After a media conference that lasted all of five minutes, Louis Van Gaal stormed out of the room as speculation surrounding his future at Old Trafford continues to simmer.
The Dutchman abruptly departed the meeting as an act of defiance in the face of rumours that he will be replaced by Jose Mourinho, who was recently exiled from Chelsea.
"Enjoy the wine, have a mince pie. Bye bye." The extraordinary end to Louis van Gaal's press conference #SSNHQ https://t.co/ge4Vf9S8Yb
— Sky Sports News HQ (@SkySportsNewsHQ) December 23, 2015
Van Gaal is under ferocious pressure at the moment, on the back of three consecutive defeats and an early exit from the Champions League. But the former Bayern Munich chief insists, that he has the full support of his players after holding meetings with them throughout the week.
Speculation peaked yesterday when BBC's Trevor Sinclair tweeted that Van Gaal had resigned from his position before later retracting it.
Old photo but LVG has gone
— Trevor Sinclair (@trevor8sinclair) December 22, 2015
School boy error 😂😂😂 left my phone on the table at a Christmas party 🎉🎉🎉 sincere apologies for my last 2 tweets #Merrychristmas
— Trevor Sinclair (@trevor8sinclair) December 22, 2015
And although he endeavoured to remain positive today, it was clear that Van Gaal was feeling the pressure and issued a rather curt parting note to the assembly before getting up to leave.
.@ManUtd manager #LouisvanGaal storms out of weekly press conference after asking for an apology #ManchesterUnited https://t.co/x69OnrwOSm
— Kaushik Vaidya (@KaushikVaidya) December 23, 2015
'We are not in a good position, but four weeks ago we were first in the Premier League. In four weeks time, we can be back in that position. I don't think the media can do that (create speculation). You have to stick by the facts. You are creating something that is not good. Something that is not the facts. Now I have to answer questions and I don't want to do it. I am focused on Stoke City. I wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Enjoy some wine and a mince pie. Goodbye.'
