What is the betting that if Utd. are mid-tableish around Feb/March (it could happen - the teams currently above them are obviously better as are Southampton, Leicester and possibly West Ham too*) that UEFA re-jig the qualification requirements for the big cup so that lets say all Clubs with a turnover of over $1 billion pre-qualify!
Seriously though, I think I did read something like this a few weeks ago, some new system that gave certain clubs a bye into the ECL i.e. past winners, rich ones (teams playing in red shirts) or something, was going to be considered.
*It is interesting that on red cafe they are finding solace in the fact that even after such bad results they are 'only' 6 points off the top, however, it can be looked at this way too: they are only 3 points ahead of Leicester and only 4 above West Ham, two teams who have really struggled in the League, but recently have looked like getting things back to how they were last season.