Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s ‘furious rant’ over TV schedule pays off

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Ole Gunnar Solskjaer does not often lose his cool in front of television cameras.

One memorable occasion where he did let his emotions get the better of him was after Manchester United’s 3-1 win away at Everton last season.

Coming after a midweek Champions League defeat, Solskjaer did not hold back to BT Sport’s cameras.

Described by the MEN and other outlets as a ‘furious rant’, Solskjaer let his anger be known at the timing of the early kick-off.

Solskjaer said: “We were set up to fail. I said to you before, I want to talk about the kick-off time. They set up the boys to fail.

“We’ve got Luke Shaw injured today because we’ve been to Turkey, we’ve played loads of games already this season, we’ve been to Turkey on Wednesday night, back in Thursday morning and we’re playing Saturday in a lunchtime kick-off, it’s an absolute shambles.

He continued: “Authorities set up us to fail. How can they set us up after a Champions League game on Wednesday night in Turkey and set us a Saturday 12:30 kick-off?

“You’ve got Liverpool and City, fair play they play each other, but they played Tuesday and now they play Sunday. Who is responsible? We’ve had enough of that. I’ve had enough.”

Solskjaer has got a result

A change to the schedules has now been made by the broadcasters, no doubt part inspired by Solskjaer’s rant and United’s lobbying behind the scenes.

Communicated by United’s official website, a statement reads: “English teams playing on a Wednesday in the Champions League will no longer be involved in the ‘early’ Premier League kick-off on a Saturday, due to a scheduling change made by BT Sport.

“The broadcaster’s ‘primetime’ slot will now move to 19:45 on Saturdays, if one of the teams playing has been on a European excursion the prior Wednesday.”

This gives teams more leeway, especially if the league match is an away fixture.

Solskjaer has got what he wanted. When the usually mild-mannered boss gets angry, it is usually with justification.

The United boss’ complaint made sense, and it seems broadcasters have made a smart decision by acting upon his concerns.

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