Michael Carrick signing autographs after Millwall v Middlesbrough

Manchester United Sack Michael Carrick After Worst League Start in 40 Years

November 12, 2026 Faizan Altaf

Manchester United have sacked head coach Michael Carrick, ending a ten-month reign that began with a remarkable rescue act and collapsed into the club’s worst start to a league season in 40 years.

The club confirmed on Thursday, 12 November 2026, that Carrick had departed his role as men’s first-team head coach. United sit 18th in the Premier League, in the relegation zone, with only one win and eight points from their first ten league games.

It is the third season in a row that United have changed their manager in the middle of a campaign — and Carrick is the seventh permanent manager to lose the job since Sir Alex Ferguson retired in 2013.

What happened on Thursday

Carrick arrived at United’s Carrington training ground shortly before 8am on Thursday, as he had done for training on Tuesday and Wednesday. Within a short time, he was told face to face that he was no longer the manager, and he left the training ground soon afterwards.

The club then issued a short statement confirming the decision.

“Manchester United can confirm that Michael Carrick has departed his role as men’s first-team head coach,” the statement said.

“After a disappointing start to the season, the club has come to the extremely difficult conclusion that a change is necessary in order to achieve our ambitions,” it added. “The club intends to appoint a permanent successor as quickly as possible.”

The statement also paid tribute to the man who had saved United’s season less than a year earlier.

“Michael is, and always will be, a Manchester United legend,” it said. “Just as he did as a player, he has conducted himself with the highest standards of dedication and professionalism throughout his time back with the club. His leadership and achievements last season will always be fondly remembered.”

The decision followed a meeting in Monaco involving minority owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe, chief executive Omar Berrada and director of football Jason Wilcox, according to BBC Sport.

A season that fell apart

The numbers behind Carrick’s sacking are stark. United have gone eight Premier League games without a win. They have won only one of their first ten league matches, collecting just eight points. It is their worst start to a season in 40 years.

The defence has been the biggest problem. United have conceded 30 goals this season, according to BBC Sport — only Lens have conceded more among clubs in Europe’s five leading leagues. They have let in 15 goals in their last five games alone.

There have been flashes of fight. Last week, United came from 2-0 down to beat Roma in the Champions League in the final minutes. On Sunday, they trailed Aston Villa 2-0 inside four minutes at Old Trafford, fell 4-2 behind, and still scored twice in stoppage time to rescue a chaotic 4-4 draw.

But those comebacks papered over the cracks rather than fixing them. United have won only one of their last 11 matches in all competitions, and the Villa draw — entertaining as it was — left them in the bottom three going into the international break.

The fans made their feelings clear during the recent home defeat to Bournemouth, when the Stretford End sang in support of Carrick while directing angry chants at the Glazer family and Sir Jim Ratcliffe. Some supporters threw objects onto the pitch during protests last week.

Why the board acted now

Poor results were the main reason, but they were not the only one. BBC Sport’s Manchester United correspondent Simon Stone reported that dressing-room tensions, injuries and disagreements over transfer recruitment all contributed to the decision.

The clearest sign of trouble came in October, after United lost 4-1 to Como in the Champions League. Captain Bruno Fernandes publicly criticised the team’s passive tactics when they did not have the ball. Carrick responded by leaving his captain out of the starting line-up for the next match, against Bournemouth, calling it a “pure football” decision. It was the first time Carrick had named a Premier League starting side without Fernandes, according to Opta.

Fernandes returned to the team for the following match against Chelsea but made little impact in another disappointing defeat. Lisandro Martinez, another player who has publicly criticised the club’s recruitment policy and leadership during the slump, was sent off against Chelsea after receiving two yellow cards and conceding a penalty. He was then dropped from the starting line-up for the Roma match.

In other words, the manager was losing the argument in public as well as on the pitch. When a captain questions the tactics and senior players question the recruitment, a board that is already worried about results rarely waits for things to improve on their own.

The international break gave the board its moment. With no league match until 22 November, United could make the change now and give a new manager almost two weeks to work with the players who are not away on international duty.

From hero to sacked in ten months

Carrick’s time as United manager is a story of two very different halves. He took charge on 13 January 2026, initially on an interim basis, after Ruben Amorim was sacked. Darren Fletcher had looked after the team for two matches in between.

The effect was immediate. Carrick won 11 of his first 16 matches, United climbed to third in the Premier League, and the club secured qualification for the Champions League. In May, he was handed a permanent two-year contract, running until 2028.

Across his whole time in charge, Carrick managed 29 matches, winning 14, drawing seven and losing eight, according to Reuters. He won no trophies. But the second half of that record tells the story of this season: the momentum of last spring simply did not carry over.

Carrick is no stranger to Old Trafford. The former Manchester United and England midfielder spent his playing career at the top of the game, and he had already served as the club’s caretaker manager for three matches in late 2021, winning two and drawing one. His return as head coach in January felt, at the time, like a safe pair of hands — a club legend who understood what United should look like.

For four months, it worked. Then the new season began, and almost everything that could go wrong did.

A revolving door since Ferguson

Carrick’s sacking underlines how unstable Manchester United have become since Sir Alex Ferguson retired in 2013 after 26 years in charge and a final league title.

Since then, United have had seven permanent managers: David Moyes, Louis van Gaal, Jose Mourinho, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, Erik ten Hag, Ruben Amorim and now Carrick. Several others, including Ryan Giggs, Ralf Rangnick, Ruud van Nistelrooy and Darren Fletcher, have filled in on an interim or caretaker basis.

The pattern has become painfully familiar. A new manager arrives, enjoys a bright start, and is then worn down by the same problems: a squad that needs rebuilding, a defence that leaks goals, and a boardroom that changes direction every couple of years. Carrick is the third manager in a row to be dismissed mid-season, after Ten Hag in October 2024 and Amorim in January 2026.

Each sacking is supposed to be the reset. Each time, the same cycle repeats. That is the deeper problem facing whoever takes over next, and it is why many United supporters directed their anger at the owners rather than at Carrick himself.

Who replaces Carrick?

Mauricio Pochettino is the clear frontrunner. The Argentine is currently head coach of the United States men’s national team, a job he has held since September 2024. Reports say United are finalising a deal to bring him to Old Trafford, and that he could be in place for the first match after the international break — away to Liverpool at Anfield on 22 November.

Pochettino is well known to English football from his spells at Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea. The main obstacle is his contract: theScore reports that he has a $10-million release clause in his deal with US Soccer, and the terms for his backroom staff still need to be agreed.

Nothing has been announced yet, and United have not confirmed any appointment. But the speed of the move suggests the club had been planning for this moment for some time. BBC Sport reported on Wednesday that Pochettino was ready to accept an offer, with talks said to have begun with his representatives on Tuesday — before Carrick had even been told he was going.

That timing will raise questions of its own. But for United, the priority now is simple: get a new manager in before the Liverpool match, and stop a season that is drifting towards a relegation fight.

What happens next

United’s next match is the trip to Anfield on 22 November, one of the hardest fixtures in English football. A new manager would have barely a week with his full squad before facing the league leaders’ fiercest rivals — and the Premier League table will not wait for him to settle in.

The bigger questions go beyond one match. United need to fix a defence that has conceded 30 goals, rebuild trust between the manager’s office and the dressing room, and decide what kind of team they want to be. Those are the same questions the last six managers faced, and none of them found a lasting answer.

For Carrick, the ending is harsh but familiar in modern football. He rescued United’s season, earned a permanent contract, and was sacked six months later. He leaves with his reputation as a club legend intact — the club’s own statement made sure of that — but with the knowledge that ten months was all the time the job gave him.

For United, the search for stability goes on. Seven permanent managers in 13 years, and the same revolving door keeps turning.

Frequently asked questions

Why was Michael Carrick sacked?

Manchester United sacked Carrick after an eight-game winless run in the Premier League left the club 18th in the table, in the relegation zone, with one win and eight points from ten matches. BBC Sport also reported that dressing-room tensions, injuries and disagreements over transfer recruitment contributed to the decision.

When did Carrick become Manchester United manager?

He took charge on 13 January 2026 on an interim basis after Ruben Amorim was sacked, and was given a permanent two-year contract in May 2026 after winning 11 of his first 16 matches and guiding the club to third place and Champions League qualification.

What was Carrick’s record as Manchester United manager?

He managed 29 matches, winning 14, drawing seven and losing eight, according to Reuters. He won no trophies.

Who is expected to replace Carrick?

Mauricio Pochettino, the current head coach of the United States men’s national team, is the frontrunner. Reports say United are finalising a deal and he could be in charge for the match against Liverpool on 22 November, but no appointment has been announced yet.

What was Carrick’s last match in charge?

A 4-4 draw with Aston Villa at Old Trafford on Sunday, in which United trailed 2-0 inside four minutes and 4-2 before scoring twice in stoppage time.

How many managers have Manchester United had since Alex Ferguson retired?

Carrick was the seventh permanent manager since Ferguson retired in 2013, after David Moyes, Louis van Gaal, Jose Mourinho, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, Erik ten Hag and Ruben Amorim.

When is Manchester United’s next match?

Away to Liverpool at Anfield on Sunday, 22 November 2026, after the international break.

Conclusion

Michael Carrick’s sacking is the latest chapter in Manchester United’s long struggle to find stability after Sir Alex Ferguson. He arrived as a rescuer, earned a permanent contract with one of the best starts of any United manager in years, and was gone within six months of signing it.

The results made his position impossible to defend: one win in ten league games, a defence conceding goals at an alarming rate, and a club sitting in the relegation zone. But the tensions behind the scenes — a captain questioning the tactics in public, senior players criticising recruitment, and a board that had already sounded out his replacement — suggest the decision was about more than the table alone.

Mauricio Pochettino now looks set to become the eighth permanent manager of the post-Ferguson era. He will inherit the same problems as his predecessors: a fragile defence, a divided dressing room, and a club that has changed managers mid-season three years in a row. His first test, at Anfield on 22 November, could hardly be harder.

Carrick leaves as a club legend, as United’s own statement was careful to say. But legends do not keep managers in their jobs. Results do — and this season, the results were not there.

Sources

This article is for general information and education only. It is not legal or financial advice.

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