Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has exorcised Mourinho's ghost – resurrecting Fergie's spirit is the hard part

History repeats itself at a club where demand and tradition is so high that even the shadows lurking around Old Trafford have an opinion. It is ironic that Manchester United have turned to Ole Gunner Solskjaer to rescue them 20 years after the Norwegian bailed them out in Barcelona.

Emerging from the bench to score the winner in the Champions League final against Bayern Munich in 1999 was arguably United’s most romantic and dramatic victory, but that was easy in comparison to what confronts him today. Yet the return of such a totemic figure as manager perhaps enables United to make up for lost time. To dare to dream again.

United’s Holy Trinity has been superseded by an unholy mess in recent years. The success of George Best, Sir Bobby Charlton and Denis Law in statue form, the first English club to win the European Cup in 1968, outside of Old Trafford reminds United fans what their club has lost under the haunted management styles of David Moyes, Louis van Gaal and Jose Mourinho, a triumvirate of torpidity.

United, one of the world’s truly great sporting institutions, have been hijacked by dwindling standards, and a lack of foresight to fix the foundations which Sir Matt Busby laid and Sir Alex Ferguson built upon to create the behemoth of world football we witness today. There is simply no second to United in size or scale, but even the biggest can take a fall.

There was a devilish mould on the Red Devils long before Solskjaer arrived from Molde. The dry rot set in when the all-conquering Fergie departed Old Trafford in May 2013 after 27 years having revelled in a 13th Premier League title and smorgasbord of continental and domestic superiority.

An infestation of inferior coaches arrived at the club, bought large swathes of unsuitable players and made it about themselves rather than the personnel. Even hours before Solskjaer was installed as the club’s 21st permanent manager, the ghosts of Old Trafford past where still rattling when LVG, winner of an FA Cup at United, decided to mock the restoration work Solskjaer has undertaken at the club since Mourinho was ditched having spent £400m with the club making their worst start to a Premier League season, 19 points off top spot.

“People think we have only had fake news since Donald Trump became president. In football we have had it for 50 years," said Van Gaal.

And there is LVG making and missing the point entirely: Solskjaer is winning because he is not Mourinho. Managing Manchester United has been a poison for the reputation of managers attempting to deliver the elixir that Fergie supped on.

In a rapidly decaying scene in which United have declined particularly under LVG and Mourinho, Solskjaer has managed to save a crumbling building with his powers of preservation.

He has been like a sort of Red Adair in extinguishing the flames that raged under Mourinho, but has he done anything remarkable?

It could be argued that he has been so remarkable because of his unremarkable approach to management: which has mainly been to let players be themselves, believe in themselves and let their football do the talking. Paul Pogba, Anthony Martial, Romelu Lukaku and Marcus Rashford are all young characters keen to buy into their young manager’s hopes. Suddenly the main protagonists are no longer hungry to escape their servitude.

Perhaps the most cringeworthy moment of the Mourinho era was witnessing the Portuguese martinet raise three fingers aloft at various moments to celebrate success that was delivered on huge backing.

Winning the Community Shield, League Cup and Europa League in his first season saw him dig out three digits while he showed off three fingers to Chelsea fans (for three Premier Leagues in the noughties) and Juventus fans (treble at Inter) to celebrate work undertaken a decade ago. Stuck in the past, but refusing to move with the times, Mourinho allowed United to become a toxic brand when he was given the two-fingered salute after a wretched 3-1 flogging by Liverpool before Christmas.

He was at war with Pogba and Martial because of his own negativity. Assets that clearly wanted out have suddenly bought into a manager who has no interest in being the story himself.

Solskjaer has benefited from Mourinho being so poor at inspiring players. Castigating, criticising and haranguing others for his own failings, Mourinho became a cliché in how not to manage in the modern game.

United have improved because the coach is allowing them to express themselves rather than bombarding them with strict orders to perform menial tasks that are below their skillset.

Anybody who has spent any time in employment will not have to search too far into the memory banks to produce an example of a wretched manager elevated above his ability who does not have the people skills to manage adults. You earn respect in life rather than command it.

Leadership comes from inspiring people, and giving them self-belief to enjoy their work. It is easier said than done, but Solsjkaer, who scored 126 goals in 366 appearances for United, knows what needs to be done. He knows this because he worked under the very best in Ferguson, who had a simple ethos to his management style.

United have lost only once in 13 league games at Arsenal under Solskjaer, whose side are two points behind Unai Emery's team in fifth place. They will face Barcelona in the quarter-finals of the Champions League, the first time the club has reached the last eight since 2014, buoyed by a surprise recovery against French champions PSG in the last 16.

For a man who has only managed Molde in Norway bookended by a wretched spell running Cardiff City, Solskjaer's elevation is a risk fraught with common sense.

It is also a chance worth taking for a club that has come up short in the post-Fergie era. He will encourage youth at the club, and he will let talented players prosper. In short, he will do no worse than men who were meant to know better.

Tactical nous, stylish, winning football and a proper recruitment strategy remain thorny issues, but at least he is not foraging for credibility.

If exorcising Mourinho’s ghost was the easy part, resurrecting Fergie’s spirit will define how history judges him.