Ole Gunnar Solskjaer walked in through the side door without making eye contact. He took his seat for the press conference and looked older, greyer, than he ever used to. Another match had passed by and, once again, the manager of Manchester United was here to put a brave face on it, trot out all the usual lines and do his best to sound positive.



He was sure, he told us, that everything would change for the better soon. So sure, indeed, that he even went as far as saying their latest performance, in a shuffling 2-2 draw with Aston Villa, had convinced him they were capable of reeling off a sequence of five or six wins on the bounce.



That was a strange one because Solskjaer had already confessed they did not deserve to win but, nice guy that he is, he did not seem too put out when someone on the front row pointed out he had managed only six Premier League wins, in total, since taking over as United’s full-time manager eight months ago.



“I think...