Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer said today was his “darkest day” since he’s been in charge of his club. Hard to disagree with that, as United got absolutely crushed at home, 5-0 to their arch-rivals Liverpool. (Update: Zinedine Zidane the favorite, among both bookies and fans, to replace Solskjaer, while media reports indicate Antonio Conte is the leading potential target)
Unfortunately, we’ve been here before- a new low is reached, until the bottom drops out yet again down the road. Is this is the bedrock with OGS? Possibly not, and we can still see the Norwegian, and the club he manages, sink potentially lower.
Any time the opposing fans chant for your manager to stay, especially when it’s at your place, it’s an utterly dreadful thing and that’s where we are now. Yet Solskjaer still believes he’s the guy to lead this club. (In all fairness, what else could he say?)
“I have come too far, we have come too far as a group, and we are too close to give up now,” Solskjaer said after a history making defeat, one that likely turned the rest of his defenders against him.
“It is not easy to say something apart from it is the darkest day I have had leading these players,” Solskjaer said, adding that he feels worse than when his side got routed 6-1 to Tottenham Hotspur last season.
Okay, so this is obvious, and we’ve been saying this for weeks, a if not months, already on this site. Does the MUFC board see it that way? Will they take action? How about going out and getting Zinedine Zidane or Antonio Conte?
You know that both managers would love the opportunity to work with a roster this talented and high priced.
Paul M. Banks is the owner/manager of The Bank (TheSportsBank.Net) and author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” as well as “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He has regularly appeared in WGN, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune, and co-hosts the After Extra Time podcast. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram.