With Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's position as Manchester United manager coming under scrutiny after the club's 5-0 loss to Liverpool in the Premier League.
The MEN Sport understood that the results of United's three games after the disappointing Liverpool fixture, against Tottenham Hotspur, Atalanta and Manchester City, would be vital in deciding the managers future.
If Solskjaer was to be removed, it was also understood that former Chelsea manager Antonio Conte was interested in the role and many fans were excited at the prospect of a proven winner taking charge of the club and getting what is a poor season so far back on track.
However, after the defeat to United, Spurs took the decision to part ways with manager Nuno Espirito Santo and appointed the Italian to the manager's post, therefore, removing the possibility for United to appoint him if things did not improve.
Spurs played their first game under Conte on Thursday evening and in a short time you could already see a number of improvements, and the team were able to score three goals and looked like they had more ideas when going forward.
But at the end of the day, the old Spurs still shone through, with the team conceding two goals late in the match and centre back Cristian Romero also receiving a red card.
The London side were lucky that their opponents, Vitesse Arnhem, received two red cards themselves, killing their momentum and stopping them from completing their comeback.
Time will tell whether Conte can fully turn around the fortunes of this disjointed Spurs side but the Europa Conference League fixture against Vitesse highlighted a major flaw about his appointment, at least in the short term.
In all his successful appointments where he has managed to deliver success, he has had two major conditions. Time with the squad to implement his philosophy and also the ability to sign players which will help him play his style of football (he usually doesn't need endless riches but he still needs the ability to sign someone).
Even the greatest manager in the world can't change a team overnight and it seems that Conte still has to contend with the Spurs squad that failed Espirito Santo.
If United were to remove Solskjaer with the limited options available in the manager market, they would want someone who could fix the team now and save the season, Conte would likely not be able to do that as there are obvious flaws in the team.
The defensive midfield has been a problem throughout this season as United do not have any balance in their team and are unable to get control of games, there is no short term fix to this for this within the squad so a signing would need to be made. Also to play Conte's system United would need an offensive right-back who also offers defensive stability, United don't have this either.
There is also the issue with the size and quality of Untied's squad. Spurs provide more of a blank slate for Conte to work with as there are only a handful of players who are guaranteed a place and then Conte will be able to add more key players to the team during the January window.
In United's team, more quality is its downside, some players would most certainly lose out and never be used as Conte strived to grind out results and this would be a shame.
Conte's stubbornness and perfectionism are what makes him a great manager, but it also makes time and personnel important to his success. Spurs are out of ideas, but United are not at that point yet so are better off looking at other targets if they want to replace Solskjaer.
Which manager would you like Manchester United to appoint if they choose to part ways with Solskjaer? Follow our United On My Mind writer Casey Evans on Twitter t o get involved in the discussion in the comment section below.
