(Football news) The Manchester United hierarchy reiterated their commitment towards Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and his backroom staff by extending the contract of assistant manager Mike Phelan until 2024 despite a string of poor results of late. The 59 year old returned to Old Trafford alongside Solskjaer in 2018 and was previously Sir Alex Ferguson’s assistant during the glory years. 

Phelan has a longstanding association with Manchester United, having made 146 appearances as a player after he was signed from Norwich City in 1989. He won the 1990 FA Cup, 1991 Cup Winners Cup and the 1993 Premier League under Sir Alex Ferguson before moving to West Brom in 1994. Phelan then returned to Man Utd in 2000 as reserves team manager and was Sir Alex Ferguson’s assistant from 2008 to 2013.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and his backroom staff have been under increasing pressure after a string of poor results of late that has seen the club knocked out of the Carabao Cup to West Ham at Old Trafford and lose to Young Boys in their opening Champions League fixture. In addition, Manchester United have dropped points to Southampton, Aston Villa and Everton and face some difficult fixtures, particularly in the Premier League with Leicester City, Liverpool, Tottenham, Manchester City, Chelsea and Arsenal on the horizon.

Solskjaer has been heavily backed since his arrival at Old Trafford, particularly in the summer leading upto the ongoing season which saw Jadon Sancho arrive for £73m, Raphael Varane for £41m and Cristiano Ronaldo for £12.86m. This means that there is serious pressure for some silverware at the end of the season and for many fans, it's a make or break season for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and his backroom staff. It remains to be seen if they will fulfill the expectations but as things stand, it looks unlikely.

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