OLE’S 10-YEAR PLAN AS HE CLOSES IN ON DREAM JOB

OLE GUNNAR SOLSKJAER is planning for the long term at Manchester United as he moves closer to being handed his ‘dream job’ on a full-time basis. United are set to confirm Solskjaer’s appointment before the end of the season after he staged a remarkable turnaround as caretaker boss, despite losing his last two games to Arsenal and Wolves. The 46-year-old Norwegian (right) admits his approach has changed since taking over on a short-term deal in December. ‘As a manager when I know the contract is finished in the summer, I haven’t spent as much time at the academy as I had come to do,’ he said. ‘But it is clear that I am now working as if I... I think of the club five and 10 years ahead of time now as well. ‘I have always thought that I’m going to have to do the best job interview I can. It’s not up to me to consider if I live up to the standard, but I feel much more at home in this building here, at Old Trafford, with these players, than I’ve ever done.’ The former United striker always felt he was capable of returning to the club as manager, but feared that an ill-fated spell in charge of Cardiff in 2014 had cost him the chance. ‘It’s always been in the back of my head that this is the dream job. Of course, it is. But after what happened in Cardiff, I put this happening out of my mind,’ he told Norwegian newspaper Verdens Gang. ‘As a supporter in all the years since I moved from here, I have thought about Manchester United and what I would do. I felt this was something I could do. ‘I wasn’t afraid to come here and not be ready for this job. So far, I’ve thrived.’