Ruben Amorim is hard to dislike; personable, open and honest. He is bright, knows his stuff and can see the flaws in his team as clearly as we can. It seems the business of coaching Manchester United has drained him of his vital life forces. His energy levels are shot, his enthusiasm exhausted.

His post-match oratory in the immediacy of the Grimsby Town debacle felt almost cathartic, a moment of release; that’s it, I’m done, I hold up my hands, I’m beaten.

The sensitive questioning of ITV’s Gabriel Clarke met with an anguished lament over the state of it all, the reaching of a new low when all the bad stuff was supposed to be behind them. Clarke poked politely over the details, the performance, the goalkeeper, not watching the penalty shootout, talking points which fed the frenzy as the

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