Ole Gunnar Solskjaer: It will take time for Jim Ratcliffe to improve Man United

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer hopes under-fire successor Erik ten Hag comes good and says Jim Ratcliffe is unlikely to have a “magic wand” to immediately turn around Manchester United’s fortunes.

This has been a miserable second season in the hotseat for the Dutchman, whose stuttering side are 11 points off the Premier League top four and have the FA Cup as their only remaining route to silverware.

But Ratcliffe’s recent minority purchase of the club from the Glazer family offers hope of long-term improvement, with the Ineos chairman also taking control of football operations.

Rumours continue about Ten Hag’s future as the summer approaches and Solskjaer, United’s previous permanent manager, would like to see him succeed at Old Trafford.

“I don’t think there’s a magic wand (at United) as in, ‘We’ve changed the owners’,” the 1999 treble hero said in the latest episode of Stick to Football in partnership with Sky Bet.

“Obviously, they’ve got their ways of working – the Glazers have still got their commercial – who knows how it’s going to be in football with that side of it.

“Obviously Erik, I hope he’s going to be successful. We hope he’s going to make it, but you never know what the new owners are thinking. It’s about results and consistency the rest of the season.”

Solskjaer knows all about any difficulties working under the Glazer family and with many of the current United squad, having been in charge between December 2018 and November 2021.

The Norwegian kept his counsel for a long time but is beginning to speak publicly again, including recently revealing some United players did not want to be captain for certain matches.

“No one said ‘no’ to being the club captain, it was just for certain games,” Solskjaer said.

“Yes, but