Ole Gunnar Solskjaer Believes Time Is On His Side Despite Manchester United Slump

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is convinced Manchester United will give him the time and backing to turn the stumbling giants around. Back-to-back Premier League defeats by Liverpool and Burnley have been compounded by a toxic atmosphere around the club, with fans voicing their anger at United's owners the Glazer family and executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward. Pressure is also ratcheting up on United manager Solskjaer but the 1999 treble hero is understood to retain the belief and confidence of the Old Trafford hierarchy. United head to Tranmere in the FA Cup fourth round on Sunday in desperate need of a victory but the Norwegian remains confident they are on the right track.

"When you start on something, you stick to that plan," Solskjaer told reporters on Friday. "For me, anyway. I'm not going to change six or eight or nine or 10 months after I got the job and start believing in a different way of doing things. I'm going to stick to what I've been trusted to do by the club and hopefully that'll be good enough, and they can see what we're doing is right. It's one of these jobs -- we know how football is nowadays -- but all my conversations with the club have been positive."

Lost More Under Solskjaer

United have lost more Premier League matches than they have won since Solskjaer's permanent appointment in March but he said it was important for the club not to "react to all the noise outside". "Of course there's always going to be criticism -- you've got to take the criticism at this club. You've got to be stronger mentally, probably, than anywhere else in the world," he said. "I feel I am, the club is strong. The staff I've got with me, they're very strong mentally so we're sticking to what we believe in and I've got full faith in what we're doing."

Manchester United as they were fined 20,000 pound for failing to "ensure their players conducted themselves in an orderly fashion" during the 2-0 Premier League defeat at Liverpool. (Image credit: Getty Images)

United are looking to make at least one signing before the January transfer window shuts but Solskjaer knows it will take much longer to turn things around. "For me, we do have a way of doing things," he said. "Of course you can see other teams have done well. Jurgen (Klopp) spent four years building his team and they're doing well now, so of course -- I've said so many times -- it's not going to be a quick fix. And it's not going to be like eight players in or 10 players in one transfer window. We've had one proper transfer window in the summer because the Januarys are difficult, but we are trying to do something now."

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There was more bad news for United on Friday as they were fined 20,000 pound for failing to "ensure their players conducted themselves in an orderly fashion" during the 2-0 Premier League defeat at Liverpool on January 19. Several United players surrounded referee Craig Pawson after Roberto Firmino's goal was initially allowed to stand before being ruled out by VAR.

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