Carrick & Sage facing sack - but who replaces them?

David Ornstein (0:01)

The Athletic FC.

Emma Paton (0:07)

Manchester United are expected to sack Michael Carrick as head coach. The Red Devils are in the relegation places after just one Premier League win all season. So why now? And who could be in the dugout when United travel to Anfield after the international break? Welcome to The Athletic FC Podcast.

Hi, everyone. It is Emma here and it is Tuesday, which means one thing. In the studio with me, it is the Athletic senior football writer, James Horncastle.

David Ornstein (0:37)

Hello.

James Horncastle (0:37)

Hey, Emma.

Emma Paton (0:38)

How are we doing?

James Horncastle (0:39)

I'm very well, thank you.

Emma Paton (0:40)

Yeah. Raring to go on a Tuesday morning? Feeling good?

James Horncastle (0:43)

Indeed, as always. As always. A lot to go into.

Emma Paton (0:46)

Yeah. Got your coffee with you. So that's a good start, isn't it?

Down the line, from Costa del Salford, is our football correspondent, David Ornstein. Hello. It's not quite South Africa, is it?

David Ornstein (0:57)

Now, I was going to say from Costa to Costa del Salford, but James doesn't drink from Costa. He only imbibes the finest Italian roast.

Welcome to the Grim North. Although it feels like, even though I'm not with you, it's deja vu, like we've recorded this podcast about three or four times already. And I guess that's symptomatic of Manchester United in this rinse and repeat journey there on. So let's get stuck in.

Emma Paton (1:21)

Yeah, let's get stuck in because there is loads to get stuck into. I just want to mark your card, by the way. Later on, we're going to be joined by senior video producer and long-suffering Palace fan Reuben Pinder with Pierre Sage, also set to leave Selhurst Park. But it has been a torrid start to the campaign for Manchester United, and they are guaranteed to spend at least the next couple of weeks in the relegation zone. And at one point on Sunday, I mean, at the bottom of the live Premier League table. David, you and our colleagues on The Athletic, Laurie Whitwell and Adam Crafton reported the news last night that Carrick is expected to go.

So tell us what you know.

David Ornstein (1:57)

Yeah, our understanding is that United have decided to make a change in the coaching department, and that would see Michael Carrick relieved of his duties. We don't know exact timings. Manchester United, at the time of recording this, are insisting that no final decision has been made, and that the situation is not resolved one way or the other.

Nothing is set in stone, is the word coming from Old Trafford. However, multiple sources that we've spoken to on various sides of this anticipate that a change will indeed be made, and that there will be a new person in the dugout, quite possibly for the Liverpool game. When the Premier League resumes, such a big fixture that is as well. Michael Carrick, as we speak, is leading training, not too far from where I'm speaking to you at Carrington with his staff. So I guess it's sort of business as usual in that sense. And largely that will be because the United sporting executives, which is Jason Wilcox, the sporting director, Omar Barada as chief executive, they'll need to seek ultimate approval for any such decision from ownership, which is Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who has sporting control, and the Glazers, who remain majority shareholders.

United have been exploring alternative options, which I guess you have to do in this position, they're in the relegation zone. And so, yeah, yet again, we're on course for a change in the dugout at Old Trafford and everything that comes with that and so much more.

Emma Paton (3:23)

We'll get on to some of those options in a little bit, but James, you said on the show last week that you expected expected Carrick to be dismissed. Of course, over that period of time, we saw that dramatic late comeback at Old Trafford against Roma in the Champions League, and that crazy and chaotic for all draw with Aston Villa. And clearly, I mean, those two results and those two performances haven't saved him.

James Horncastle (3:47)

No. And I think, look, it's getting on towards a month now since Lisandro Martinez came out after the Atletico Madrid game and sort of rang all kinds of alarm bells, if they weren't ringing already, about the direction of the club, the job the technical director has been doing, and the recruitment, which kind of gives the feeling that the club was short. And then what was it, a week later, they lose in Como, and you had Bruno Fernandes question the manager's tactics. A week is a long time in politics. I think it's become a very long time in football these days, because if you're playing every three days, the risk of you kind of losing time and losing positions in the league is a big one. And I think the longer that United have dwelled on this, the worse the situation has got, I think it actually makes the job less appealing, because you are, I mean, we are recording this on a Tuesday of an international break. As David says, they're expected to sack him, but they haven't sacked him yet. It would leave the impression that they haven't got somebody lined up or they haven't got a deal done with somebody yet, which means they're kind of wasting more and more time. And they're 10 points away from the Champions League places.