It’s the best of times, it’s the worst of times.

With apologies to Charles Dickens, this is a tale of two football teams in the same city – Manchester.

But the prevailing sentiments bear an irresistible similarity to those of London and Paris in his fictional masterpiece.

Yes, it’s a tale of wisdom and foolishness, belief and incredulity, light and darkness.

And you don’t need to be a season ticket holder at either United or City to know where the positives lie.

On the day that United took seven hours to decide to do nothing about either their hapless manager or crumbling stadium, City gloated over their legal success against the English Premier League (EPL).

The four times-in-a-row champions City are not only the best on the field, but they also seem to be bossing matters off it.

They claimed victory in the recent legal skirmish and although the EPL did too, most of football feels that City got the better of it.

In fact, the Blues not only began to dismantle the dreaded Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR), but they may also have significantly weakened the EPL’s case in many of the 115 charges hanging over them.

Those are still being heard separately, but City were more than justified in making their pre-emptive strike on Associated Party Transactions (ATPs).

Without going into a hornet’s nest of legalese, this will enable clubs like City to make deals with associate companies – Etihad Airways, for example – without a ball and chain around them.

And City being City, they were not slow to tell the world the rules are not fit for purpose, and warned the EPL against tinkering with them.

But while City milked it, United were in a muddle.

The high-profile pow-wow of highly-paid big wigs – sporting director Dan Ashworth even cost a transfer fee – decided nothing.

Even one of the Glazers was there – at least he avoided the hurricane.

Top of the agenda were Erik ten Hag and Old Trafford. Neither has been looking good of late – least of all in the rain.

But the Ratcliffe regime’s indecision seemed a classic case of ‘when you don’t know what to do, do nothing’.

The right replacement has yet to be found, the right solution has not been reached.

United fans expected better of Britain’s richest man, Sir Jim Ratcliffe, and his expensively assembled cabinet of hard-hitting gurus.

A local boy-made-good, he promised “to put the Manchester back into the club”.

But so far, he’s been taking chunks out: sacking 250 people to save an estimated £35m after spending many times more on duds.

And selling home-grown Scott McTominay while giving Ten Hag a new contract.

Seventy-two today, the oil billionaire even ducked the question about his manager, claiming: “It’s not my call.”

Whoever did decide on sacking tea ladies and paying over the odds is not among the 250 – but should be.

As much as United fans loved putting one over City in the FA Cup final, the bill for those bragging rights is rising all the time.

But for that “toe-nail” offside that denied Coventry a famous win in the semi-final, United might already be in better shape.

With a new broom and without the extra £150m spent by Ten Hag in the summer.

Matthias de Ligt and Manuel Ugarte have it all to prove and Leni Yoro has yet to play.

The ‘Wembley of the North’ is also on hold as the derisory attempt to get taxpayers to fund it sank without trace.

No one knows where United go from here.

The draw at Aston Villa left them with eight points from their opening seven league matches, their poorest start to a season in 35 years.

They are 14th in the table and their chances of Champions League football next season already look remote.

Next up are Brentford, Fenerbahce, West Ham, Chelsea. Then Arsenal in early December, before City, Newcastle and Liverpool and it’s only just New Year.

All come with health warnings.

For all his success at Ajax, Ten Hag seems to make it up as he goes along with still no discernible style of play.

It’s hard to believe he worked under Pep Guardiola at Bayern Munich.

Mention of the Catalan maestro might bring a ray of hope to the red side of the city as this is the last season of his contract.

He will leave one day and, just like Ferguson, will be impossible to replace.

But United would do well not to count on it – many thought the same about Klopp leaving Liverpool. It’s early days, but Arne Slot is making a good fist of it.

And if City are exonerated, the chances of Guardiola staying a while longer – with budget restrictions eased – are much greater.

PSR was designed to maintain the status quo so held back aspirant clubs such as Newcastle United, Aston Villa, Chelsea, Everton, Leicester and Nottingham Forest.

On the issue of ATPs, all support City, but don’t approve of them rubbing the EPL’s noses in it.

One club boss said: “This latest legal threat is just bullying behaviour by Manchester City and there is a feeling now that the other clubs need to stand up to them.”

They will have to be careful – and the irony is not lost on City.

The clubs that have pushed hardest for them to be punished could now be at risk of breaking spending rules themselves.

City used to be on the wrong side of such misfortune.

Among many candidates for the historic low point in their rivalry with United came when City were in the third tier.

They lost at home to Mansfield Town in the Auto Windscreens Shield before 3,007 souls at Maine Road.

The next night across town United drew 1-1 with Bayern Munich in the Champions League at a packed Old Trafford. It was the season they went on to famously win the trophy.

What’s happened since is a scarcely credible reversal of fortunes. Back then, it was United who had wisdom, belief and on whom the light shone.

But as Dickens wrote, there is always hope no matter how dire the situation and United don’t have to look far to find it.

The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of FMT.