Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and his Manchester United players have been enjoying the heat and relaxation of Dubai in the days before Sunday's Wembley meeting with Tottenham - and have not been shy about letting the world know.
From a relentless pictorial barrage of squad members and management smiling in training, to 18-year-old Angel Gomes serenading his team-mates, through to videos of Romelu Lukaku and Anthony Martial enjoying the Dubai dining experience, the message is clear: 'Jose Mourinho has gone and you cannot believe how joyful we are now.'
Solskjaer - an interim anti-Mourinho - has emulated the great Sir Matt Busby by winning his first five games, but his beaming charm offensive has been aided by a relatively friendly introductory fixture list that could have been hand-picked by the 45-year-old Norwegian.
The talk that Solksjaer might land the job full-time has got louder and louder - but surely no truly convincing evidence has yet been presented to back up that theory?
Now, however, it gets serious.
When Solskjaer takes United to face Spurs on Sunday, we will discover more about his credentials, his credibility as a potential full-time successor and whether the smiles can be backed up with a big result rather than some early flat-track bullying.
The run of games faced so far has comprised Huddersfield, Bournemouth and Reading at home, and Cardiff and Newcastle away.
The statistics are impressive: five from five, 16 goals and only three against and an average of 61.63% possession over those matches. He could not have done any more.
Throw in the constant claims that the clouds rolled away once Mourinho paid his extras and drove away from the Lowry Hotel after losing limply to Liverpool, and everything at Old Trafford is coming up roses.
Solskjaer has got the results required, unified a squad previously at odds with its manager, reintegrated the huge talent of Paul Pogba and formed a sound coaching team with Michael Carrick, the returning wise old head Mike Phelan and Kieran McKenna.
He has a bottomless pit of goodwill among everyone connected with Manchester United after 11 seasons at the club, which brought 126 goals in 366 appearances, including the dramatic winner in the 1999 Champions League final against Bayern Munich in Barcelona.
And, crucially, he is naturally more comfortable in his surroundings at the 'Theatre of Dreams' than any of the three successors to Sir Alex Ferguson: the out-of-his depth David Moyes, Louis van Gaal and the confrontational, divisive Mourinho.
So far. So good.
The true test comes now.
If Solskjaer can prove this is a serious rejuvenation by fashioning a result at Spurs - a team still right in contention for the Premier League title, and handsome winners at Old Trafford in August - then all the positivity might actually acquire substance.
And Solskjaer has the opportunity to strike a real blow for his profile if he can outmanoeuvre Mauricio Pochettino, the favourite to be the next manager at Old Trafford, on Sunday.
The odds, however, must still be on United going for an experienced manager of proven quality rather than a personality, no matter how engaging or ingrained in the foundations of Old Trafford he might be.
And don't forget Solskjaer, effectively on loan from Norwegian club Molde, failed miserably in his previous experience in the Premier League.
That was at Cardiff, where he won only five of 25 league games over an eight-month period in which he oversaw relegation and was sacked in September 2014 with the Bluebirds 17th in the Championship.
And as and when the run of victories comes to an end, there will be other tests.
What happens when he delivers bad news? The history of this season suggests Manchester United's players are not quite as smiley when the going is rough or when they are receiving messages that are more hardline, which led to so much discontent under Mourinho.
United's squad, and star players such as Pogba and Alexis Sanchez, were able to use Mourinho as their shield. How will they, and others, react when Solskjaer tells them something they do not like?
And what about United's hierarchy who, with the best will in the world, were unlikely to have had Solskjaer in mind as the man to drive them into a golden future post-Mourinho?
Remember the cautionary tale of Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich and Roberto di Matteo.
The Italian succeeded Andre Villas-Boas with Chelsea on their knees in March 2012 and in two months had won the FA Cup and the trophy the Russian wanted most of all - the Champions League.
It was the greatest interim manager audition in history. Abramovich never seemed convinced but was in a corner.
He eventually gave Di Matteo, a manager of modest previous attainments, a two-year deal. He was sacked in November and has since reverted to modest mode.
And yet Solskjaer, if he can prove these early results are not simply a soft landing, has the capacity to give executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward a similar dilemma.
The top four and the Champions League places are only six points away and key dates are also coming at Arsenal in the FA Cup fourth round and against Paris St-Germain in the last 16 of the Champions League.
If Solskjaer can steer United through these two assignments, the bandwagon will be rolling at high speed.
One thing is certain - we will know a lot more about how good Solskjaer and this miraculously rejuvenated Red Devils team are on Sunday night.
And a lot more about whether Solskjaer can really be taken seriously as a future Manchester United manager.
nahibkhan
364
I think the interim manager have a lot to prove, look he brought the vibe and groove back in the Red Devils park. Tottenham is( 1)one in three litmus tests for him followed by Arsenal an PSG in the Champions. We have Sanchez, Pobga and Lukaku firing, so, the dream continues. I wish the men all the best and all the best in the Tottenham game tonight, will be watching it st Ingwavuma KZN South Africa. ' We are the Champions my friend'.
FootbaLLLLover⚽⚽⚽
301
Solskjaer is the next Sir Alex Ferguson.💪💪💪
RealMd13
255
Will Man Utd interim manager Solskjaer pass Tottenham test? Me: 👍🏾😂 yes he will pass and Its gonna be easy for Solskjaer cuz he now has the players who are ready to die for him!
EmalelaVentures
238
The problems Manchester united had under Mou is; 1.The lack of support from the manager.Mou blasted his players openly in the media and it killed the morale of the players a lot. 2.The kind of formation we played under Mou of 4.3.3 wasn't favoring the squad he used to pick. This formation favours quicker players but with him he used the midfield 3 of Fellaini,pogba and Matic that are all slow. we couldn't cope counter attacks against us and we couldn't not initiate a counter attack too. 3.Ole has discovered that and he went to the 4.2.3.1 formation that Mou favored last season and gave us runs up position last season. 4.Ole is playing Pogba in the final third and not deeper as Mou did.Pogba will cause problems to the TT defence with his ability to pass and also shoot. my only worry is Phil Jones,he is shaky at the back.but we can manage contain Kane ,Son and Erickson,we will beat spurs even 3 nil cos they can concede goals.I saw it against wolves. in the first leg we outclassed them in the first half and lost clear cut chances.they were lucky to capitalize on our defensive mistakes and scored us 3 quick goals. Am confident we shall triumph because they have fatigue after playing Chelsea and they will be conscious of the return leg with Chelsea since its the only easiest root to a silver at Spurs. GOOD LUCK MANCHESTER UNITED
lukzlat910
163
The Premier League is full of surprises, you may never know what will happen but for sure this will be a very exciting game, good luck to Solskjaer and the lads United all the way!! GGMU 🔥🔥🔥!!!
tropicalda
154
We keep saying Sunday will be Solskjaer’s first real test, but he’s had plenty already and passed them all with flying colours. But Spurs is a big one and he’ll need the likes of Pogba Sanchez, Martial to show up and prove their problems were down to Mourinho , Keeping Solskjaer as permanent manager, anyone expecting united to beat the top 4 teams is delusional, there are 16 other teams in the league manchester have to beat as well, give him time to change the squad and they should catch up with the likes of city, Liverpool and Spurs
RealMd13
108
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer: Will Man Utd interim manager pass Tottenham test? Me: 😂😂😂🔥🔥 Well Spurs Tottenham will not be a test for Manchester United 🔴⚫️ because Manchester United 🔴⚫️ under solskjaer is a team with players who are focused and playing together like brothers and I think they are good enough to beat any team in the world! 💪🏾💪🏾💪🏾 5 matches 🏟 played 5 matches ✅ won. 16 Goals ⚽️ scored 3 Goals ⚽️ 🥅 conceded
cadacdils
85
Well , i am still Mour Fan , badluck he cud'nt b a special one fr us ,saying dat, hes gn , nw we hv de baby face assassin, let's see if he cn shoot down Spurs tday,forward thinking, forward passing, let's not go to much foward n leave our defence open,we hv to b cautious n not b to gung ho ,GGMU Man U 2 Spurs 1,but im hoping fr a clean sheet
piwcst
61
Since OGS appointed, this is the only question everyone is asking - is he the future permanent MU manager. This question will inevitably be discussed come near end of this season. But for now, what's most important is everyone including the board of MU needs to help OGS and his surroundings to their best performance and take maximum points in the league. It's hypothetical for media to discuss this EVERYDAY.. Come april then we see what OGS would have been able to achieve.. MU fans, u know what to do. Get behind OGS and co even if they fall in some of the games, because his approach is right for the time being