Villa - Eursport article about OGS joining

Sat, 19 May 13:45:00 2012

Molde manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's visit to Aston Villa for an "informal first chat" has caused a storm among sponsors and supporters in his native Norway.

Sponsor Aker ASA, which been involved with Molde for over 20 years, said on Friday that it would be withdrawing its support for the club over Solskjaer's visit to Birmingham.

"This is perceived as being incompatible with the Molde community, of which we are both a part," Aker chariman Kjell Inge Rokke, said in a statement announcing the end of a deal worth over 20 million Norwegian crowns ($3.34 million) annually to the club.

Fans have also turned on their former favourite, siding with the sponsor rather than the coach.

"Kjell Inge is worth more to me than any coach," said Eva-Brit Mauseth, a leading member of Molde supporter club Tornekrattet.

Speaking to newspaper Verdens Gang, she said that Solskjaer was in danger of destroying his reputation as a hero at the club if he left now.

"If Solskjaer wants to leave the district with any dignity, then he has a job to do in the coming months," she said.

The popular former player ignited the controversy when he skipped training on Friday to fly to England for an "informal first chat" with the Premier League club, who recently fired manager Alex McLeish following a disappointing season.

Solskjaer made his name at Molde as a predatory striker before joining Manchester United in 1996, where he went on to have a glittering career.

Often described as a "super sub", he won six Premier League titles and came off the bench to score the winner in the 1999 Champions League final against Bayern Munich.

He returned to Molde in 2010 after a successful spell as coach of Manchester United's reserve side, and led Molde to their first Norwegian title in his first year in charge.

But instead of looking forward to Champions League qualification with Solskjaer at the helm, the club has now been thrown into turmoil.

"We were made aware of the interest and the talks, but it was still a disappointment when he chose to travel to England on Friday to meet Aston Villa," Molde chairman Oystein Neerland told Norway's Romsdals Budstikke newspaper.

"We're not considering sacking him," he added.

Solskjaer and club officials faced the press on after training on Saturday, with the manager expressing some regrets - but not about talking to Villa.

"What I regret is that it came out the way it did," he told reporters, adding that he felt he still had the support of the club and that he was not seeking a new job.

"It's up to Aston Villa if there's going to be any more. I have only spoken to them, and I would expect that they will be talking to others.

"If they contact me I'll have to make a decision, but it's not like there's a private plane standing waiting," smiled the coach known as "the baby-faced assassin" in his playing days.

"I've said for a long time that I have an ambition to be a Premier League manager, but I haven't been looking for a new job."

Posted By: essexcanaryOTBC, May 19, 14:30:50