Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and other successful caretaker managers
- Published
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has become the most successful Manchester United manager of all time...that is, the most successful manager after eight games.
He's become the first Old Trafford boss to win the first eight games in a row, after knocking Arsenal out of the fourth round of the FA Cup on Friday night. Alexis Sanchez, Jesse Lingard and Anthony Martial scored in their 3-1 win at Emirates Stadium.
Solskjaer is currently only the caretaker manager of Manchester United, following the sacking of Jose Mourinho.
The question is, can he become the most successful caretaker manager of all time? Lets have a look at some of the best temporary managers to grace the beautiful game...
Gareth Southgate
Unless you've been under a rock for the past year or so you'll probably already know that Gareth Southgate is not only a national hero but is also king of the waistcoats. In the summer, Southgate helped England to their first World Cup semi-final in 28 years. But, it hasn't always been great for Southgate.
When he was announced as the new temporary manager of England in September 2016, not many people were excited by the appointment. He'd had a pretty average managerial career and, for a lot of English fans, his penalty miss against Germany in the Euro 96 semi-final was unforgivable. Not to mention the fact he'd appeared in a Pizza Hut advert mocking the miss.
Southgate's turnaround has been remarkable. After doing well as the temporary manager, his contract was made permanent and he never looked back. He's just helped England to another semi-final; this time in the European Nations League.
Peter Wild
It's every fans dream. One minute you're in the crowd, the next minute you're leading your boyhood club to victory against a Premier League giant.
That's what's happened to temporary Oldham boss, Peter Wild. He had a ticket for the FA Cup third round tie between Fulham and his club Oldham last week. But just days before the match, Oldham boss Frankie Bunn was sacked and Wild - who was an academy coach - was unexpectedly put in charge.
Against all the odds, Oldham beat Fulham 2-1, completing one of the biggest giant-killings in FA Cup history. And, for the record, Wild still owes his mate the money for his ticket. I'm sure they'll let him off, surely?
Tim Sherwood
Andre Villas Boas doesn't have much luck does he? This time his reserve-team-manager, Tim Sherwood, took charge after Boas was sacked by Tottenham Hotspur in 2013.
Nicknamed 'Tactics Tim' by fans, Tim Sherwood took it all back to basics, taking a lot of complication out of Tottenham's game. He did reasonably well, taking Spurs to a 6th place finish in the League.
But he's mainly in this list for one reason: he gave Harry Kane his big break in the Premier League. Sherwood gave Kane his first team debut and the striker has not looked back since, scored over 150 goals and becoming England captain.
Roberto Di Matteo
Like a thief in the night, Di Matteo took temporary charge at Chelsea after the man who had hired him as his assistant coach, Andre Villas Boas, was sacked in February 2012. Not much was expected from the Di Matteo in a time of change for Chelsea. They were out of the top-four in the Premier League and they were 3-1 down against Napoli in the first-leg match in the UEFA Champions League.
Cue the theme song from Rocky: Chelsea beat Napoli 4-1 in the second-leg and never looked back, winning game after game, after game. They won the FA Cup final against Liverpool and even managed to make it to the Champions League final where only Bayern Munich stood in their way.
Against the odds, a Didier Drogba inspired Chelsea beat the German giants in their own backyard, becoming the first London based team to win the Champions League in the process. Not bad for a temporary coach, eh?
Of course it doesn't always work out...
You don't have to look very far for a time when a temporary managerial stint has gone a bit wrong. Take Spain's Fernando Hierro for example. Earlier this summer he took charge of a Spanish national side in a bit of trouble. Just days before the start of 2018 World Cup, pre-tournament favourites Spain sacked their manager Julen Lopetegui after he'd agreed to manage Real Madrid once the competition was finished.
Spain brought in former-Spanish international footballer Fernando Hierro to steady the ship. Quite predictably it didn't go very well. Spain crashed out of the tournament in the first knock out round and Hierro resigned soon after. Poor Lopetegui didn't fare much better at his new club. He was sacked by Real Madrid after just 14 games in charge.
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- Published13 March 2018
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