Dalglish for Prime Minister? Solskjaer to step in? Six of the best caretakers…

With the government seeking a caretaker leader while trying to shuffle Boris Johnson through the door, we remember six of the best interim chiefs…

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer
Solskjaer was a surprise choice to step in when Jose Mourinho burned his bridges at Manchester United in December 2018. His senior management credentials consisted of a couple of spells at Molde in Norway around a failed tenure at Cardiff.

But United didn’t need tactical acumen and complex man-management nous, apparently. All that was required was a big smile, an abundance of positivity and endless references to 1999 to lift the Mourinho fog.

Solskjaer was due to return to Molde at the end of the season but United stumbled upon the next Sir Alex Ferguson when they appointed their former striker. Or so it seemed from the Red Devils’ form. Under Solskjaer, the Red Devils went unbeaten for a dozen Premier League games, winning 10, before a stunning fightback to beat PSG in the Champions League last 16.

So giddy were United after that night in Paris, they gave Solskjaer a three-year contract. Which was hardly the wrong call at the time. We all egged them on.

But, alarmingly quickly, it all went to sh*t. Solskjaer’s players reverted to type, taking their foot off the gas to win only two of their last 12 games.

Solskjaer’s two full seasons in charge brought third and second-placed finishes, but never did he convince the majority that he was the right man for such a prestigious position. His third campaign was a disaster, leading to the sack when United dropped to eighth with an appalling defeat at Watford. United appointed another interim, Ralf Rangnick, but how quickly they stopped listening to him.

Shiny new signings and overdue returns: a reason to be cheerful for every Premier League club

Roberto di Matteo
Those at Old Trafford who consistently doubted Mauricio Pochettino’s managerial credentials due to his lack of trophies would obviously have been delighted to see United appoint Roberto di Matteo rather than Solskjaer or Rangnick. After all, how could they possibly reject a Champions League and FA Cup-winning coach?

Chelsea were fifth in the Premier League, three points behind the top four – and were still in two of the other three competitions open to them – when Andre Villas-Boas was sacked at the start of March in 2012. In relative terms, this was not even close to a crisis. But at a club that had not finished outside the top three during Roman Abramovich’s…