Wednesday 19 December 2018 00:08, UK
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer would "restore the feel-good factor" at Manchester United if named interim manager, Gary Neville told The Debate.
Neville said the former United striker, who retired from playing while still at Old Trafford in 2007, would be given "favour and goodwill" by their fans if he took the reins temporarily, as looks increasingly likely after the club accidentally announced his appointment on their website.
United had made clear within minutes of Jose Mourinho's departure on Tuesday morning that an external candidate was to be brought in as interim manager within 48 hours to take over until the end of the season, with Solskjaer, Laurent Blanc and Steve Bruce all mentioned as potential appointments.
Neville told a The Debate special: "I would suggest that the person who goes in for the next six months is someone who can steady the ship, knows the club, can bring people together, understands the people in the club, the fans, the media and can bring the feel-good factor back.
"He fits that mould, and there's a number of other ex-players who would. At this moment in time, I can see where an interim appointment becomes someone who brings favour and goodwill, and he absolutely would. So would Laurent Blanc or Steve Bruce, as would Michael Carrick.
"They would have to just steady the ship, hold the fort until the end of the season and then Manchester United can go and get what they believe to be the next manager of this football club for the next five to six months."
Sky Sports understands United plan to appoint a new long-term manager in the summer, but Neville said there was a possibility whoever takes the job temporarily could, with the right level of success, end up landing it on a permanent basis.
That would follow a similar scenario at Chelsea - where interim manager Roberto Di Matteo won the Champions League in 2012, before being given the full-time role several weeks later.
Neville said: "If they were to win the Champions League in the next five or six months, you say 'ok, leave them in charge!' But, with the understanding that you're restricting the background of the club from a technical and recruitment point of view, but you're also making sure the head coach that actually is the best in the world comes to the club.
"One thing the fans will not accept, those players who have flared up with the manager and you can't silence players, but their excuse is gone now. Now they have to perform."
