Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's Cardiff Exit Inevitable Result of Mistakes on Both Sides

The way the Championship season has started, few would have guessed that Ole Gunnar Solskjaer would be sacked before Felix Magath, but in many ways, the Cardiff City manager has been guilty of the very same mistakes that will surely continue to plague the uncompromising German.

While Magath continues at a Fulham side that—bottom of the Championship with one point from six games—looks disjointed and woefully underprepared for the challenges of the competition, on Wednesday, rumours began that Solskjaer was to be dismissed from Cardiff, 17th in the fledgling standings after two wins from their opening seven fixtures.

By Thursday, following talks the previous evening with club chairman Mehmet Dalman, Solskjaer had officially "stepped down" at the club—it seems the euphemisms for "sacked" are becoming more and more confusing—after the two parties were unable to reach an agreement about the ongoing direction of the club.

Reports in the press suggested that the club's mercurial owner, Vincent Tan, had quickly realised the need for a manager familiar with the particular vagaries of the Championship, with the importance of getting back into the Premier League at the first attempt no doubt weighing on his mind.

In a statement announcing the departure, Tan was surprisingly complimentary of his former employee but noted that the recent run of results (Cardiff had only picked up one point from their last four games) made his position untenable.

Tan said:

"

Regrettably our recent results do not justify Ole's continued role as manager at Cardiff.

Ole has therefore decided to step down and I have accepted this. During my short association with Ole, I have found him to be an honest and hardworking professional, but unfortunately the football results were not in his favour.

"

Solskjaer's dismissal might appear harsh to some, especially in relation to Magath's dismal record, and there may be a certain amount of merit in that. Eight points is by no means an abysmal return at this stage of the season, especially in a league where form can fluctuate wildly and it can take some time for the contenders to separate from the rest of the pack.

Then again, it should be worth noting that Tan has spent more time in the Championship than the Premier League as Cardiff's owner and knows by now the particular qualities needed to secure promotion. For obvious reasons, he will never speak well of Malky Mackay, but it is not hard to suggest that the Malaysian will now look for a manager with a similar profile to the exiled Scot.

Solskjaer's sides, like Magath's, frequently looked bereft of confidence, organisation and discipline in the early part of the season, a combination that does not augur well for the months ahead. Having been given money to spend in the summer and bringing in nine new players, there could be few excuses.

"I'm responsible and I should get better results than this; [better] than what we've had in the first seven games," Solskjaer said (per the BBC) following his last game in charge, the weekend defeat to Middlesbrough.

"We did not create any moments of quality to open them up which was very disappointing.

"But confidence only comes from performances and results and without it you are unable to make those quick decisions in the heat of battle and it cost us."

Three days later, it has cost Solskjaer his job.

"Our difference in philosophy on how to manage the club made me decide to step aside and allow the club to move forward in the direction Vincent wants," the Norwegian added in the club's statement. "I leave the club with some very talented players and want to thank them for their efforts and hope to see them challenge for promotion this season."

The glamour of the Premier League (and, more specifically, the disproportionately huge riches it provides) will always cause boardroom jitters and will always lead owners and chairmen to change managers if they look like losing that status or—once they have—if they appear unlikely to regain it at the first opportunity.

It is an understandable short-termism, but it's perhaps one that clubs should do more to avoid. Considering that both clubs went down anyway, would Fulham and Cardiff not both be better off right now if they had appointed managers with greater Football League experience last season and given them a full summer to identify the specific targets they needed for the peculiar demands of England's second tier?

It is instructive, perhaps, that the third team relegated last season, Norwich City, are currently top of the table—buoyed by the goals of summer signing Lewis Grabban, who is yet to play in the Premier League in his career, and manager Neil Adams, who has spent his whole career playing or coaching in the English football pyramid.

Solskjaer and Magath, in contrast, are learning on the job about this type of football—Magath under an owner who is similarly out of his comfort zone—a time-consuming process that costs everyone more dearly the longer it goes on.

Comparing the fortunes of Fulham and Cardiff from this point on could be an instructive process.

"Ole was hired by Cardiff City on our understanding and belief that he would help us fight relegation from the Barclays Premier League," Tan added in the statement. "Unfortunately, that did not happen. After the club was relegated, many people advised me to let him go, but I decided to keep Ole on for the Championship season.

"We now begin the process of finding his replacement and working towards giving all our stakeholders in Cardiff City the results they deserve."

Solskjaer's time at Cardiff seemed to be a mistake on both parts. Having waited so patiently for his chance to manage in English football, it remains bizarre that the former Manchester United striker saw the Welsh club—mired in a relegation battle with an owner meddling in all matters—as a good option when he arrived in January.

Cardiff, at least, have recognised that mistake reasonably hastily. The next appointment seems set to go in the opposite direction—Dundee manager Paul Hartley has been linked to the job, according to Brian McLauchlin of BBC Scotland, along with MK Dons boss Karl Robinson, according to Daily Star's Adrian Kajumba, and a variety of "up-and-coming" British managers—although that is no guarantee it will be any more successful.

If the appointment is right, however, then it undoubtedly improves the club's chances of bouncing back to the top flight at the first opportunity.

Solskjaer, similarly, has probably salvaged his reputation as much as possible after the black mark any relegation brings—another job in England may be unlikely in the near future, but he will undoubtedly be given the chance to rebuild his career somewhere in Europe (possibly back in Norway) before too long.

For a manager, he remains very young; he has time on his side.

A sacking so early in the season inevitably brings the impression of panic and turmoil. For both Solskjaer and Cardiff, however, this may be a timely decision that is the best for all concerned—and the inevitable conclusion of a partnership that was never likely to succeed.