Solskjaer is far from Premier League's first interim manager

While Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's 'loan move' from Molde to Manchester United is a pretty unusual situation, the concept of the interim manager has become a familiar one in the Premier League.

With life in England's top-flight a pressure cooker at both ends of the table, we have become accustomed to seeing owners push the panic button midway through a season when things aren't going as expected.

Often, rather than seek to appoint a new permanent manager, clubs will install a stopgap to steer them through the remainder of the campaign.

And that's what United have chosen to do following their sacking of Jose Mourinho in the aftermath of Sunday's disastrous defeat to Liverpool at Anfield.

Former striker Solskjaer, 45, will guide United through the remainder of the season while the search for Mourinho's permanent successor takes place in the background.

His in-tray is fit to burst, with United currently languishing sixth in the Premier League, some 19 points behind leaders Liverpool and set to face Paris Saint-Germain in the last-16 of the Champions League.

But interim managers have found themselves in this kind of situation before, especially at Chelsea, who've had a number of them.

In 2009, owner Roman Abramovich panicked when Chelsea were drawn against Juventus in the last-16 of the Champions League and dismissed the underperforming Luiz Felipe Scolari.

He appointed the Dutchman Guus Hiddink, who was also Russia manager, on an interim basis and they not only beat Juventus but also Liverpool before bowing out to eventual winners Barcelona in the Champions League.

As a kind of bonus, Hiddink also guided Chelsea to a third-place finish in the Premier League - it was mathematically impossible to win it when he took over - and success in the FA Cup, beating Everton 2-1 in the final.

Such was Hiddink's galvanising effect on the dressing room, the likes of captain John Terry, Michael Ballack and Petr Cech implored him to stay on but he returned to the Russia job.

The players chipped in £20,000 to get Hiddink an inscribed Rolex Daytona watch and a signed Chelsea shirt to send him back to Russia, with love.

In early 2012, Andre Villas-Boas was chopped at Chelsea after a 3-1 defeat to Napoli in the last-16 of the Champions League.

His assistant Roberto Di Matteo was promoted into a caretaker role - with stunning results. Not only did they come back against Napoli, they defeated Benfica and Barcelona to reach the Champions League final with Bayern Munich.

Despite Bayern playing the final in their own stadium, Chelsea prevailed on penalties to lift the European Cup for the first time and assure Di Matteo legendary status.

Abramovich had little alternative but to appoint Di Matteo on a permanent basis but things quickly turned sour as results faltered and the Italian was sacked when Chelsea were eliminated from the Champions League.

Ironically, Di Matteo was replaced by an interim boss in the shape of Rafa Benitez, an immensely unpoular choice among the fans.

But the Spaniard emerged with plenty of credit after leading Chelsea to third place in the Premier League and a Europa League win.

Hiddink returned for a second interim spell in 2015 following the culmination of Mourinho's second spell at Stamford Bridge. Their form under Mourinho was so bad, Hiddink had to steer them from relegation danger to 10th.

Others have successfully avoided relegation during an interim tenure, such as Garry Monk at Swansea City in 2014.

Having stuffed local rivals Cardiff City 3-0 in his first game in charge, they ultimately secured Premier League safety with a game to spare.

Chris Coleman did a similar firefighting job at Fulham in 2003, moving them up the table away from relegation risk and went on to manage the club until April 2007.

Tim Sherwood was brought in to revitalise an out-of-sorts Tottenham following the departure of Villas-Boas in 2013.

He led them to a sixth place finish in the league but was still sacked by Daniel Levy at the end of the season.

But arguably the most eventful interim tenure in Premier League history was Joe Kinnear's at Newcastle United in 2008 following the resignation of Kevin Keegan.

In one of his first press conferences, Kinnear swore over 70 times during a lengthy tirade against national newspapers and thereafter refused to talk to them.

Though he earned enough wins to lift Newcastle out of the relegation zone, Kinnear didn't help himself when he pronounced Charles N'Zogbia's name as 'insomnia', hastening the player's departure from the club.

Heart problems meant Kinnear's interim spell at St James' Park was short but undoubtedly colourful.