Danny Welbeck scored the second goal for Brighton as they dumped Manchester United out of the FA Cup
For those, certain former managers perhaps included, who think Manchester United occupy too much space in the discourse, it is more than a century, World Wars excepted, since they last took up so little room in the fixture list.
For Darren Fletcher, who had spoken of the honour of managing United, it has been accompanied by their latest historic low, another marker of failure. The team with no manager have no cup run and will get no trophy.