Now is not the time to change course and pass on problem

The irony is so thick Wayne Rooney could plaster it across his forehead and save a fortune in hair treatment; because after years of lauding Manchester United for their loyalty, shameless critics are now calling for manager David Moyes to be sacked after less than 12 months in the job.

How could they have possibly forgotten one of football’s most enduring and most universally-endorsed stories that has underpinned United’s success for decades? It is the story of how a goal from Mark Robins in an FA Cup tie against Nottingham Forest saved Alex Ferguson from the sack in January, 1990 — and in the process safeguarded what was to become an unprecedented era of glory.

Bobby Charlton, still the king-maker at Old Trafford, has long since spoilt the tale by insisting he would never have endorsed a plan to remove Ferguson from his post anyway — but nevertheless the legend has been repeated ad nauseum.