Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's time in charge of Manchester United may have been overshadowed by a disastrous final two months, but some of his achievements should not be dismissed.
The Norwegian guided the Red Devils to their longest unbeaten run away from home in the Premier League (29 games) and also led them to their highest finish since Sir Alex Ferguson's departure. United were the closest challengers to Manchester City in the 2020/21 season as they ended up in second.
There were a number of impressive individual wins in Solskjaer's tenure, too, with a 2-0 win over City in 2020 and that famous night in Paris as the two that stand out. The Red Devils came from two-nil down after the first leg to overcome PSG thanks to a 3-1 win with Marcus Rashford scoring a late penalty.
Something that stood out from Solskjaer's time at the club is how he managed to transform the changing room, with the 49-year-old turning United's team spirit into a positive one. It showed as United picked up the most points from losing positions in 20/21 with the Red Devils recovering 30 points from being behind in games.
The Athletic revealed that Solskjaer's motto inspired United's squad to change their attitudes and ensure that he was well respected around Old Trafford. He said: "I'd rather have a hole in the squad than an a***hole".
Michael Carrick, Kieran McKenna and other close staff agreed with him and they strongly believed in Solskjaer's work and most didn't hang around when he left. Carrick stayed as caretaker boss for three matches until Ralf Rangnick arrived as Interim manager until the end of the season.
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Meanwhile, McKenna and his assistant Martyn Pert are thriving in charge of Ipswich Town, with the Tractor Boys sitting inside the automatic places in League One after 19 matches. Solskjaer and Carrick went to watch Ipswich play Doncaster Rovers back in March, before the latter was appointed at Middlesbrough last month.
Since his departure from the Red Devils after the 4-1 defeat at Watford, Solskjaer has adone a number of activities, including re-watching every United game he was in charge of - all 168 of them during his three years at the club. He recorded a 51% win percentage, winning 91 of his matches at the helm.
Solskjaer has learned to sail and, with an eye on the future, watched lots of football and travelled to games around Europe. It is understood he wants to manage again and has used this time to evaluate, analyse and study the winning teams in the top European leagues.
