ON this day last year, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was anointed as “the right person to take Manchester United forward”.
Those were the words of executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward as he handed The Baby Faced Assassin a three-year contract to fire the Red Devils back to the top.
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Now, 12 months later, there is still debate as to whether Woodward jumped the gun or hit the right target in tasking a coach who had taken Cardiff down to lift up a sporting superpower like United.
The doubters were certainly in the minority at the time after Solskjaer put a smile back on the fans’ faces following the gloom-laden closing months of Jose Mourinho’s reign.
He won his first eight games and lost only one of his first 17. And that 2-0 defeat to Paris Saint- Germain was overturned on an unforgettable night in the French capital when United won 3-1 in their Champions League second-leg tie to go through on away goals.
On the back of that March 6 win, excited TV pundit and United legend Rio Ferdinand banged the table in the studio and demanded Ole be given a permanent contract now.
“Ole’s at the wheel, man — he’s doing his thing. Man United are back,” roared Rio.
Despite two defeats after that Champions League success, the board agreed he was their man.
Unfortunately, the man at the wheel then lost his way.
His players were not fit enough to carry out his high-energy style of play and they limped home with two wins from their final 12 games.
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Those who had not said anything at the time of his appointment were suddenly coming out of the woodwork to hammer Woodward for his decision. And when in November, on the back of a miserable start to this season, Mauricio Pochettino became available after being sacked by Spurs, that criticism intensified.
Still while all around were losing their heads, two men remained calm.
Solskjaer had talked at length with Woodward during his caretaker period about his vision for the future.
Time is a precious commodity in football and few managers seem to get it but Woodward and the Glazers were convinced of the new way.
Having splurged almost £700million on players since Sir Alex Ferguson retired in 2013, they had been rewarded with the FA Cup, EFL Cup and Europa League but still seemed to be walking on sand.
Solskjaer then gave a glimpse of a club built on fast, exciting, vibrant young players who wanted to make their name with Manchester United. No more big names on ridiculous wages like Alexis Sanchez. Forget the slow possession-based build-up and adherence to a fixed plan as had been the case under Louis van Gaal and Mourinho.
Yes, Ole wanted to shore up the defence, which was done with Harry Maguire and Aaron Wan-Bissaka.
He wanted to take the club back to the future from his time as a player, to reconnect with a fan base that no longer recognised its club.
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Time was his constant mantra in every Friday press conference.
One defeat, one setback should not deter them from sticking to the plan.
Ole is still at the wheel and was steering the club in the right direction again before the Covid-19 crisis.
United were on a run of 11 games unbeaten, were all but assured of their place in the last eight of the Europa League and had a trip to Norwich in the FA Cup quarter-finals.
They kept nine clean sheets in that period, scored 29 goals, beat Manchester City home and away and Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.
The signing of Bruno Fernandes from Sporting Lisbon helped transform the team, the creator the club had been crying out for. It was further proof after the signings of Maguire, Wan-Bissaka and Daniel James that United were getting their recruitment right again.
Fred and Nemanja Matic have been reborn in midfield.
Solskjaer skilfully turned Anthony Martial from a wide attacker into a No 9 in the absence of injured Marcus Rashford.
He made sure the sideshow around Paul Pogba remained just that.
So 12 months on, did Woodward get it right?
I for one thought it was right then and is still right now.
Ole had something the three bosses before him did not — a knowledge of what United once were and needed to be again and a plan based on his experience under the very best in Sir Alex.
“Manchester United are back,” shouted Ferdinand.
Not quite. But before the whistle blew to halt this season, there were strong signs they are getting there.
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