Steve Holland has left Manchester United alongside manager Michael Carrick, but reports suggest the first-team coach was not as well liked as his superior and was the target of Bruno Fernandes' frustration.
The Carrick era at Old Trafford has ended after 174 days in the permanent job, which he earned by guiding United to third in the Premier League last season. The club dismissed him following a poor start to the current campaign, with United sitting 18th in the league and having won just one top-flight match. Mauricio Pochettino is set to take over.
Holland, the former England assistant, departed with Carrick on November 12. While Carrick received a club legend's farewell, Holland may not be missed as much.
Reports of clashes with players
According to Roundtable, Holland became unpopular during his time at Old Trafford. He was highly regarded when he first joined, but soon began clashing with players. One source described him as "extremely arrogant" and not a popular figure.
It is understood that Fernandes' comments after a Champions League loss to Como last month were aimed at Holland, not just Carrick. Following United's 4-1 defeat by the Italian side, Fernandes gave an explosive post-match interview.
Fernandes' post-match outburst
Fernandes told TNT Sports: "It's a decision from the staff to not press man-to-man and sometimes leave a little space in behind and try to get the ball in the first moment, to wait for them, to give them the ball."
He added: "But sometimes when you give too much of the ball to these teams they get confident, they have so many bodies behind the ball that make you run a lot, make people get frustrated and then obviously when you recover the ball the legs are, and the brain, much more difficult to make it work."
Questioned about the tactics, Fernandes said: "That's on the manager and on the staff to see it. It's not on me. I just said, I think sometimes we have to be more brave on the pressure, trying to take a risk of getting that press very high and making them uncomfortable - as they did to us."
Coaching staff departures
It now appears the reportedly disliked Holland was the catalyst behind the club captain breaking ranks. Fellow coach Jonathan Woodgate was also said to have been considered too inexperienced by some staff.
However, not all of the cohort were judged in such a manner. Reports state that Travis Binnion was respected and goalkeeping coach Craig Mawson was well liked. Both departed alongside Carrick, as did Jonny Evans, with Pochettino set to bring in his own staff, including long-time assistant Jesus Perez.
