Manchester United’s former player and manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was in the crowd at Ipswich Town’s Portman Road for the East Anglia Derby against Norwich City.
Manchester United legend Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was at Ipswich Town’s East Anglia Derby against Norwich City to show his support for former colleague Kieran McKenna.
In August, Solskjaer was sacked by Besiktas after just seven months in charge of the Turkish club. Prior to his dismissal, Solskjaer oversaw his team losing 2-1 on aggregate to Ineos-owned FC Lausanne-Sport in the qualifying round of the Conference League.
Shortly afterward, Solskjaer returned to England and was in Suffolk to watch Ipswich’s 5-0 victory over Sheffield United. The 52-year-old has now returned to East England to show his support for the Tractor Boys in their fierce derby day clash with Norwich.
In the second half, with Ipswich winning 2-1 thanks to Cedric Kipre and Jaden Philogene’s goals either side of Oscar Schwartau’s equaliser, Solskjaer was spotted by the TV cameras watching the action. While Portman Road is perhaps not where you would expect to see the former striker, there is good reason for it.
Ipswich boss McKenna worked as Solskjaer’s assistant at United after being promoted to the first-team by Jose Mourinho. Between 2018 and 2021, McKenna remained in the United dugout but he would leave not long after Solskjaer was sacked to take up the role as head coach at Ipswich.
Since then, it has been a rollercoaster ride for McKenna at the Tractor Boys. He led them from League One to the Premier League thanks to successive promotions.
However, Ipswich would last just one season in the Premier League before being relegated back to the Championship. Solskjaer has previously spoken fondly of McKenna.
In 2023, he told The Athletic: “Kieran was a surprise to me when I got to United. Michael [Carrick], I already knew.
“We’d been coached by Sir Alex, from the old school. Kieran was not.
“He’s the most thorough and analytical, step-by-step, process-driven coach that I’ve worked with. He makes it so easy for the players to see and understand what we wanted from them.”
Solskjaer is currently on the bookmakers’ list of potential next managers at United. Should Amorim be sacked before New Year’s Day, Solskjaer is priced at 14/1 with bet365 to be appointed as his replacement.
