Michael Carrick is expected to become the latest Manchester United manager to be sacked, with the club's leadership once again preparing for a change at the helm. The move would continue a pattern that has become almost an annual event at Old Trafford.
Carrick has won just two of 11 games this season, and the odds on his departure are short. However, the odds on his replacement doing a better job are even shorter, according to Jeremy Cross, Chief Sports Writer.
A Poisoned Chalice
Carrick would join a long line of managers who have been left broken by the club, including David Moyes, Erik ten Hag, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Ruben Amorim. Each discovered that the club was so riddled with rot that the team was impossible to manage.
Managing United is no longer a privilege but a trip down a dead end of pain and suffering, Cross argues. The Glazers, as co-owners, are motivated by making money and do not care who manages the team. Sir Jim Ratcliffe, the controversial billionaire co-owner, thinks he knows how to run a club of United's size but is too arrogant to realise he does not.
Leadership Failures
Ratcliffe has previously claimed the UK has been "colonised by immigrants" and tried to tell Olympic hero Sir Ben Ainslie how to sail. He appointed Dan Ashworth as sporting director, then sacked him within six months. He tried but failed to appoint Thomas Tuchel, gave the job to Amorim, then sacked him and appointed Carrick.
The next manager will inherit a broken and divided squad, one without a left back or second striker. The team is led by a captain who has little respect for the current manager and thinks it acceptable to try and destroy him in public. The team seems satisfied with a draw at Leeds.
A Long Road Back
United have not won a league title since 2013, and the Champions League has not been conquered in almost two decades. The distance between them and their greatest rivals remains vast.
The rinse and repeat culture embedded into United's DNA has brought them to their knees again. As long as the Glazers and Ratcliffe continue to run the club, nothing will change for the better.
