Michael Carrick appears close to losing his post as Manchester United head coach after a 3-0 home defeat by Bournemouth, according to Gary Neville and Jamie Carragher. The result left United just above the relegation zone, and the Bruno Fernandes row has added a dressing-room dimension to the crisis. According to Skysports.com.
Carrick’s position undermined by Fernandes row and Bournemouth humbling
The Fernandes episode has sharpened the crisis around Carrick. The captain was dropped after criticising the head coach’s tactics following Wednesday’s 4-1 defeat at Como in the Champions League, then stayed on the bench for the entire Bournemouth match. Carragher asked whether anyone could imagine facing Fernandes at the training ground the next day, and called the dressing room rancid.
Carragher was blunt about the remedy, saying Carrick “needs to be relieved of his duties tonight” for the good of both the club and the head coach. He argued Carrick would not want to sit in the dugout alongside those players. Neville, speaking on his podcast, offered a prediction: “They are probably going to sack him.”
The result leaves United just above the relegation zone following their worst-ever start to a Premier League season. The 3-0 loss at Old Trafford was an eighth game without a win in all competitions, and United are winless in their last eight matches. Carrick had taken over from Ruben Amorim in mid-season last year and led the club to Champions League football.
Old Trafford offered Carrick far more sympathy than it offered his squad. His name was chanted loudly after Bournemouth’s third goal, and his lengthy applause towards the supporters at full-time was immediately read as a farewell gesture, despite the defiant tone he struck afterwards. The players did not receive the same reception.
Neville accepted that Carrick is popular but directed the blame at the owners, the sporting department and the players, who he said had badly let the club down. He expects a decision the next day that is likely to disgust supporters yet is probably necessary, and said the chanting overlooks whether Carrick will still be manager.
Neville added that, with hindsight, the club should have pursued the best manager available last season rather than hand the job to Carrick, because he felt this outcome might arise. During match commentary he said it would become ridiculously difficult for Carrick to continue, and described a situation that has turned sour very quickly at a club in a mess.
