Supervisors may pontificate about having “good people” and “good characters,” but they don’t always mean it. Once, a well-known and prosperous manager revealed that he would gladly “sign Jack the Ripper if he could play football.” It was a tribute to the “characters” of the game from that bygone age as well as somewhat tongue-in-cheek. We shouldn’t expect football players to be choirboys because they aren’t. And there are still instances today where money and expediency can override moral principles.

However, in general, you want players who are willing to put the needs of the team ahead of their own, regardless of talent. And a few who are prepared to enforce that within their own dressing room (the more leaders, the better). That was clearly the driving force behind Wilder’s previous prosperous tenure at Bramall Lane, where finishing ninth in the Premier League was an overachievement only made possible by a strong sense of unity.

It’s the natural order of things that the responsible group inevitably breaks up, but Wilder is obviously determined to replicate something similar. You can see that, despite a string of humiliating setbacks, he has already been able to assemble into a combat unit.

When it comes to valuations, United shouldn’t be deducting points from Chelsea, Fulham, and Bournemouth. or practically every Premier League player. If they can bring in some true young talent from inside their own ranks and make the appropriate hires, the future might be very promising. You can definitely tell that in Wilder’s own words, “I’m in a really good place.”