Typical of the man, Ole Gunnar Solksjaers first Manchester United goal within six minutes of stepping off the bench on his debut. He had arrived in the summer of 1996 from Norwegian side Molde FK with Manchester United still very much in the hunt for England captain Alan Shearer, so its fair to say that Solksjaer was something of a surprising acquisition and unknown quantity. Blackburn Rovers certainly knew all about him within a few minutes on his debut, however, as he blasted home from just outside the six yard area after his initial shot was parried. The Norwegian hitman would go on to score 18 league goals during his first season at the club, and was duly dubbed the Baby-faced Assasin by the British media.
Ole is an inspiration to anyone hoping for a long career in football. In the modern-day game, anyone who manages ten years or more at one club is exceptional, particularly when that one club is not from the players own country. Ole came to us at 23 but I looked at him and thought he was 15. I told him he had potential but his first season was going to be an introduction and mostly he would be playing for the reserves. But after two games, Jim Ryan said I needed to put him in the first team. We made him a substitute against Blackburn the following week. He scored and was never out of the first-team squad after that. - Sir Alex Ferguson, August 2008.
Recent Journalism & New Media graduate. Insatiable thirst for all things football, and hopes to break into the field of sports journalism in the near future.
Have made a significantly insignificant playing career out of receiving several slaps around the head for not passing the ball.
