When the elevator doors slide open on the third floor of Manchester United's offices in London's exclusive Mayfair district, you're immediately greeted by full-size replicas of the Premier League and Champions League trophies. For the past eight-and-a-half years, Ed Woodward has had to walk past them, tormented by their presence, every time he has arrived for work as United's executive vice-chairman, the man who has held the responsibility of running the club for almost a decade.
The trophies are a constant reminder of what United strive to win, but have singularly failed to throughout Woodward's tenure in charge.