When Sir Alex Ferguson retired in 2013, Manchester United faced two managerial options: follow the model of the Anfield Boot Room, appoint from within and draw on the experience and the infrastructure that had underpinned the most successful period in the club's history and in the history of the English game. Or throw it all up in the air and try to start again.
United had senior players such as Ryan Giggs, at the club who were coming to the end of their careers, who knew how Ferguson worked, who understood the pressures of operating at one of the biggest clubs in the world, who knew how unforgiving the spotlight would be as the boss, and who had the medals and titles to command the instant respect of their peers.
However Ed Woodward, the club's executive vice-chairman, did not travel that road. He chose to turn his back on all that experience. David Moyes came in and jettisoned Ferguson's backroom staff. A fine manager and a decent man, Moyes soon became paralysed by the demands of the job. United have not been the same since. Not even close.
Ed Woodward has a choice to make - keep Ole Gunnar Solskjaer or go after a bigger name
Now, three failed appointments down the line and chewing on last week's veiled criticism about the running of the club from the most recent of them, Jose Mourinho, Woodward faces what is effectively the same dilemma.
Does he stick with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, the unfashionable choice but the man who knows how United works, who knows what it takes to win the biggest trophies, who understands the traditions of the club and who, after victory over Brighton, has now won all seven of his matches in charge? Or does he throw it all up in the air and try to start again?
Woodward's instinct will be to go for a big name. So he will be thinking Mauricio Pochettino, Zinedine Zidane and Diego Simeone. Solskjaer might be a United legend but he's not quite galactico enough for Woodward, a man starstruck by reputations.
It is important to understand this about Woodward. He is an over-promoted accountant who craves acceptance in football, and that is why he is drawn to big reputations. It is as if he believes they bring him credit by association. It is as if he thinks they are his short-cut to being considered a football man.
Manchester United have jettisoned the boot room experience of Sir Alex Ferguson
Sure, Woodward deserves some credit for appointing Solskjaer as caretaker manager in the first place. Woodward has at least begun the process of clearing up the horrible mess he created by hiring Mourinho and allowing him to stay in position for far too long while he systematically dismantled the ethos of the club.
The next bit is the hard part. Woodward, like most observers of the English game, is a big fan of Pochettino and is said to be preparing to try to lure him away from Spurs. Pochettino, who has done a brilliant job in north London, has not exactly hurried to rebuff suggestions that he could be the next United boss.
Ye if Woodward turns his back on Solskjaer by sending him back to Molde in May, he risks making exactly the same mistake he made when he appointed Moyes, Louis van Gaal and Mourinho. He risks making a lunge for a big name when the answer to United's problems is standing right in front of him in the form of the caretaker who has transformed the fortunes of the club in one month.
Solskjaer has brought back that atmosphere, winning his first seven games in caretaker charge
Why not give it Solskjaer on a permanent basis? Why not let him build on the results he has achieved already? Why not let him continue the process of recovery and repair? So far, he has had to be a healer as well as a manager, and he has done the job as if he were born for it. There is an energy about the club now that
