With Ole Gunnar Solskjaer as team boss, the Manchester United is off to a dismal season start, the team's worst for in 30 years but nobody is getting the boot anytime soon. Solskjaer will not be fired despite the rising speculations following the club's thrashing by Newcastle.
The next match for the Red Devils will be against Liverpool, and rumors persist that if United loses again, it's done for Solskjaer. As the team manager, he only managed to steer United to two victories out of eight league games.
The club is now number 12 on the table, and pressure is mounting not only on the Norwegian to step up but also on team executives and owners to make the call. The demand from fans of the Old Trafford is to show Solskjaer the way out.
However, no firing is happening anytime soon as The Telegraph reported that the United board is still convinced that a turnaround will be worked out by the team manager. Eventually, the club's sagging fortune will be reversed.
"Ed Woodward, United's executive vice-chairman, has been strident in his belief that it will require time and patience to rebuild the squad and had no expectation of that being achieved in a single summer," the publication.
It is likewise understood that United's unimpressive performance was connected to the team's depleted roster due to string of injuries and the recent departure of players. The board is inclined to give Solskjaer the time and space to rebuild, which can be done starting with the January transfer window.
Despite this assurance, it is not unlikely that Solskjaer's luck will run out if the match with Liverpool will result in another defeat. In such an event, the board has no recourse but to sack him, and according to Metro, it will cost United millions to do so.
A payoff is nothing new to the club. When Jose Mourinho was forced out in December 2018, he and his backroom staff were paid £19.6 million. There were managerial changes that transpired in the previous years, and they proved expensive for United, so Woodward made the necessary adjustments when Solskjaer was appointed.
Per the same report, Woodward's deal with Solskjaer involves a yearly salary of £6 million and severance pay of £1 million. So when the Norwegian is ordered to stand down, he will walk away with a total payoff of £7 million, which Metro said is the smallest for United when compared to past managerial sackings.
It's unclear though, if the payoff will cover for the current backroom staff working with Solskjaer since the team is seen as co-terminus with Solskjaer's contract.
