In an expected turn of events, Jose Mourinho's premature departure from Manchester United was said to have prompted great celebrations among a number of his former charges. Initially reported in The Sun, it had been claimed that the intervention of Michael Carrick was all that halted Paul Pogba's joyous reaction to the news.
A relationship that had greatly soured over the two-and-a-half years Mourinho and Pogba had spent in one another's company, John Giles expects the departure of the former to further liberate the wanton fecklessness of the latter.
Speaking to Off the Ball of the current situation at his former club, Giles holds little hope that Mourinho's immediate replacement Ole Gunnar Solskjaer possesses the required tools to get the best out of the French World Cup-winner.
"To be quite honest, when he played, he never struck me as one of the leading characters," Giles assessed of Solskjaer's time as a United player.
"That might be unfair on him, [but] I can't see him controlling Pogba, for example.
"I think you'll see more, and more, and more, and more of Pogba now.
"That's what he is, he's got a head about himself and I think he will dominate the situation there.
"I think [Solskjaer] might try [to control him], but I don't think he'll succeed."
Beyond concerns regarding how the Norwegian will handle the Paul Pogba question, Giles ridiculed United's decision to look toward their glorious past as a means of negotiating the future. Unimpressed with Solskjaer's managerial career to date, the former Ireland manager doubts the suitability of stretching back into the Alex Ferguson era.
"His spell at Cardiff [City] was a total disaster," Giles stated of Solskjaer's only previous experience of managing in the Premier League.
"He had five wins in 25-matches, he brought Cardiff down and they were near the bottom of the Championship when he left.
"So what he's done since, I don't know. There must be a more experienced manager out there who would do the job until the end of the season."
As for what comes next for Manchester United in the managerial hunt, Giles believes the appointment of Spurs' Mauricio Pochettino represents the ideal next move.
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