Louis van Gaal still says he should have seen his dismissal coming at Manchester United six months before it happened, and while Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is not there yet, the similarities are striking. Two managers wrestling with the suspicion they were not backed by the club when it mattered, an inconsistent team struggling to quieten the critics and another coach sitting in the shadows.
For Van Gaal, it was Jose Mourinho. For Solskjaer, it is Mauricio Pochettino. Van Gaal's time ended with Mourinho famously taking over; Solskjaer is still battling away to make sure he doesn't suffer the same fate.