Neville sends blunt Carrick sack message and points finger of blame at Man Utd

Gary Neville says Michael Carrick won't last 24 hours as Manchester United manager after they were thrashed by Bournemouth, but believes the blame lies elsewhere.

United dropped to 16th place in the Premier League after their 3-0 defeat at Old Trafford on Sunday. Carrick was only appointed permanent boss in the summer, but could already be sacked just 12 games into the 2026/27 season.

The 45-year-old has overseen just two wins all season, with their seven points from eight league games representing the club's worst start to campaign since 1986/87. United executives have already reportedly been sounding out replacements and key figures Jason Wilcox and Omar Berrada were inside Old Trafford to witness another miserable defeat on Sunday.

Neville was on co-commentary for the match and let rip at the two club chiefs post-match, claiming his former team-mate was a "dead man walking" before the match even kicked off.

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"The fans have turned on Jason Wilcox in the second half," he said on Sky Sports. "Jason Wilcox shouldn't be in the position. He's a technical director who has had an academy director background, making the journey up beneath a sporting director and all of a sudden he's making the biggest decisions at one of the biggest football clubs in the world. He's been thrust into a position ahead of his time.

"Omar Berrada is someone who has not been in a CEO position before in a football club. There's a lack of experience generally in the roles they've got and it's all coming home to roost again.

"Michael Carrick, they're probably going to sack him in the next two hours, 12 hours, 24 hours. The rumours coming out on Thursday or Friday were that Wilcox and [Christopher] Vivell are torn over whether it'll be Eddie Howe or Julian Nagelsmann and they've spoken to these two managers.

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"So Michael Carrick's a dead man walking already. He's coming into his press conference on Friday, doing a five-minute monologue, which is effectively just the club history, the players who've played for the club, the managers who have represented the club. That's the end."

Carrick said he was "not expecting anything" when asked in his post-match press conference if he could be sacked on Sunday night. But he appeared emotional while clapping the fans as he walked off the pitch, having been backed from the stands.

"It's a tough situation, there's no hiding from it," Carrick told Sky Sports when asked about his future. "But what it looks like and what's next, I really don't know. I will always do what's best for this football club, I've said it all along and I don't change that now.

"I love what I do, I love the position I'm in. I feel the responsibility but we'll have to wait and see."

Jamie Carragher feels that Carrick would like to be put out of his misery. "He wants to be changed. He does," Carragher said on Sky Sports. "He doesn't want to be sitting in the dugout again for Manchester United with those players. He doesn't.

"What we're watching now is a situation where it becomes untenable for everybody. Nobody is actually enjoying watching Michael Carrick at the moment.

"Can you imagine going into the training ground tomorrow and facing Bruno Fernandes after not bringing him on in that situation? He doesn't want to be involved in that. He wants to be put out of his misery tonight."