COMMENT: It's happened again. Another one's gone. A third sacking in four years. A fourth manager - soon to be a fifth - to be hired in that time. And Manchester United - again - return to the drawing board.

A new man is now to arrive. A new pattern of play to be introduced. A new staff. New players. More change. More upheaval. Five years of uncertainty. Of instability. Though with one constant. The one man responsible for all this. The one who has overseen this managed decline of the world's biggest club.

Jose Mourinho is gone. But the man who hired him is still in power. As he was for the appointment of David Moyes. The hiring and demoting of Ryan Giggs. The arrival of Louis van Gaal. And of course, the signing of Mourinho.

And yet, it'll still be Ed Woodward who chooses the next manager. Just as it is he who has found Mourinho's interim replacement. Kieran McKenna and Michael Carrick will be in charge of training this week, but United's vice-chairman exec already has his former manager's replacement lined up. The temporary appointment expected to be someone with no past connections with the club - that is apart from those cozy chats with Woodward.

Yes. Yes. We can hear you. Mourinho has found himself in the same position as Van Gaal did three years ago. The Dutchman, to this day, claiming Mourinho and Woodward connived behind his back as he led United to a first FA Cup triumph in 12 years. But two wrongs don't make a right.

So again, another manager arrives. With his ideas. His approach. Let's say, an experienced Guus Hiddink type. To muddle through to the end of the season. Well, that'd be the right thing to do. To put the club on autopilot ahead of the new man arriving. The fulltime manager. Woodward's real choice. To go in there with a blank slate and start again.

But there's a Champions League tie with PSG to navigate. An FA Cup run to tackle. And a top four push to salvage. The caretaker will have to impose his ideas. His system on the players. Break down what Mourinho had them doing and build them up again. Only for, come June, to have all that work scrapped - again - by the fulltime manager.

But that's okay. No, really. Woodward knows what he's doing. Clearly he does. Just look at his track record...

That track record has three managers now on the dust heap. And there's something to be said about those three managers and the relationship they had with Woodward. We may not get it directly from Mourinho, a gag clause in his payout will put paid to that hope. But his two predecessors have given us plenty. Bitter. Resentful. Not of the club. Nor the man who replaced them. But of the one who hired, then fired, them. Just over the weekend, Moyes, clearly the most personable of the trio, admitted his treatment still "rankled".

“It still rankles now because I felt I was suited for it. I didn't think it was in Manchester United's DNA to change a manager so quickly," said the Scot.

And then there's Van Gaal, who really was sounding the warning to Mourinho and United in general about the club's prime decision maker.

"He never discussed anything with me - and you can talk about anything with me," Van Gaal has said previously. “With all my experience, I know the unwritten laws of football. A club has to prepare for the future.

“I can understand that and they should have approached me. Ed could talk to me but he did not."

Sound familiar? Well, if you've been paying attention it will. Mourinho never went as far as LVG. But his confidants let us know - including this column - that what he found with Woodward was just the same as the old Dutch master described.

So who truly sets the tone at this club? The manager? The scowling. Bad tempered gaffer? Or does that image reflect what the man in the dugout has had to contend with since 2013? Good man-management at a club should never be restricted to those in charge of the football operation. It also goes for the higher ups. How they conduct business. How they build and foster relationships. It all filters throughout an organisation. Yes, the spirit of a dressing room leans heavily on the direction of the manager. Just as the manager's morale has a reliance on his relationship from those upstairs.

The attitude and resentment displayed by all three of United's fulltime managers since Sir Alex Ferguson's retirement speaks volumes.

Ed Woodward is failing this club. Just as he has failed his three managerial appointments. Changing the face in the dugout will never be enough to get this club fulfilling it's potential again.

The managed decline will continue until improvements are made above the head of Manchester United's next manager.