Sports

For twelve years, I’ve stood in the Old Trafford mixed zone and press rooms, listening to managers talk about "projects" while fans scream for a 25-goal-a-season striker. The debate around what constitutes a "finished article" striker at Manchester United has become a cyclical nightmare. It’s a term thrown around in pub talk and boardroom meetings…

If you have spent any time around Carrington or trawled through the back pages of the local press over the last twelve years, you know the drill. Whenever a manager changes or a new season kicks off, the phrase "clean slate" gets tossed around like confetti. It’s the ultimate journalistic safety net—a way to suggest…