Ole Gunnar Solskjaer theory is deflecting blame from Manchester United players

It was inevitable, in a way, that things would come full circle this season for Manchester United and that Ralf Rangnick would suffer in the same way Ole Gunnar Solskjaer did.

Roy Keane predicted it a while back, that "these United players will throw Ole under the bus, like they've thrown other managers under the bus". And so it's come to pass that even an interim manager in Rangnick is getting stick because of this squad's consistent inconsistency.

The fact United fans at Brighton chose to chant Solskjaer's name shouldn't be a surprise. They even sang it during and after his floundering finish in the manager's seat, they sang it long after his playing career had ended; he'll always have supporters' affections for his goal in 1999, he's a bona fide club legend.

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Yet some viewed the Solskjaer reappraisal at the Amex on Saturday as something of an admission from United fans — that his managerial spell wasn't that bad, after all. There's some sense to that argument, of course, given last season's second-place finish and agonising defeat in the Europa League final.

Solskjaer did a decent job at Old Trafford. Yes, he was given plenty of spending money — and got plenty wrong in the transfer market — and he was backed with a fair amount of time to complete his 'cultural reset' of the club. But United were still a way off title pace-setters Manchester City even at the point of that 2021 summer apex.

The Norwegian was tactically flawed and looked unlikely to restore United as champions of England. By the dismal autumn, and having been further backed with the signings of a multiple European champion centre-back, England's hottest attacking prospect