It is disheartening to see the turmoil at my former club, but there is one thing Manchester United need to work out as soon as possible to prevent further turmoil.
That is to establish a clear line between the duties and responsibilities of the sporting director and co, and the team manager. It is as simple as that.
Ruben Amorim hinted that the lines were blurred between the two roles during his short 14-month tenure, with his words ever so clear when he sat in front of the microphone in what eventually became his final press conference with the club on Sunday.
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"I am the manager of this team, not just the head coach." He was really clear on that.
It was those words that ultimately cost him his job, just as it did for Enzo Mascera at Chelsea and Nuno Espirito Santo at Nottingham Forest.
To me, Amorim alluded to the fact that the lines were being blurred and he felt he had been undermined by those steering out of their lane, which in his opinion, he did not sign up for.
There is always going to be a place for sporting directors at a club, but it is imperative that everybody knows exactly where the red lines are in terms of what their job entails.
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There's a lot of money involved in football, as we all know, and sometimes the hierarchy likes somebody to take care of the financial side of things separate from the manager.
That includes, for example, during the transfer windows when talent is on the market, a manager may present three or four options of players he wants to the sporting director who will then investigate whether that is a suitable move within the club's budget.
However, as far as I'm concerned, the sporting director is there to help.
Now some sporting directors have, in some cases, been coming to the manager and saying "these are the players we want and will get, you've got to play him".
That is a conversation that just can not happen, as that is when the red line has been crossed.
As a manager, your name is on that project. If you are going to go down, you need to be able to fall on your own sword, not the sword of someone else who is unaccountable.
To the fan base, there is only one person who is accountable for why the playing group is not meeting expectations and that is the manager.
The manager is always going to suffer when things go wrong and it is his job and reputation on the line.
Sporting directors and co hiding away and making those decisions, but who can not be deemed accountable for when everything goes wrong is not a feasible way to run a football club, or anything else for that matter.
Amorim is not alone in falling victim to this ongoing hierarchical dilemma, with Santo's departure from Nottingham Forest and Maresca's from Chelsea following a similar path.
Not only have Santo, Maresca and Amorim been forced to battle for clarity about their duties, but they've also been left to tread carefully when it comes to explaining these issues to the fans who want to know what is going on.
Yes, Amorim does have the worst win rate (31.9 per cent) of any permanent United boss over the course of his 14 months, which is not a lot of time, but this season is still very much alive for the Red Devils.
It took some time to improve under Amorim and yes, the improvements have been marginal at best, but United are sitting sixth on the Premier League table and are in the race to secure Champions League qualification next year.
The DNA of the club may not look the same as it did when Sir Alex Ferguson reigned over Old Trafford, but there will simply never be another manager like him. Those days are over.
It has been 13 years since he left the top job and there have been 10 different managers since.
Everything they have tried has not worked. They just need someone to simply come in and pull everyone together so that the team and the club becomes one that can challenge for major titles.
Whoever that person may be, United need to make sure they get it right.
Ideally, that process needs to happen as soon as possible, however, some managers who may be on their radar could currently be contractually tied up in the national team landscape.
No manager in that environment will want to walk away from a national team job just months away from the World Cup, so it is likely they won't be available until late July.
Outside of the national team realm, some may request not to join the United squad until the season's end for a variety of reasons.
There is no doubt in my mind that Amorim will return to management one day, he is young and would have learned a lot from his time at Old Trafford. It's not an easy job.
I've seen on the bookmakers list – and they very rarely get it wrong – that Maresca has jumped up as the favourite to take over from Amorim, followed by Oliver Glasner.
But for me, the one man who is the perfect fit for the job is Gareth Southgate.
He has proven that he has what it takes to handle one of the biggest jobs in the football world, taking on the top job with England while they were at their lowest point in 2016, to making two European championship finals and a World Cup semi final and quarter final.
Another characteristic he has in his favour is that he is English.
While the nationality of any Premier League manager does not matter, in this case, Southgate knows what this team means to the people of England, especially those in Manchester, better than any of candidates I've seen for the role.
He has had a nice break away from leading any team in the game, resigning from his role as England manager in July 2024, so he has a fresh outlook on the game.
But if there was one thing I could say to my old friend, it would be to make sure that when you put the pen to paper on the management deal, to ensure you have a clear description of your expected duties and position at the club and so does everyone else around you.
That way, you can ensure no one steps out of their lane and starts to undermine you. That is so important.
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