There are worrying signs already for the inheritor of the poisoned chalice that is the Old Trafford hot-seat. David Moyes has been gathering his own people about him as he sets forth to put his own stamp on the Man U machine - but Moyes will be grimly aware that The Ghost of Alex Ferguson Past is the least of his worries. The man himself will be there all too often, all too real and large as life, in the flesh and walking the corridors of power down Trafford way. It's the presence of the former boss that is likely to make an already difficult task that bit less easy for the 50 year old heir to the throne. If you know your history, you'll be aware that Wilf McGuinness, the successor to Matt Busby, had to go about his work with the Busby factor still about the place, the old man still visible backstage, the players saying "Morning, Wilf" to McGuinness - but "Morning, Boss" to Busby.
You might hope, for Moyes' sake, that Ferguson will have the forbearance to stay away from the training ground and the stadium when the day-to-day business of running the club and the team is going on. Perhaps he will, but media pressure is already a clear and present danger for Fergie's successor. The press don't want to let Fergie go; he's been a rich source of copy for them for so many years that many hacks who have covered all matters Man U can hardly remember a time when he wasn't there - and they want to stay snug in their Fergie comfort zone, with their cosy old stand-bys of the hair-dryer and the stop-watch.
The signs were there even at Wimbledon this past week. Fergie took his place in the Centre Court dignitaries' enclosure to support his compatriot Murray, and the commentary box fizzed in a fever of ecstasy as that familiar purple face gazed o'er the scene. The cameras lingered lovingly on those craggy, ravaged features and many were the cutaway shots of Fergie's reactions as Murray laboured to his victory. Afterwards, the desperation to lever S'ralex into the post-match interview was as cringingly embarrassing for the viewer as it was perplexing for Murray, who perhaps naively expected tennis questions.
The message was resoundingly clear: Fergie is still The Man as far as the press are concerned. Reports of Moyes' early press conference at Old Trafford leaned heavily upon comments such as "Fergie would have approved of Moyes' flash of temper", "Moyes displayed a Fergie-like tenacity" and so on and so forth. There are clear indications that every word Moyes utters, every decision he takes, will be viewed in the light of "what S'ralex would have said/done" - and clearly, this is bad news for anyone wanting to to make the job his own and do it his own way.
It might even be interesting to speculate on whether Moyes would perhaps quite like to be portrayed in a different light to that which has shone on the Man U manager this past 27 years. Moyes seems a sensible and modest chap after all, any similarity to his predecessor appearing limited to the accent and the obsession with the game. A departure from the arrogance and overbearing nature that has characterised the club during Fergie's reign might be welcome to such a relatively pleasant chap, but it appears unlikely to be allowed judging by the tone of some of the press quotes from this preparatory phase of the season.
We are given to understand, for instance, that late last season Moyes was honoured with a personal visit to his home from Fergie Himself. "I thought he'd come to tell me he was taking one of my players", said the ex-Goodison boss, to an unheard and incredulous chorus of "What the hell...?" from Evertonians everywhere. So this is how the Old Trafford club have been used to operating in the transfer market? Hmmmm. But instead of airily notifying a "lesser club" of an impending transfer swoop, Fergie was there to tell Moyes he was the next Man U boss. Not ask, tell. Moyes' eager compliance was taken as read. The Man U brand of arrogance, it seems, will take more than a change of manager to eradicate.
I'm not particularly worried about the prospect of Man U being less successful in the next few years, and of some of their legions of fans being seduced to supporting clubs closer to home, such as Torquay or Spurs or Nagoya Grampus Eight. I'd be quite happy with that; I have no love of the Trafford-based franchise or the way it operates. But I am slightly concerned for Moyes himself, who seems a decent cove, and who I can see going the same way as McGuinness went; a proper football man crushed by the weight of recent history and cowed by the long shadow of his immediate predecessor. For Moyes' sake, I hope that doesn't come about, but all the signs are already there that it might. Only Fergie himself can decide to remain in the background, the media are far too much in love with the myth they have created to let him go easily.
Perhaps, though, Fergie will actually do the decent thing? I somehow doubt it.