, it should not be under-estimated how impressive an achievement it is for one man to be responsible for such revitalisation. How impressive Solskjaer has been is not up for dispute and neither are the methods he has employed to bring about such a metamorphosis.
There has been no radical overhauls; no vanguard thinking. What Solskjaer has done is purposely put himself forward as an antidote to his embittered predecessor, espousing positivity where once there was none; turning a great big frown upside down.
Much more than this the likeable 45-year-old is a living embodiment of Manchester United’s glory years and he has clearly used this to his advantage at every opportunity, littering his press conferences with talk of ‘DNA’ and ‘the Manchester United way’. ‘That’s not how we do things at Manchester United’. ‘For a club the size of Manchester United.’ It is endless and clever, achieving a twin aim of mythicizing the brand and re-strengthening its stature while evoking a time when the red half of the city was a feared, dominant force.
Understandably the supporters have lapped this up and why not after enduring six years of David Moyes and Jose Mourinho talking down their greatness with Louis van Gaal sandwiched between them talking anything but sense.
And this primarily is why they want Ole Gunnar Solskjaer to remain at the wheel. Because he is an umbilical cord to those heady days. Because he is the perfectly apt and sentimental candidate to usher in a repeat performance. Because he ‘gets’ the club and by getting the club those trophy-laden times will surely return.
This evoking of the past is also why fans of the other 91 league clubs - including myself, a Manchester City supporter - want the Scandinavian cheerleader to stay. Because they know it’s ultimately utter tosh.
Nostalgia certainly has a place in football but that place is nowhere near a title race. Sure it can revive, acting as a temporary balm. It’s a pick-me-up in times of trouble. Beyond that though – as we have seen countless times before when clubs become too attached to their own past - it is a phantom limb. You scratch at it but there’s nothing there.
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Because those days are gone and this is especially true of Manchester United, a club that has deteriorated in many significant ways since Sir Alex Ferguson’s retirement in 2013, not least in the fact that three underwhelming managers have created a woefully ill-balanced squad.
Telling the players they are special won’t cut in when reality bites. Evoking the glory days similarly won’t mean a thing without the proper implementation of long-term growth under a coach with far more nous than Solskjaer possesses.
Right now every one of my United supporting friends want ‘Ole’ in the job and as a City fan I do too. Our reasons are the same – retaining a direct lineage to their recent past. Our perception of that reasoning however could not be more different.