Solskjaer given total board backing in bid to take Man Utd back to the top of English football
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OLE GUNNAR SOLSKJAER has been given total backing in his bid to take Manchester United back to the top of English football.
The Norwegian was given a massive vote of confidence by executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward during a briefing following the release of the club’s quarterly figures.
Those figures show that United recorded record revenues of £627.1million over the past year.
What is more Old Trafford net debts stand at £275.1m – the lowest since owners the Glazers took over in 2005.
The figures in the Premier League table do not look so spectacular, however, following the weekend’s 2-0 defeat at West Ham.
But head honcho Woodward - who was asked by shareholders what a player loan was - vowed: “We will continue to focus on the long-term strategy and won’t be influenced by short-term distractions.”
The message to those already calling for Solskjaer’s head is one of patience.
He was only appointed full time in March after the sackings of David Moyes, Louis Van Gaal and Jose Mourinho following the retirement of Sir Alex Ferguson.
'NO SHORT-TERM DISTRACTIONS'
And the new boss will be allowed to dig in for the long term.
Solskjaer, on a two and a half year deal, initially replaced Mourinho as caretaker last December after the club began the season with their worst start in 29 years – 10 points from their first seven games.
That run sparked the beginning of the end for the Special One but this campaign is looking even less special for Solskjaer.
United need to beat Arsenal next Monday night or the start to this campaign will be even worse after taking eight points from six games.
Yet Woodward insists that Solskjaer’s plan of going back to the future by building a new winning team based on youth and homegrown players has his full support.
He declared: “We and our growing global fan base deserve success. Success means winning trophies.
“That target and that standard has never changed for Manchester United.
“The progress we’ve made on the business side underpins the continued investment in the football side.
“Much of the progress made around that investment, in the academy, recruitment department and the training ground facilities is behind the scenes and is therefore not immediately apparent to those on the outside looking in.
“These investment, together with the commitment we made to Ole and his coaching staff in March have given us the building blocks for success.
“Whilst we are confident this investment will bring success and will deliver results it is important that we are patient while Ole and his team build for the future.
“As always with Manchester United speculation around the summer transfer window is intense and the club is linked with hundreds of players, almost always without foundation.
“Despite this our recruitment department’s robust progress and early alignments on target with the manager meant we were able to approach the window in a focussed and disciplined way.
“Our new signings Dan James, Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Harry Maguire joined a strong squad that also saw renewed contracts for a number of our key players including Marcus Rashford, David De Gea and Victor Lindelof as well as Anthony Martial and Luke Shaw amongst others earlier in the season.
“We are optimistic for the future.
“The sale and loaning of the players this summer has also allowed the manager to involve more of our young players and provide a firm foundation and a culture ready for building the next trophy-winning squad.
“Regarding the speculation around a head of football we are continually reviewing and looking at the potential to evolve our structure on the football side.
“Much of the speculation around this type of role focuses purely on recruitment an area we have evolved in recent years.
“As already mentioned we feel the players we have signed this summer demonstrate this approach is the right one.
“Returning to the roots of our club’s ethos of youth-led attacking football is the right way forward.
'YOUTH-LED ATTACKING FOOTBALL'
“And everyone at the club - the board, the manager, the squad and all of the staff - remains resolute in our desire to get Manchester United back to the top of English football.
“We will continue to make the necessary investments to make this happen across our first team players, our academy and our recruitment department.
“This long – term approach to building a squad is the right one”
Before taking the conference call with Old Trafford investors Woodward gave a clear indication that Solskjaer will be given every chance to see through his stated aim of changing the whole culture and philosophy of the club from the ground up.
Woodward stressed: “We remain focused on our plan of rebuilding the team and continuing to strengthen our youth system, in line with the philosophy of the club and the manager.
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“This is reflected in the recent addition of three exciting first team players, key player contract extensions and the talent we have coming through our Academy.
“Everyone at Manchester United is committed to delivering on our primary objective of winning trophies.
“We remain focused on our plan of rebuilding the team and continuing to strengthen our youth system.”