Unfortunately, the trouble with most of sport's nice guys is that, more often than not, they finish second. Such is the fate of the immensely likeable Solskjær, it is where the club that employs him, Manchester United, finished in the English Premier League last season.

At the moment, second place in the current campaign is looking like a pipe dream as hapless United peer up from seventh position after Sunday’s 5-0 home annihilation by Liverpool.

The result leaves Solskjær a dead man walking, despite being given a stay of execution by the American owners, who seem set to wait until the end of the season before hiring someone else to attempt to manage arguably the most famous club in football - one, incidentally, that now seems rather unmanageable.

The trouble with Solskjær is he really is a nice bloke and he is exceedingly popular with United fans as a legend from his playing days. He even sounds more Mancunian than Norwegian and sees Old Trafford, not Oslo, as his home. 

However, he is the fifth manager to take charge of United since Sir Alex Ferguson hung up his hairdryer eight years ago - how galling it must be for the United directors to see one of them, David Moyes, whiz past them this season with another United, now blowing bubbles at West Ham, the team he has rejuvenated and are now very much in the mix for a Champions League position.

Recruited after his success at Everton, Moyes turned prematurely grey during his 11 months with United, from May 2013 to April 2014. 

Incidentally, another former United manager, ex-player Wilf McGuinness, Sir Matt Busby’s first successor, actually lost his hair during an even shorter spell with the club in 1970.

First Sir Matt and subsequently Fergie, have proved hard acts for anybody incoming manager to follow. But United are a club of such distinction that being second-best is unacceptable – let alone, as things stand, seventh!

Make no mistake, Manchester United will not tolerate such a situation dragging on until next season. Much liked as he is, Solskjær will go when the board feels the time is right. 

Many will think that is right now; others will argue the Norwegian should never have been appointed in the first place, so meagre was his managerial record outside of Norway. Under his brief stewardship, Cardiff City, the only other British club he managed, suffered relegation. 

Since his appointment at United in December 2018, he has been exposed as tactically deficient and the chorus of "Ole, Ole, Ole" from the Old Trafford faithful, which reverberated as Liverpool, already 4-0 up soon after the start of the second half, was far from in salutation of their expressionless manager but actually "Olay, Olay, Olay".

Even the envious United fans could not resist showing their appreciation as Liverpool produced wonderful football foreplay, passing the ball to and fro in their version of Brazilian samba soccer before launching yet another perilous attack on an inept United defence.

Although Solskjær took training on Tuesday for the first time since the senseless punching his team suffered, it would appear he has lost the dressing room. The display was labelled "embarrassing" by senior players per reports as he prepared the team for Saturday’s trip to Tottenham. 

The unanswered question is whether the slide can be halted.  

A United board that gave Solskjær a new three-year contract during the summer is said to be reviewing the situation. 

One would think the manner in which United surrendered on Sunday might accelerate that process. It has been reported that talks with the American owners have already taken place with names shortlisted in the search for yet another new manager.

While Jürgen Klopp would be ideal, there seems no way he would leave Liverpool other than to take charge of the German national team, but the former Liverpool and England star Stephen Gerrard, who has done so well in Scotland with Rangers, whose former stalwart Walter Smith has died at the age of 73, is said to be high on the United hit-list, alongside the former Chelsea head coach Antonio Conte, who has expressed an interest in the job.

It is not the first time that the 48-year-old Solskjær has faced an uncertain future but he vows to fight on despite a situation that looks rather like Mission Impossible.

Even José Mourinho, the special one himself, who was Solskjær's much-vaunted predecessor, could not lift United from the doldrums. Is there any manager out there who can? Or have the once-great Manchester United settled for managerial mediocrity?