THE consolation for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is that it happened now and not during the last international break.

If Mauricio Pochettino had been sacked then, the clamour for him to take over at Manchester United would have been overwhelming.

The dispiriting defeat at Newcastle had left United looking nervously over their shoulders at the drop zone — and some fans calling for a change of manager.

As it is, Solskjaer is sitting more comfortably in the Old Trafford hotseat having overseen five wins from seven in the last block of fixtures.

The word from the United hierarchy is that they very much want this to work with their former striker.

Executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward said last month: “Whatever manager we have has to buy into our philosophy and Ole is a walking, talking version of that.

“Let’s let this play out with Ole in terms of the culture reboot.”

And yesterday the message from Old Trafford was clear: Pochettino becoming available changes nothing.

Even so, until the ex-Spurs boss takes another job, his shadow will loom large over  Solskjaer.

The bookmakers have already decided United are  favourites to be the Argentinian’s new club.

And it is not difficult to see why he was — and still might be — an attractive option for them.

United legend Gary Neville said after Jose Mourinho’s departure that he felt Poch was perfect for the role.

He said: “They need someone who meets the three key principles of that football club: the promotion of youth, entertaining football and to win football matches.

“I see Pochettino — and he’s done an incredible job.

“People will say, ‘He hasn’t won a trophy yet’ but Manchester United have tried managers who have won European Cups, managers who have won multiple leagues, managers who have had that solid grounding in the Premier League.”

Last Christmas Poch was the first pick in the eyes of many supporters.

But Woodward knew it would be almost impossible to get him out of Spurs at that time.

Pochettino was also keen to stay and lead Tottenham into their new stadium and they were  going well in the Premier League and Europe.

But the feeling  then was that things could be different by the summer.

So when appointing Solskjaer as caretaker manager until the end of the season, the idea was to see who was available at the end of 2018/19.

But then the Norwegian surprised everyone with the start  he made.

After their amazing win in Paris in the spring, Woodward could no longer ignore the calls to make the appointment permanent.

And having done that he had to stand by his man — even when last season finished so disappointingly.

That remained the case through an unconvincing start to the current campaign.

Woodward is desperate for it to work. The last thing he wants is to get rid of another manager  he appointed.

Yet at the back of their minds United will know this could be their one and only chance to get Pochettino.

Don’t forget, this time four years ago, United were thinking of offering Louis van Gaal a new deal.

But the chance to hire  Mourinho that summer came along and it was too good to turn down.

Poch needs a break right now but is unlikely to be short of offers when he is ready to return.

Solskjaer will be hoping he gets fixed up quickly — or the spectre is unlikely to go away.

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