Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's sacking at Manchester United had appeared to lose the dressing room several weeks before his eventual sacking, but the state of his players' disillusionment has now been revealed.
Many believed some players had downed tools well before he was dismissed after three years in charge on Sunday, fewer than 24 hours after their humiliating 4-1 defeat by Watford.
But The Telegraph have now reported on the extent to which some members of the United squad were disappointed with the Norwegian, who will for the time being be succeeded by caretaker boss Michael Carrick.
The report claims centre-back Eric Bailly asked Solskjaer why he had picked a centre-half 'who was not fit' in their Premier League defeat by Leicester last month.
The Ivory Coast international was left out for captain Harry Maguire at the King Power Stadium, having only returned to full training following a calf injury the day prior to their 4-2 defeat in the East Midlands.
Summer signing Cristiano Ronaldo has already shown his frustration publicly since returning to Old Trafford from Juventus, having stormed off the pitch following their draw at Old Trafford against Everton, a game which he did not start.
The Portugal international has also been left alarmed by the drop in standards at Old Trafford since his return, but the report now claims he feels some of his team-mates want it 'too easy'.
Meanwhile, the report adds other members of the squad challenged the 48-year-old amid his continued omission of midfielders Donny van de Beek, Jesse Lingard and Nemanja Matic.
The report claims Solskjaer was always well liked by the squad but the perceived 'favouritism' shown towards some players deemed to be underperforming began to erode away at patience and heighten tensions.
Dutchman van de Beek scored the final goal of the Solskjaer era at Vicarage Road but has started just four of his 22 top-flight appearances for the club since joining from Ajax in a £40million deal in the summer of 2020.
The midfielder has therefore been starved of game time and led Paul Ince earlier this month to claim Solskjaer was 'taking the p*** out of him.'
England international Lingard meanwhile scored nine Premier League goals in the second half of last season on loan at West Ham, but has not started any of his six top-flight matches since returning to Old Trafford.
Lingard may have hinted at a possible desire to return to the London Stadium amid his lack of game time, reposting a video of him scoring a goal for the Hammers on his Instagram story.
But Lingard's latest social media post preceded emerging reports that the 28-year-old could leave for just £10m in the January transfer window and that he is already 'making personal arrangements' for a return to east London having abandoned talks over a new deal at United.
Left-back Alex Telles - another outcast - also hinted at possible frustration on social media at the end of last month, posting a photo of himself with the cryptic Instagram caption: 'Good things come to those who work', followed by a gagged emoji sign.
Matic, 33, a regular fixture in United's midfielder over recent seasons, has also completed 90 minutes just twice in the Premier League during the current campaign.
