Since his arrival in Manchester last month, the new Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim has been greeted with the kind of uncritical fervour usually reserved for prophets and demagogues.
Amorim, it is fair to say, has made a good first impression. Television interviews have gone so well that bluebirds have been spotted fluttering overhead, spewing heart emojis. It is amazing what a 1-1 draw away at Ipswich Town can do for a boss.
In mitigation, it is clear even from a passing acquaintance with Amorim that he is a person of considerable charisma and charm and that he cuts a warmer, more sympathetic figure than the austere persona of Erik ten Hag.