The appointment of Jose Mourinho in July this year as the new manager of Manchester United was envisaged in many quarters as the right decision that will usher in a new era that would bring back the club’s fear factor, winning mentality, consistency, make Old Trafford a fortress again and the attacking football the club is widely known for.

Even before the commencement of the season, the Old Trafford outfits were considered one of the favourites to lift the title given the pedigree of Mourinho and the calibre of players (Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Paul Pogba, Henrikh Mkthariyan and Eric Bailly) brought in the summer. The Manchester club were 11/1 odd to win the league.

But after some decent results, the loss to cross-town rival Manchester City followed by another loss to Watford accompanied with sloppy performances later on has fluctuated their odd of winning the title.

A 4-1 win over defending champion Leicester City was clouded by their 4-0 humbling by Chelsea on Mourinho’s return to Stamford Bridge since being sacked by the club almost two years ago.

The retirement of Sir Alex Ferguson at the end of 2012/2013 season has seen the club brought in four coaches till date. On the back of Ferguson’s recommendation, former Everton manager David Moyes as appointed in July 2013 but was shown the exit door six games to the end of the season with Ryan Giggs serving as player-manager till the end of that season.

Former Barcelona and Bayern Munich Dutch coach Louis Van Gaal was brought in July 2014 with Ryan Giggs as his deputy on a three-year contract. He led the Red Devil to Carling cup triumph and also guided them to Champions League qualification but was unceremoniously sacked last season after another disappointing season in which the club could only settle for a place in the Europa League.

Since the departure of Sir Alex Ferguson, over 300 million pounds has been spent in rebuilding the team but they are still nowhere near the standard of teams under the most successful manager the club can boast of.

Manchester United have been left wondering where it all went wrong as even the signing of the ‘special one’ has not really provided the turnaround expected and desired.

While it is too early to write them off in the race for the title, their current trend of inconsistencies will definitely limit their chances of laying hold of the title.