If the hope for these interim months was that Manchester United might tread water before rescue, then the reality is they look an awful lot like a club slipping further beneath the waves.
With each passing game, the disparity between what Ralf Rangnick sees and what he is capable of fixing grows. If that rings as a criticism of his work at Old Trafford, then it should be balanced against recognition that he is operating in a structure rigged for failure by United's busted recruitment system.
To hear him in the aftermath of Saturday's draw with Leicester, a game contested flimsily by United, was to hear a manager with a number of plausible answers and a longing for his employers to allow the next guy, Erik ten Hag or otherwise, to implement them sensibly.