Michael Carrick arrived at Manchester United's Carrington training ground at 7.45am on Wednesday and is set to lead a first-team session, while a high-level meeting in Monaco is expected to lead to his sacking as head coach.
For the second successive day, Carrick will oversee a session featuring the first-team players not away on international duty, alongside some academy youngsters. It could be his final day in charge of United, with a summit at Ineos in Monaco likely to seal his fate after a poor start to the season.
Meeting Expected to Recommend Sacking
Chief executive Omar Berrada and director of football Jason Wilcox are expected to recommend to co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe that Carrick be sacked, with United in the Premier League relegation zone after 10 games, having won only one. The decision will also require sign-off from the Glazer family, and with Berrada and Wilcox keen to deliver the news in person, it could be Thursday before Carrick is told he is losing his job after 32 games in charge.
Carrick came close to the sack two weeks ago after overseeing back-to-back defeats to Como and Bournemouth by a margin of three goals, but he was given an unexpected chance to prove to the club's hierarchy that he was the right man to turn things around.
Recent Form and Talks
The evidence since then has been unconvincing, although performances have improved. United played well in the first half in defeat to Chelsea, then fought back from 2-0 down to beat Roma in the Champions League. They were 2-0 and 4-2 down to Villa before salvaging an unlikely draw.
However, they have conceded eight goals in those three games, and Berrada and Wilcox held talks on Monday to assess whether Carrick had done enough to remain in the job. It is understood they have lost faith in his ability to turn the dire situation around.
