Sir Alex Ferguson was seen crumbling up his take-four lottery ticket after Manchester United's nil-nil draw against Rangers, because he had none of the winning numbers as the balls 9, 15, 17 and 18 showed up.
There is - and was - no excuse as to why United did not win the match other than the fact that Ferguson rested his four best players since the start of season.
Dimitar Berbatov, Nemanja Vidic, Nani and Paul Scholes were all left completely out of the squad as he opted to hand places to season debuts to four players.
United have scored 11 goals - including one own goal - so far in the Premier League this season, and the manager left the majority of his goalscorers - over 60% - out of the starting XI.
Only Wayne Rooney (via penalty kick) and Darren Fletcher (2) had scored goals in his inexperienced line-up.
That figure does not take into account the seven assists that Nani, Scholes and Berbatov have contributed either, which was the reason why no goals were scored against Rangers.
As a team, United put in a very subdue performance to open up their 2010 UEFA Champions League campaign, and like in the Barclays Premier League, they are now up against it after their next opponent, Valencia, thrashed Bursaspor 4-0.
With an eye on the titanic clash with Liverpool this weekend, Sir Alex opted to make 10 changes from the side that faced Everton just four days earlier, but realistically there was still enough quality throughout the team to win the match quite comfortably.
The problem was not with the quality of the players in the squad, it was the lack of balance and depth at certain positions, and Ferguson was unable to make changes if he wanted to.
To say it was an off-night is an understatement, because the passing was sporadic and wayward throughout, and not one United player can claim they had a decent match in terms of passing.
The crossing throughout the match was awful, because they were either high, short or leading their intended targets away from goal.
But if the ball did get there, then the United attackers were indecisive and allowed the defenders to close them down or their shot was off target.
Sadly, United have lost one of their main players for more than likely the rest of the season. Antonio Valencia, who is a very tough, physical player, was in excruciating pain on the Old Trafford turf after his ankle laid in an unnatural position.
To add insult to injury, Valencia was one of the culprits to not being able to provide the service that was need to breakdown the Rangers defense, and if he had another option on the bench, who is to say that Ferguson would not have subbed his off?
As you saw after the injury, Javier Hernandez was forced into an unknown, wider position after Michael Owen, who might not have touched the ball, occupied through the middle.
Not that anything good ever comes from an injury, but now Nani can play in his preferred position down the right-hand side.
The Portuguese winger has had some of his best games in a red shirt playing down that side, but with Valencia usually in the line-up, he is forced to play down the flank of his weaker foot.
It is over and done with now, and all Manchester United can do now is beat Liverpool this weekend, and if they do not, then the real criticism of Sir Alex Ferguson will start to be heard.
Contributed by David Hammons / The United Religion
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