The mess inside Manchester United City couldn’t be hidden anymore. It burst out into the open, loud and messy, like a fire that had finally found air. Scarlett Thompson had been kicked out for good, and Coach Thorne’s match-fixing scandal was splashed all over the news. Reporters, no longer scared of Sir Alistair’s media control, went wild. Newspapers screamed with headlines like “Club in Chaos!” and “Betrayal at the Top!”

Once, this club had stood tall, famous around the world. ...