Gary Neville does not believe Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s position at Manchester United is under any threat despite the defeat to Leicester City and has played down links with Antonio Conte.
United were beaten 4-2 at the King Power Stadium on Saturday to continue a poor run of form that saw them lose to Young Boys in the Champions League, exit the Carabao Cup West Ham and lose to Aston Villa.
After making big signings in the summer, Solskjaer is under pressure and some supporters would like to see Conte – who has won titles with Chelsea, Inter Milan and Juventus and is currently a free agent – take over the reins.
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But Neville is not convinced the Red devils would be attracted to the Italian, nor does he believe Conte guarantees titles, while he feels they will stick by Solskjaer.
‘Conte won’t be the manager at Manchester United I don’t think,’ said the United legend during an Instagram Live on Sunday.
‘I don’t think they’ll go for that option, personally. He’s a great manager but I think certain managers fit certain clubs and I don’t think Conte fits United personally. As I say, great manager but doesn’t feel right for me that one.’
When one viewer suggested Conte would win the title if given the right team, Neville said: ‘I’m not in to that, giving someone a squad. We tried that with Jose, “Give Jose a squad and we’ll definitely win the league”. We didn’t, and in the end it was a mess and everybody wanted him out.’
As more possible replacements were thrown at Neville, he added: ‘Brendan Rodgers to United? No that won’t happen either. Managed Liverpool before, I don’t think they would go for Brendan – who again is a great manager.
‘Will Zidane come? Not sure. We’re just speculating now, throwing names in the air. It’s like when you’re making soup and you taste it having put a load of ingredients in and it’s not particularly great and then you just start adding stuff thinking it’s going to make it better. It’s definitely not going to make it better.’
Instead, Neville is confident Solskjaer will be given more time, adding: ‘The club won’t sack him. The club will stick with him. The fact that they’ve had those experiences with Moyes and with Jose and Van Gaal, I think they’ll stick to plan.
‘Ole is under pressure but they won’t sack him, there’s no doubt about that. I know that won’t please some of you. I know some of you want a new manager. I’ve never asked for a Premier League manager to be sacked in the 11 years since I stopped playing football and that’s not going to happen now.
‘Let’s not panic here. There’s no need to panic. Everyone will want Manchester United to panic. There’s nothing that can be fixed in the next 10 minutes. Stick to plan, get though the season, see what happens this season.
‘Obviously if then there isn’t a trophy or it continues to go as it is, then Ole will come under great pressure. He knows that, having been in the job for three-and-a-half years at that time.’
