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Published 11:49 23 May 2016 BST
Updated 11:50 23 May 2016 BST
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Just minutes after Manchester United had won their first major honour since Sir Alex Ferguson retired, in the shape of the FA Cup, news broke that Jose Mourinho would soon be confirmed as their next manager. The trophy etcher's tools had barely been put away.
For once, most everyone was in rare consensus - whatever your feelings about Louis van Gaal, wherever your allegiances lay, it was brutally unfair to cut short the Dutchman's ultimate moment of glory by leaking news of his replacement at the Old Trafford helm.
Few believe that United would be in better hands were Van Gaal to stay. He may have validated his appointment in his own eyes by securing what he calls a 'title', but the truth is that progress - and style of play - has stagnated in his sophomore season.
That said, he didn't deserve the indignity of unofficially losing his job in between collecting the cup and boarding the team coach.
The club are insistent that the leak did not originate from them, and there is little reason to doubt them. The media spin is pure Jorge Mendes.
As much as the breaking of the story was harsh on Van Gaal, it was something of a small mercy for the rest of us. The Machiavellian move has spared us from a tediously predictable next few days, full of gossip, conjecture and tedious internet bullshit.
We have been saved from the following inevitable shite:
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