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.
