The League football circuit is extremely brutal and club managers always feel they are doing a thankless job. They are good so long as they deliver but the moment wins elude the clubs, the sword of Damocles appears over the heads of the managers. Currently, the managers of Manchester United and Barcelona are feeling the heat and they could be seriously looking at future employment opportunities. Whether it is Ole Gunnar Solskjaer or Robert Koeman, there is a feeling that their stints with their respective clubs hinge on borrowed times.
For Man United’s Solskjaer, Mohamed Salah’s hat-trick and resultant 5-0 thrashing at the hands of Liverpool could not have come at the worst time. Tongues had started to wag regarding his ineffectiveness in ironing deficiencies that have crept into the Old Trafford club and this defeat is only going to make it tough for the Norwegian manager to wriggle out of the present crisis. The writing was clearly on the wall for Solskjaer when Sir Alex Ferguson expressed his displeasure from Old Trafford’s Director’s box. Even Ronaldo, who was bought by the Norwegian recently, said that the United fans deserve better than the shambolic displays in the last few games.
Riding on a similar boat is Solskjaer’s Barcelona counterpart, Ronald Koeman. Post the tearful exit of the talismanic Messi, the club has floundered in the Champions League campaign so far. Despite keeping defeats at the bay, to begin with, they have suffered a spate of losses, most notably at the hands of Bayern Munich (3-0) at the Camp Nou. Sitting right at the bottom, the Catalan club stares at the scary prospect of being knocked out from the group stage of Champions League itself, the club last faced such an ignominy at the start of this millennium in 2000. But they are not yet out of the Champions League contention as they can still sneak into the next stage provided they pull off something spectacular, which looks unrealistic at present.
So, Solskjaer and Koeman need a truckload of fortunes to extricate themselves from the morass they find themselves in. However, the Man United boss has put up a brave front by stating he can “ride out the current storm”. Looking at the herculean task ahead, one can merely appreciate the courageous statement of Solskjaer, nothing more nothing less. As for Koeman, he has not even tried to dispel the notion that his job is on the line when he said that he is not sure about his future after the 3-0 loss to Benfica. It’s as if he has already given up on the Barca job and as per reports emanating from Spain, the Dutch manager has been given three games to turn around the fortunes of the Catalan club. So, there will not be any surprise if new bosses take over the reins of Man United and Barcelona anytime soon.
