The Red Apprentice
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer: The Making of Manchester United's Great Hope
1st Edition
Published on 29. October 2020
320 pages
978-1-4711-8786-5 (ISBN)
Description
When Ole Gunnar Solskjaer returned to Old Trafford as caretaker manager midway through the 2018-19 season, he breathed new life into a team that was drifting. In this new and definitive biography, Jamie Jackson investigates why he was the perfect man for the job to bring back the glory days.
After the confusion under David Moyes, the stagnation of Louis van Gaal and the growing trauma under Jose Mourinho, Manchester United were a club increasingly struggling to challenge for major honours, something the fans had been accustomed to during the reign of Sir Alex Ferguson. So when Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, a match-winning hero of the Reds' great Treble-winning side returned to Old Trafford on 19 December 2018 as caretaker manager, he was welcomed with open arms. Here was a man who understood what it was that the fans demanded, and he had a plan to give it to them. They went on a record-breaking run of victories that secured him the position on a permanent basis, before old frailties re-emerged, showing the scale of the job he had always dreamed of taking on. During the summer transfer window, he began a dramatic reshaping of the team's personnel to set them up for the 2019-20 season.
The Red Apprentice, Jamie Jackson's fascinating biography of Solskjaer, takes the reader back to the Norwegian's early days to discover the making of the man, relives the highlights of a stunning playing career - and that Champions League-clinching goal in 1999 - and explains why he is the natural choice for United in the future.
After the confusion under David Moyes, the stagnation of Louis van Gaal and the growing trauma under Jose Mourinho, Manchester United were a club increasingly struggling to challenge for major honours, something the fans had been accustomed to during the reign of Sir Alex Ferguson. So when Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, a match-winning hero of the Reds' great Treble-winning side returned to Old Trafford on 19 December 2018 as caretaker manager, he was welcomed with open arms. Here was a man who understood what it was that the fans demanded, and he had a plan to give it to them. They went on a record-breaking run of victories that secured him the position on a permanent basis, before old frailties re-emerged, showing the scale of the job he had always dreamed of taking on. During the summer transfer window, he began a dramatic reshaping of the team's personnel to set them up for the 2019-20 season.
The Red Apprentice, Jamie Jackson's fascinating biography of Solskjaer, takes the reader back to the Norwegian's early days to discover the making of the man, relives the highlights of a stunning playing career - and that Champions League-clinching goal in 1999 - and explains why he is the natural choice for United in the future.
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09/2021
Simon & Schuster Ltd
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Simon & Schuster Ltd
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Person
Jamie Jackson has been the Manchester football correspondent for the Guardian and the Observer since 2012, ensuring him unrivalled access to Manchester United. He is the author of one previous football book, A Season in the Red, published in 2015.
Content
- Intro
- Title Page
- Dedication
- The Red Apprentice
- The Football Madrigals.
- Prologue
- Part One: Childhood, the Starlet Striker, and Manchester United
- Chapter 1: The Solskjærs
- Chapter 2: Football Manager on the Streets
- Chapter 3: The Three S's
- Part Two: Manchester United's Darling
- Chapter 4: Glory in Catalonia
- Chapter 5: The Big Debut
- Chapter 6: The Darkest Days
- Chapter 7: The Nascent Coach
- Chapter 8: The First Title
- Chapter 9: One Man Goes Home Early
- Chapter 10: The Times They are a-Testing
- Chapter 11: Soul Searching
- Part Three: The Dream Job
- Chapter 12: Death by 10,000 Cuts
- Chapter 13: Three Fingers, Four Words
- Chapter 14: Moyes, Van Gaal, Mourinho: Now Ole Gunnar
- Chapter 15: The First Game
- Chapter 16: The Magnificent Eight
- Chapter 17: Big in Europe
- Chapter 18: Always Ready for his Close-up
- Chapter 19: Fantasyland
- Chapter 20: The Naysaying Madrigals are Back
- Chapter 21: The Start of the Start
- Chapter 22: Transfer Market Blues
- Chapter 23: The Homecoming
- Chapter 24: Twelve Months
- Chapter 25: Bruno Fernandes
- Chapter 26: The Renaissance Continues
- Chapter 27: Premier League Final Day, 2019-20
- Chapter 28: Red Horizons
- Photographs
- Acknowledgements
- Index
- Copyright
