Caretaker boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer can make himself the front-runner to land the Manchester United manager’s job permanently if his side continues their upturn in form, according to Solskjaer’s former team-mate John O’Shea. United have a perfect record since Solskjaer was appointed in an interim role in the wake of Jose Mourinho’s sacking having become just the second United manager after Sir Matt Busby to win his first four games in charge.
O’Shea, who played with Solskjaer under Sir Alex Ferguson, believes the former striker has already proven his capabilities in the role. “He’s doing a hell of an impression to get the job, that’s for sure,” said O’Shea – who will face his former club on Saturday in the FA Cup with Reading. “To bring that freedom of expression and enjoyment; they’re at Manchester United because they’re good players. That’s the big thing. They’ve had a run of games where they’ve really put their foot down and go on and finished teams off as well. Everything he seems to be doing at the minute – he makes a sub and 40 seconds later the sub scores.”
The former Irish international, who also played for Sunderland and is currently at Reading, continued: “Everything’s going in his favour at the minute, but I hope he stays unbeaten in the league and gets knocked out of the cup. If he keeps that run going, if he has success in – hopefully not the FA Cup – but the Champions League, and carries on the run in the league, he’ll be putting himself as a front-runner for the job.”
