TERRACE TALK: Man United - Chink of light after dark December of doom

English is an incredibly rich and capacious language, so it’s odd that it has no phrase for that weird week between St Stephen’s Day and the New Year, when semi-drunk souls stagger around asking what day it is.

The French do, however: they call it the “trêve des confiseurs“, signalling the ancient Yuletide tradition of a period of truce between rival firms.

If we stretch for effect, perhaps we might suggest we saw something of that spirit between the warring ‘firms’ at Old Trafford this past week.