When Manchester United officials spoke to Ralf Rangnick about the role of interim manager they were impressed by the German's vision for the club and the way he understood football, so much so they were willing to offer him that consultancy role to entice him out of his contract with Lokomotiv Moscow.
But as well as Rangnick speaks about the game and as clear as his understanding of what has gone wrong over the years at Old Trafford is, what he was lacking was recent coaching experience and that was always going to be a risk with a short-term appointment.
When Ole Gunnar Solskjaer stepped in for Jose Mourinho there was an immediate upturn in results, but the atmosphere had become toxic at that point and a few smiles and pats on the back were enough to lift the mood amongst a talented squad.
