Man Utd players want Ole Gunnar Solskjaer to be permanent manager

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s impressive start as Manchester United’s caretaker manager has “convinced” the club’s stars that he should remain at Old Trafford beyond the summer.

The Norwegian was appointed United’s interim boss last month after the sacking of Jose Mourinho and the Daily Mirror reports that the Red Devils players “love his man-management” and “want him in charge longer than six months initially planned”.

While the plan is to appoint a full-time manager in the summer, Solskjaer has led United to five successive wins from his five matches in charge. Under Solskjaer’s management United have won Premier League games against Cardiff City, Huddersfield Town, Bournemouth and Newcastle United and also beat Championship side Reading in the FA Cup last weekend.

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According to the Mirror, sources at the club say that Solskjaer’s attacking philosophy has been welcomed by the squad and the star players have “flourished”. Paul Pogba, the club’s record £89m signing, has scored four goals in three matches while Marcus Rashford and Romelu Lukaku are “also thriving” up front.

Shearer: United should keep him

Last week it was reported by the BBC that Solskjaer does not want to leave when his contract expires in May. Match of the Day pundit Alan Shearer also believes the club should keep him on full-time.

Shearer said: “There are bigger tests to come and I am concerned about how they are defensively. But what if Solskjaer wins all of his games in charge? What if he wins them a trophy? I think they should keep him.”

‘Don’t get too cosy’

While Solskjaer and his players are enjoying a good run of results, United have a number of tough matches coming up.

On Sunday they travel to Tottenham, who are managed by Mauricio Pochettino, the favourite to become full-time boss at Old Trafford. And this month they also face Arsenal in the fourth round of the FA Cup.

Then in February Paris Saint-Germain await in the first leg of the Champions League round of 16 and there’s also a Premier League clash at home against Liverpool to look forward to.

Football365’s Ian Watson believes United’s board and players “cannot get too cosy under Solskjaer” despite him turning around their fortunes following the poor start to the season with Mourinho.

Watson writes: “There is no doubt that Solskjaer has lifted everyone at Old Trafford and he deserves credit for how shrewdly he has begun his pitch for the full-time job. But in no way can United afford for [executive vice-chairman, Ed] Woodward – or the players – to think that the caretaker boss has taken the heat off any of them.”