Manchester United, crowd-pleasing nostalgia and failing to learn lessons of Seinfeld

TAKING THE MICHAEL

In the Seinfeld episode The Opposite, serial loser George Costanza realises his life is a monument to bad choices, his every impulse is wrong and his gut instinct is not to be trusted. Instead, he decides to do the “opposite” of whatever the little George inside him suggests and within days has landed himself a stunning girlfriend, been offered the job of his dreams and moved out of his parents’ house. While the makers of Seinfeld have always insisted that there are no lessons to be learned from their sitcom, George’s decision to override his brain suggests that if your current instincts and habits aren’t getting you the results you want, doing the opposite might well be the only logical path to success. While Football Daily has no wish to go all High Performance on our readers’ collective @ss, this episode of Seinfeld kept springing to mind as we have tried to make sense of Manchester United’s managerial succession plan (or apparent lack thereof) following the dismissal of Ruben Amorim.

It sprang to mind when the club hierarchy elected to put Darren Fletcher in pre-interim charge until a more interim boss could be found. It sprang to mind when Fletcher announced he had only taken the role under advisement from resident Old Trafford spectre, Sir Alex Ferguson. It sprang to mind when it became apparent that the club were considering one of Ole Gunnar Solskjær or Michael Carrick for the bigger interim role and again on Tuesday when it finally came to pass that the Best In Class bozos responsible for an apparently unending litany of downright bad decision-making at Old Trafford since Big Sir Jim Ratcliffe bought a minority stake in the club had decided to appoint the former United midfielder.

Whether Carrick is the best man to salvage something – anything – from the shambles of United’s season remains to be seen, but by retreating once again into the unimaginatively nostalgic embrace of the Ferguson era and deciding to “give it t’[random club legend] til end of t’season”, United’s Brains Trust have proven they are apparently incapable of pulling a “Costanza”. Instead, they have once again decided to employ some crowd-pleasing interim coach, in the hope it might buy them some time from irate fans until the summer recruitment drive inevitably goes pear-shaped.

With a home derby against Manchester City that could set the tone for his reign perched on top of Carrick’s inbox, the former Middlesbrough gaffer has appointed Steve Holland, Jonny Evans, Jonathan Woodgate and Travis Binnion as his assistants. Should this crack team see off City and go on to achieve Bigger Cup qualification for next season, there will inevitably be a clamour for them to remain in place, despite the imminent availability of big-name coaches with far better pedigree. While Football Daily wouldn’t count on it, next summer might finally be the time when the process-obsessed United top brass listen to their collective gut before sensibly deciding to do the opposite.

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QUOTE OF THE DAY

“Obviously I watch so much anime, so seeing myself animated, it’s like, yeah, it hits home. The animation’s crazy, the colours [are] mad. Looking like a superhero, that was a bit crazy” – Dominic Solanke gets swept up with the emotion at having finally returned from knack voiced his own anime character in a film he made in collaboration with Studio Mir. “Every setback is an opportunity to come back stronger,” his character roars, in advice that will always come in handy at Tottenham.

As we approach the 10th anniversary of the best thing ever to happen in football, this Leicester City fan notes that we are currently in a bigger hole than we were round about 2014, when this wild ride started. If, back then, you’d offered me a Faustian pact – the league title, followed by ignominy – I’d have snatched your hand off. I offer this by way of consolation to Crystal Palace fans, who I have always kind of liked for the fantastic atmosphere they generate at Selhurst. If you were offered this 12 months ago, you’d have taken it – it’s better than a pair of fifth-round exits. The pain will pass, but you will always have the memory of that glorious day at Wembley” – Gumley Slats.

Thanks for providing the name of the photographer beneath the picture of the Rooneys’ interview at Macclesfield (yesterday’s Football Daily). Now we know who shot JR” – Dan Westacott.

If you have any, please send letters to the.boss@theguardian.com. Today’s winner of our prizeless letter o’ the day is … Dan Westacott. Terms and conditions for our competitions, when we have them, are here.

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