Does anyone really believe the recent talk about relegation being a possibility for Manchester United? I certainly don’t.

Admittedly their form under new manager Ruben Amorim is atrocious and they do find themselves just seven points adrift of the bottom three.

On top of that they are heading to Anfield this afternoon, which will probably result in them getting another good hiding.

But no matter how bad things may look right now, there is no way on earth you are going to persuade me that United don’t have enough about them to scrape together another 18 to 20 points over the second half of the season.

Equally you are not going to convince me that, come May, United will be in a worse position than Leicester City, Southampton and Ipswich Town – three teams that have had the occasional decent moment, but which are vastly inferior to Amorim’s side.

Don’t get me wrong, this United team aren’t going to go on a blistering run of back-to-back victories that miraculously drags them into contention for an incredible top-four finish. That’s not happening.

Get people talking about United and relegation in the same sentence, and a top-half finish then looks like success

But will they at the very least scrape together the five or six wins they need to avoid relegation? Absolutely. This was all about expectation management – get people talking about United and relegation in the same sentence, and a top-half finish then looks like success.

What their current form does confirm is that the problems at Old Trafford run very much deeper than just the manager. Too many good coaches have come and gone now for it be mere coincidence.

What surprises me is that the situation appears to have drastically deteriorated since Sir James Ratcliffe got involved. Not just in terms of results but also overall atmosphere. He may have talked the talk in the build-up to the Ineos investment, but all he seems to have brought to the table is confusion, anger and animosity.

The cost-cutting drive that his team have implemented may have been necessary as part of the bigger picture – the club has overspent on players for years, and that has pushed them close to breaking the financial rules.

But they have gone about reducing expenses in a way – picking on the ‘lesser’ employees and club legends – that seems to have broken United’s spirit.

And with every passing week it becomes increasingly clear that it was only that spirit, built over decades of success under Sir Alex Ferguson, that was keeping the whole United train from derailing.

Getting back to the idea of relegation, as I said earlier, this afternoon’s clash is unlikely to go well for the Red Devils. Liverpool are in scintillating form and United are dire, so a convincing and potentially emphatic home win is highly likely.

But given their current predicament these are not the sort of games they should be worrying about. Yes, getting a spanking from their rivals will sting, but right now Amorim needs to be thinking about winning games against the likes of Ipswich, Everton, Crystal Palace and other teams in the bottom half of the table.

When you are struggling, games against the top teams are nothing more than free hits, matches you go into hoping to sneak a result but not expecting one.

Amorim’s priority right now should be to get through to the end of the season with a comfortable mid-table finish and then take stock, clear out, rebuild and see where next season takes him.

Any dreams or aspirations higher (or lower) than that would just be plain silly.

Career on the Wayne

And that, ladies and gentlemen, must surely be the end of Wayne Rooney the football manager.

The England legend left Plymouth Argyle last week by mutual consent. But it was the sort of mutual consent that only comes when the club has enough respect for the man to avoid the word ‘sacked’ appearing in the media.

He took over at Home Park in the summer with lots of positive sound bites about playing progressive, attractive football. His employers said they felt he was the right man to drive the club on.

But he leaves Plymouth bottom of the Championship, having only won four of his 23 games in charge. They are four points from safety, and have conceded 51 goals in the 13 defeats under Rooney. They have only managed two points from 13 away games under his leadership.

It really is an abysmal record.

The reality now is that, after doing little of note in his first two managerial roles, and failing miserably in his last two, no decently sized club will take him on, despite his reputation and status as a player.

And that is sad for a man who obviously loves his football and who quite clearly still wants to be involved in the game in some meaningful capacity.

The only route I can see back for him at this stage is as an assistant manager or coach, but playing second fiddle to someone else will probably not cut it for a man who is used to calling the shots. Albeit badly.

Or he could maybe go a completely different route, buy himself a small non-league club and build it from the ground up. May sound a little far-fetched, but if he is both manager and owner then he will have the opportunity to do things his way at his pace with no massive pressure.

Yes, it would be a major come-down from the heights of his playing career, but it would be a good way for Rooney to stay deeply involved in a sport that obviously means the world to him.

E-mail: James.calvert@timesofmalta.com

X: @Maltablade