The 40-year-old, who scored 91 league goals for the Red Devils from 1996-2007, was confirmed as the Bluebirds’ new boss on Thursday, succeeding Malky Mackay.
Solskjaer, the dramatic match-winner in the 1999 Champions League final, leaves Norwegian club Molde, who he led to two league titles in 2011 and 2012.
The ‘Baby-faced Assassin’ had previously spent three years coaching Manchester United’s reserve team after hanging up his boots in 2007.
Speaking exclusively to FourFourTwo, the striker admitted he made notes of certain team talks which helped United dominate English football for more than a decade.
“It’s true. I liked to make notes of certain team talks and how he handled different situations,” he said in the December 2013 issue of FourFourTwo.
“All that I have learned about football at the top level, I learned from the Boss. I had 14-and-a-half years of the best education in how to run a football club.”
All that I have learned about football at the top level, I learned from the Boss
Solskjaer has been linked with a move to the Premier League in the past, turning down the opportunity to join Aston Villa in 2012. However, he maintained it was his ambition to coach in a division that he enjoyed so much success in as a player.
“I have a dream of one day managing in the Premier League,” he said. “I am trying to keep in touch with the way football develops. It never stands still: new ideas are implemented all the time, all around the world. It’s important to be able to renew yourself, as the Boss did at United.”
And could the former super-sub ever see himself taking the top job at Old Trafford?
“I think everyone who has gone into management would love that job. For now I am supporting the new manager [David Moyes] and hoping we win every game.”
The full interview with Solskjaer featured in the December 2013 issue of FourFourTwo. Subscribe now and read it on your iPad as well as the latest issue.
