Yes, Ole has rejuvenated United but they shouldn’t deviate from landing their No.1 target in the summer... whoever it may be

ALTHOUGH Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has done a fantastic job, Manchester United should not be tempted to change course based on four consecutive wins.

If they had a bigname replacement in mind when Jose Mourinho was sacked before Christmas, they should stick to their plan - or they will fall into the trap of making it up as they go along.

I’m not devaluing, or belittling, those four wins against Cardiff, Huddersfield, Bournemouth and Newcastle.

Those games had to be won – and Solskjaer made sure they were won in style.

The smile is back on the face of Manchester United.

All of a sudden, the top four does not seem out of reach. And all of a sudden, a Champions League assignment against Paris Saint-germain does not seem quite such a big ask.

There is a different feel around the training ground. People who had anxiety written across their faces a few weeks ago have a spring in their step now.

But if United believe one of the world’s top coaches will be available in the summer, why deviate from their plan?

Yes, there has been a big upturn in results, and especially in the manner of their performances under Solskjaer, and he deserves all the praise.

Yes, Paul Pogba has looked rejuvenated, and is playing with the freedom of expression United fans hoped they would see when he rejoined them for £89million.

And I hope Solskjaer is rewarded for delivering the change of mood by staying at Old Trafford beyond his initial term as interim manager.

It would make no sense for United to bring a legend back as a firefighter, use his knowledge of the club’s history and heritage to effect an upturn in fortunes on the pitch, and then wash their hands of him.

But if the grand design, when they sacked Mourinho, was for Solskjaer to hold the fort until United’s first choice as manager – Mauricio Pochettino (above, right), Zinedine Zidane or whoever it may be – becomes available in the summer, what has changed?

If Manchester United are going to re-emerge as credible, long-term title challengers, they should not be swayed by short-term thinking. The biggest result they can hope for as a club, in the first half of 2019, is to land their chosen target as manager and give him the resources to rebuild the team.

Solskjaer can do no wrong in the fans’ eyes so there is a perfect opportunity to integrate him, along with other legends, into the club’s fabric, possibly as director of football. United have Michael Carrick as a firstteam coach, Nicky Butt is head of the academy and Mike Phelan’s return as Solskjaer’s tracksuit lieutenant has restored swagger to the football. I felt David Moyes’ decision to dispose of Phelan – such a safe pair of hands when Sir Alex Ferguson was manager – was possibly his biggest mistake, and a huge error of judgement by the club, which contributed significantly to United’s decline post-fergie.

People have been quick to point the finger at players, and ask why they looked so flat in the last days of Mourinho but so sharp the minute he was out of the door, but it’s not that simple.

When I was at Derby, my career was flatlining – and I was losing my appetite for the game – when we were relegated with a record low of 11 points under Paul Jewell. But when he left, and there was a new manager to impress, I had a new lease of life.

That doesn’t mean I wasn’t trying under Jewell. I had renewed energy and enthusiasm, the old Savage was back.

It’s sometimes how it works in football. If you are not enjoying it, sometimes you are energised by regime change. It’s probably true in many other jobs.

At a club like United, that should not happen when a manager has spent £350m on new players in two-and-a-half years. And it is an utterly ridiculous situation that one of the world’s biggest clubs had to sack a manager in midseason and ask legends back to deliver a quick fix.

Even though Solskjaer has done an amazing job, don’t deviate from the grand design. In football, second thoughts are often the most costly.