Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has revealed he has already sought advice from his former Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson since becoming the club’s caretaker manager.
The Norwegian played under Sir Alex for 11 successful years between 1996 and 2007, scoring 126 goals in 366 games and winning 12 trophies along the way.
Speaking to the media ahead of his first match in charge against former club Cardiff City, Ole explained the Scot has been a role model during his formative years as a manager
“He's influenced me with everything to be fair,”
said Solskjaer, in Friday morning's press conference at the Aon Training Complex.
“The way he's dealt with people, the way he was the manager of the club, how he kept 25 international players happy, hungry and wanting to improve. But also the [way he dealt with] staff in and around the place.
“He’s been my mentor. From my injury in 2003 at least, I was making all the notes, what he did in different, certain situations. Of course I've already been in touch with him, because there's no one better to get some advice from.”
Ole expressed his belief that management is about getting the best out of every player and the club's philosophy is to play without fear - referencing Sir Alex's final match as a manager in 2013 as an example of that mantra.
“If you play at Man United, you play without fear and you play with courage,”
he explained. “You go out there and express your skills. I've had the best [manager]. He [Sir Alex] just said 'go out and express yourselves, take risks.'
”The last game he had as a manager was the 5-5 draw against West Brom. Of course you don't want to concede five goals, but that was almost the perfect end for him as a manager, with the way he played football. I want the players to just be similar to the kids that love to play football and go out [to play] in front of the best fans in the world.“
In our exclusive interview on Thursday, which you can watch in full in the official Manchester United app, Ole also described Sir Alex as “the best teacher”
and said he will “always be the best at managing people”.
He added: “Lots of my management evolves around what I learnt from him. He’s been the biggest influence but, in the end, we’re different. I’m a different personality. I’ve just got to be myself.”
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