SIR Alex Ferguson was relieved to discover that Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's injury was a hamstring strain rather than a recurrence of his knee problem.
Ferguson must do without the veteran striker for the foreseeable future after he limped off in the final minute of United's 1-0 defeat against FC Copenhagen.
However, while upset at the absence of the Norwegian, Ferguson was thankful the damage was not more serious.
"It's unfortunate for Ole," he said.
"It is a hamstring and he will be out for a few weeks. But I am actually quite happy.
"Given his previous history of knee problems, I was a bit concerned when he came off but, fortunately, it is only a hamstring.
Copenhagen can now qualify for the knockout round themselves having finally scored a Champions League goal and recorded a result coach Stolle Sollbakken had predicted prior to the game.
"I didn't think either side would score more than one," said the former Wimbledon player.
"United created more chances that us and we did need to ride our luck. But I thought they would run over us in the final 10 minutes, but it didn't happen.
"We still need another miracle against Benfica in three weeks' time but, if we can get through that, I am confident about beating Celtic in our final game."
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Man I hope Saha's injury isn't serious. Smith is a long way off the pace still, he was woeful against Crewe. Ronaldo can do a job playing through the middle, it's a position he's played for Portugal a few times. Does anyone know when Park will be fit?
Out for a few weeks, just great! I wonder how wise it was to let Rossi go out on loan, he would surely have been handed a few chances now. Instead, we now have Rooney, Sahe (injury prone) and Smith (hopelessly unfit and useless anyway) as back up.
I THINK THIS JUST HIGHLIGHTS THE NEED FOR ANOTHER STRIKER TO BE SIGNED IN JANUARY OR AT LEAST BRING ROSSI BACK. I DON'T REALLY KNOW WHO I WOULD LIKE TO SEE ARIVE IN THE STRIKER DEPARTMENT BUT I HAVE A HORRIBLE FEELING THAT WE MAY GO IN FOR TREZEGUET WITH HIM BEING FREE TO PLAY IN EUROPE. THIS GUY IS VERY OVERRATED FOR ME AND IS NOWHERE NEAR AS GOOD AS SAHA BUT COULD BE BROUGHT IN AS COVER?! ANYONE ELSE ANY IDEAS?
i just wanted to cry!!!! especially knowing that january will be in two months tyme.....can we ever make it earlier....??
Mick i think Park should be back for the shefield united game possibly blackburn but would be surprised. Got to say like most people i didn't understand us letting Rossi go i think we could have offered him as much pitch time as he has had at newcastle especially with Smith looking miles away from fitness, his problem is he is the type of player who has to be 100% fit to play his natural game and have an impact if rossi was here i would have loaned him out till january.
Ferguson won't sign another striker in January. He has either Ronaldo or Giggys as a support striker option, which has worked in the past.
Id rather we spend the money getting Hargreaves in.
Don't worry Ole will be back before we know it and those 2 months will just fly by!
Note to Fergie:
Might be an idea to get Rossi back old chap!
Ole, see you soon xx
Smith useless? what are u on about UTD4EVER....he has been out for such a long time he made an outstanding start to his manchester united career....then last season he wsa the best player against chelsea at OT? USELESS U SAY...I SAY U NEED TO GET UR HEAD EXAMINED
'Man Utd's Hargeave's Deal depends on Newcastle selling Emre to Bayern Munich' What's the odds that Newcastle will want to hold on to Rossi as part of the deal???
i agree, smith is still a massive part of the squad, he is a million miles off match fitness tho and unless we give him matches it aint guna get much better. he was poor against crewe but its just about fitness. maybe we should loan him out for a month to a championship side get 6 games in him! we wont buy a centre forward in jan, we will get hargreaves leaving the summer for us to get a big name striker. this is always the worry with sloskjaer and saha they are too injury prone. id like to see ronaldo through the middle with rooney he could be a lot like henry with his skill and pace. i dont think park is back until xmas!
I hate to say this, because I know there are no one else that wants to play football more theese days than Ole, but it seems his body isn't up for the task any more. I repeat, I hate to say it.... A true Lengend with a big L. A great survant to United for a decade. A shame really, but we have to face it
matt giggs has played as a support striker in the past but too claim it worked is stretching the facts giggs ia great left sided midfield player full stop
OGS is not a 90 minutes player anymore, he must play 30 -40 minutes at most. Also the pitch was not very good .
It's high time Ole calls it a day whilst he's again at the top, well almost. He's been through too much agony to even think of making it again at 33 in the top flight. And he must know that he's only being given the odd game out of respect for his club loyalty and past achievements.
Nikolai, Norway, I agree it is difficult to say Ole's body is not up to it and it is no criticism intended from you.
I actually think Ole might turn into another Giggs. We know that we are likely to lose Ryan a few times during the season. As long as it is weeks and not months he comes back and continues to fire.
As long as Ole doesn't do the knee again I think he will still contribute over the whole season. Best of luck to him.
Do you agree?
KEANO, whether I need my head examined or not is beside the point! I admit the word useless may be an exagerration but my point is that I do not think the guy is a Man Utd player. I know he has shown great courage to come back from an awful injury as we all expected him too but there is no room for sentiments these days. But perhaps you are one of those who settles for second rate players and generally, second best!
Anyone who is worried about whether a player of Ole's age, who is returning from a serious injury, can still be an important player for us need only look at Henril Larsson. There are a lot of Barcelona players with a Champion' league medal as evidence that a wily old fox can turn back the years when needed.
I couldn't agree with you more KEANO! THERE IS ONLY ONE KEANOO, PRESTON, that's the point I keep making about how well he played against Chelsea. People need to stop criticising Alan Smith, he's just come back from a horiffic injury.