Carlos Queiroz has revealed Manchester United will not be able to claim it has been a good season even if they win the FA Cup.
A troubled week began with the stunning defeat at Norwich. It continued with more lurid allegations about Wayne Rooney, skipper Roy Keane lambasting his own team-mates and Rio Ferdinand being spotted having dinner with Chelsea chief executive Peter Kenyon.
The Red Devils must now firmly adjust their focus to Sunday's FA Cup semi-final with Newcastle.
Just as they were 12 months ago, Sir Alex Ferguson's men are now in the uncomfortable position of knowing their only chance of landing any silverware this season rests with the world's oldest domestic knockout competition. Having won the trophy for a record 11th time by beating Millwall last term, they can create their own small slice of history by retaining it for the first time.
But Queiroz, Ferguson's assistant, said: "We cannot say it is a good season just because we win the FA Cup. The major expectation of Manchester United is to go as far as we can in Europe and our first priority is always the league.
"If we accept winning the FA Cup represents a good season, we are not at the level everybody expects us to be."
In making his observation, Queiroz is at odds with Ferguson, who insists "in these intensely competitive days, to win a trophy a season adds up to a satisfactory return".
But to achieve that aim, the Red Devils will have to arrest a form slide that has seen them pick up just one point from their last two games and scored only five times in their last six.
With Louis Saha out and Ryan Giggs almost certain to join him on the sidelines, Ferguson must decide who to trust with the task of breaking down Newcastle's inconsistent defence. As leading scorer and most in-form forward on United's books, Rooney is certain to start, while Cristiano Ronaldo is expected to provide the attacking thrust down the touchline.
The position of Ruud van Nistelrooy is less certain. Badly out of touch since his return from his long-term Achilles injury, the Dutchman has now gone seven games without a goal, the longest barren spell of his entire United career.
Yet any doubt in Ferguson's mind about fielding the £18.5m forward will be balanced by the knowledge that Newcastle are one of the former PSV Eindhoven man's most favoured opponents.
Van Nistelrooy has scored eight of his 122 goals for the club against the Magpies and has only failed to find the net against them once in seven outings - a record that will almost certainly see him start.
It might have drawn a snigger or possibly even a snort of indignation but is it really so ludicrous to suggest Steve Harper deserves an England call-up?
I don't think so....
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