hopeless

A highlight of her current tour has frequently come during The Giver – where she pauses the song to read out messages from audience members about their hopeless exes.

Menendez admitted to drinking alcohol and briefly using heroin at one point in prison, which he said he tried because he was “miserable” and feeling hopeless.

"You feel awful really, hopeless, because they tell you that there's nothing they can do to treat it, or there's no possible cure," said his mum, Melanie.

One rider, though - if they do not improve and United look as lost and hopeless as they did under Amorim at stages last season, he will swiftly be under a very unforgiving microscope.

That would have a disastrous impact on these students, historically dismissed as hopeless, because needs-focused special education can change the arc of their lives.