Manchester United Shoot Themselves In The Foot

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The Times is reporting that Man Utd forward Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has called it quits on his football career, no doubt saddening thousands of fans who remember the countless highs in his career, as well as frustrating Sir Alex, whose striking options are shrinking by the minute. Whilst the gruff Scot is considering sending out Carlos Tévez in body armor to prevent injury, he must be kicking himself for selling Alan Smith to Newcastle United and Giuseppe Rossi to Villarreal, and the subsequent loss Wayne Rooney with a hairline fracture of the foot was another blow.

Solskjaer, a much loved figure at Old Trafford who scored a whopping 126 goals in 366 appearances for United, still held every hope of returning from injury after going through a minor knee operation in Norway. But the Times reports that his recovery has been very slow :

“He recently admitted that he expected this to be his last season, but a setback in the past fortnight led to renewed fears about his future and, finally, after consultation with numerous experts, he has taken the decision to retire.”

Ole’s father Oyvind confirmed his son’s retirement:

“He’d hoped to recover 100%, but now something has happened in his knee that makes it impossible for him to continue.”

Ole will probably be offered some kind of coaching role at the club and may also be utilized in a worldwide ambassador role, using his impishly youthful looks to influence young Thai kids.

Sir Alex, who probably doesn’t care about all this “worldwide ambassador” guff, is more scared for his paper thin strikeforce as Louis Saha is also starting to frustrate with his slow recovery from injury.

A potential comeback against Spurs was halted due to knee problems and Ferguson is becoming increasingly anxious with the French striker who has started a measly one Premier League match since January 1. Former player Lou Macari added his tuppence worth after the Spurs game calling Saha’s withdrawal “farcical”, and going on to say that,

“until he makes that first move, he’s always going to be behind in fitness and in playing games”.