Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has paid tribute to his players and coaches after winning the Barclays Manager of the Month award for January.
The Manchester United caretaker manager continued his dream start at the club where he starred as a player by extending his unbeaten run, claiming 10 points from a possible 12 during the month.
This included victories over Newcastle United, Tottenham Hotspur and Brighton & Hove Albion, as well as a comeback draw at home to Burnley.
"It means we’ve been the team of the month, both the staff and the players, so we’ve done well," said Solskjaer. "We want to be winning games, we want to move up the table and this is the start of it."
Solskjaer enjoyed a glittering 12-year playing career at United, winning six Premier League titles, and his transition to manager there has so far been seamless.
"The more you know the culture of the club, the culture of the players and the way that we have been successful, that has helped me," he said.
"I’ve got some fantastic coaches, I have to say, Kieran [McKenna], Michael [Carrick], they’re brilliant."
"Emilio Alvarez’s working with the best goalkeeper in the world and to bring Micky [Phelan] in with me is very reassuring because he’s so calm and experienced
"You cannot be a good manager without good players"
"You cannot be a good leader or a manager without good players, you can’t get results without the players, so ultimately it’s how they respond to what we tell them and they’ve been fantastic, so all credit to them."
The 45-year-old beat Burnley’s Sean Dyche and Southampton’s Ralph Hasenhuttl to the prize after the votes of a panel of football experts were combined with those of the public to decide the winner.
He also becomes the first Norwegian, as a player or manager, to win a Premier League monthly award.
