Showman Pogba our ‘get out of jail card’

There was a split-second on Saturday evening, as Murphy took the ball on in the Stretford End box, when the season looked poised to crumble, and time itself stood still. Had the Toon buried that for 2-0, do we really think that United would have recovered, Pogba’s lively presence notwithstanding?

Instead, he missed the post by inches and, with one bound, we were free.

By half-time, the game was turned around. By the hour, we were in full-on ‘Arrogant Man U Mode’, as one of my City-supporting correspondents bitterly describes it. Pogba, the man-of-the-match and, frankly, saviour of the autumn season, certainly embodies that. His self-basting dancing around, look-at-me haircuts, staggering self-belief, and general in-yer-face Parisian prancery must make the nauseous ABU brigades heave.