Gary Neville has branded Manchester United “classless” over the handling of Michael Carrick’s departure. The former midfielder was sacked as manager on Thursday morning after a difficult start to the season.
Carrick and his staff were told on Thursday morning that they had been relieved of their duties. Plans are in place to recruit Mauricio Pochettino, the former Chelsea and Tottenham boss who currently manages the USA, as his replacement.
Decision made after Monaco meeting
Executives Omar Berrada and Jason Wilcox informed Carrick in person on Thursday, following a meeting with co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe in Monaco on Wednesday to finalise his fate. Reports of the club reaching an agreement with Pochettino had already been circulating.
Pochettino is set to become the new United boss after he concludes the immediate international break with the USA. United have taken initial steps to arrange a compensation package reportedly in the region of £7 million to secure his services.
Neville criticises timing
Speaking on the Overlap’s Stick to Football podcast, former United captain Neville said the process feels “clumsy” as he criticised the owners and board for how they handled the future of his old team-mate.
“We’re sat here today (before Thursday) recording this programme knowing that Michael Carrick is going to be sacked tomorrow, knowing that they’re speaking to Mauricio Pochettino, knowing that they’ve spoken to (Julian) Nagelsmann, (Eddie) Howe – and they should be doing that by the way, I’m not saying they shouldn’t be doing that,” he said.
“But I think the fact they’re in Monaco now and they can’t sack him today knowing that it’s happening, to me it just feels a little bit clumsy, it feels a little bit classless. I think if you live in Monaco, you can’t leave a guy hanging for 24 or 48 hours just because you live in Monaco, that can’t happen.”
Relegation zone struggles
In May, Carrick was appointed on a permanent basis until 2028 having taken interim charge in January, but the club have struggled so far this term. United are in the Premier League relegation zone with just eight points, having won only one of their 10 league matches this season.
Neville praised Pochettino for the physical fitness instilled within his teams, in a warning to the current Old Trafford squad. “One thing we do know about him is he does run his players, he does put physical fitness really at the top of the agenda. He’s always had fit teams, whether they’ve won or not won,” Neville said.
“We used to train at Tottenham’s training ground when I was with England and they used to have that Tuesday – I’m calling it terror Tuesday, but it wasn’t called terror Tuesday – it was called something like that, his run was famous at that time in terms of what he does with every team, he does run them. They were always fit his teams, to be fair. That’s one thing I think he will deal with straight away, he’s obviously got a lot of experience now, he knows how to coach a team.”
