My Favourite Ole Moments (Baby-Faced Assassin Retires)

After being plagued by injuries the last few years, Ole has finally succumbed, bringing an end to an era. Ole has always been one of my favourite players, not only for his goal scoring exploits but also for his loyalty and humbleness.

His retirement comes as mini-shock to the system and I haven't a fitting tribute. Instead I'll just recall 5 of my most memorable Ole moments. I'm sure most of you remember most of them as well.

1. Blackburn in 95 - We were playing Blackburn when Ole came on for David May. The only thing on my mind was.....who the hell was this kid (I only knew he was cheap and from Molde)....and more importantly....how the hell do you pronounce his name. The next thing I knew, he squeezed in between two Blackburn defenders and poked the ball home to score on his debut! I don't think anyone really cared if we mispronouced or mispelt his name at that point. The only thing that mattered was that this kid is special. It wasn't until years later that we knew how special he is.

2. Against Newcastle (possibly 98) - I can't remember which year it was, but I vividly remember that we were chasing the leaders in the Premiership (possibly Arsenal) and were drawing against Newcastle in a must-win game. We had poured players forward to find the elusive winner and were subject to a Newcastle counter. I can't really recall if Smikes had gone up, but I knew for certain that Newcastle would have scored in that break away. Up stepped Ole to make a professional foul on Rob Lee to preserve the status quo. Without even turning to look at the referee, Ole walked off the pitch knowing that he would surely have received the marching orders. I don't know about you guys, but at that point in time, Ole was my favourite player. He always put the team above himself.

3. Turning Spurs down - Once again I cannot remember the year, but I remember clearly that the board had agreed on a five million pound fee to sell Ole to Spurs. Fergie himself had sanctioned the deal, only for Ole to declare that he wanted to stay at OT. He had grown to love the club, and even if first team opportunities were few and far between, he was willing to stay and fight for his place. To make this even more amazing, Ole was a Liverpool support as a kid. I'm sorry Liverpool, he's all ours. Our own Norwegian legend.

4. 4 Goals against Forest - We were leading Nottingham Forest by 4 goals to 1 when Ole was sent on in the last ten minutes for a run out and he scored 4 goals in that 10 minutes. What made this feat even more astounding was the fact that Ole looked so embarassed by the time the third one went in. You could tell from his expression that he geniunely felt sorry for the Forest players when he scored his fourth. His teammates took the cue and didn't really celebrate, trying not to rub it into the Forest players. Ole was not only a great scorer, but a person of the highest moral standards.

5. Nou Camp May 26th 99 - That one you all know about.

Those were my favourite Ole moments, in no particular order. Wonder what yours are?