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In the modern history of football, no manager at a top club, possibly at any club, has had quite an impact like Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has made at Manchester United in the last two months. Will it sustain? Only time will tell. However, the short time during which the above series of results has been delivered, call for some observations and learning.

The context is important. The club, and the team, he inherited was an absolute mess. The previous manager, Jose Mourinho, had been sacked. Despite investments of more than half a billion dollars, the team was mid-table and heading in the wrong direction. Superstars arrived at Old Trafford, and instantly morphed into a sub-normal twin of themselves! The 'team' consisted of 11 players who lacked coordination and determination.

Jose's run in his last ten games was as follows: W-D-W-W-L-D-D-D-W-L. The last game, a hammering by Liverpool, sealed his fate. It wasn't so much the results as it was his style of play and his general demeanour that ultimately led to his exit. He had lost the dressing room, the fans, and ultimately, the management. The team's main players: Pogba, De Gea and others were queuing up at the exit door, and the Spanish sharks from Madrid and Barcelona were circling.

United were a club in crisis: three dud managers had wallowed in the long shadow of Sir Alex Ferguson and the Board was searching for answers. A stopgap was needed till the end of the season: enter Ole.

The smiling assassin lived and breathed the club, understood its ethos and was steeped in its glorious tradition. While his predecessor was constantly moaning about the "lack of quality" in the team and the difficulties they were facing, Ole simply had a view that "Manchester United can and should win every match". A new BELIEF seeped through the fabric of the club: the players were rejuvenated, the fans reengaged and team started coming together.

Relentless in his message of "winning" , and clear that he expected the team to play in the "attacking traditions of Manchester United", the new manager unleashed the primal energies of the players. This is a team of superstars who had been suffocated by the strategies of the previous manager: he set them free. He TRUSTED them to deliver.

Most critically, he picked out his trump card: Paul Pogba, the enormously talented, magician of a midfielder, who had fallen out with Mourinho. Ole made him the pivot of the team. He was given freedom to roam, and encouraged him to go on marauding raids into enemy territory. His play has blossomed, his impact enormous. In the previous 11 games, he has scored 8 goals and had 6 assists. He's made the whole front line better, with Martial and Rashford climbing new heights in the forward line. An on-field LEADER has emerged.

No player in the first 11 can take their place for granted. With the exception of the goalkeeper, every other player has been rotated in and out, and if someone else plays better than you in your position, well, you have to earn it back. Marshaling his resources with a "squad mentality", Ole is ensuring that all his players remain HUNGRY, fresh and keen. PERFORMANCE counts, not reputation.

Finally, there's some not-so-obvious bits you should know about. The importance of the return of Mick Phelan, Ferguson's long time No. 2, cannot be overestimated. He is a robust leader of the BACKROOM staff, his influence is everywhere. Secondly, Ole's managed to mould a second class set of defenders into one of the league's better back 4: they've stopped leaking goals. A defensive leader has been identified and NURTURED in Victor Lindelof.

He's managed to put the Fear Factor back into United: perhaps for the first time since Ferguson's retirement five years ago. The competition approaches the matches with a degree of trepidation and nervousness now: they know that this United team is NO PUSHOVER. They'll fight till the very end, as Burnley found when two goals were scored in the last 7 minutes (resulting in a 2-2 draw).

In the blink of an eye, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has engineered a remarkable turnaround in the fortunes of one of the biggest football clubs on the planet. Sterner tests await: especially how he navigates through an inevitable slump in form, the string of 2-3 adverse results. Big matches are across the street: Champions League against PSG, the Derby, Liverpool, so many others. He may yet falter. Or he may take up the mantle of his mentor and remain the manager for the next 26 years. Biology is on his side: we wait with bated breath!