The football traditionalist may opine that 18 months is in no way long enough for a manager to prove his worth at a club like Manchester United.
Indeed, we at soccersweep generally err on the side of caution where it comes to managerial sackings.
But Manchester United have well and truly come to a standstill under Louis van Gaal.
The results – obviously the key factor when all is said and done – were keeping the wolves from the door with performances so dull under the Dutchman.
But one point from 9 means that the results are currently as wretched as Manchester United’s style.
And the sight of Marouane Fellaini – the even uglier ‘Plan B’ – being increasingly used, of late, to scratch out results with bundled goals, really seems to represent the paucity of ideas in the Van Gaal camp right now.
With the sort of budget they have, and the sort of money that’s been spent, Manchester United fans and the board, should expect results and beautiful football.
Call Alex Ferguson a freak of nature but he managed to generate winning, beautiful football for much of his tenure. And there was a clear sense of progress about what he was doing. He turned a club notorious for its drinking culture into a world class outfit and double Champions League winners.
To his credit, Louis hasn’t milked the injury situation at Manchester United in an attempt to mitigate the form of his team.
But he does seem hellbent on this idea that all of this is part of a process.
Really? What process involves losing to Bournemouth 18 months and 250m quid in?
We may soon have to come to terms with the idea that Louis van Gaal is a great guy – a real character with a positive outlook on life. But a Manchester United manager, nevertheless, with tactics that are either outdated or ill-suited to The Premier League.
