How Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is building his case to remain as Manchester United's manager

From the moment the club fired Jose Mourinho last month, Manchester United’s brass made it clear how they would go about hiring a long-term replacement as manager of England’s most storied side.

A caretaker coach would first be plucked from somewhere other than Mourinho’s staff — so toxic had the atmosphere become inside United’s dressing room — to steer the sputtering Red Devils though the rest of the current season. Hello Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. And the search for a permanent leader would begin simultaneously, with Tottenham’s Mauricio Pochettino considered the frontrunner by just about everyone.

Three weeks on, Solskjaer is making a compelling case to stay on. The interim boss and legendary former Manchester United striker has already equaled the best start of any manager in club history. He’s won his first five matches, something not even the great Sir Alex Ferguson accomplished, by a combined score of 16-2. Should he prevail on Sunday against Pochettino’s Spurs [11:30 a.m. ET, NBCSN] and pass Matt Busby as the only United coach with victories in each of his first half-dozen games in charge, it will serve as the strongest statement yet that in Solskjaer, United might already have its ideal candidate in place.

Skeptics will argue that this is still the honeymoon period for the 45-year-old Solskjaer and the club he helped to two Champions League triumphs and eight domestic titles over 14 years as a player and assistant coach. But nobody can deny the badly needed breath of fresh air he’s brought to Old Trafford since arriving from Molde in his native Norway on Dec. 18. The results speak for themselves.

Calls for Solskjaer to be seriously considered for the full-time job have been relatively muted so far. But they will surely grow louder if United keeps winning. That doesn’t guarantee that chief executive Ed Woodward or the Glazers, the American family that owns the club, will listen.

Brand-name managers have been in fashion for the better part of a decade now, and especially at the world’s wealthiest clubs. Title favorites Liverpool took off when they lured Jurgen Klopp to Merseyside. Pep Guardiola went from Barcelona to Bayern Munich to Manchester City, the Red Devils’ blood rival. Mourinho replaced fellow Champions League winner Louis van Gaal at Old Trafford.

Pochettino is regarded by many as the next superstar bench boss. The Argentine’s stock has soared since arriving at White Hart Lane from Southampton and turning Spurs into a top-four fixture.

Solskjaer quietly appears on a similar track. This isn’t Ryan Giggs taking over from an overmatched David Moyes years ago, or even Real Madrid handing the reins to French icon Zinedine Zidane. Unlike Zidane, Solskjaer had years of coaching experience before ascending to the helm of his former side. He served his apprenticeship under Ferguson, one of the most successful sports leaders ever, before venturing out on his own. Solskjaer been shaped by success and failure, his three Norwegian crowns coming on either side of a disastrous 2013-14 with Cardiff City, which was relegated from the Premier League. He’s prepared for this.

It can’t hurt either that Solskjaer provides a direct link to the greatest era in Manchester United lore. Almost a decade after leaving the U.K., he still speaks English with a Mancunian accent. The place runs through his veins. Solskjaer remains close to Ferguson, which Woodward and the Glazers would be wise to consider a plus after trying to distance themselves from the legendary Scot since the Moyes fiasco.

Ferguson recently gave Manchester United players a pep talk at Solskjaer’s request that was well-received. His calm, upbeat demeanor is a welcome departure from the joyless Mourinho and Van Gaal, who siphoned much of the magic from the Theatre of Dreams in recent years. Some of the club’s aura has been singlehandedly restored by Solskjaer, who has instilled confidence in a squad that had gone 7-5-5 in the Prem before his arrival.

And he’s done it without adding a single player during the January transfer window (so far). A shorthanded back line has been shored up. Record signing Paul Pogba, inexplicably benched by Mourinho for much of the season, finally looks like the swashbuckling midfielder who willed France to the World Cup last summer. The rest of Pogba’s teammates seem to be having fun again, too.

The biggest tests for Solskjaer are still to come, of course, starting with Sunday’s trip to Tottenham. Pochettino’s team is unbeaten at home and desperate for points after slipping behind City into third place. United will also visit Arsenal in the FA Cup, face Paris Saint-Germain’s all-planet attack in the Champions League round of 16 and play league games versus Liverpool and City before the season is done. An ugly loss or two is probably inevitable unless the Red Devils onboard some defensive help soon.

Still, there’s probably not another coach better positioned to squeeze more out of this club and this particular group of players than Solskjaer. If he’s able to pull off the upset this weekend and keep the momentum flowing for another couple of months, perhaps the short-term fix might even stick around for good.

Doug McIntyre covers soccer for Yahoo Sports. Follow him on Twitter @ByDougMcIntyre.

More from Yahoo Sports:
• Cowboys owner spends more for yacht than he did for team
• Florida man arrested after late superfan’s family threatened
• Driver in hockey tragedy pleads guilty
• Cardinals’ hiring move: ‘What is pro football coming to?’