It will be little comfort for Ruben Amorim after taking 34 points from his first 33 Premier League games as Manchester United boss, but at least he can say he saw it coming.
The Portuguese coach has made it no secret that his preference was to take the United job in the summer after being identified as Erik ten Hag's replacement. He didn't want to be parachuted in mid-season, believing that his appointment in November would create more problems than it would solve. Yet co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe and the board had other ideas and told Amorim it was now or never.