Richard Arnold surely cannot keep his ambitious Manchester United promise

Ed Woodward's 16 years at Manchester United came to an end in February. It wouldn't have been a surprise if some United fans raised a glass to that news. Woodward's premiership was a catastrophic failure and his exit couldn't come soon enough.

Woodward left his position as executive vice-chairman two months ago and Richard Arnold was promoted from group managing director in succession. United have always had a habit of promoting from within. Arnold was installed as United's chief executive, which was a position last held by David Gill, and with that he became the club's most powerful figure aside from the Glazers.

Arnold is now the kingmaker. He has the influence and he's now responsible for the direction United are heading in. The club is currently meandering and decisions that are made in the coming weeks have the potential to have ramifications for a decade.

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There can be no more mistakes. Woodward committed a catalogue of those throughout his time at United and Arnold is facing the challenge of proving he's different to his predecessor. Arnold and Woodward are known to be friends, the pair both graduated from Bristol University and they share the same background in finance. Arnold is already losing that particular PR battle.

United, like every football club, care deeply about their image and Arnold's comments on the latest club investors' call were proof of that. Arnold waxed lyrical about United and he discussed how he planned to implement 'excellence' at Old Trafford.

His comments were obviously not surprising but they were laughable. "Everyone associated with Manchester United should have belief in the opportunities that lie