Sir Alex Ferguson believes that the current unrest at Chelsea over Jose Mourinho's future mirrors the situation he saw manifest at Old Trafford, following his announcement in 2001 that he would be retiring at the campaign's close.
Mourinho's relationship with his taskmaster Roman Abramovich appears to have slumped to an all time low, with the pair thought to be barely talking according to some reports.
Ferguson believes that the effect of such speculation can prove critical, with his own experience a moot point, as United finished outside of the top two, in the 2001-02 season, for the first time in the Premiership.
Talk has suggested that this season could well be Mourinho's last in West London, with Ferguson warning of the pitfalls of not concentrating solely on the task in hand, well aware than when focus of attention switches from on-the-field to off it, success becomes all so elusive.
"I announced it at the start of the season and I just got a feeling as the season progressed a lot of them were saying 'ah well, he's not going to be here any longer...' and maybe some genuine concerns about 'who's going to take his place?' and just a relaxation possibly set in," Ferguson told the League Managers Association's official website.
"But there was no doubt it had an effect and, once I decided not to retire, there was a genuine pick up again... it's amazing."
At the heart of the current discord at Stamford Bridge is widely believed to be the role, or rather a lack of one that Andrei Shevchenko has to play in Mourinho's side, with Abramovich and his manager at loggerheads over this very issue.
While Mourinho has grown exasperated by the underperforming Ukrainian, allegedly brought to the capital on the say-so of Abramovich, Chelsea's owner is eager for his record signing to be given playing time.
Ferguson too believes that it is Shevchenko, who has complained about being made a scapegoat of late, at the centre of the current furore.
"I think that whatever has happened, the situation with Shevchenko seems to be at the core of it," he concluded.