Ole Gunnar Solskjaer must be fearing for his job at Manchester United.
The vultures are circling at Old Trafford after the humiliating defeat to İstanbul Başakşehir made it abundantly clear that their poor domestic form was infecting their Champions League campaign too.
Victories over Paris Saint-Germain and RB Leipzig on the continent had been papering over the cracks that had been yawning in accordance with United's woes in the Premier League.
Solskjaer out, Pochettino in?
And now, it seems as though there is nowhere for Solskjaer to hide with the head coach's job reportedly under threat if results don't improve, starting with the trip to Everton this weekend.
Otherwise, United appear to be lining up Mauricio Pochettino as his replacement with the former Tottenham Hotspur coach having waited in the wings for more than one year.
You get the feeling that, whether it's in two weeks or two months, the time will come when Solskjaer is slapped with a P45 and the red carpet is laid down for Pochettino to replace him soon after.
Man Utd's options going forward
However, while there's no denying that Pochettino is a top-class manager, there are very real concerns about whether the Argentine is truly the right man to inherit the reins in Manchester.
In fact, in this writer's humble opinion, there are at least three options that would make more sense for the Red Devils than dumping Solskjaer for Pochettino in the coming weeks.
Controversial, I know, especially with so many United fans singing Pochettino's praises, but hear me out for five minutes and see where I think he ranks in the plans at Ed Woodward's disposal.
5. Hire a current Premier League manager
Ok, I'm going to kick off with the option that I will happily admit is worse than appointing Pochettino, but I think United should look close around them if they can't hire him and they still sack Solskjaer regardless.
Of all the coaches being touted in the newspapers and bookmakers, the finest outside contenders can already be found in the Premier League for my money: Nuno Espirito Santo and Ralph Hasenhuttl.
If you're feeling a little underwhelmed then, yes, fear not, I'm not singing either manager's virtues too loudly despite their impressive achievements at Wolverhampton Wanderers and Southampton.
But if you're asking me whether I think they would do better jobs at United than other, realistic contenders like Laurent Blanc and Ralf Rangnick, then the answer is 'you're damn right'.
4. Hire Mauricio Pochettino
Look, I'd be lying through my teeth if I said Pochettino wasn't one of the best options for United and there can be no denying that his Premier League experience will be vital to hit the ground running.
The Argentine is a fantastic one-to-one coach and would likely get the best out of players like Anthony Martial, Mason Greenwood, Paul Pogba and many more on the Carrington pitches.
However, you've got to be worried about Pochettino's barren trophy cabinet when silverware is the very thing that United are desiring and you have to question his appeal in the transfer market.
Yes, managers like Pep Guardiola and Zinedine Zidane hoovered up trophies with a lack of prior winning pedigree at Barcelona and Real Madrid, but 'Poch' is blighted by a very real record of final defeats and botched title challenges.
That's not to mention how quickly things came crashing down at Spurs last season as soon as contract disputes and dressing room discontent started creeping in.
The contemporary issues at United might shuffle under the carpet when and if he arrives, but rest assured they will rear their head again and it's doubtable that Pochettino would be the right man to squash it.
3. Hire Julian Nagelsmann
One thing that has been unique about United's time with Solskjaer in their dugout has been their apparent infatuation with a more long-term project, albeit one that appears to be losing traction.
However, I think, deep down, that the United board wants the stability they've so badly lacked since 2013 and therefore, hiring a young, ambitious and forward-thinking coach would be the ideal way to usher in that new era.
And who could be better placed for that than Nagelsmann? Sure, the German lacks trophies in the same way that Pochettino does, but the 34-year-old looks a better match for all intents and purposes.
The RB Leipzig coach seems to fit hand-in-glove with United's long history of promoting youth players and would offer a brand of football closer to the club's attacking ideal than Pochettino.
I imagine Nagelsmann is further down United's hitlist than Pochettino at present, but I question whether that would be the case if he wasn't tied down to his current contract in Germany.
2. Keep Ole Gunnar Solskjaer
No, I haven't lost the plot, I promise. I am acutely aware of the bizarre team selections, questionable tactics and inexplicable substitutions that Solskjaer has instigated this season just like everyone else.
However, my preference for keeping Solskjaer over hiring Pochettino lies with United cutting out the rotten cycle that has sullied the club ever since Sir Alex Ferguson hung up his hairdryer in 2013.
Let me kindly defer you to the Red Devils' go-to process: hire manager, back them, watch them deliver Champions League football, fail to back them, fire them and then repeat.
That's exactly what happened to Louis van Gaal and Jose Mourinho as well as the exact pattern that would befall Solskjaer if they blindly plow on with their short-sighted vision.
In the immortal words of Albert Einstein: "The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, but expecting different results."
So, yes, sacking Solskjaer might make footballing sense right now, but why, oh why, oh why, would it be worth following a system that has failed time and time again unless it's for a manager that could be guaranteed to buck the trend...?
1. Hire Massimiliano Allegri
That very manager, ladies and gentlemen, is Allegri. Of course, there are other world-class coaches who fit the bill, but the Italian is the top pick in terms of availability and genuinely being linked with the club.
It doesn't take a professional psychologist to work out that United have been so trigger-happy in the post-Ferguson years because they're desperate to become winners again and that - shock horror - requires a born winner.
Sadly, the evidence is rife that the current squad doesn't have it within themselves to turn the tide at Old Trafford alone and Allegri would bring the weighty profile that a club as big as United requires.
We're talking about a serial winner who won more than 70% of his games in Turin, the man who won AC Milan's final Scudetto and a competitor for FIFA's The Best FIFA Football Coach award.
And before you protest that Allegri has merely hoovered up Serie A titles amidst Juventus' dominance, lest we forget that he led a largely sub-par squad to two Champions League finals.
There's no guarantee he'd thrive in the Premier League, sure. There are genuine worries about his brand of football, sure.
But if you're going to sack Solskjaer and continue the unhealthy routine frothing and writhing at Old Trafford, then Allegri is the only realistic manager it makes sense to take that plunge for.
No easy call
If you take nothing else from my ramblings on United here it's that the club needs to make sure they're making the best, long-term decision if they're going to give Solskjaer his marching orders.
Frankly, due to the damning precedent of their managerial cycle since 2013, they need to be 100% certain that they're hiring the type of manager who will finally bring about Ferguson-esque changes.
For my money, Allegri is one such man and who knows, other world-class managers might become available, but I don't think for one minute that Pochettino, for all his class, is worth the damage that hiring him requires.
