The game is up for Carrick - but Man Utd are a shambles of a football club

A huge banner unfurled in the Stretford End said it all in one word. The message simply said: “Standards” written alongside pictures of Bryan Robson, Roy Keane and Eric Cantona.

How this great club has fallen. From the glory days of those Manchester United legends to this utter shambles at Old Trafford. Sadly, this must be the last rites for Michael Carrick’s reign because there is simply no way that he can survive this abject humiliation.

At the final whistle, Carrick went to each corner of the ground as if he was saying goodbye. The game is up. It is always the manager who ends up paying.

This will go down as one of the worst, most damaging and shocking defeats United have ever suffered at Old Trafford. You actually felt sorry for Carrick as he looked lost on the touchline.

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Carrick’s attempt to stir some of reaction with his emotional, heartfelt five-minute and 25 second monologue followed by the bold decision to drop Bruno Fernandes did not work.

Instead, yet another manager has been left heading for the scrapheap as Old Trafford should be renamed the Theatre of Nightmares.

Carrick was clearly calling out United’s current generation when he said they should follow the example of there likes of Wayne Rooney and Sir Bobby Charlton by showing “sacrifice and hard work.”

But United were meek, spineless and pathetic. They showed no fight for the manager, no passion for the fans and were an absolute disorganised mess.

Bournemouth played United off the pitch. They were sensational. But United were as bad as Bournemouth were good. By the end, Old Trafford had turned toxic.

The Stretford End was chanting: “Sell United, now f*** off home.” They turned on the Glazers and Sir Jim Ratcliffe. Then they saved the encore with a chorus of abuse for director of football Jason Wilcox.

Old Trafford was half empty by the final whistle and when United fans - some of the best and most loyal in the country - have given up then you know it is all over.

This has descended into an ugly civil war. The club has lost its way thanks to bad ownership, bad recruitment and too many players who are not fit to wear this famous old shirt.

These days, the loudest rumbling from the Old Trafford crowd comes when Harry Maguire ventures forward. At least he showed some heart. But that is not enough.

The real surprise was that it took Bournemouth so long to score. Ayden Heaven was booked for a mindless two-footed challenge. Justin Kluivert swung over a free kick and there was Brazil star Rayan completely unmarked to fire home at the back post after 38 minutes.

The second goal was comically bad. Lenny Yoro chased down a long ball, slipped and let in Adrien Truffert. His cross was turned home by Marcus Tavernier. That is when the United fans unfurled their Standards banner.

United were just lucky that Bournemouth were so wasteful. It could have been five or six. The third goal came after 71 minutes.

Lewis Cook’s long ball forward was chased down by Evanilson. The Bournemouth striker rounded keeper Senne Lammens and then showed fabulous skill to curl a shot into the top corner.

We used to expect those sort of great moments of magic from United. Now the opponents come to Old Trafford to showcase their talent and humiliate this once great club.

Tellingly, Fernandes - the player dropped days after questioning Carrick’s tactics - never came off the bench. But no-one could really question that decision. He has been so poor this season. Yet another player blaming everyone but himself.

Even more revealing, the United fans chanted Carrick’s name just before the final whistle. At the end, Carrick was actually cheered as he went round the ground to thank the fans while thumping his chest to show the club is in his heart.

But those same fans let Carrick leave the pitch - and then turn their anger on the players who were roundly booed as they went down the tunnel. The Old Trafford faithful have decided who is to blame. And it is certainly not Carrick.