So, the poisoned chalice got him in the end.

It was always going to be a difficult task taking over from Sralex.

It wasn’t made any easier by the fact that the players he was left with were either getting on a bit or not up to it. Sralex has a lot to do with that. (United’s poor season does have the effect of making him look irreplaceable though. The uncharitable might say his choice of Moyes was always designed with that in mind.)

Those same players also seem not to have put the requisite effort in; they let Moyes down badly. It doesn’t matter if they didn’t see eye to eye with him or disagreed with what he was asking them to do. If you’re employed you’re supposed to do what your boss says. Footballers should not be above that commonplace expectation. Lots of people are faced with new bosses coming in and changing things – for better or worse. The employees just have to get on with it.

When Matt Busby “retired” – also leaving behind an ageing team – the exact same thing happened. (Busby took over the reigns again temporarily when his successor was deemed lacking. I can’t see Sralex doing the same.) It took United years, decades, to get back to winning the league. They even fell out of the top division for a season during that time.

In retrospect Moyes should not have taken the job. Someone with experience of winning things at the highest level might perhaps have got more out of the players. Is anyone of that stamp going to want the job right now?

A magnificent achievement by Wigan Athletic to win the FA Cup yesterday. A place in Europe to boot.

One more illustration of the unpredictability of football – and the romance of the FA Cup.

Wigan join a long list of Lancashire clubs (including Blackburn Olympic, the first to do so) to win the trophy. Congratulations to the Latics.

Given that Wigan were playing Moneybags United (sorry; Moneybags City*) they ought not to have had a prayer. Yet it’s there in the record books for ever now. And manager Roberto Martinez has won one more major trophy than new Manchester United boss David Moyes. It’s a funny old world.

Not least that, come Tuesday night, Wigan could be relegated.

There was another unlikely event involving teams named Athletic on Saturday. In the SFL Div 2 play-offs Dunfermline of that ilk eventually beat Forfar Athletic on aggregate over two games and extra time.

Yet by that extra time Forfar were down to eight men, thus giving Dunfermline an overwhelming advantage. I was listening to the radio reports coming in from the game. Forfar had taken the lead (4-1 on aggregate) and it struck me that with the one man down they were at the time, extra time was the most likely outcome. Given that Dunfermline were at home even that one man advantage would probably mean they would go on to win.

But how fair is it that Forfar would have to play extra time with a disadvantage in numbers? A football game lasts only 90 mins. In effect extra time is a new game, why should the sending-off extend into the 30 minute extension? I had an idle thought. Should not both teams be allowed to have a full complement of numbers for the extra period? (Unless there are further sendings-off, of course.)

When I discovered that Forfar were down to only eight players for extra time I knew it was curtains for them. But had they thought of it there was a way out. A way which goes against the spirit of the game – but so does any sending off really.

I believe there is a provision in the laws of football that should a team have fewer than eight men the game must be abandoned. I remember Neil Warnock, when he was manager of Sheffield United I think, – in exactly that situation of eight men remaining – encouraging his players to get themselves sent off to ensure an abandonment. Full marks to Forfar for not going down that road.

Dunfermline will be playing yet another Athletic – Alloa – in the play-off final.

*Wigan’s owner Dave Whelan is not short of a bob himself but the scale is a little different.

So the longest serving manager in European football is to retire.

(This apparently will leave Ronnie McFall of Portadown as the holder of that accolade, at least according to The Belfast Telegraph. There is nothing so good for a newspaper as a local slant to news.)

SrAlec’s tenure at Manchester United has certainly been a fruitful one. He has amassed a haul of trophies unlikely ever to be matched.

But how much of a turning point will this be for the club, though? Especially as he will be hanging around behind the scenes.

When Matt Busby stepped down to be replaced by Wilf McGuiness things were never the same again, probably partly becasue Busby was still hovering in the background.

It is of course an honourable thing for the club not to discard its loyal employees when their main use has been superseded but there are dangers here. United went into a sharp decline (which arguably had already started under Busby) and were relegated to the second tier a few years later, from which they quickly bounced back up.

However, it took till Fergie arrived over 20 years later for the really good times to roll around once more.

It seems David Moyes is the favoured replacement. Good timing, with him being out of contract at Everton in a few weeks.

Moyes has done an incredible job at Everton with little in the way of resources by comparison with Man U. If he is offered and accepts the job he is probably a strong enough character not to feel overshadowed by Ferguson but what if results should fall off? Will he be given the same slack from fans and board that Ferguson has enjoyed when first Arsenal and then Chelsea and lately Manchester City threatened to become top dog in English football?

It most likely won’t happen but I wonder what odds you’d get on United being in the Championship in four or so years time?