When Alex Ferguson quit, there was a sense that United might lose some of their aura, their edge, their invincibility.
But not many tipped an epoch changing, Graeme Sounness at Liverpool style collapse. Well, after a 7th place finish last year and a 4-0 loss to the MK Dons last night, we appear to be there already.
It looks for all the world that we are watching an empire crumble before our eyes.
But who's to blame? (The Banking crisis equivalents are obviously not exact)
Alex Ferguson
Blamed by many, including Mark Ogden in today's Telegraph, for investing badly in the team during the latter end of his reign.
Banking crisis equivalent:
Bertie Ahern - led during the good times, winning election after election but left some dodgy foundations in place for his successors.
David Moyes
The man who presided over a dramatic decline. In the space of nine months, he transformed Manchester United into Everton. As Ken Early indicated, in terms of both style and statistics, United 2014 were almost a mirror of Everton 2013.
The curious thing about Moyes' reign is that there was no real honeymoon period or no bright start followed by a decline. His time in charge started badly and stayed bad.
Banking crisis equivalent:
Brian Cowen - assumed control after the popular former leader but never looked like a leader himself. Endured an unrelentingly miserable time during his time in the job.
Ed Woodward
David Gill never attracted the same level of press and that's a good sign. Woodward has been the whipping boy in the press for United's incredibly slack and uncertain work in the transfer market.
Banking crisis equivalent:
Pat Neary - Backroom boy thrust into the limelight - not a good place to be
Louis Van Gaal
David Moyes made have done terribly - but he never lost 4-0 to the MK Dons. Fortunately for Moyes, the two teams never met in his time. He managed to guide United to their first ever loss in the League since 1972. Then they could only get a draw with Sunderland.
It's early days yet of course but it looks like it could be worse than last year.
Banking crisis equivalent:
Brian Lenihan - the man who was supposed to have rescued everything early on. Subsequently proved he didn't
The Glazers
As David Conn has illustrated here, the Glazers have allowed United to be run down so as to service their own debt mountain. They could get away with this scurrilous tactic while Ferguson was still there winning trophies but now the hard rain has come their role has been exposed.
Banking crisis equivalent:
The Troika - insisting that the country be run down to pay off bank bondholders
