Gary Neville: Manchester United should not appoint Carrick permanently—they need a world-class coach

On Sunday, Manchester United suffered a 0-3 defeat to AFC Bournemouth at Old Trafford, leaving manager Michael Carrick in a precarious position where his sacking appears imminent. Gary Neville named three managers Manchester United should have pursued instead of Carrick.

On his podcast, Gary Neville stated forcefully: "When Michael first came in last season, I said that no matter what happened, even if he won every single game, we absolutely could not appoint him as the permanent manager. We had to go out and get the best manager we could get—the best in the world, someone who could manage Manchester United.

"If a manager costs £25 million a year, sell a player and use that money to hire the best manager. Whoever that is, find a way to get him to manage Manchester United, beg him to come.

"Everyone eventually fell into this trap, and Michael did get the job. In the end, especially towards the end, I was quite honest in saying that I could understand why some people would want to support his appointment.

"But I still believed that if there were better managers available, world-class coaches we could hire—like Ancelotti if he were available, or Pochettino—we should have gone for them.

"Emery as well. Go and get them. Because this is a massive football club, and the last five managers—Rangnick, Solskjaer, Carrick, Ten Hag, and Amorim—

"None of them had managed a Premier League team before. Solskjaer only managed Cardiff City for a few months; apart from that, none of them had Premier League management experience.

"They were all relatively young in their coaching careers, no one had won the Champions League, and no one had proven themselves at the Premier League level.

"They all worked their way up from lower tiers, which is fine in itself. But now, the club has appointed managers five times, and the football decisions have been worse each time.

"Dan Ashworth came in and was then forced out. Now, fans in the second half are also turning against Jason Wilcox.

"Wilcox shouldn't be in his current position either. He's a technical director with a background as an academy director, and he should have gradually gained experience and moved up under a sporting director.

"Suddenly, he's making the biggest decisions at one of the biggest football clubs in the world. He's been pushed into a position beyond his current qualifications and experience."

Gary Neville continued: "Michael Carrick will likely be sacked. Probably within the next two, twelve, or twenty-four hours.

"News broke last Thursday and Friday that Wilcox and Vivell (Manchester United's recruitment director) had disagreements over whether to choose Eddie Howe or Nagelsmann. There are also rumors that they have already spoken to both managers."