Manchester United are winless in nine after a 2-0 defeat at Chelsea. Michael Carrick expects to stay for Roma, but who decides his future, and at what cost?
Michael Carrick says he expects to be in charge of Manchester United against Roma on Tuesday. After a ninth game without a win, that is the sum total of his job security.
United lost 2-0 at Chelsea on Saturday. Morgan Rogers put the home side ahead with a solo goal, Lisandro Martinez was sent off for a second yellow card, and Cole Palmer scored the penalty that came with it. BBC Sport timed Martinez's two fouls 83 seconds apart.
The run, in numbers
United are winless in nine in all competitions (three draws, six defeats), according to the Guardian's match report, which also counts a seventh defeat in 13 games. Sky Sports calls it their worst run since 1984, and the Guardian's Opta box says United last had a longer one in 1984 (10 games). BBC Sport dates the worst since 1988-89, so the benchmark differs by outlet. A week earlier they lost 3-0 at home to Bournemouth, and the Evening Standard reports that supporters booed the players and aimed their anger at the club's hierarchy.
At Stamford Bridge the away end sang Carrick's name, then booed the team. The Guardian also heard chants criticising director of football Jason Wilcox and urging the Glazers to sell.
A manager kept, not backed
The Standard reports that United decided this week to give Carrick the chance to turn things around. The Guardian was blunter about how that looked, describing the stay of execution as the consequence of "executive-level confusion".
Asked whether he expected to be in the dugout on Tuesday, Carrick said yes, according to Sky Sports. Sky also reports him saying that after a first half in which United had the game where they wanted it, things "unravelled quite quickly".
The dressing room
The subplot is internal. BBC Sport notes that Martinez had criticised United's summer recruitment 18 days before his red card. The Guardian says captain Bruno Fernandes, returned to the side after clear-the-air talks with Carrick, and Bookies.com reports that Fernandes had publicly questioned the manager's tactics.
The Guardian's reading is that Carrick is a symptom of United's problems rather than the cause, and that a new manager alone would not fix them.
The money question
Before Saturday's game, Bookies.com listed Carrick at 5/4 with Parimatch to be the next Premier League manager to lose his job, level with Crystal Palace's Pierre Sage. Those prices will have moved, and a betting price is not reporting. Bookies.com also noted that United had won only two of their first 12 games this season.
Who makes the call? BBC Sport reports that chief executive Omar Berrada, Wilcox and director of recruitment Christopher Vivell would weigh the options first, with minority owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe and co-chairs Joel and Avram Glazer holding the final say.
Sacking is not free. BBC Sport points out that Carrick and his staff would have to be paid up before United even reach the cost of a replacement.
Here is the sceptic's view. The manager is the cheapest line in United's budget and the easiest to change. The squad, the recruitment and the structure above him are slower and dearer to fix, and nobody at the top has yet shown which of those they are prepared to touch.
United host Roma in the Champions League on Tuesday, then Aston Villa on Sunday, a match Martinez will miss through suspension, BBC Sport reports.
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