' OLE IS THE RIGHT MAN DESPITE STRUGGLES '

Saturday April 26th 2014

By Scott Johnson.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is the right man for Cardiff City, despite struggles - Scott Johnson

The average tenure of a Premier League manager is short and perilous.

Of the 20 current managers, only three have been in position for more than two years and 14 have occupied their current role for less than a year.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has been in charge at Cardiff since the 2nd January and under pressure from the off. It is an occupational hazard and despite being well remunerated for their troubles, you still sometimes sympathise.

Solskjaer had the unenviable task of replacing a popular manager at a club facing a relegation battle, with a disgruntled fan base and an unpredictable owner. He insisted that he was accepting the post with ‘his eyes open’ but the reality and complexity of the situation is bound to have taken him by surprise.

Mackay was not without his faults and was conservative to a fault but he made Cardiff competitive and difficult to play against. Solksjaer tried to make Cardiff more progressive but it cost them their durability and he has experienced a recent upturn in form by utilising Malky’s favoured 4-5-1 formation.

Solskjaer has been learning on the job and some will insist that Cardiff would have stood a far greater chance of staying up had Mackay remained. That may be true, but his position became untenable and we can only speculate what might have happened if his relationship with Vincent Tan had not deteriorated to breaking point.

It will soon become apparent which division Cardiff will line up in next season and on some level a decision may need to be made regarding Solskjaer’s future. With a 12-month rolling deal, the club have afforded themselves the opportunity to terminate his contract without facing a massive settlement, but that would not necessarily make a decision any easier.

Fans and commentators are quick to call for the head of a manager when things go wrong, but very little concession is made for the repercussions of that decision. It is all well and good firing a manager, but if you cannot bring in a better manager, it is often merely disruption for the sake of it.

When you factor in the general health of the club, in massive debt with an owner that has become a laughing stock, Cardiff were lucky to land Solskjaer. Despite his mistakes thus far, could they do any better if the club were recruiting as a Championship side?

Solskjaer turned down Aston Villa in May 2012 before taking the plunge with Cardiff and puzzled fans with erratic changes in formation and personnel. With no sign of a clear style or ethos, a side that was once rock solid became pushovers. But with encouraging signs of progress in recent weeks and given a full pre-season with these players, he may well fashion them in to an impressive, cohesive outfit. Or they could return to their erratic, bad old ways. It is impossible to tell.

Brendan Rodgers, who has whipped Liverpool in to shape and is challenging for the title, failed to make a positive impact during his brief tenure at Reading. Sometimes it is just a question of being at the right club at the right time.

Tony Pulis, Cardiff’s recent conqueror, has cast a shadow over Solskjaer’s reign by taking an inferior group of players and steering them clear of danger with his customary pragmatic approach. Maybe that would have been a better fit for Cardiff, but managers like that don’t grow on trees.

When you survey the potential domestic options, it is an uninspiring bunch. Eddie Howe is an impressive young manager, but underwhelmed at Burnley, who may replace Cardiff in the Premier League. Brighton’s Oscar Garcia is another promising young manager, but has even less managerial experience than Solskjaer. Gianfranco Zola is out of work but underachieved at Watford and the jury is still out on his managerial career to date.

Otherwise you are looking at the likes of Harry Redknapp and Mick McCarthy, old school, experienced options. Cardiff very publically professed that they only had one option when courting Solskjaer, so you must assume that there is no back up options to fall back on if required.

When the season concludes and plans are put in place for next season, the hope is that the club back or sack the manager as soon as possible, to avoid a summer of speculation and assumption. When Mackay was dismissed, the fear was that Tan would appoint one of his stooges, but Solksjaer was a smart appointment. If the position were vacated, the same concerns would return, especially as there are likely to be less suitable and willing candidates this time round.

The club have gone out of their way to support Solskjaer, who has stated his desire to remain with the club regardless of their fate. His transfer dealings may have been underwhelming and he has overseen some pretty dreadful performances, but things appear to be gradually improving and the truth is that Cardiff need Solskjaer more than he needs Cardiff.

Despite a steep learning curve, he remains the right man for the job in the foreseeable future.

Hmm

My honest opinion, For me Ole is not the right man for City, but I will keep cheering our team on no matter what results this season and I certainly would not turn against him at a match.

You never know, Ole might just pull it off and prove the doubters like myself wrong

I will wait until he has a full pre season with a squad of his choosing before ultimately deciding... Although it's taken time, there's been a lift in performances recently... Seems Ole finally knows his best team currently.

Hmm

My honest opinion, For me Ole is not the right man for City, but I will keep cheering our team on no matter what results this season and I certainly would not turn against him at a match.

You never know, Ole might just pull it off and prove the doubters like myself wrong

Out of interest Annis who would you have appointed?

Pulis was already at Palace by this point remember.

I will wait until he has a full pre season with a squad of his choosing before ultimately deciding... Although it's taken time, there's been a lift in performances recently... Seems Ole finally knows his best team currently.

He needs time and your right about performances..

Hmm

My honest opinion, For me Ole is not the right man for City, but I will keep cheering our team on no matter what results this season and I certainly would not turn against him at a match.

You never know, Ole might just pull it off and prove the doubters like myself wrong

Why you were quick to doubt him after only a few games i'll never know. You wanted malky to have a pre season and proper transfer window to get rid of jones's deadwood and bring in his own squad before we judged him??
I know consistency isn't your strong point but surely its only fair to judge him after having some time to assemble his own squad

Hmm

My honest opinion, For me Ole is not the right man for City, but I will keep cheering our team on no matter what results this season and I certainly would not turn against him at a match.

You never know, Ole might just pull it off and prove the doubters like myself wrong

Out of interest Annis who would you have appointed?

Pulis was already at Palace by this point remember.

Wrong, Tony Pulis kept holding out for the City job,whilst all the troubles with Malky were happening and never rushed in to the Palace job, but City showed no interest at all in him and as you know like most clubs we could of offered Pulis behind the scenes the job.
I said from day one he would of been my choice before Pulis did well with Palace, I thought he performed miracles at Stoke.

Hmm

My honest opinion, For me Ole is not the right man for City, but I will keep cheering our team on no matter what results this season and I certainly would not turn against him at a match.

You never know, Ole might just pull it off and prove the doubters like myself wrong

Why you were quick to doubt him after only a few games i'll never know. You wanted malky to have a pre season and proper transfer window to get rid of jones's deadwood and bring in his own squad before we judged him??
I know consistency isn't your strong point but surely its only fair to judge him after having some time to assemble his own squad

Jinks after I think it was 11 games I gave my opinion, but yes I doubted Ole from day one, just going by his non experience in British management, to come to a club in turmoil.
Consistency is my strong point as I always stand by what I believe in, but also admit if I am proven wrong

Hmm

My honest opinion, For me Ole is not the right man for City, but I will keep cheering our team on no matter what results this season and I certainly would not turn against him at a match.

You never know, Ole might just pull it off and prove the doubters like myself wrong

Out of interest Annis who would you have appointed?

Pulis was already at Palace by this point remember.

Wrong, Tony Pulis kept holding out for the City job,whilst all the troubles with Malky were happening and never rushed in to the Palace job, but City showed no interest at all in him and as you know like most clubs we could of offered Pulis behind the scenes the job.
I said from day one he would of been my choice before Pulis did well with Palace, I thought he performed miracles at Stoke.

No I'm not wrong... Malky was sacked in December and Pulis was appointed in November

Maybe if the Malky love in that went on so publicly when it first came out that he had fallen out with Tan hadn't have happened he might have been sacked earlier when Pulis was available.

Also it surprises me that as a fan of Malky you'd back the club to approach other managers while he was still in charge

Hmm

My honest opinion, For me Ole is not the right man for City, but I will keep cheering our team on no matter what results this season and I certainly would not turn against him at a match.

You never know, Ole might just pull it off and prove the doubters like myself wrong

Out of interest Annis who would you have appointed?

Pulis was already at Palace by this point remember.

Wrong, Tony Pulis kept holding out for the City job,whilst all the troubles with Malky were happening and never rushed in to the Palace job, but City showed no interest at all in him and as you know like most clubs we could of offered Pulis behind the scenes the job.
I said from day one he would of been my choice before Pulis did well with Palace, I thought he performed miracles at Stoke.

In his last five seasons at Stoke Pulis had spent £80m......only Chelsea and Man City spent more. For that money, scoring 27 goals in 30 games and finishing mid to bottom of the prem is far from being a miracle worker. Id go as far as saying he was shit in the transfer market.

Hmm

My honest opinion, For me Ole is not the right man for City, but I will keep cheering our team on no matter what results this season and I certainly would not turn against him at a match.

You never know, Ole might just pull it off and prove the doubters like myself wrong

Out of interest Annis who would you have appointed?

Pulis was already at Palace by this point remember.

Wrong, Tony Pulis kept holding out for the City job,whilst all the troubles with Malky were happening and never rushed in to the Palace job, but City showed no interest at all in him and as you know like most clubs we could of offered Pulis behind the scenes the job.
I said from day one he would of been my choice before Pulis did well with Palace, I thought he performed miracles at Stoke.

In his last five seasons at Stoke Pulis had spent £80m......only Chelsea and Man City spent more. For that money, scoring 27 goals in 30 games and finishing mid to bottom of the prem is far from being a miracle worker. Id go as far as saying he was shit in the transfer market.

I think that his transfer business is what lost him the Stoke job in the end really. If he'd spent less or got technically better players he may still be there.

Hmm

My honest opinion, For me Ole is not the right man for City, but I will keep cheering our team on no matter what results this season and I certainly would not turn against him at a match.

You never know, Ole might just pull it off and prove the doubters like myself wrong

Out of interest Annis who would you have appointed?

Pulis was already at Palace by this point remember.

Wrong, Tony Pulis kept holding out for the City job,whilst all the troubles with Malky were happening and never rushed in to the Palace job, but City showed no interest at all in him and as you know like most clubs we could of offered Pulis behind the scenes the job.
I said from day one he would of been my choice before Pulis did well with Palace, I thought he performed miracles at Stoke.

You were asked a question and should answer it, other than Pulis who would have you have appointed?

This article gives me hope and I pray that more people read it and take note, the job was extremely hard to take on and luckily we appointed a man who maybe isn't fit for a relegation battle but is the man to take us back to the Premier League in better shape if we go down.

Hmm

My honest opinion, For me Ole is not the right man for City, but I will keep cheering our team on no matter what results this season and I certainly would not turn against him at a match.

You never know, Ole might just pull it off and prove the doubters like myself wrong

Why you were quick to doubt him after only a few games i'll never know. You wanted malky to have a pre season and proper transfer window to get rid of jones's deadwood and bring in his own squad before we judged him??
I know consistency isn't your strong point but surely its only fair to judge him after having some time to assemble his own squad

Jinks after I think it was 11 games I gave my opinion, but yes I doubted Ole from day one, just going by his non experience in British management, to come to a club in turmoil.
Consistency is my strong point as I always stand by what I believe in, but also admit if I am proven wrong

I wouldn't say his"non experience"" in British management. He managed the reserve team at Manu for several seasons before going back to his homeland. Was also coach to the strikers in his final season at old Trafford.He has spent the vast majority of his career in Britain. He is just inexperienced at this level but his understanding of British football and his connections should be top notch.
I understand that some fans would wanted a safe choice like pulis. But IMO a young progressive manager is the way to go.

The players are mostly deadwood. Cant make gold from that.

Thank good The Tans know more about football than the Annis brigade! Takes two years to repair the damage done to this club, and we got the management to do it.

Thank good The Tans know more about football than the Annis brigade! Takes two years to repair the damage done to this club, and we got the management to do it.

Tan knows football

I'm know expert never claimed to be, just a fan, giving my opinion

and all the time you were singing don't sack McKay

and while you were singing it tan dithered

and while you were singing it tan dithered

and all the time you were singing don't sack McKay

If I had my choice Malky would of stayed end of

The players are mostly deadwood. Cant make gold from that.

That is because of Malky'

and all the time you were singing don't sack McKay

If I had my choice Malky would of stayed end of

And who would you have had like asked if Malky went and Pulis wasn't available? There was NO ONE out there that could do a better job than Ole.

Ole is 4 pts behind Malky's tally, a win tomorrow and he'd only be 1 pt off. We have put dignified performances in against title contenders


We have scored 3 goals more under Ole but conceded 2 goals more under Ole. When you consider Ole hasn't even spent anything on a striker it makes you wonder what he could have done with a summer transfer window.

You can't compare the two as they're almost identical.

And who would you have had like asked if Malky went and Pulis wasn't available? There was NO ONE out there that could do a better job than Ole.

what a load of utter nonsense. Nothing but a biased opinion desperately dressed up as fact.

And who would you have had like asked if Malky went and Pulis wasn't available? There was NO ONE out there that could do a better job than Ole.

what a load of utter nonsense. Nothing but a biased opinion desperately dressed up as fact.

Bielsa was available but would it be too much of a culture shock and changing things too much? No one else would have touched such a poisoned chalice

Malky was finished and not a premiership manager by any stretch of the imagination. Sean Dyche was the brains behind Watford's good football. Malky's anti football hoofball works well in the championship, but continually lumping the ball up to premiership teams invites the amount of pressure we endured. If it wasn't for Marshall, Malky's brand of football would have got the annihilation it deserved. His teams always ran out of steam towards the end of the season. End of. Good riddance. Cheers for getting us up, but lets move on. Tony Pulis has been the biggest surprise this season, and not one person can honestly say that they expected him to have the effect he has. Crystal palace will struggle under him next year. Ole is the right man, and a few results aside, the team has improved dramatically and the football is a lot more progressive. A pre-season and two transfer windows, and we will see the type of football, and the results we all crave.

Even if relegated ole won't have failed. after a full pre season and his own players in then is the time to judge

I dont understand the worshipping of both Malky and Ole.

Malky was nowhere near being great at Watford, his record was 33-25-41 with a pretty good team. Sean Dyche had more wins than losses before MM took over.

For Cardiff

Malky had 20 matches total in 2014. 7 of those were home against top 10 placed teams.
He had this record: 5-5-10

Ole has 18 matches total in 2014: 5 Away against top 10 teams
He has this record: 5-3-10

I would say that none of them has delivered but Malky hasn`t exactly outperformed Ole.

One thing that surprises me is how Ole fans say Malky was shit, so far he has a few points more than Ole and he got us promoted.

Another thing that suprises me is how Malky fans say Ole is too inexperienced for this level and how he sucks and yet he could make your hero MM look like an amateur by getting more points than him in 18 matches and with 33% of his matches being away against top 10 teams.

I cant defend Malky, he had pre season and one of the biggest budgets this season. He did at best decent considering what he had available and dont come with the Tan didn`t trust him from the start bullshit. The way we "know" Tan we all agree that he would never give so much money to a man he didn`t trust. And no, that does not mean i like red and support Tan.

Ole i can defend. He had a squad available that smelled relegation. 2 wins in 14 matches when he took over. Tan did not trust him in January and gave him 10% of the budget MM had. And as said, he dont have experience as manager in the English league.

Considering those things id say they have done decent both of them but we got to realise that we stay up on luck, not skills this season.

Hmm

My honest opinion, For me Ole is not the right man for City, but I will keep cheering our team on no matter what results this season and I certainly would not turn against him at a match.

You never know, Ole might just pull it off and prove the doubters like myself wrong

In the long term i think he is the right man. I believe we where going down with malky, look at the ladt three years he has managed his teams form drops halfway theough the season.

Thank good The Tans know more about football than the Annis brigade! Takes two years to repair the damage done to this club, and we got the management to do it.

Tan knows football

I'm know expert never claimed to be, just a fan, giving my opinion

Yes, i will say he had one hell of a learning curve! After trusting everything to malky he now have sorted out a structure that was missing together with Dalman. They have done brilliant research to find the right long time management and coaching staff for Cardiff. Both in the sense of running a profitable club in the future and man managment. The network of the club is much bigger and players available for sensible prices to help the club grow. The fact that the brigade dont know that shows your point, your JUST fans But to recognize a deep problem like this takes knowledge beyond being JUST a fan