OLE GUNNAR SOLSKJAER could be in line for a second managerial spell at Manchester United.
But he isn’t the first ex-Red Devil to take the helm in the Old Trafford dugout.
Solskjaer leads former United star Michael Carrick in the race to replace Ruben Amorim.
Another Theatre of Dreams favourite, Darren Fletcher, is already set to take charge of Wednesday’s clash against Burnley.
Yet there have been other club heroes who have called the shots – some longer than others.
But how do they rank? Here, SunSport delivers its verdict below…
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4. RYAN GIGGS
Giggs was player-coach under David Moyes until the Scot failed to initiate his own resurrection after an Easter Sunday defeat at old club Everton in April 2014.
United installed Giggs for the final four games of the season after the players had downed tools under Moyes, who fell on his sword after United missed out on a Champions League place.
Giggs called upon old teammates Nicky Butt and Paul Scholes to assist him after Moyes assistants Steve Round and Jimmy Lumsden followed Moyes out. Phil Neville, another former teammate of Giggs’, stayed on.
United got off to a flier under Giggs, with a 4-0 thrashing of Norwich but he came a cropper against relegation-threatened Sunderland, who won 1-0 at Old Trafford the following week.
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In a documentary filmed during his caretaker stint, Giggs conceded he was too soft with his team selections for the game.
Giggs made his final appearance for United in their final Old Trafford game of the campaign, a 3-1 victory against a much-rotated Hull City side that had their eye on the upcoming FA Cup final against Arsenal.
But United’s season ended with a 1-1 draw at Mauricio Pochettino’s Southampton. Giggs’s underwhelming pre-match team talk was recorded and exposed his naivety, even at the age of 40, in management.
By that time, it was clear that Louis van Gaal would come in as their next permanent manager.
Giggs was tearful as he drove home following United’s return to Manchester, aware that his playing career was now over.
His managerial club career was, too. His only games in management since were with Wales.
3. RUUD VAN NISTELROOY
As soon as Ruud van Nistelrooy was foisted onto Erik ten Hag in July 2024, the easy bet was that Ten Hag would be sacked early in the season and Van Nistelrooy would step up as caretaker manager.
That is exactly what happened and Van Nistelrooy, one of the most popular overseas players to ever pull on the United shirt, secured three wins and one draw.
It helped that his two-week tenure was bookended by games against Leicester City in the League Cup and the Premier League. United strolled to 5-2 and 3-0 triumphs.
Sandwiched between those wins were a gritty 1-1 draw with Chelsea and an unconvincing 2-0 defeat of PAOK in the Europa League.
Van Nistelrooy was prepared to take a step back again under Ruben Amorim but the Portuguese informed Van Nistelrooy on his first day in charge that he would be let go.
2. MICHAEL CARRICK
Carrick is another United caretaker with an unbeaten record. His ten-day stint is particularly impressive given the calibre of teams United faced.
The five-time Premier League winner oversaw a morale-lifting 2-0 win at Villarreal in the Champions League only four days after United were hammered 4-1 by Watford in Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s final game in charge.
Carrick then demonstrated his tactical flexibility with a switch to a back three at Champions League holders Chelsea, where United were denied victory by a second-half Jorginho penalty in a 1-1 draw.
Cristiano Ronaldo started on the bench that day but he was back in the starting XI four days later to score twice against Arsenal in an enthralling 3-2 win.
Incoming interim manager Ralf Rangnick was in the Old Trafford directors’ box that night. Barely minutes after the final whistle, United released a statement confirming that Carrick was to leave the club after a 15-and-a-half year association as player and coach.
Rangnick wanted to retain Carrick, who did the majority of the coaching under Solskjaer, along with Kieran McKenna.
1. OLE GUNNAR SOLSKJAER
It is easy to forget that the song started with “Jose’s at the wheel”.
Yet the chant properly took off following the arrival of Solskjaer in December 2018 and the remarkable purple patch he enjoyed.
United won Solskjaer’s first eight matches in caretaker charge, among them a season-defining 1-0 success at Mauricio Pochettino’s Tottenham.
Pochettino had been lined up to replace Mourinho by United but that changed amid Solskjaer’s honeymoon period.
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Overall, United won 14, drew two and lost only three during Solskjaer’s three months as caretaker.
The undeniable highlight was the freakish but phenomenal comeback at Paris Saint-Germain, when United recovered from a 2-0 first leg defeat to progress to the Champions League quarter-finals 3-3 on aggregate via the away goals rule.
After the March internationals, United unveiled Solskjaer as their permanent manager and the team’s form suddenly hid the skids.
United won two of their final ten games of the season, finished sixth and the 4-0 thrashing by Everton remains one of their most gutless defeats of the post-Ferguson era.
As permanent manager, Solskjaer’s ‘achievements’ came during the fake football of the Covid-19 pandemic.
United finished second in the 2020-21 season and went through the campaign unbeaten away from home. Yet those feats were meaningless with supporters locked outside of grounds for almost the entire campaign.
They also reached the Europa League final that term – after cocking up the chance to emerge from the Champions League group stage. Solskjaer presided over a tactical disasterclass in the Gdansk final defeat to Villarreal and admitted the season had not been a success.
With the return of crowds and the playing field levelled in the following season, United unravelled quickly and Solskjaer suffered the ignominy of a 5-0 home hammering by Liverpool in October 2021.
Solskjaer was booed by United supporters after his final match in charge, a 4-1 drubbing by Watford, who would be relegated.
