No manager in the Premier League exists in such a crucible of extreme expectation as the man charged with bringing success to Manchester United. The club believe that they have more than 600 million fans around the world, and rising. They demand glory, and soon. Sir Alex Ferguson, and his gilded, cherished epoch, casts an ever-lengthening shadow.

Even established coaches such as Louis van Gaal and José Mourinho, Champions League winners, found the spotlight brutally harsh, and ultimately blinding in recent years. Being United manager is close to becoming the impossible job.

Pressure particularly intensifies in an era when impatience is the default setting for many, and social media platforms sluice raw sewage from the toxic imaginations of many straight into mainstream debate. People don’t