OLIVER HOLT: Ed Woodward has failed to bring the glory days back to Manchester United but the club's problems run far deeper than the outgoing vice-chair... he is not an idiot or a snake, just the wrong man at the wrong time in a hellishly difficult job

On the occasion of his departure as Manchester United's executive vice-chair, it is only right that we should pause for a moment to consider the positives of Ed Woodward's reign.

There have been a few. United were not relegated once. They became the first English side to sign a deal with an Official Global Mattress and Pillow Partner. And Woodward never, ever dismembered any of his critics with a bone-saw.

That, of course, is a courtesy which can no longer be taken for granted in the modern Premier League ownership model. Beyond that, things get a bit hazy.