“Men's courses will foreshadow certain ends, to which, if persevered in, they must lead," said Scrooge. "But if the courses be departed from, the ends will change.”
Alas, unlike Ebenezer, the once-Special One failed to learn his lessons from the Ghost of Christmas Past, neglected to change his ways, and so - three years and a day from the day he was fired by Chelsea - Jose Mourinho has once again found himself sacked during the festive season.
The end of Mourinho’s spell as Manchester United manager had a familiarity to it for even the most casual of observers - by his third season he’d lost the dressing room, results were underwhelming, and the majority of supporters were happy to see him go.
The Old Trafford faithful have had little to cheer this season - at 26 points, United’s tally is their lowest at this stage of any season since 1990/91.
The official branch of the Manchester United Supporters Club in Ireland will turn 50 next year, and the club organises trips across the water to Old Trafford for all United’s home games.
35-year-old Louise Berney is the membership secretary of the Irish branch and has been travelling to Old Trafford for 30 years since her father brought her for her first trip as a five-year-old.
“I've been truly blessed to see us in our high moments,” she said, adding that the Champions League final in 2008 has been the highlight.
“I've been to three Champions League finals and have seen us lift all our silverware at some stage, the last one being the Europa League in Stockholm - under Jose,” she said.
While many of the United faithful are happy to see the end of the Mourinho era, Louise believes it is not a time for rejoicing: “I personally can not believe the number of fans actually celebrating the sacking of Jose. That's our third manager to be sacked in six years - what's to celebrate?"
"The problem lies from the very top to the pitch, Jose was just one part of the problem. Where do we go from here?
"The players also have a lot to answer for and need to take some responsibility."
"We as fans need to stay behind our boys. They need us now more than ever,” she said.
Thoughts now turn to the next man to take to the dugout - with Nou Camp hero, Ole Gunnar Solskjær, the bookies’ favourite to land the big job, on an interim basis at least.
Long-term, the Manchester United Supporters Trust has echoed Louise’s thoughts and called for a top-down review of the club.
It said United’s current standings are down to more than just Mourinho’s failings as a manager, and that his sacking needs to trigger a wider investigation of what has gone wrong at the club since Sir Alex Ferguson retired.
“To achieve long-term expectations of our supporters this needs to be a catalyst for a fundamental review of the football operation to reset our culture and playing philosophy, then restructuring the football operation, appointing a manager and investing significantly in player transfers consistent with that philosophy,” they said.
