Manchester United latest as Michael Carrick's future as manager in serious doubt after Sunday's 3-0 defeat to Bournemouth
'Talks on Carrick's future continue as Fernandes, Berrada & Wilcox arrive at training ground', reports Simon Stone
Man Utd have suffered a torrid few weeks, with heavy defeats and players criticising the club and tactics in the media
Many fans directed a lot of their frustrations at the players and those running the club, rather than at Carrick
Have your say - Dave says, 'Why is always the manager who pays the price?'
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Why do the players have a day off today? After performances lately they need more training. They don't work hard enough in the game to need a day off to recover.
M Dean, Wales
Man Utd 0-3 Bournemouth
Manchester United manager Michael Carrick brushed off questions about his future when speaking with Sky Sports after Sunday's 3-0 defeat at home to Bournemouth.
Carrick on an emotional day at Old Trafford: "The third goal, the fans were there waiting for us to get something in the game second half if we'd got one chance, one goal in the second half they would have been with us. We just couldn't find that moment and that third goal is a killer moment. From that time it was what it was.
"It's obvious to say that - strange mixed emotions of a finish of a game. Not a nice way to end the game."
On the players' emotions: "Tough day for them - we went into the game being rocked a bit and you could feel that on the pitch. They kept going and they're disappointed, they're hurt. The players are feeling it. It's not a nice feeling when you see the disappointment. It is what it is, you have to accept it and that's the situation we're in at the moment.
"It's difficult for me to have a day like this at this club and feel the emotion - the dynamic of what it was like today. Not for me personally, but for Man Utd. It was really mixed today. I feel a lot of responsibility, I've been at the club a long time. It hurts an awful lot to see us going through this at this moment in time."
On leaving Bruno Fernandes on the bench: "There's always times when you're trying to make decisions that are to change the course of play and made a difference but those are the decisions we made today."
On his lap of the pitch at full-time: "It wasn't a farewell from me. I've mixed emotions, I'm feeling it for my players, they're going through a tough spell. Some of it we can help, some of it the situation unravels and the boys are feeling it at the moment. Mixed emotions for the supporters to respond in that way.
"To have that connection with the supporters, it's mixed emotions, it'll take a bit of time to digest but I certainly appreciate their support. The situation is where we are and we haven't had results or performances that have been good enough.
"It's a tough situation, there's no hiding from it. What it looks like and what's next I really don't know. I will always do my best for the football club and I won't change that now. I love what I do and I feel the responsibility - we'll have to wait and see."
Image source, Getty ImagesMan Utd 0-3 Bournemouth
Simon Stone
BBC Sport Manchester United reporter
Manchester United skipper Bruno Fernandes' only involvement at Old Trafford yesterday was in the warm-ups and post-game lap of appreciation to a rapidly emptying Old Trafford, which voiced their displeasure at Michael Carrick's squad in no uncertain manner.
Fernandes is at United's Carrington training ground today, for pre-planned treatment on an injury Portugal coach Jorge Jesus revealed last month the midfielder was carrying.
Kobbie Mainoo, Marcus Rashford, Benjamin Sesko, Luke Shaw and Manuel Ugarte, who all missed the Bournemouth game through injury, are also there.
So too are chief executive Omar Berrada and director of football Jason Wilcox.
Carrick isn't there as his players have a day off but talks about his position are thought to be continuing.
Image source, Getty ImagesThanks Simon, not your fault but I have just started humming the Disney tune "We Don't Talk About Bruno". Fans of the film Encanto will know the one.
Anyway, we actually do need to talk about Bruno, as he's among the injured players who reported for treatment at Carrington this morning...
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It won’t be a popular view, but the first thing I’d do is get rid of Bruno. He’s been our best player for years now, but I believe he is the bad apple in the dressing room and the source of the awful attitude of the players.
Simon, Worcester
Man Utd 0-3 Bournemouth
Simon Stone
BBC Sport Manchester United reporter
Image source, Getty ImagesIt is a miserable day weather wise, which just sums up the mood of most Manchester United fans today after successive three-goal hammerings.
Michael Carrick's squad have a day off today, which gives space for the hierarchy to decide what to do about the present situation.
They could of course decide to let Michael Carrick take charge for Saturday's trip to Chelsea, in which case it will be business as usual.
If not, who will take training tomorrow?
Former United midfielder and current Under-18s coach Darren Fletcher took over on an interim basis following Ruben Amorim's dismissal in January.
Fletcher was assisted by former team-mate Jonny Evans, who had resigned his role as United's head of loans, and Travis Binnion, who was the head of the club's academy.
Evans and Binnion subsequently became part of Carrick's coaching team and were confirmed on a permanent basis in the summer.
Man Utd 0-3 Bournemouth
'Love United, Hate Glazers' is a protest movement that has grown and grown since the family's leveraged takeover of Manchester United in 2005.
The banner is front and centre at protests outside Old Trafford...
Image source, Getty Images...inside Old Trafford...
Image source, Getty Images...and at away grounds...
Image source, Getty ImagesMinority owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe was supposed to help the club move on from that era of protest, but instead those protests are now also being directed towards him...
Image source, Getty ImagesMan Utd 0-3 Bournemouth
Sir Jim Ratcliffe arrived with the promise of fixing Manchester United.
The Glazers have remained in control, INEOS has reshaped the football operation, and a new leadership structure has been put in place.
The club has been through a lot of change behind the scenes, from cost-cutting and redundancies to changes in senior football personnel.
Recruitment remains under scrutiny, while supporters continue to question the direction of the club and the role of its owners.
Omar Berrada and Jason Wilcox are central to the current football structure, with responsibility for the recruitment. Ratcliffe and INEOS, meanwhile, have taken charge of the club itself.
These are different roles with different responsibilities, but they all play a part in how the team operates.
Carrick's results will inevitably determine the level of pressure on him. The bigger question is whether the people who appointed him, built the squad and set the strategy will face consequences.
Man Utd 0-3 Bournemouth
Image source, Getty ImagesFormer Manchester United defender Gary Neville, speaking on his podcast, questioned whether the club's ongoing problems will once again lead to the manager taking the blame, rather than those responsible for decisions higher up.
Neville was scathing about United's performance, describing it as "a shocker, a nothing of a performance" and accusing players of "switching off and downing tools".
While praising Carrick's integrity and professionalism, Neville questioned whether the manager had been able to get a response from this squad.
Neville's wider concern was the club's repeated failure to get things right at the top, despite numerous managerial changes.
"There has got to be consequences above that," he said. "You can't keep letting the [same] people pick the manager who keep getting it wrong."
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We almost need relegation to reset. The Glazers may see significant value wiped off the club and be open to sale. The players would be refreshed and a squad built. But it would be from a sensible starting point of growth. Maybe relegation and reset is the holistic answer.
Tim, Chorley
Man Utd 0-3 Bournemouth
Simon Stone
BBC Sport Chief Football News Reporter at Old Trafford
Manchester United's fans delivered their own verdict on the performance [against Bournemouth] as Michael Carrick disappeared down the tunnel to the dressing room.
After repeatedly singing the former midfielder's name, as soon as he was out of view they turned on the players.
The booing lasted until the last of them, Diogo Dalot, left the pitch. They simply feel they are either not good enough or don't care enough, or both.
But there was more, much more.
The game was less than a minute old when the first anti-Glazer and anti-Sir Jim Ratcliffe songs were heard.
The Glazer family have been public enemy number one among the United faithful ever since their leveraged takeover in 2005.
The debt they initially landed on the club has now grown to over £1.15bn, according to their latest accounts. The amount it has cost in interest is £852m, according to respected football finance blogger Swiss Ramble. In the last financial year, the interest payment was £37m, an increase from £34m the previous year.
The argument is, that money could have been used far more productively to sign better players.
There had been hope Ratcliffe, a boyhood United fan, would change that when he struck a deal with the Glazers to become a minority shareholder on Christmas Eve 2023.
Instead, a succession of decisions have led to major questions over his handling of the club.
Is Michael Carrick the problem at Manchester United?
Man Utd 0-3 Bournemouth
Rene Meulensteen
Former Manchester United coach on BBC Radio 5 Live
Former Manchester United coach Rene Meulensteen has been speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live this morning and says the "stability and continuity" that Sir Alex Ferguson built has been replaced by "incompetence and inconsistency".
He said: “Everybody that is close to Man Utd keeps saying the same thing over a number of years now and it’s evidently been there since Sir Alex Ferguson left 13 years ago. You can hardly be complimentary of the things that have happened at Old Trafford in those 13 years.
"The stability and continuity that Sir Alex Ferguson built over so many years, the success that goes with it, the culture that goes with it has all disappeared and replaced by some level of incompetence and inconsistency. Everybody can see that now.”
On the ownership: “You need a person with very strong characteristic personality traits who’s got a very clear vision about how he wants things to be run in and around that first-team football thing.
"But he would run into the same problem as Amorim did, as Carrick did, where you don’t have any say in your transfer window, you don’t get the backing you need and so all the managers will struggle no matter who you put in front.
"The main issues are driven by the ownership and as long as the ownership are still there, because they’ve got Man United in a headlock, nothing will change.”
Man Utd 0-3 Bournemouth
Image source, Getty ImagesWith so much discussion around what is going wrong at Old Trafford, it's worth looking at who is actually running the show at Manchester United?
They retain control of the majority of voting rights, having owned United since 2005. Their leveraged takeover, the debit placed on the club and a perceived lack of investment have fuelled years of supporter protests.
Ratcliffe bought a stake in 2024 and took control of football operations. Intially welcomed by some supporters as a potential solution to the Glazers' ownership, he has since faced crisitcm over cost-cutting, redunancies, ticket prices and sporting decisions.
He oversees the club's executive operations, linking the boardroom with the football department.
He has a central role in recruitment, squad planning and the wider football structure.
Ultimately, until Manchester United address the problems at every level of the club, from the boardroom to the dugout, the question of who's to blame will continue to circle Old Trafford.
When Simon Stone says that a third dismissal in three seasons would not reflect well on "anyone" - who exactly is the "anyone" he is referring to?
Manchester United supporters, of course, know only too well.
But for those not in the know, here is a rundown of exactly who is in charge at Old Trafford...
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The squad is never going to improve if they keep sacking managers so often. Every year they get new players in to play a new system and now it's just a jumbled mess. They need to copy Arsenal, who stuck with Arteta and ended up with a good squad.
Declan, Preston
The problem is Fergie and the lack of succession planning. He should have identified his successor and ‘bedded him in’ in his last few seasons as manager.
Vipul, Oxford
Man Utd 0-3 Bournemouth
Simon Stone
BBC Sport Chief Football News Reporter at Old Trafford
Manchester United's hierarchy eventually backed Erik ten Hag after talking with alternatives in the wake of the shock 2024 FA Cup final triumph over Manchester City, spending over £200m on the likes of Leny Yoro, Matthijs de Ligt and Manuel Ugarte.
Last week, Ten Hag told the Athletic, external the club went back on a promise not to sell homegrown Scotland international Scott McTominay to fund Ugarte's £50m move from Paris St-Germain. They sacked the Dutchman in October 2024.
After that they persuaded Ruben Amorim to leave Sporting mid-season, when he wanted to wait until the summer.
They stuck with him after an unprecedented 15th-place finish, and again after United lost to League Two Grimsby in the EFL Cup, then sacked him in January when he clashed with director of football Jason Wilcox over the playing style.
That led to Michael Carrick's arrival to the end of the season, which turned into a permanent appointment after he guided the club back into the Champions League after a two-year absence.
A third dismissal in three seasons would not reflect well on anyone.
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Let’s be honest, the only reason Howe would get the job is because the owners know they can control him. It’d be the same cycle all over again. Conte or Nagelsmann would actually challenge them, expose the cracks and hold them accountable and that’s exactly what the owners wouldn’t want!
Imran, Leicester
Man Utd 0-3 Bournemouth
A number of names have been doing the rounds on the gossip pages.
Antonio Conte felt the need to release a statement on Friday to scupper rumours that he was in advanced negotiations with the board and demanded full control over transfers.
That followed a Telegraph report that former Germany head coach Julian Nagelsmann, external would be interested to speak with the club's power-brokers, if the position became available.
And the latest is that former Newcastle manager Eddie Howe would also be open to holding talks, if Michael Carrick was to leave his post.
Man Utd 0-3 Bournemouth
Image source, Getty ImagesManchester United seem to be stuck in a managerial cycle they can't break.
Since Sir Alex Ferguson's departure in 2013, several managers have tried and failed to restore the club to it's former success.
Ruben Amorim was sacked in January, despite losing just one of his final six Premier League games.
Now, 10 months later, Michael Carrick is facing mounting pressure after a 4-1 Champions League defeat to Como and a 3-0 loss to Bournemouth.
United have won just one of their eight league games this season, with only two wins in 12 matches across all competitions. (The United Strand is never going to cut his hair...)
Looking back at previous managers, David Moyes lasted less than a season, while Louis van Gaal was dismissed shortly after winning the FA Cup.
Jose Mourinho's time ended after poor results and tensions with players and the club.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was also sacked after a disappointing run.
Erik ten Hag also paid the price for a poor start to the season, despite winning two trophies.
Amorim's exit came after increasing public tensions with the club's leadership, in particular Jason Wilcox, and their apparent desire to move him away from his preferred 3-4-3 system.
If Carrick is the next to go, the club must ask whether another manager will solve the problems that have always seemed to haunt them.
That's Sir Alex to you Steven.
Just joking. Your point does beg the question of what Harry Maguire is supposed to call his manager?
I guess 'gaffer' is tried and tested, but how long does a manager need to be in the job before they rise to that elevated status?
The problem at Manchester United since Sir Alex Ferguson's departure is that no managers have been around long enough to find out...
