Players briefing against legends, Rangnick's nickname and fraught meetings - the inside story of the worst Manchester United season in decades

"What do you make of Rangnick?" this correspondent messaged a former senior Manchester United staff member. The reply was a facepalm memoji. More recently, the same contact messaged to say United are 'in deep s--t'.

Upon confirmation of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's sacking, the suspicion was United were tossing off their season before Christmas by appointing a caretaker manager and then an interim. 'Tossed it off' was a phrase a club legend messaged after the anodyne surrender at Everton in April.

One Everton player told a confidant United's performance reminded him of the Biblical 4-0 Easter Sunday thrashing at Goodison Park in 2019. Another was surprised by how bad United were. United's beating at Brighton this month was reminiscent of Goodison three years ago.

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As the United staff trudged through the Amex Stadium tunnel after their 4-0 humiliation, a personable Brighton staff member wished them a safe journey home. "What a waste of time," replied a downbeat United official.

Cristiano Ronaldo sat in the dressing room on his own for at least 20 minutes. Ronaldo had been escorted outside but then returned indoors. His driver was waiting outside and security communicated Ronaldo would emerge once the coaches had departed. United players had some days off and a club source claimed others had left separately.

In the dying embers at Brighton, the mutinous away-dayers had chanted 'Viva Ronaldo', as if to separate him from the chants of 'You're not fit to wear the shirt'. Ronaldo then separated himself from his teammates.

United never had the character in their dressing room for an interim manager to operate. The United manager's authority eroded in the last months of