Ed Woodward doesn't like the phrase "on the brink." It's too simple, according to Manchester United's executive vice-chairman, because it implies the next result can determine whether he will back or sack a manager. He has dismissed three since getting the top job at Old Trafford in 2012 -- David Moyes, Louis van Gaal and Jose Mourinho -- but never, he says, because of one result. Each time, he insists, he looked at the bigger picture or the journey, the path, the trajectory -- whatever you want to call it.
And that's why he has told those closest to him this week that the axe is not hovering over Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.