Gary Neville lifts the lid on why Ed Woodward will not sack Solskjaer at Man Utd

Manchester United will not sack Ole Gunnar Solskjaer because Ed Woodward will not want it to be his final act, according to Gary Neville.

Pressure is mounting on the Old Trafford boss after United's derby day defeat to Manchester City on Saturday as the calls for him to be axed grow louder and louder.

Woodward, who will step down as CEO at the end of the year, is faced with a difficult decision after handing the Norwegian a three-year contract in the summer.

And former United defender Neville reckons it's Woodward's imminent departure that is keeping Solskjaer in his job.

Solskjaer latest : Man Utd boss pulls same stunt on Marcus Rashford after Harry Maguire backlash

Have Your Say! Would Solskjaer's dismissal impact Man Utd fans' views of Ed Woodward? Comment below

He said: "The situation at United is made more complicated with Ed Woodward leaving in weeks.

"He gave Ole Gunnar Solskjaer a three-year contract months ago and he won't want his final act to be sacking a manager."

Neville didn't rule out the possibility of the incoming chief executive relieving Solskjaer of his duties when he takes over from Woodward, however.

He added: "He [Woodward] knows an incoming CEO could throw him overboard by doing just that [sacking Solskjaer] and blaming him!"

Antonio Conte was heavily linked with the job before joining Tottenham after the sacking of Nuno Espirito Santo.

But Neville reckons it's a move that was never on the cards as the club did not forsee Solskjaer's men going backwards after a promising runner-up finish in the Premier League last season

The pundit added: "Ole is under massive pressure and they have no courage. Without [Edinson] Cavani they look less of a team he seems to have that fight to play for the club and when he doesn't play they seem nice, and nice isn't good enough.

"Up until the end of last season there was progression and finishing above Liverpool last season they'd snatch your hand off. The club has not planned for this.

Read More : How Solskjaer loyalty experiment has cost Man Utd three world-class managers

"Some fans think that the club should've acted two weeks ago because Conte was available.

"They were never going to appoint Conte; it was never going to happen, they were never going to consider it."

Paul Scholes wasn't as critical as his former teammate as he felt the result against City was by no means a shock with how they have performed this term.

He thinks Liverpool and City are streets ahead of them, but United could easily pull off a result against Chelsea later this month.

He said: "Does anything change? Are we really surprised by United being short of City and Liverpool?

"I don't think they're massively short of Chelsea though.

"I think they could go and beat teams like Chelsea.

"And I think the same now is going to happen again - we'll struggle against the big teams, we might go on a run now - beat all the teams we expect to and think we're a good team again."