Would you be happy with Ole Gunnar Solskjær? Now with added poll.

[Doorbell]

I'll be honest, now that OGS is on the radar, I'll be more than a little disappointed if he doesn't come manage us.  I think he's worth taking the risk on.

[Dave Clark Five]

Whoever becomes the manager, it will be no hiding place for some of the squad. Players like Delfouneso, N'Zogbia and Bannan will have to hit the ground running if selected.

[ozzjim]

Looking at the Molde squad, he does seem to have gone very much for a youthful look. Got Ekram from United youth, and this Josh Gatt kid who it would appear is as fast as anything we have down the wing and really highly rated by USA but Ole told them he is not ready for International football. If he comes I can see him trying to bring a couple of his side with him to see if they can step up.

[ozzjim]

Ive just had a brilliant idea. Why dont we tell OGS and Lambert to look elsewhere and sign....

David Moyes on a 10yr contract with 10mil to spend...and hed still make a huge success of it!

And he would come because?

[Monty]

Whoever becomes the manager, it will be no hiding place for some of the squad. Players like Delfouneso, N'Zogbia and Bannan will have to hit the ground running if selected.

Not sure about Delfouneso, but I believe that Bannan will benefit hugely from a manager like OGS. N'Zogbia, as John M'Zog mentioned, will have to work to focus his abilities more towards team play than his individual runs.

[Toronto Villa]

Whoever becomes the manager, it will be no hiding place for some of the squad. Players like Delfouneso, N'Zogbia and Bannan will have to hit the ground running if selected.

I think a lot of them have had it quite easy Dave which is why I was annoyed with McLeish coming and say next season they need to pull their finger out. McLeish rightly was criticised for many things but there are players like Bannan, N'Zogbia and Fonz that got away scot free. They didn't do the club any favours with their attitude and performance. And I'm not singling them out, there were lots of others that are just as guilty. The new boss will not only have change the mood of the club, but have the backing of the board to cut losses and get rid of the bad apples as quickly as possible.

[Toronto Villa]

Whoever becomes the manager, it will be no hiding place for some of the squad. Players like Delfouneso, N'Zogbia and Bannan will have to hit the ground running if selected.

Not sure about Delfouneso, but I believe that Bannan will benefit hugely from a manager like OGS. N'Zogbia, as John M'Zog mentioned, will have to work to focus his abilities more towards team play than his individual runs.

Bannan's issue is his head and ego. He has all of the talents to make it if he really wants. I think it's more him than any coaching. He'll benefit from a change of management if he really wants to.

[Monty]

Whoever becomes the manager, it will be no hiding place for some of the squad. Players like Delfouneso, N'Zogbia and Bannan will have to hit the ground running if selected.

Not sure about Delfouneso, but I believe that Bannan will benefit hugely from a manager like OGS. N'Zogbia, as John M'Zog mentioned, will have to work to focus his abilities more towards team play than his individual runs.

Bannan's issue is his head and ego. He has all of the talents to make it if he really wants. I think it's more him than any coaching. He'll benefit from a change of management if he really wants to.

Have to say, if I'm Bannan and I have McLeish as my manager, playing ultra-defensive boofball and constantly telling the press that I'm not good enough (indirectly, when talking collectively about all the younger players), I'm not going to be too motivated to ever do anything really. His head is the problem, the ego only so in the sense that his confidence must be shot.

His relatively good season came under GH. He's had nobody else in his senior career who cared about teaching him the values of the slow game, the patient passing approach, how to build tempo and when to play the big pass. In addition to the frantic approach under Eck, he'd get so little of the ball (especially from the bench) that he'd feel under pressure to play Big Passes everytime he got it. OGS will hopefully teach him how to play more calmly - then I believe we'll have some player on our hands.

[OCD]

With Bannan, it might be as simple as giving him more game time and playing him in a role that he's more comfortable with (i.e. not wide right). If Bannan had played for Swansea this past season, people's views of him would probably be very different.

[Toronto Villa]

I hope you are right Monty, and I'm sure a lot of players got swept away last year with the misery surrounding the place. Let's hope that the impending positive change, be it Solskjaer or Lambert lifts the clouds on some careers that seemingly have lost their way a bit.

[Gompedyret]

direct link to translated local newspaper, http://translate.googleusercontent.com/translate_c?hl=en&prev=/search%3Fq%3DRomsdalsBudstikke%26hl%3Den%26prmd%3Dimvns&rurl=translate.google.co.uk&sl=no&u=http://fotball.rbnett.no/eliteserien/article237310.ece&usg=ALkJrhhZS3P9YCc_Yqe-YEJtxPfi_40XOg

It might have slipped the attention of many in here, but I brought a translation of a basically corresponding article many pages ago. Even though I don't aspire to do translations for a living it should be much more readable to you Brits than a mindless google translate. For the benefit of hopefully some of you, here's a revisit with a few additional errors fixed:

Time for hasty translations!

This is perhaps the most interesting article I've spotted so far in Norwegian media, from the biggest paper in Norway, VG:

THESE ARE SOLSKJÆR'S THREE ANSWERS, SUPPOSEDLY

(AP) Tonight Molde director Tarje Nordstrand Jacobsen has revealed Ole Gunnar Solskjær's responses to Kjell Inge Røkke three questions.

Ole Gunnar Solskjær received three questions from Aker owner Kjell Inge Røkke before he traveled to Birmingham on Friday.

When it was announced that Aston Villa wanted to talk to Ole Gunnar Solskjær, Aker owner and one of Molde's most important partners Røkke, asked three questions. The answers supposedly weren't received well, and eventually was one of the factors that Aker is now pulling out of Molde after this season.

- This is perceived as incompatible with the MFK community we are both a part of, Røkke said in a statement Friday.

- I thought we were going to look ahead

Saturday night Solskjær learned that VG press published the responses to the three questions that Røkke wanted answered.

- So those were these answers I "did not produce," grins Ole Gunnar Solskjær - with reference to Akers press release Friday that said that "the questions were not answered by Solskjær."

- I thought we agreed that we should call it quits and look ahead after the press conference in Molde, he says when he calls VG during extra time in the Champions League final.

- Now we see what game is really played here.

Solskjær is distraught to learn that his three answers to Røkke and Molde leadership has come to VG.

- It was a confidential conversation between us, the manager says.

- I had hoped that I did not have to comment on this any more now.

- Will travel as soon as I can

According to Molde director Tarje Nordstrand Jacobsen, which reproduces the responses to VG, Solskjær said the following on the three questions from Røkke:

1. Will you lead Molde of the season?
- It's a hypothetical question, but if the job is offered to me, I will travel as soon as I can - probably after the game against Hønefoss (next Friday).

2. If / when you go from MFK, will you take with you some of the support in MFK?
- I want to bring Mark (Dempsey) and Richard (Hartis) (the two coaches that Solskjær took to Molde).

3. If / when you go from MFK, will you take with you some of MFKs players?
- Yes, I want to make an offer to Magnus Wolff Eikrem.

Solskjær's comment:

- It's hard to remember everything I said, but this renders the truth, "roughly," he says, but he would like to emphasize several things about his answer to the first question:

- My answer was that if Aston Villa will have a new manager and they want me, and I agree, they can not wait until after the season. It will naturally take place in the Norwegian holiday. Most likely with Hønefoss as the last match. A new manager must be in place when preparation for the new season starts. It is the natural point of time.

Ole Gunnar Solskjær expresses consternation that the matter continues to roll:

- We had good internal talks Saturday and agreed to look ahead. We were supposed to end this with the press conference after the training, because we have work to do.

The fact that this comes out benefits no one in the club, says boss Solskjær.

- What do you think about this?

- Who's acting honestly and decently, is up to everyone to consider thoroughly.

- What do you say to Tarje N. Jacobsen characterization as "refusal to follow orders" that you went to Aston Villa?

- He never refused me to go, but he said there could be consequences if I left.

Look at the bold part in the middle of the article! As I have said before, he's ours if we want him.

[Monty]

With Bannan, it might be as simple as giving him more game time and playing him in a role that he's more comfortable with (i.e. not wide right). If Bannan had played for Swansea this past season, people's views of him would probably be very different.

Agreed, I think Rodgers is another one who'd do well with Wee Barry. I'd say he certainly has more natural gifted than, say, Leon Britton.

I hope you are right Monty, and I'm sure a lot of players got swept away last year with the misery surrounding the place. Let's hope that the impending positive change, be it Solskjær or Lambert lifts the clouds on some careers that seemingly have lost their way a bit.

Have to say, I haven't seen much to suggest Lamberts style would do much for our younger players. Could be proved wrong, but there's not much evidence to suggest it.

[Toronto Villa]

I actually think the direct comparisons being made of Lambert to MON are unfair. Yes, he played for him and MON's influence will have rubbed off. But I think there is more versatility to Lambert's game created by his willingness to be more open to ideas and concepts. He's not purely counter attack, and at home plays a much higher line than MON ever did. I think Lambert would love the chance to develop our kids. You have to remember he is quite restricted at Norwich in what he can and cannot do and moving to a club like us gives him a far more varied and extensive pallette to work from.

[Monty]

I actually think the direct comparisons being made of Lambert to MON are unfair. Yes, he played for him and MON's influence will have rubbed off. But I think there is more versatility to Lambert's game created by his willingness to be more open to ideas and concepts. He's not purely counter attack, and at home plays a much higher line than MON ever did. I think Lambert would love the chance to develop our kids. You have to remember he is quite restricted at Norwich in what he can and cannot do and moving to a club like us gives him a far more varied and extensive pallette to work from.

I agree but Rodgers is restricted at Swansea and OGS is restricted at Molde (though not relatively to the rest of the league, admittedly - what he did do, though, was completely transform a long-ball team into a passing team in the space of one summer).

Lambert is infinitely tactically more aware than MON ever was, but his template for attacking is still the same and he remains rooted in pragmatism. I'm not saying that there's no way he'd change his football with us, just that there's no evidence to suggest he would, whereas Solskjaer would almost definitely play the type of football that would suit our younger players.

[brian green]

What has happened to Barry Bannan was encapsulated for me at the end of the Tottenham game when he had a chance to win the game in a good scoring position and he simply threw back his head and lashed the ball high over the bar.   I think the drink driving knocked him back together with attempting to come to terms with the default position of the manager and the core of senior players which was lump the ball forward for Heskey to get on the end of it regardless of whether Heskey was playing or not.