Manchester Utd - 3 Southampton - 0: Steve Wigley walked out of Old Trafford and into an increasingly uncertain future clutching a copy of the match video. As Saints fans debated whether they would prefer Glenn Hoddle or Harry Redknapp as his successor on the Saturday night radio phone-ins, Wigley was planning to use that tape as the basis for a damning tactical debrief.
Right now it will make painful viewing for Southampton's head coach but, in years to come, that video could become a treasured reminder of Ryan Giggs's extraordinary talent. After sidestepping the by now routine question about his job security, Wigley proved sufficiently generous to spend the next few minutes eulogising Alex Ferguson's renascent ensemble, and their left-winger in particular.
"There's very little to choose between United, Arsenal and Chelsea but we were up against arguably the best team in the country," he insisted. "United can do anything they want to do . . . By the end today I was sick of the sight of Ryan Giggs on the ball but Giggs is someone fans pay to see."
Giggs eclipsed all-comers. Indeed his performance - a masterclass in dribbling, dummying and crossing - was reminiscent of the days when United were omnipotent and scorn would have been poured on last week's headlines about the Welshman supposedly being poised for a January move to Newcastle.
Denied almost immediately, it proved the sort of story which leaves conspiracy theorists wondering whether it was leaked to concentrate Giggs's mind on United's offer of a one-year contract extension - featuring a reduced, performance-related salary - a document the distinctly underwhelmed 31-year-old has hitherto refused to sign.
Old-fashioned wingers such as Giggs are becoming as rare as traditional 3 p.m. kick-off times at Old Trafford - much to Ferguson's chagrin, this was United's first such home start of the season - and his recent dispensation with orthodox 4-4-2 has seen the Welshman sometimes left on the bench.
On Saturday, though, Giggs began on the left of a five-man midfield which saw him constantly switching positions with Wayne Rooney and swiftly debunking gossip that he had lost his edge.
Paul Scholes has suffered similar jibes but his renaissance continued with a fourth goal in a fortnight, a header from Rio Ferdinand's centre. Giggs created the second courtesy of a beautifully weighted through-pass to Rooney, who lifted the ball over Kasey Keller before watching it arc into the roof of the net.
A puzzlingly goalless first half had seen Danny Higginbotham and Graeme Le Saux's double marking semi-shackling Cristiano Ronaldo but he gained the upper hand during the second period, which concluded with him volleying Gary Neville's pass past Keller.
Had Sheik Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, the emir of Qatar - who is reputedly keen to invest £250 million in United, protecting them from potential takeover by Malcolm Glazer - been in attendance, he could not have failed to be impressed.
Although Roy Keane was United's sole authentic midfield tackler, the deep-lying, deployment of Giggs, Rooney, Scholes and Ronaldo proved confusing for Southampton's defence.
"There were too many balls coming across our area," said Wigley, whose players could not cope with United's natural width.
With only one win in 14 games, Wigley is unlikely to get many more opportunities to put things right.
