Ole Gunnar Solskjaer ruthlessly sacked less than one hour after failing to qualify for Conference League

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has been sacked by Besiktas after just seven months in charge.

The Turkish side confirmed his departure less than an hour after their exit from the Conference League.

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Besiktas were beaten 1-0 at home by Lausanne in Thursday night’s second leg.

As a result, they crashed out of Europe in the play-off round following a 2-1 aggregate defeat.

Following the match, the club released a statement announcing Solskjaer had left his role.

It came after the 52-year-old had held his post-match press conference.

Their statement read: “Our contract with manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has been terminated following a decision made at the board meeting.

“Following the meeting, our chairman, Serdal Adalı, thanked Solskjaer for his services to date.”

The former Manchester United boss leaves having won 15 of his 29 matches as manager.

Solskjaer had been in charge of Besiktas since January after signing an 18-month deal in Istanbul.

It was his first managerial role since leaving United in November 2021.

Solskjaer made an impressive start to his tenure by losing just one of his first nine matches across all competitions.

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Their upturn in form under him saw the club finish fourth last season to qualify for the Europa League.

However, Besiktas were knocked out in the third qualifying round by Shakhtar Donetsk, subsequently dropping into the Conference League.

After a 7-3 aggregate win over Shamrock Rovers, they drew last week’s first leg against Lausanne in Switzerland.

The INEOS-owned side secured a narrow victory on Thursday, though, to book their place in the league phase.

Former Arsenal academy starlet Nathan Butler-Oyedeji scored the only goal of the night in first half stoppage time.

The home side’s task was then made even harder less than a minute after the restart.

Ole Gunnar Solskaer's managerial career

2008-10: Manchester United Reserves – 64 per cent win rate

2011-13: Molde – 55 per cent win rate

2014: Cardiff City – 30 per cent win rate

2015-18: Molde – 56 per cent win rate

2018-21: Manchester United – 55 per cent win rate

2025: Besiktas – 52 per cent win rate

Honours: 2x Norwegian titles, Norwegian Cup

Felix Uduokhai was shown a straight red card just seconds into the second half.

As a result, Besiktas will not be in the main stage of a European competition for the first time since the 2022/23 season.

They had reached the league phase of Europa League last term but were eliminated after winning just three of their eight matches.

Solskjaer’s brutal exit is a far cry from his start to life at the club after securing a 4-1 win over Athletic Bilbao in his first match.

Speaking after that match, he explained: “That is teamwork, togetherness. That is a proper team. It was one of the best feelings I’ve ever had in my life as a coach.

“This is special. I know it’s been difficult. Now we keep calm and go to the next one. But I got to say thank you and well done.”

However, he is now once again without a club despite having 11 months remaining on his initial Besiktas deal.