Man Utd chief Ed Woodward defended over transfer decisions due to Real Madrid

He said: “I enjoyed playing with Ole. Ole is a very, very nice guy. You don’t want to see anyone given a lot of stick. Since he has gone in he has turned things around.

“We haven’t been lucky enough to win any silverware at the moment. This season we haven’t started the way we would have liked but take nothing away from Ole.

“Ultimately, at the back end of last season nobody thought they would finish in the top four. That’s down to the manager galvanizing the players to do just that.”

United return to action against West Brom after the international break as they look to make a move up the Premier League table.

Fast Forward: The Autobiography: The Hard Road to Football Success by Andrew Cole is published on 12 November (Hodder & Stoughton, £20)