Former Manchester United first team coach René Meulensteen can see the hand of Alex Ferguson in the decision to name Ole Gunnar Solskjaer as the club’s new permanent manager.
Solskjaer was handed a three-year contract as the club’s manager after a successful spell in a caretaker role.
Since taking over from Jose Mourinho, Solksjaer has won 14 of his 19 games in charge, reviving hopes of a top-four finish and unexpectedly guiding United to the quarter-finals of the Champions League.
Solskjaer, who scored 126 goals in 366 appearances for United, spent all of his time as Old Trafford under Ferguson and when asked whether he thought the former United boss had a say in his appointment, Meulensteen said: "I would find it very hard to believe that that would not have been the case.
Speaking on 2fm’s Game On, he added: "I think somewhere down the line there must have been a few conversations with Sir Alex where they said ‘we have had these five or six years, we’re not really moving in the right direction, what is your take on it?’.
"Whether the final decision came from him or maybe the suggestion came from him to say we need to bring somebody in that the fans can associate themselves with and secondly someone that knows the club, the history, the identity, the DNA of the club and can re-implement that.
"That is exactly what happened."
We need your consent to load this SoundCloud contentWe use SoundCloud to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage Preferences
Meulensteen, who spent twelve years working as a coach at Old Trafford, believes that Solskjaer’s history with the club and his connection with both players and supporters have helped to galvanise the current crop of players.
"Obviously it was more of a case of when than if, because of the speculation over the last few weeks but he’s done a tremendous job since he’s come in," he said.
"He’s galvanised the team, the performances have been good, the results have been there so I’m sure that over the last few weeks they’ve had some good chats.
"Ole with Woodward and maybe some other board members to say ‘alright, what is the best way to take this club forward?’ and ‘what is your take on it?’ and I think maybe they felt this was the right time to announce it.
"I don’t think it’s one particular result to be honest. I think they’ve looked at the whole scenario since he’s come in and what he’s changed and how the players have responded to that.
"The fans as well because the fans obviously felt strongly and felt far more connected since Ole’s come back in and they see things that they’ve been missing for a few seasons now.
"That identity, DNA, whatever you can it, has been an important factor that’s been missing and Ole’s definitely one of the persons that’s been able to bring that back."
