Andrew Cole hits out at ‘not nice’ criticism Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has faced from Man United fans

Andrew Cole has slammed the criticism that Manchester United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has faced from his own supporters, claiming he is ‘disappointed’ by sections of the Red Devils fanbase. 

The Norwegian manager has faced major critics from his own supporters after a mixed set of results to start this season, with a 5-0 home loss to Liverpool and an Old Trafford beating by Manchester City not helping his cause. 

Former striker Cole, who played alongside Solskjaer under Sir Alex Ferguson for the the Red Devils, believes no manager deserves the ‘flak’ the United boss has faced in recent weeks as it ‘doesn’t sit well with me’. 

‘The flak that Ole gets disappoints me,’ Cole told Sky Sports News. ‘I don’t think any manager should take that kind of flak; whether it’s United or non-league.  

‘I think they are trying to work to the best of their ability. He’s trying like everybody else who tried previously. Whether he is my ex-team-mate or not, even if it was someone I didn’t know, I wouldn’t like people to talk about them like that. 

‘But I don’t like it because when I played with him I got on very well with him. To see him in this position now doesn’t sit well with me. 

‘We all want Manchester United to be back where they were, but that takes time. We can talk about “how much longer?” But the previous managers have found themselves in the same position. The stick that Ole takes is, at times, not nice.’

Solskjaer still has not won a trophy in his three years as United manager, with the club’s last major trophy being the 2017 Europa League title won in Jose Mourinho’s first season in charge.

In terms of the Premier League, David Moyes, Mourinho and Louis van Gaal all tried to restore the Ferguson days in their attempts to win the title, but none of the four have managed to get the club closer to Chelsea, Liverpool and Man City at the top.

Solskjaer has taken United to multiple semi-finals and even last May’s Europa League final against Villarreal, but the Red Devils have come up short on the biggest stage. 

Earlier this season, Gary Neville – who also played under Solskjaer for Ferguson’s United – took a similar stance to Cole in saying that he will never call out his former team-mate or demand that he be sacked at Old Trafford.   

After United’s 5-0 loss to Liverpool in October, Neville said: ‘He (Solskjaer) should be under massive pressure with the squad that has been assembled and the fact he’s been in the job now for two-and-a-half, three years. 100 per cent. 

‘But the club are not going to change him. The club are going to stick with him until the end of the season. I’ve got Manchester United fans on my social media all of the time saying, “Gary, he’s your mate. You won’t call him out.” No, I won’t. 

‘It’s never going to happen. He’s a club legend. He’s my team-mate. I actually like him a lot. Manchester United have failed with two previous managers who have been world class. I think they persist until the end of the season.

‘If he does win the Europa League, the FA Cup and they finish in the top four, I would still say that’s building a successful team.’

Another of Solskjaer’s former team-mate at United, Rio Ferdinand, has been less forgiving about the Norwegian’s job security, claiming now is the time to ‘hand over the baton’ to another manager for the Old Trafford hotseat.

‘I don’t see any philosophy or identity in the Man United way of playing whatever that should be from the management,’ Ferdinand told VIBE with Five last week. ‘I sit here looking confused at the team.

‘I was always deep down a bit sceptical, could he take us on to be champions? I wasn’t fully convinced – I wasn’t sure he could do that.

‘But the showing with the squad that he accumulated, to the beginning of this season – and what I’ve seen this season – I just feel it might be about the time now for the baton to be handed over to somebody else who can take us on now.’