A Christmas World Cup makes John Roycroft consider a new genre of seasonal entertainment, where the worlds of football and pantomime performance meet. 

Manchester United crashed out of the Champions League on Tuesday night. As John Roycroft points out, the decline at Old Trafford will continue until the club finds the right manager to save them.

BEING fourth in the league provides some breathing space for a manager.  You may not be setting the world alight, but you are still in the Champions League qualification spot. So you must be doing something right.