Manchester United will decide this week whether to remove head coach Michael Carrick from his position, following the club's worst start to a domestic season in 40 years.
United enter the international break in the relegation zone after winning just one of their 10 Premier League games so far this term. Sunday's dramatic 4-4 draw with Aston Villa, a match in which United twice fought back from two goals down, has left Carrick's fate in the balance after the Old Trafford hierarchy decided to persevere with their former midfielder during the last international break.
Club officials to weigh up managerial change
The Manchester Evening News reports that Manchester United will weigh up whether to make a managerial change this week. Carrick was handed a stay of execution during the last international break despite a chastening start to the campaign, with United giving him the most recent set of fixtures to transform the club's fortunes.
Those three games, against Chelsea, AS Roma and Villa, have yielded one loss, one win and one draw. Jason Wilcox, Manchester United's director of football, and chief executive Omar Berrada will decide Carrick's fate before making a recommendation to the club's ownership. The duo have themselves come in for strong criticism in the wake of the team's poor form.
Potential replacements touted
If Carrick is axed less than six months after being installed as United's permanent manager, it remains unclear where the club would turn. Eddie Howe and Julian Nagelsmann have both been touted as potential replacements and are out of work. Mauricio Pochettino, a previous United target, is another to have been tentatively linked with the Old Trafford hotseat again.
Carrick shot down suggestions that he could walk away following the draw at home to Villa, telling Sky Sports: "That's not going to happen." When it was then suggested there would "clearly be conversations" about his future, he replied: "Will there? You're telling me what you think. I'm quite clear what direction the club needs to go in. It's got to win games."
