Soon after Ole Gunnar Solskjaer arrived in a chauffeur-driven car at Manchester United’s Carrington training ground at 7:55AM on Thursday morning, he handed over a bar of Norwegian chocolate to the receptionist.
Kath Phipps has been working for Man United since 1968, 50 years ago, when the Reds lifted their first ever European Cup with Sir Matt Busby at the helm. She’s lived through the eras of and worked with Atkinson, Sexton, Docherty, O’Farrell, McGuiness, Moyes, van Gaal, Mourinho and of course, Ferguson.
It was under Ferguson that she would have been a very familiar face to Solskjaer in the Norwegian’s playing days. She’s not the only figure at the club to have been about for such a long time but she’s an important one. David Beckham paid tribute to her last year in an Instagram post which read: “this wonderful lady used to look after me at Manchester United and it's always so amazing seeing her.” The gesture from United’s new interim manager and Beckham’s former-teammate was a nice one.
Solskjær arrived at Carrington and gave receptionist Kath a box of Norwegian chocolates. The kind of touch that Fergie was loved for and got everyone on his side. Love it.
— Harry Robinson (@HarryRobinson64) December 20, 2018
(Also one thing many who worked at Utd were frustrated at Jose for the lack of) pic.twitter.com/H4MzpAM1mb
Solskjaer gesture reeks of Fergie-influence
It doesn’t make him a superior manager to Mourinho, who was sacked on Tuesday. It doesn’t necessarily make him a nicer person either. But it’s the kind of gesture that was such an integral part of Sir Alex Ferguson’s management. The Scot’s greatest quality, certainly as a person if not a manager, was making whoever he was speaking to feel like the most important person in the room. Given that it was he was almost always the most important person in the nearby surroundings, this was never forgotten by all who met him while he was United boss.
Ferguson’s man management qualities were not just to do with players, but to do with the tea ladies at Carrington, the receptionists like Kath, the media team, the cleaners and everyone else who stepped foot inside the training complex.
He treated everyone with great respect, apart from certain journalists, and it allowed anyone who met him to follow in his slipstream, to become a loyal member of the Ferguson army on its way to conquering the world.
The way he conquered the world was not via the support of tea ladies, of course, but it was this attitude that was similarly applied to his players. He was a father figure to so many, including members of the Class of ’92 but also others like Cristiano Ronaldo. He was trusted, loved and people very rarely stepped out of line. He had their devotion.
This is one major positive for this kind of manager. The other is the mood around the club. The most successful clubs have a hugely positive feel about them. That’s usually due to the constant winning, but even if things are going badly on the football pitch, that should not affect the friendly greeting to a non-football staff member at the club in the corridor.
Solskjaer's job is to get confidence & unity back
Jose Mourinho is portrayed as the villain and it's often been excessive. Many who meet him speak of his charm and kindness. He endeared himself to fans by spending 10 minutes or so with the disabled supporters at an under-23s match earlier in 2018. He was all smiles with the Thai cave boys when they visited United, and with players, too, he can be generous and supportive.
But many at United did not feel that warmth. Around the training ground, Mourinho did not go out of his way to make the non-football staff feel welcome. A number of staff members stopped enjoying their roles at the club and some of those decided to leave for pastures new.
Solskjaer won’t be at United for many years and whatever he does in these next eight months cannot lift him to the levels of Jose Mourinho. The Portuguese manager is one of the greatest of the last three decades, and perhaps partly due to the focus with which he focuses on football. But the chocolate to Kath was a nice gesture from United’s new manager and it’s the start of a feeling at Carrington of freedom from the Mourinho gloom.
Solskjaer’s job is to lift United back in terms of confidence and player freedom. If he follows in Ferguson’s footsteps with the way he treats the Carrington staff, that’ll be one big step.