It's understood that United are not in the hunt for Pep Guardiola and the ideal scenario remains for Giggs to succeed Van Gaal at the end of the next season at the earliest.
That word came before last week's traumatic events when we went out of the Champions League and then lost at Bournemouth, but it came in the knowledge that Guardiola was set to announce his future.
It came in the belief that Manchester City lead the race for his services at the end of the season.
While the club's hierarchy insist they are delighted with Van Gaal, the idea that they are prepared to step aside and allow our rivals to swoop for the most sought-after manager in the game beggars belief.
Jose Mourinho's shock sacking by Chelsea only throws a spanner in the works.
And the news that Carlo Ancelotti is the man in the frame to succeed Guardiola at Bayern only compounds the situation.
For the supporters- growing increasingly frustrated by Van Gaal's reign- there will be worrying echoes of the months surrounding SAF's departure.
In the same summer that English football's most successful boss announced his retirement, Guardiola, Ancelotti and Mourinho all switched clubs.
We, however, ended up with David Moyes.
At a point when they are still trying to get back on track following one failed succession plan, we could conceivably see Guardiola, Ancelotti and Jurgen Klopp all take up new positions within months of each other.
Mourinho's departure means he should now be available.
The determination to give Giggs the opportunity to succeed LVG is a worthy and popular one.
But similar could be said of Moyes, at a time when United bucked the trend of English football's biggest clubs and appointed a British manager rather than going down the foreign route.
The club have counted the cost of that move ever since- and regardless of the sentimentality towards Giggs, there is the potential for this latest succession plan to go spectacularly wrong once again.
While there is no suggestion of Van Gaal's position being under threat, it would be a remarkable decision to watch on as a succession of potential high calibre candidates to replace him commit themselves to rivals both domestically and abroad.
Given that sources close to Guardiola have claimed that his heart is set on the Old Trafford hotseat, he could yet be convinced to head to the red half of the city.
At the very least, it is an avenue we have to explore- or once again live to regret it.
United were interested in Ancelotti when Sir Alex retired in 2013
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