Ryan O'Hanlon May 12, 2026, 07:00 AM ET Close Ryan O'Hanlon is a staff writer for ESPN.com. He's also the author of "Net Gains: Inside the Beautiful Game's Analytics Revolution." I don't even have to keep up the bit. The first time Manchester United fired their cantankerous Portuguese manager with the team two spots adrift of the Champions League places, they hired a beloved former player with no high-level managerial experience to be the interim coach ... and then won 14 of their next 19 games. Players said things like this : "Of course we want him to stay. The results have been great." And this : "What else does he have to do?" Or this : "I don't think I need to say much after all these results, it looks certain." It soon became certain, and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer lasted a little over a full season as the permanent manager after Jose Mourinho. And, well ...…