The week-long wait ended in a ten-minute conversation. Michael Carrick arrived at Carrington on Thursday morning and was told by chief executive Omar Berrada and director of football Jason Wilcox that his time as Manchester United head coach was over — less than six months after signing a two-year contract, and with the club sitting in the Premier League relegation zone.
Sky Sports reports that the decision was ratified by co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe at the Monaco summit earlier this week, following a recommendation from Berrada and Wilcox. talkSPORT reports Carrick was informed at the training base on Thursday morning after a drawn-out process in which he had taken training all week while his successor was being lined up — the agreement in principle with Mauricio Pochettino that was reached on Wednesday.
Ten months from saviour to sacked
The speed of the fall is hard to take in. Carrick was appointed in January after Ruben Amorim's sacking, won 12 of his first 17 matches, dragged United to third place and a Champions League return, and was rewarded in May with a permanent deal running to 2028. He was even nominated for Premier League Manager of the Season.
This season collapsed almost immediately. United have won one of their first 10 league matches — fewer than any other top-flight side — and sit 18th with eight points: the club's worst-ever start to a Premier League season. Sunday's wild 4-4 draw with Aston Villa, in which United fell 2-0 down inside four minutes and then 4-2 down before rescuing a point, was his final match. Three wins in 15 games in all competitions this term ended the argument, and the board process that began at the judgement day meeting in Monaco has now run its course. In total Carrick oversaw 32 games, winning 15.
Pochettino's arrival has a Haiti-sized delay
United are not starting their search now — they finished it before they sacked the manager. Pochettino, considered for this job three times before, has an agreement in place to become the club's eighth permanent head coach since Sir Alex Ferguson retired in 2013. But he is unlikely to be in the dugout quickly: Sky Sports reports he is expected to remain in charge of the United States for their Nations League quarter-final against Haiti on Saturday and again on Wednesday before starting work at Old Trafford.
Freeing him will cost money as well as time. Pochettino signed a new USA contract in August running to the 2030 World Cup, and Sky Sports News understands it contains a release clause of around £7 million, with talks with the US Soccer Federation expected to gather pace in the coming days. Who leads United in the meantime — for training this week, and potentially beyond — has not been confirmed.
Anfield is ten days away, and the drop is real
The fixture list offers no mercy. United's next Premier League match is Liverpool away on 22 November, which means Pochettino's first game could be at Anfield, an interim could be asked to hold the fort there, or the new man gets a matter of days with a squad short on confidence. Gary Neville's warning on Sky Sports cut to the heart of it: United can keep changing the manager and believing that is the answer, but over 12 years that has been proven not to be the answer on its own.
For the dressing room, the reset is total. Pochettino's record of improving young players — and of backing African talent, from Victor Wanyama, whom he signed for both Southampton and Tottenham, to Nicolas Jackson's breakthrough season under him at Chelsea — will be tested in a relegation fight, not a title race. January backing is expected, but the first job is survival football: eight points from ten games is a pace that sends even big clubs down if it holds until Christmas.
Beyond the Final Whistle verdict: sacking Carrick was probably unavoidable — one win in ten and a place in the relegation zone leaves no board anywhere with a choice — but the manner of it, a club legend taking training while his replacement was agreed behind him, is the part United should be ashamed of. Pochettino is a serious coach walking into an unserious structure, and Neville is right: until the leadership above the dugout is fixed, the man inside it is only ever renting time.
Was sacking Carrick the right call — and can Pochettino keep United up, or is this the same trap in a new coat? Give us your verdict in the comments.
