It is 40 years since Sir Alex Ferguson was appointed Manchester United manager – and there is symmetry to where the Old Trafford outfit are right now.

Ferguson was lured south from Aberdeen to replace Ron Atkinson, who was axed after a League Cup third-round replay hammering by Southampton at the Dell.

The Scot's tenure didn't get off to the best of starts.

United were beaten 2-0 at Oxford United, then drew 0-0 at Norwich. It left them 21st in the table, one point off the bottom.

It is the last time the club has been in the relegation zone at such an advanced part of the campaign.

Given they play last in this weekend's match round, there is a pretty good chance United will be in the bottom three again when they kick-off against Aston Villa. They could even be bottom.

After that Norwich game, no-one could have imagined the success Ferguson would have.

But it took time. Three and a half years to the first trophy – the 1990 FA Cup – and three years after that for a league title, after throwing away the 1991-92 version by losing three times in a week and gifting the championship to Leeds United.

We live in very different times in terms of media landscape and reaction. Would Ferguson have been afforded the same time to sort United out if he were starting now? I doubt it.