The Red Apprentice by Jamie Jackson

Author:Jamie Jackson
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Simon & Schuster UK
Published: 2020-10-29T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 15 The First Game

‘There was a discernible strut and swagger.’

THE GUARDIAN

There is a surreal feeling at Cardiff City Stadium on a dank and cold pre-Christmas Saturday. Ole Gunnar Solskjær is the caretaker manager of Manchester United. Ole Gunnar Solskjær is caretaker manager. Yes, it is true. This is happening. Ole Gunnar can hardly believe it. He has been in the job only four days and it is still difficult to comprehend what is happening. The why of this.

The why him of all the former Ferguson players who know the club: why is HE in charge now?

Take a pick: Steve Bruce, Ryan Giggs, Nicky Butt, Paul Scholes, Gary and Phil Neville, David Beckham, Peter Schmeichel, Eric Cantona – yes, Eric: King Eric, how the faithful continue to dote on Eric C. Yet instead it is Ole. He has dreamed of this for a long time, the dream fading after the failure at the very club before him now as his first opposition in charge of United – Cardiff City. The dream faded then, but never died.

And, yet. This is still close to surreal for him, and the football world feels the same. Even Darren Fletcher, the former Manchester United midfielder now at Stoke City who is usually so measured, in the build-up to this first game, said of having a caretaker manager in charge of England’s record 20-time champions, its most garlanded club: ‘Manchester United should never be in this position. They’re almost writing off this season and next because if they appoint a new manager in the summer, he’s not going to have much time to look for new players. There is a real concern that you could have two seasons of rebuilding again.’

Fletcher is not the only one who is sceptical. And others, as Paul Ince was on Wednesday, are being more scathing, even rude. What better way to answer the jokes and doubt about him as the temporary boss loaned from Molde until the end of this season than with a 5-1 win in your opening match, as Ole does here and now against Cardiff City. This is the first time since Sir Alex Ferguson’s last game five years ago (5-5 with West Bromwich Albion on 19 May 2013) that United have scored a quintet – Ole’s connection with the Scot seems always to hover in the ether – and the only survivor from that outing is Phil Jones. There is, actually, another survivor from five years ago: Michael Oliver, the referee who officiated at the Hawthorns is in place in South Wales.

At 5.30pm Ole’s reign begins. He watches from the bench, Mike Phelan doing much of the technical-area prowling, ahead of the match being won by the proverbial mile. Ahead of his new team showing what OGS hopes will be the way forward from this point on.

The first Manchester United XI he sends out is a 4-3-3 shape that reads: David De Gea, Ashley Young, Victor Lindelöf, Jones, Luke Shaw, Paul Pogba, Ander Herrera, Nemanja Matić, Jesse Lingard, Marcus Rashford, Anthony Martial.

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