Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has been sacked after his Manchester United tenure reached a new low as they were thrashed 4-1 by Watford on Saturday afternoon.
The Norwegian had already called their 5-0 hammering by Liverpool his 'darkest day' last month, but his turbulent reign was dealt another damaging blow - and for United it proved a painful step too far.
Rumours and speculation are already swirling about who might be appointed to replace Solskjaer, with the bookmakers identifying a number of prominent names as the favourite.
The former Real Madrid boss Zinedine Zidane is the clear favourite for the job, while Brendan Rodgers, Mauricio Pochettino and Erik ten Hag are other names in the frame to arrive at Old Trafford.
We assess to pros and cons of each of the main contenders to replace Solskjaer at United.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has been sacked by Manchester United after a 4-1 loss to Watford
Zinedine Zidane
Odds: 10/11 (provided by Betfair)
Pros: Just the one managerial post for Zidane, 49, in two spells, to date but he certainly made a glorious success of it.
Three successive Champions League wins with Real Madrid as well as two league titles certainly provides a glowing CV for any prospective employer to mull over.
United are a long way off winning the Champions League at the moment but a big name like Zidane would certainly inspire optimism that the glory days could soon return.
Zidane has a great relationship with Cristiano Ronaldo from their time together at the Bernabeu and, showing he hadn't lost any of his own class, the manager would be seen pinging in crosses for his talisman to convert in training.
Zinedine Zidane, currently not in a job, is one of the leading candidates to take over at United
He also knows Raphael Varane well from his time at Real and wanted to bring Paul Pogba to the club on several occasions. United's current squad would be appealing to him, there may not be the need for expensive additions.
Players respect Zidane's genius and respond to his methods as a result. He certainly created a good chemistry within the dressing room at Real Madrid despite the presence of plenty of egos.
Cons: Obviously Zidane has to date only coached in Spain, so the Premier League would be a completely new challenge for him. We don't know whether he will take to it well or it could take more time to get up to speed.
Another criticism of him was that he never developed young academy graduates at Real Madrid - it has taken Carlo Ancelotti to mould the likes of Vinicius and Rodrygo, making them first-team quality.
Zidane would certainly work well with Cristiano Ronaldo, following great success at Real
At a club like United, which has always placed great faith in youth, it wouldn't be a popular move with fans if the likes of Mason Greenwood or Amad Diallo found opportunities more restricted.
And despite Real's considerable success under Zidane, it wasn't always by playing the most attractive football. Some of their performances even in winning the 2019-20 title were lacklustre.
At this point, however, United's fans probably don't care how they win, so long as they do.
Brendan Rodgers
Odds: 8/5
Pros: One of the most widely respected managers in the Premier League, Rodgers took Liverpool to the brink of the title in 2014, won plenty of silverware in Scotland with Celtic and has done a fine job at Leicester.
The 48-year-old is a true student of the game and is known for innovation in coaching methods and tactics. He could be relied upon to keep the players interested on the training ground and forge a togetherness in the dressing room.
That was certainly evident this season when Leicester beat Man United 4-2. The Foxes worked as a cohesive team with a clear sense of mission while United played as a disjointed group of individuals.
It's true it may take a little time to develop but United's hierarchy could easily look at the way Leicester continue to punch upwards - narrowly missing out on Champions League football in consecutive seasons and winning the FA Cup.
Leicester's Brendan Rodgers is one of the most respected bosses in the Premier League
If Rodgers could do the same with a higher calibre of player, it could lead to success. You also sense he wouldn't be as demanding in terms of drastic changes to the squad.
Cons: Rodgers has put up barriers already by committing his future to Leicester and was recently scratchy to the media when asked about taking the United job.
He said: 'There's two things. Firstly it is really disrespectful to ask the question when you have a manager in place, a good manager and a good man, who is working hard at the club.
'Secondly I can't really comment on it, because it is not something that is real.
'I am here as the Leicester City manager, proud to be here, privileged to be here and fully committed to the players, the club, the ownership. That's about it, all the other noise around that is something we can't control.'
Rodgers won Leicester the FA Cup for the first time in their history by beating Chelsea
He also wouldn't come
