Manchester United legend Gary Pallister insists there are positives from Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s stint as the club’s manager.
The Norwegian was sacked in November after almost three years in charge of United, the club where he made his name as a player by scoring the winning goal in the 1999 Champions League final.
Brought in as interim manager to settle the storm after Jose Mourinho’s turbulent departure in December 2019, Solskjaer ultimately won the job permanently by March after winning 14 out of 19 games in charge.
In the 2020/21 season, his first full season in charge, Solskjaer led the Red Devils to a second-place finish in the Premier League and the Europa League final, where they went down to Villarreal on penalties.
But Solskjaer was unable to improve his team this season, and after a run of five defeats in seven games, the 48-year-old was dismissed.
That doesn’t mean fans have lost any love for Solskjaer, who Pallister thinks should be praised for restoring positivity at Old Trafford.
“The positives were the positivity he brought back into the club,” Pallister, who won four Premier League titles with United, told TribalFootball.com, on behalf of OLBG.
“I think there was a lot of backstabbing and moaning behind the scenes before he came in.
“You talk to people who work at the good and the opinion was that he brought back the feel good factor to Manchester United and Old Trafford.
“Whether you want to knock Ole or not, he tried his best to bring back the entertainment to Old Trafford and put smiles back on the faces of the fans.
“He wanted to make them an exciting side and ultimately it didn’t work out for him.
“The games against Liverpool and Manchester City were harsh realities and the actions spoke louder than words on those occasions.
“Although they finished second, there was a sense that Manchester United were still a long way off from competing with these sides, which cost him his job.
“For a while he brought some smiles back after watching some real turgid football under previous managers.
“I think he can take that away from him and he’ll always have the love of the fans, but when the axe did fall, I think it was fair to say that everyone knew it was the right thing to do.”
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