This could either be the best time to play Manchester United or it could be the worst, with the reason being that the club’s decision makers have finally pulled the trigger and decided to sack their now former manager Jose Mourinho.
You would have to say that it has been a case of when and not if Mourinho would be given his marching orders, as United have undoubtedly been lacklustre throughout this Premier League campaign.
They start the weekend lying sixth in the table in what poses to be a new era for the Red Devils, one that sees them travel to Cardiff while conscious that the Bluebirds have had a very decent run of home form as of late.
Something that Neil Warnock will be looking to build on this weekend, especially when you consider that they have picked up just a solitary a Premier League point on the road this season. Therefore, their home form may well be instrumental in keeping the South Wales outfit out of the bottom three.
At times the Cardiff fans have acted like a genuine 12th man this season, especially when you consider recent home wins against Wolves and Southampton and they will be called upon again this weekend in a bid to help their beloved team pick up another important three points.
Last time out they were beaten by Javi Gracia’s Watford at Vicarage Road, a game which only really saw them wake up by the time was out of their reach. That’s because at one stage they found themselves 3-0 down in what must be said were awful conditions for football.
A late flurry was all in vein for Cardiff as although they scored twice in the second half, they proved to be nothing more than a scant consolation. At the same time though, at least that defeat did not cost manager Neil Warnock his job.
The same however cannot be said for Jose Mourinho whose last duties as manager of Manchester United were to oversee a defeat to arch rivals Liverpool. A game that although they were level at half time, they never really looked like winning.
And by the time Xherdan Shaqiri had come off the bench to score his second goal of the game, you knew that there were black clouds hovering above the man who is now running out of top tier clubs to employ him.
If Mourinho was still in charge of United going into this game then there is every chance that Cardiff would be able to pull off something of a relative upset, however you do get the feeling that the shackles will be lifting come Saturday.
United’s hope of reaching the top four are not mathematically impossible, but at the same time they have left themselves with an incredible amount of work to do. Work that it is fair to say should start this weekend, as they roll up their sleeves and grind out a very welcome three points.