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Manchester United appoints club legend Ole Gunnar Solskjaer as interim manager

Manchester United has found its replacement for Jose Mourinho, at least until the end of the season.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has been named as caretaker manager, the club announced in an official statement on its website. Solskjaer’s staff will be comprised of first-team coach Mike Phelan and Mourinho holdovers Michael Carrick and Kieran McKenna, per the statement.

The club made it official on Twitter as well:

Solskjaer is legendary around Old Trafford for his 11 years of service and Champions League-winning goal against Bayern Munich in the 1999 final. He poked home a Teddy Sheringham header off a corner to cap United’s miracle stoppage-time rally.

Renowned as the ultimate super-sub for the Red Devils, Solskjaer gets a chance to do it as manager following Jose Mourinho’s sacking on Tuesday. After retiring in 2007 the Norwegian immediately moved into management, first as an assistant under Sir Alex Ferguson, then as coach of United’s reserves before landing a job with Molde FK in Norway. He led Molde to a pair of top-flight titles over three seasons before taking over Premier League side Cardiff City in January 2014.

He was unable to help Cardiff avoid relegation, however, and after finishing dead last in the table and beginning the next season with a poor run of form in the Championship, he was ultimately sacked. Solskjær returned to Norway, where he ended up managing Molde again.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has been named Manchester United’s interim manager. (Getty)
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has been named Manchester United’s interim manager. (Getty)

On the surface, it appears to be a sound move for both club and manager. The kind of names United likely wants to pursue won’t be available until the summer — the official statement mentions a “thorough recruitment process for a new full-time manager” — and Solskjaer not only has managerial experience, his name carries weight around the club, especially with Ferguson still very much present as an advisor.

Who knows? Maybe Solskjaer acquits himself well and either makes a deep run in the Champions League or rallies United back into fourth place and qualifies for Europe’s top competition again.

By that token, it’s a chance for Solskjaer to prove himself on the biggest stage, a chance he wouldn’t have gotten at any other major club in the world at the moment. He’ll pour himself into trying to take advantage.

All that said, it’s a steep task. Mourinho was hardly at fault for everything that’s led United to this point, and the club has some serious inward fixes to make and issues to address before it can truly be counted among England’s elite again.

Who knows how quickly it will make that climb. At least we know who’ll be charged with engineering it.

Solskjaer’s first match in charge is Saturday away to Cardiff City at 12:30 p.m. ET.

Joey Gulino is the editor of FC Yahoo and moonlights as a writer. Follow him on Twitter at @JGulinoYahoo.

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