However, it wasn’t all plain sailing and Solskjaer has today admitted to stealing a line Sir Alex Ferguson used on Manchester United players in 1996.

Following the 6-3 defeat to Southampton and 5-0 defeat to Newcastle, Ferguson sat his players down and gave them a talking to.

“If there’s anything about you now lads, I would take all your money, your mortgage, and put it on us winning the league because we will. You’ll never get better odds than now.”

United went on to win the league by 7 points.

Following a 5-0 defeat at Haugesund in May, Solskjaer stole the words of his former manager.

“I could remember it as clear as day,” said Solskjaer in his interview with The Daily Mail. “And of course, United won the league easily.”

Solskjaer has reflected on his time at United and how Ferguson’s model for running a club has rubbed off on him.

“I look at that as the perfect way of running a club,” he said. “In our little world, with different facilities and resources, you have to make it into a mini Manchester United. How the gaffer runs it is a template for everyone. If it’s good enough for United, it’s definitely good enough for Molde. I’ve got to do it my way. I can’t compromise and be someone else. When I was a player I could never be Giggs, Scholes, Beckham, Cantona or Keane. But I could still take bits from David’s mentality or Eric’s ability to improve myself. It’s the same with the gaffer. He’s got a few traits that suit me but others that don’t. I try to make that into Ole Gunnar Solskjaer the manager. I don’t need it for the money, the recognition or the success, but I really enjoy it.”

“I don’t think he should rush into it because experience is good and the experience he has got at Molde is a very good one,” he said. “He comes from the area. His wife and family are all back home there. He has won the championship and there is no need to hurry. The time will come and the timing will be important but he is easily capable of coming into English football.”

Ferguson also reflected on what Solskjaer was like as a player and why it has come as no surprise to him that our former striker is now a successful manager.

“My knowledge of Ole as a student of the game is quite clear; every game he played and every training session he took part in he always wrote it all down,” said Ferguson. “That tells you his dedication to learn the game and also his attention to meticulous detail. That gives him a great start because you need dedication and sacrifice to go into management these days. He was a great player and a very nice person. Players will respond to him.”

“All the players have been in touch,” said Ferguson. “I texted him on Saturday thinking he had won the league but he was playing on Sunday. It is a great achievement considering this is his first year. He had a great spell with our reserve team so he wasn’t coming into the job blind but it is fantastic news.”

Interviewer: You’ve been a champion as a player (in England), now you’re a champion as a coach, what does that feel like?

Ole: It’s incredibly fun, and it’s so much fun to watch the boys who haven’t won anything. It’s only Magne (Hoseth) who’s won the league before. They’ve deserved it.

Interviewer: On your first attempt Ole Gunnar, as a coach in Norway, what are your criteria for success?

Ole: Good players. A manager is never better than his players. And they’ve been fantastic. It’s well deserved. Daniel (Berg Hestad) has had this coming for a long time, Magne Hoseth, a lot of young, new players, Magne came on and scored today, who’s a local boy, it’s incredibly fun.

Interviewer: You look remarkably calm, do you feel as calm as you look?

Ole: Yes. (laughs) I’ve won something before.

Interviewer: What’s it like to see your boys like this?

Ole: It’s fun, it’s incredibly fun to see, the boys have been incredible. From day one. And the atmosphere has been fantastic, I saw mid season that they started to believe that this was possible, and I expect us to become even better next year. They’ve won something now, they know what it feels like.

Interviewer: Thank you. How will this be celebrated, Ole Gunnar?

Ole: The boys are going to have a massive night, how long they’ll keep going I have no idea.

Interviewer: So they’re off the leash now?

Ole: Yes, they’re off the leash. They’re off for the week.

Interviewer: And Solskjær himself?

Ole: He’s off for the week as well!

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Translated by Miss United

And then I have the best players in Norway. It’s the players that deserve it, they’ve done it themselves, it’s them that have played the best football in Norway.

But if there’s anyone who deserves it more than anyone it’s you (talking to the fans). You’ve waited a long time, since the match against Fredrikstad May 19th, I think you started believing in something. We played some great football and you were stomping your feet in applause after 20minutes, and continued throughout. We were going to win it ourselves, but like Magne (Hoseth) put it, there isn’t a better way to do it than the way we did it today.”

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Another video

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Thanks to Miss United for the translation.

“Congratulations to him,” said Beckham. “He’s such a great guy. He was a great player but an even better person. It couldn’t have happened to a better person. He’s a gentleman and was one of the best goalscorers in the world, so congratulations to Ole. Maybe he will be Man United manager one day, that would be nice. But for now, I think United are happy with Sir Alex Ferguson. But in the future, who knows? He’s a winner, he loves Manchester United, so you never know what might happen.”

And Solskjaer has won it!

United put in a bid of £1.5m during Euro 96, a record transfer fee for a Norwegian club at the time, which was duly accepted. Solskjaer was a Manchester United player. He went on to play 366 games for us, scoring 126 goals, winning six league titles, 2 FA Cups and most notably, scoring the winning goal in the 1999 European Cup final.

Upon retiring, Solskjaer was put in charge of the United Reserves. In the two and a half years he spent in post he saw our lads crowned champions of England, champions of the northern league, as well as winning the Manchester and Lancashire Senior Cups. It was during this stint that he was offered the job of managing the Norwegian national team, replacing his former Molde boss, Hareide, which he turned down to stay at United.

When an offer came in to return to Molde, Solskjaer couldn’t resist and no United fan could begrudge him taking up that opportunity, as much as we wanted him to stay.

Before tonight, Molde had never won the Tippeligaen and last season finished 11th out of 16, some 28 points behind champions Rosenburg. Solskjaer has transformed the club, taking them 8 points clear of any other club tonight to win the league with two games to go.

Molde drew with 2-2 with Strømsgodset this evening, with former United player Magnus Wolff Eikrem scoring one of the goals. Eikrem, who was born in Molde and attended Solskjaer’s soccer schools as a boy, has had a great first season with Norwegian club and helped significantly in their title push. To stop Molde winning the title today, Rosenborg had to beat Brann, but after going 3-0 down after 19 minutes, this was never likely. They lost 6-3, confirming Molde as champions.

This of course will lead to people calling Solskjaer back to United, or at least to clubs in the Premiership, but I’d like to think he would be more sensible than that. He is only 38-years-old and should be in no rush to take on a massive job before he is ready. Not only champions, Molde now have the opportunity to play in the Champions League, joining the competition at the second qualifying round next season. How incredible would it be for him to take this small Norwegian club, who have played such an important role in his career, to the ultimate competition. It would be a dream for him to return to United one day but it would be better for us  just to celebrate his current success and see what the future brings.

A massive congratulations to Ole, Eikrem, former United coaches Mark Dempsey and Richard Hartis, and the team.

And Solksjaer has won it!

United put in a bid of £1.5m during Euro 96, a record transfer fee for a Norwegian club at the time, which was duly accepted. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was a Manchester United player.

Solskjaer went on to play 366 games for United, scoring 126 goals, winning six league titles, 2 FA Cups and most notably, scoring the winning goal in the 1999 European Cup final.

Upon retiring, Solskjaer was put in charge of the United Reserves. In the two and a half years he spent in post he saw our lads crowned champions of England, champions of the northern league, as well as winning the Manchester and Lancashire Senior Cups. It was during this stint that he was offered the job of managing the Norwegian national team, replacing his former Molde boss, Hareide.

“I did not think it was the right time for me to say yes to the offer,” he said at the time. “But of course it was nice to be asked. I work for Manchester United and my career is going in the right direction. It would have been exciting to take on a much bigger job than my current job, but I have a job at United.”

When an offer came in to return to Molde, Solskjaer couldn’t resist and no United fan could really begrudge him taking up that opportunity, as much as we wanted him to stay.

As Solskjaer approaches the end of his first season with the club, the papers this weekend linked him with a move to Blackburn, where fans have been protesting against current manager Steve Kean. Why? Because it turns out Ole has the potential to be a bloody brilliant manager.

Last season, Molde finished 11th out of 16, some 28 points behind champions Rosenburg. This season, with 7 games left to play, they are top of the league, 6 points clear (having played a game more). The final day of the season is at the end of November. Good luck, Ole!