Well no snatching fourth wouldn't be progress of a sort but it's a hardly a complete failure. And nowhere near enough to warrant getting rig your long term plan(we are one game away from a trophy, something this club hasn't had in the last two years),
My point is that if United are sticking to this long term plan of Giggs becoming the manager then this season is just another stepping stone to that end goal. Not saying I agree with it but there is sense to it.
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It's not a completely failure, but it's not a good season. Mind you, with that logic we could keep him even if he finishes fifth. If fourth is good enough for our grand scheme, then missing it by a couple pf points shouldn't be that much of an issue....
I'd say this, though, if someone at United has indeed decided Giggs it to become the next manager, then they may well be silly enough to keep Van Gaal as well.