‘Fragile’ Man Utd set for fewest games in season since 1914-15

Life moves fast at Manchester United.

When Brighton last visited Old Trafford 11 weeks ago, a third successive win seemed to be a clear sign of a corner being turned under Ruben Amorim.

Wind forward to the present day.

The grey clouds enveloped Old Trafford and the rain fell during Sunday’s FA Cup third-round defeat by Brighton. It was a fitting metaphor.

Amorim is gone, United have fallen at the first hurdle in both domestic cup competitions for the first time since 1981-82. They are condemned to a 40-game season, the fewest they have played since 1914-15.

The world’s oldest person, 116-year-old Ethel Caterham, was five at the time, so even she probably doesn’t remember it.

After a two-game trip to Asia at the end of last season to plug a financial hole, now the mooted mid-season trip to Saudi Arabia has to become more likely – as there is a 10-day window in United’s season in February and March, given the FA Cup fourth and fifth round weekends are, for them, blank.

Before that, United host Manchester City next Saturday with no manager in place to lift their “fragile” confidence.

They have one win in seven games, a fortunate triumph against Newcastle on 26 December.

Out of 13 matches since the previous Brighton visit, they have enjoyed three victories.

While their current position of seventh in the Premier League is not catastrophic, if results against Manchester City and Arsenal go to form, they could be firmly in the bottom half of the table by the time they entertain Fulham on 1 February, when the 1958 Group of supporters plan a mass demonstration against the ownership.

For context, Bradford Park Avenue and The Wednesday were two of the teams United played in that 1914-15 season.

It was 1948 before they won the FA Cup again and 1952 before they won the league, doing so for the first time under Sir Matt Busby.

The 41-year gap between titles was by far the longest in their history.

By the end of this season, it will be 13 years since United last won the league – half the gap between Busby’s final success in 1967 and Sir Alex Ferguson’s first in 1993.

Yet there is no sense United are on the right track.

Interim boss Darren Fletcher tried to say the right things as he summed up United’s FA Cup exit. But there is no certainty what he wants for the club will come to fruition.

“Don’t waste the season,” he added. “That would be the challenge I would set.

“It’s not a great moment, let’s be honest. We are out of the cups early.

“But true character shows itself at difficult times.

“There’s still a Champions League place to fight for – and I still think that can be achieved this season.

“It’s probably not what fans want to hear about Manchester United because we should be winning cups and challenging for the Premier League. But it is probably the object of this season.

“All the players’ focus and energy should go into improving as a team – and improving quickly.

“Anything other than that is just noise.”

The problem at Manchester United is that the noise is huge.

There is no shortage of opinion on the club from within the game, including a host of legendary ex-United players – from Gary Neville, Rio Ferdinand, Wayne Rooney: from Nicky Butt and Paul Scholes, who sat alongside Sir Alex Ferguson watching this sorry mess unfold.

Whoever replaces Fletcher must be able to deal with that reality.

Amorim said he felt United’s ownership was influenced too much by external noise. Failure to win, an inevitability for United in their current guise, just increases the pressure.

Former United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and his one-time coach Michael Carrick are the frontrunners.

Both have played for United. Both know the pressures that come with the job.

Fletcher says he has no idea what happens now, beyond his own meeting with club officials on Monday.

“I have to report tomorrow morning to Carrington, that is all I know,” he said.

“I will find out tomorrow morning. I have had zero indications.”

There was a theory Fletcher might put himself into contention with positive results against Burnley and Brighton.

That did not happen.

Instead, Fletcher is set to discover whether he will remain within the first-team set-up or drop back to his substantive role with the Under-18 squad.

United’s players have two pre-planned days off, so the build-up to Manchester City will begin on Wednesday, by which time, the club’s short-term future should become clear.

Fletcher genuinely hopes for the best. You could tell from the emotion in his final answer as interim boss.

“It is a massive responsibility to lead this club,” he said.

“I have given it my best and I am disappointed not to win a game.

“I think there are some good things there but ultimately it wasn’t enough. I am more disappointed about that than anyone.

“I care for the club, I want the club to do well and I want the players to do well. I mean that.

“I have had my time as a player and loved every minute of it.

“Now it is about them. We need to help them, the club needs to help them, they need to help themselves.”