Kelly: You had an illustrious playing career, but of course it was headlined by Manchester United. Tell me about the first time you learned about the possibility of coming to England, to one of the most decorated clubs in the world?
Old: For Norway, this is probably one of the most important games of my career. We played Norway against Azerbaijan and I scored two very good goals. Coincidentally, Jim Ryan, the assistant principal, was watching Ronny Johnsen, who we hired. I was sitting next to Mark McGhee, who was Wolverhampton manager at the time, chatting like they did. Mark McGhee is looking for a center forward, Jim Ryan is watching the game and I score two goals. Then you think: “Okay, Wolverhampton will probably sign this guy.” He called Sir Alex [Ferguson] that night and I said, ‘I think I found one and it won’t be expensive.’ It’s cheap, but we have to be quick because Wolverhampton will also sign a centre-forward. “It was very, very fast.
Kelly: That must have been a whirlwind for you…
Old: Bright. Absolutely superior. But you’re never 100% sure until you sign the deal. But I more or less knew it, so before my last game with Molde, I told Age Hareide, who was the coach, that if I scored, I would take off my shirt, throw it in the stands and run off the pitch. He said, ‘No, you can’t do that… but [if you have to] Wait up to 10 minutes before full time. That’s exactly what happened. I think I scored a fifth goal, 5-1, and I just threw my shirt away and ran off the field and we didn’t have substitutes ready to come on, so we had to play a few minutes with 10 men. It was a dizzying time. The media was outside my apartment. They wanted interviews and I just tried to stay away from all that.
Kelly: Was this all new? Like a whole new level of fame?
Old: Of course. Because 18 months before Manchester United I played for Clausenengen, my local team, in front of 50 people, so it was a big step forward in attention. But I think I’ve handled these situations pretty well.
Kelly: I always ask players (and with you, this feels even more salient because you’ve played in some of the biggest games) if you could relive one game from your career, what would it be?
Old: Of course, the Champions League final in ’99. I spent 80 minutes on the bench, very unhappy with the coach: ‘Why don’t you put me on?’ – and we are losing the game and football is very emotional. You are so low and you want to get on the field. It was a truly agonizing 80 minutes, but then I managed to play 15 minutes and I would really love to play those 15 minutes again. It changed history, of course. It changed my life. It didn’t make me a better footballer but it changed my life because we made history and I was the one who was lucky enough to score that goal. And many men have come up to me and thanked me for giving them the time of their lives. [They say] ‘Don’t tell my wife, please, will you?’
Kelly: You mentioned before that you were upset with Sir Alex. Obviously you always wanted to start, but you earned this incredible reputation, right? Like a super submarine. I know that every footballer wants to start every game. How did you accept that?
Old: I had conversations with Sir Alex. I signed a long-term contract. What I did was really put my career in his hands. I more or less told myself, ‘Do the best you can.’ I have seen many strikers sulk when they are on the bench. I felt: “Okay, they’ve played 70 or 80 minutes, the defenders are tired, I can come in, I can make a difference, I’m fresh, as long as my head is fresh and my mentality is good.” If we won 1-0, I was never going to enter. At 0-0 I was like, ‘don’t score, don’t score until he scores’. At 1-0 down, yeah, I’m definitely going to keep going. With 2-0 up, he always gave me 15 to 20 minutes to make me feel part of it. He was very good at giving me enough minutes, but I knew that at 1-0 I had to sit down because you weren’t going to come in. Then, 1-0 against Bayern, I thought: “Come on, it’s like 20 minutes…”. They are one of the best 13-15 minutes of my football career.
Kelly: When did management become fashionable?
Old: When I was a child I really liked football. My cousin and I always used to buy the Rothmans Yearbook every year and that was our bible. We knew every player in every division in England and we used to create our own game, like a management game, which was probably the prequel to the Championship Manager game. We should have copyrighted that one! We were really nerds and football fans, and I always played computer games, management games instead of FIFA, where it is played. I have always liked training or managing and selecting teams. I used to coach the younger kids on the streets of my locality. We used to form a street team for these tournaments and I was the boss.
Kelly: How old are you at this moment?
Old: 13 or 14. So I’ve probably always had this manager in me. Then I played for Manchester United and I didn’t know if I had the personality to be a coach. It’s different from managing now. Then I got injured and that was the moment I decided I had to stay in the game. That’s the moment I decided to start all these coaching courses and start writing down everything Sir Alex says.
