Solskjaer - First Press Conference

Ole: I didn't think twice

"No, of course not, I didn’t think twice when they called me to sign me as a player and this is more of an honour and privilege to be helping the club for a few months."

He’s already spoken to Sir Alex Ferguson

He’s influenced me with everything to be fair, the way he’s dealt with people the way he was manager of the club, how he kept 25 international players happy and hungry wanting to improve but also the staff in and around the place, he’s been my mentor but I didn’t understand early on he’d be my mentor. Towards the last, maybe the injury in 2003, I was making all the notes what he did in certain situations and I’ve already been in touch with him, there’s no one to get better advice from.

Was it mentioned whether you could stay? If you do well, you’re such a crowd favourite, people will want you to stay.

When you get a job like this and they ask you to sign for six months you say yeah, I’m happy to help out and my jib is to do as well as I can and they understand there are so many managers who would love to be manager of Manchester United, I’m one of them but it’s not something we’ve talked about, they’ll do a process for the next six months.

How have you find the players?

They’re footballers, they’re happy, good mood, every time you meet new people you’re excited, it’s the first time you see them, I know a few, had them in the reserves and they’ve been great.

What was said about the job that you have to do?

It’s until the summer now, five or six months to just help out in the meantime while the club does the process to get the next manager.

January transfer plans

I will have an input but the job is to get to know the players, observe them I’ve seen more or less every game from Norway but to get to know the players, what do I think I can improve them on and the club have got the recruitment and scouting, they’ve got their targets but I’ve not sat down and talked about that.

Says he will speak to all the players who don’t start at Cardiff and remind them of the need to be team players: “No-one has been on the bench more than me."

On Lukaku

He’s had a couple of days off, I’ve not seen him yet or Alexis, he’s on his way back as well, so I’m looking forward to seeing them.

What was the first thing you did when you got to the manager’s office? Must have been surreal?

Of course it is, I’ve been here as a player, 11 years, coach three and a half years, best part 15 years of my life, it’s a third of my life, I’m getting old but it’s one of them that’s life, that was the same when I signed as a player, Nicky Butt the first lad I meet, says hi to me, you’re excited but it feels like home.

How do you rate your chance of making up the gap of the top four?

I think first hing is first game, think about getting my principles into the boys, get the players to understand how I want them to play and let’s take the results later on see how many points we can gather but this club has made many many points before but I’m not going to set that target now.

How do you go about picking a side for this match when you’ve only been here 24 hours or so

It’s Michael and Ciaran that’s been here for the whole season, they’ve had their say and input but there are so many game over the next 10 or 15 games, it’s about picking a team that is going A to get results but every player needs to know they’re going to get their chance, Kieran and Michael have been great, it’s great being back home and seeing the development, Michael, as good a coach and man manager as he is.

You have a hard job, players might be thinking about the next permanent manager, does that make your job tricky?

My job is to help the players, make them grasp the opportunity, they all wanna be part of Manchester United, I’m here to help them, help the team, down to man management, I had the best manager as a player and coach to deal with players and it’s about communication, I’ll sit down and speak to the ones not playing. When you’re at Manchester United there are a set of demands and one is to be a team player and I don’t think anyone has been on the bench more than me! That’s all my comeback to players, you might come on make an impact.

Ole: Let's play with courage

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer recalls the 5-5 at West Brom and says: “I want us to play with courage, for the players to express themselves and take risks. I want the players to be the kids who love to play football."