If Man Utd sack Carrick they shouldn’t touch Eddie Howe with a barge pole – ex-Premier League boss would do a better job

MICHAEL CARRICK is out of his depth with Manchester United suffering their joint-worst start in Premier League history. I’ve seen this before with five or six United managers – it gets to the point where they’ve gone past the point of no return. Michael Carrick is out of his depth with Man Utd’s joint-worst start in Premier League history Credit: Shutterstock Editorial But Red Devils chiefs should steer clear of Eddie Howe, who has previously been tipped for the job Credit: Reuters It’s an incredible spiral given how well he did in his first four months last season to earn him the job. Certain things have been out of Carrick‘s control, like being sold short in the summer transfer window. Sign up for the Man United newsletter Thank you! But with the players he’s got and the talent they possess, the results so far have been unacceptable. And it’s only going to get trickier in October with what looks like a pretty treacherous run of fixtures, ending with Chelsea on Halloween. That’s arguably the kindest away game. United are at Atletico Madrid, Leeds United and Como before then. Tottenham at home could be chaotic and Bournemouth have scored ten goals in their past three games at Old Trafford. You look at that run and think Carrick would actually do quite well to survive October, given that United have had seven games already this season. Most read in Sport BEST ONLINE CASINOS – TOP SITES IN THE UK They’ve only won two of them. Gary Neville called United a disgrace after the Fulham game and the running stats are damning. High intensity and high pressing are pretty much non-negotiables in modern football now. United have never been synonymous with either of them. When you watch United, they’re lethargic, but it’s almost a kind of deliberate lethargy. It just feels like Carrick is trying to turn back the clock and get United conserving energy for strong finishes, with a possible Fergie Time winner. There have not been many of those but there has been plenty of possession-based play at a glacial pace. It’s sterile. Man Utd ratings v Fulham Gary Neville labelled Man Utd’s 15 minutes before conceding at Fulham the worst he had seen Credit: Shutterstock Editorial United are not getting anywhere. Against Fulham they were seconds from losing to a team who started the day bottom of the league. Matheus Cunha‘s lucky goal will have quietened some of the noise. Carrick’s got some breathing space now without a game for the best part of three weeks. If United had lost it could have been pretty ugly. The usually patient United fans started to turn when they booed him for subbing Kobbie Mainoo. If it continues there will come a point where the board have to make a change. And the question is who would replace him? Antonio Conte would be a more appropriate appointment as Man Utd manager Credit: Getty Ticket + hotel room for Man Utd games GET tickets to see Man Utd at Old Trafford with our hand-picked deals. The packages include an official match ticket and an overnight stay in a nearby hotel. Man United Home Games⚽ 10 Oct v Tottenham Hotspur — BOOK HERE ⚽ 24 Oct v Bournemouth — BOOK HERE ⚽ 3 Nov v Roma — BOOK HERE ⚽ 7 Nov v Aston Villa — BOOK HERE More games available here. *If you click on a link in this article, we will earn affiliate revenue. Eddie Howe is favourite with bookies by default as he is available. He got ground down by Newcastle. If you’re going to get ground down there, you’re not going to hack it at Old Trafford. Howe’s a good coach. He’d be a worthy successor to Thomas Tuchel for England, but United should not be touching him with a barge pole. I’m not saying he should get the job, but someone who is available is Antonio Conte. If you put Conte in charge of United, he would do a better job with the defence than Carrick and probably overall. Just going off his defensive credentials as a player, his pedigree, the fact that Conte’s won titles in Italy. He did a reasonable job at Tottenham, certainly in his first seven months there, getting them into the Champions League. I’d have faith in Conte doing a better job than Carrick. But he’d likely last five minutes. That said, Amazon Prime would be pretty pleased to see him come on board for their documentary. Comment now