Mark Bosnich: Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Frank Lampard were always managerial material

Frank Lampard and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer aren’t the experienced, “big-name” managers that Chelsea and Manchester United are used to signing, but they know their clubs and what it takes to win, says former teammate Mark Bosnich.

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Some days, Mark Bosnich would walk off the pitch at The Cliff, Manchester United’s old training ground, shaking his head at the surgical precision of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s finishing.

Some nights, a little later in his career, Bosnich would join Frank Lampard and the midfielder’s parents — including his father, Frank Snr — to talk football over dinner.

Nearly two decades later, it’s no surprise to him that two of the game’s thinkers are symbols of the new wave of managers at the top of the English game.

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Club legend Frank Lampard has taken the reins at Chelsea this season. Picture: Getty Images

Chelsea’s trip to United on Sunday (1.30am Monday AEST) is already a heavyweight fixture, but the identities of those at the helm adds a new layer of intrigue.

Solskjaer has had his honeymoon period, overseen a pre-season and now has to prove his long-term mettle at a club that has lost its way since Sir Alex Ferguson’s exit.

Likewise Lampard, a Chelsea icon, has the task of rediscovering the formula that brought him so much success there as a player.

They aren’t the experienced, “big-name” managers that United and Chelsea are used to signing, given Lampard’s single year as a head coach at Derby and Solskjaer’s relegation as Cardiff boss five years ago. But it’s their understanding of their clubs and their culture that have made them successful.

With both players, Bosnich saw the seeds being sown early.

Mark Bosnich played with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer at Manchester United.

“I became extremely close to Frank — probably closer than anyone in my career with the exception of Dwight Yorke,” Bosnich said of his two years at Chelsea from 2001.

“He’s one of the most intelligent footballers I’ve ever been around, and very balanced. From a football perspective, for me he was the best midfielder of his generation, wonderful stamina and agility.

“He wasn’t just vocationally intelligent, but in an academic sense, too. He reads the game and reads people. He wasn’t a loudmouth like me, or someone who wouldn’t say boo like Paul Scholes, just in the middle where he had to be.

“One of my highlights at that time was to see him go from strength to strength, especially under Jose Mourinho.

“It was inevitable he’d go into management, he was one of those I marked down, just like Tony Popovic.”

Likewise Solskjaer, whose mild demeanour camouflaged a steely temperament and self-belief when he and Bosnich shared a dressing room over two periods from 1989 to 2001.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has the perfect temperament and personality to handle managing Manchester United, according to Mark Bosnich. Picture: AFP

“Another very, very intelligent player, another I marked down as management material,” Bosnich said. “Not a vocal influence in the dressing room but very studious, and a very strong personality.

“Dwight Yorke told me that when United wanted to sign him, Fergie was told by the chairman that they had to get rid of one of the other strikers.

“So they agreed a fee with Tottenham for Ole once they had Yorkie, and he had even agreed personal terms with them. But at the last minute Ole turned around and told Sir Alex he wanted to stay and fight for his place.

“At the end of that season, what happened? He scored the winning goal in the Champions League final.

“That Manchester United dressing room at the time was, compared with Chelsea, a bit more survival of the fittest. There was more of a British influence, and they tend to be a bit more verbal and confronting. Ole would always stand his corner.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer enjoyed plenty of success with Manchester United during his career. Picture: AP

“He was as good a finisher as anyone I played with. There were times in training when you couldn’t stop his shots. Yes, he had a challenging time as manager at Cardiff — but take a look at Sir Alex’s record when he first started out at St Mirren. It happens.”

Bosnich’s memories of Lampard in particular are tinged with regret over the effect his exit from the club and descent into drug addiction had on their friendship.

“When I left Chelsea, he was one of the only ones who tried to keep in touch,” said Bosnich, who was axed from Stamford Bridge after testing positive to cocaine in a random test in late 2002. “But I said to him, ‘At the moment I’m on the Titanic’. I told him to stay away — there was no use being around me at that time, you’d just have got in trouble.

“I haven’t spoken to him since.”

TV: Manchester United v Chelsea, 1.30am Monday, Optus Sport.

Originally published as Mark Bosnich: Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Frank Lampard were always managerial material