Exactly one year since a Robin van Persie hat-trick secured a 3-0 win over Aston Villa to clinch a twentieth league championship for Manchester United, and a thirteenth under Sir Alex Ferguson, the legendary manager’s replacement David Moyes has been relieved of his duties.

In less than ten months in charge, the former Everton boss has presided over a disappointing league campaign which has seen the Red Devils lose eleven of their thirty-four games thus far, with six of those defeats coming at the Theatre of Dreams.

Another home loss came in the third round of the FA Cup to Swansea City, while the Old Trafford faithful also witnessed a dramatic end to their League Cup campaign, with the hosts losing to Sunderland on penalties in the semi-finals of the competition.

Their progression to the last eight of the Champions League kept alive slim hopes of some success this season, though in the end they were soundly beaten by holders Bayern Munich.

Ryan Giggs has been placed in temporary charge for the rest of the season, and the Welshman is the 9.0 (8/1) second favourite with Bet Victor to become the next permanent United manager behind Louis van Gaal, who can be backed at 3.0 (2/1) with Sky Bet.

The 62 year old, who is currently in charge of the Dutch national team, has won league titles in the Netherlands, Spain and Germany with Ajax and AZ Alkmaar, Barcelona and Bayern Munich respectively, and enjoyed Champions League success with Ajax in 1995.

He has also clinched a number of other major honours in his two decades as a manager, and has long been linked with the Manchester United manager’s job, even when there was originally talk of Sir Alex Ferguson retiring over a decade ago.

Other names in the frame are Borussia Dortmund’s Jurgen Klopp, who is 11.0 (10/1) with Sky Bet and Diego Simeone of Atletico Madrid – a 19.0 (18/1) chance with the same firm.

Sir Alex Ferguson is widely available at 21.0 (20/1) to make a dramatic return to the hot-seat, while his former assistant Carlos Quieroz is priced at 26.0 (25/1) with Paddy Power.