Almost 5 years about I wrote a piece on this blog called "The Difficult Job of Management". The piece plotted the relationship through time between the appointment of each Premier League manager (more than 240 different men) and the number of days in charge.
From 2006 to 2016 the average length of stay for a Premier League manager was just over 400 days. Two weeks ago Liverpool's Jurgen Klopp broke the 2,000-days barrier. One year earlier, now departed Spurs manager Mauricio Pochettino, just about managed the same feat only to be sacked on day 2,002. Both managers, particularly Klopp who could reach 3,000 days in charge (maybe further), very much buck the trend today. One has to go back to 2006 (Mick McCarthy at Wolves) to find a manager than lasted 2,000 or more days since appointment.
And despite, regular periods where his appointment has been question, Ole Gunnar Solskjær is now just 84 days shy of Jose Mourinho's 927 days at Manchester United. Should he reach 928 days, he will be the longest serving United manager since Sir Alex. I think all would agree the chances of Ole reaching Sir Alex's 9,704 days in charge are effectively zero. The game has changed too much since 1986.
And speaking of 1986, and Sir Alex's appointment, the Scot went 1,288 days from his appointment as United manager to the FA Cup replay win over Crystal Palace at Wembley in May 1990. Should United not win the Europa League this season, Ole will be in Ferguson territory (1000+ days) as he searches for his first piece of silverware. Quite remarkable in today's game when most managers get 400 days or less.