The Reds were beaten 2-0 at Oxford United in a top-flight league game, to suggest there was a lot of work to do for the man who replaced Ron Atkinson at the Old Trafford helm.
After much was said about the Scot's arrival from Pittodrie, the local newspaper in Aberdeen rightly pointed out: "Whatever words are used to describe the new Manchester United boss, 'ordinary' certainly can't be one of them."
However, amid claims that chairman Martin Edwards had given somebody Sir Bobby Charlton had described as "a very good appointment" four years to 'put the great back into United', things got off to an inauspicious start at the Manor Ground.