A regional daily has demanded “fundamental change” at one of the world’s biggest football clubs after the sacking of the team’s manager.

The Manchester Evening News has warned Manchester United risk “years of mediocrity” unless there are changes in the way things are run behind the scenes at the club.

The MEN’s Samuel Luckhurst revealed on Saturday evening that United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer would be sacked following a 4-1 defeat at Watford, with the exclusive appearing on the BBC’s Match of the Day programme that night.

Mr Solskjaer duly left the club yesterday, prompting the MEN’s follow-up splash this morning.

The MEN dubbed the club’s Old Trafford home the ‘Theatre of Broken Dreams’, a reference to its nickname ‘The Theatre of Dreams’.

Editor-in-chief Darren Thwaites told HTFP: “We’re fortunate to have a great reporting team covering Manchester United, so we were able to stay ahead of this story throughout the weekend.

“Match of the Day displayed our website splash on Saturday night, confirming via a Samuel Luckhurst exclusive that Solskjaer would be sacked in the morning.

“On Monday’s print splash, we wanted to reflect that this was about much more than the managerial position. United are arguably the biggest club in the world but they are miles away from proving that on the football field.

“It’s been years of mediocrity since the departure of Sir Alex. Unless there’s fundamental change, we fear that period could continue for many years to come.

“The next decision on a manager is critical but there are wider questions over the whole running of the club. We’ve now launched our biggest survey ever on United to gauge the opinion of supporters.”