In a race that seems to have numerous twists and turns every weekend, it is difficult to tell where Manchester United stand in the battle for fourth position in the Premier League under Ralf Rangnick.
They currently occupy fourth in the table, although Spurs and Arsenal are lurking menacingly behind with three games in hand. We will have a better idea how this is set to play in a few weeks, especially when you consider United's upcoming fixture list.
They are set to face Watford, Manchester City, Spurs, and Liverpool in the league before the end of March, with those fixtures likely to play a huge part in deciding the course of the remainder of their campaign.
After that, the club's future remains very much up in the air.
Rangnick will be in charge until the end of the season, although there is an option to extend his deal beyond that. However, the German has not really done enough to justify such a commitment as of yet.
It looks much more likely that he will instead move into a consultancy role and help the club's hierarchy select the next manager. Gary Neville believes he is well positioned to do so.
Gary Neville feels Ralf Rangnick the ideal man to select next Manchester United boss
Speaking to Sky Sports, the former England right back said that Rangnick's knowledge of the workings of the squad mean he is perfectly placed to identify the best man to take the team forward.
I think Rangnick has found it more difficult than he imagined at the beginning. The run of results have been good during his time in charge so far and the fixtures have been good as well, but he has done what he had to do in the fixtures.
I don't think he gets the job at the end of the season, come what may, now. I think maybe there was a feeling at the beginning that it could happen; that isn't going to happen. Manchester United will have a new manager next season.
I think he will have a say in who gets the job because what he has got is a real good view of the characters, personalities, performance levels and training levels of the current group of players so he is in a strong position to advise. He is probably in the strongest position to advise because he is having day-to-day contact with them.
He is seeing how they cope with disappointment, how they cope with atmospheres, how they cope with big games, how they cope with training; can they meet the demands of the club? Have they got the quality?
Rangnick has come under some criticism since arriving at the club, with many pointing out the fact that he has little recent experience managing at the top level. That is a fair point, with the 63-year old having only spent two seasons as a manager over the last decade.
In saying that, he does have an excellent record when working behind the scenes. He helped to transform both Hoffenheim and RB Leipzig from lower league teams to Champions League contenders during his time at those clubs and it will be hoped that he can help Manchester United to implement some long overdue structural changes at Old Trafford.
Gary Neville is confident that that is an area in which Ralf Rangnick could excel:
People say he is a sporting director and a coach, but the reality is that his position as a coach is short-term; his position as assisting the club, constructing their new methodology and structure moving forward is a longer term position for two years.
I'd rather him get that bit right; I'd rather suffer in the short-term for the longer-term perspective being right. He has got good experience around building structures in football clubs and Manchester United do need that.
In the summer, they have got big appointments to make, namely the manager. The manager has got to be right next season to be able to take on Tuchel, Guardiola and Klopp because if you don't take on those three with a manager who can face them like-for-like, you will get beat up.
It has been proven over the last few years that great managers in this league will bring you great things; Manchester United need a great manager to compete with the ones that are at that level in this league at this moment in time.
The next managerial appointment is one that Manchester United need to get right, with Mauricio Pochettino and Erik ten Hag believed to be the frontrunners for the position at the moment.
Ralf Rangnick is sure to have a major say on what direction they decide to travel in this summer.
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