Reports came in yesterday that Bruno Fernandes and Michael Carrick had a chat in person, and were ready to put their differences aside to help the side get out of arguably the worst week in United’s post-Ferguson era. Fernandes spent all of last week’s game against Bournemouth on the bench in what looked like Michael Carrick’s last game as manager for the club. It has since been reported that the higher-ups will stick with Carrick – not because they believe in him, but because they’re not convinced
by the options on the table. It’s also been reported that the cost of firing him and hiring a new manager isn’t something they want to consider at the moment.
There are a few things to look at here: Michael Carrick and Bruno Fernandes have a relationship that goes back much further than the one that two share with the higher-ups. If there was a breakdown in the relationship, it can be amended, but that’s not the problem here. Michael Carrick and Bruno Fernandes are victims of the board’s incompetence. Not to mention, there’s no reason why Omar Berrada, Jason Wilcox, and Christopher Vivell should survive if Michael Carrick is to depart, never mind be responsible for hiring his successor.
There’s nothing to suggest that they are up for the job based on their revised credentials, following the charges on Manchester City in the case of Berrada and Wilcox, or their record since taking responsibility at Old Trafford. Worse still, if the idea is to save money, no one really believes that it will be spent wisely in the January transfer window.
Teams have turned around worse situations, though. We only have to look at Arsenal’s start to the 2021-2022 season; they were coming from a worse place, but the small wins followed before the big ones. This requires trust, which INEOS didn’t show Michael Carrick in the summer, and accountability, which they haven’t taken during this tumultuous period. Sometimes airing one’s views and experiencing last week’s lows can be cathartic, but United will visit Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on the weekend. As inconsistent as Chelsea are, this is a difficult fixture. The fragile truce will matter little on Saturday.
