Cardiff a massive gamble for Solskjaer

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was told by Alex Ferguson to choose his owner rather than a club when deciding what his next managerial job would be.

It has long seemed inevitable that the Norwegian would move to the Premier League, but the sight of him walking into the Emirates Stadium alongside Vincent Tan was still a surprise, and a sign that he ignored Ferguson’s advice completely.

Solskjaer cannot complain he was not warned about Tan. The Malaysian has made controversy a constant companion since he bought Cardiff in 2010, firstly by changing the colour of the club’s strip from blue to red and then by sacking Malky Mackay.

It is hard to argue Mackay — who stabilised the club before securingpromotion and then establishing them as a decent side in the top flight —deserved the bullet.

Moreover, the manner in which it was done, with Mackay asked to resign or be sacked, before a brief period of rapprochement and then the inevitable dismissal, was grubby in the extreme.

Yet Solskjaer knew all of this — so why has he accepted? Certainly theoffer of substantial funds in January cannot have done any harm, and Solskjaer has clearly been ready to leave Norway for some time. He is a hero in his home country — scoring the winning goal in a Champions League final will do that for you — and there is genuine pride at what he has achieved as a player and now manager. Get in any cab in Oslo and Solskjaer will invariably become the principal topic of conversation. Allied to that, his achievements as a manager are beginning to bear comparison with those as a player.

Scorer of 126 goals in 366 appearances for United, he has led Molde to the first two league titles in their history, following it up with the Norwegian Cup this season.

The youngest ever person to receive the Norwegian equivalent of a knighthood in 2008, it appears Solskjaer has always been preparing for life as a manager.

He admits to taking notes throughout his time at United, trying to work out how he reacted when given a dressing down by Ferguson or Roy Keane, and analysing the training sessions he took part in.

Solskjaer admitted at the time that he was trying to mould Molde into a ‘mini Manchester United’, by introducing strict rules on diet and behaviour, as well as making the players wear suits when on official club duty.

He has also shown some of Alex Ferguson’s ruthlessness, telling the Daily Mail that some of his Molde players would be shown the door after their first title.

“I know for a fact that one or two of these players won’t be as good next year,” he said. “They think they’re big-time Charlies. So it’ll be thanks and goodbye.”

That is a statement of which Ferguson would have approved. It isn’t hard to think Ferguson would also have been pleased by Solskjaer’s decision to turn down Blackburn (and their dysfunctional owners, the Venky’s), as well as Aston Villa for the sake of his family, who are settled in Norway.

Yet now he has gone against all of his previous tenets by choosing Cardiff and Tan. He has a talented squad with which to work but Solskjaer has taken a huge gamble.

If nothing else, at least he has one supporter in Arsene Wenger.

“What you want when you’re young is a chance and he has that luck,” said the Arsenal manager after his side had beaten Solskjaer’s new employers 2-0 yesterday. “After, you have to make the most of that chance. He was an intelligent player and an intelligent boy as well and that will help him to be successful. He will do well.”

Time will tell if that is the case. What we can say for sure is that the 40-year-old has taken a big gamble.

It is one we cannot be certain will pay off.