SWEEPING CHANGES MARK END OF AN ERROR...

LESS than five months ago, Patrick Stewart was introduced to journalists in the Old Trafford press room before the Chelsea game - that was the sum of our interaction with the interim United chief executive.

- SAMUEL LUCKHURST

The appointments of Sir Dave Brailsford and Jean-Claude Blanc to the football board and John Reece and Rob Nevin to the board of directors made the departures of the time-served Stewart and chief financial officer Cliff Baty inevitable.

Baty, who bears an uncanny resemblance to Joel Glazer, joined United in 2016 and used to be prominent on the quarterly conference calls. Baty was asked the fateful question, "Do you see any potential for the amount of sponsorship opportunities given to your performance?"

He answered but Ed Woodward had the final word: "Does the impact of a successful season have impact in terms of the commercial side of the business? If I just answer that simply and candidly: an Playing performance doesn't really have a meaningful impact on what we can do on the commercial side of the business."

The last 20 words are engraved on Woodward's United tombstone. Baty, by virtue of association with the Glazer regime and Woodward, was bound to be on borrowed time when Sir Jim Ratcliffe was the only bidder left at the table.