Strong league finish could land Carrick top job, but United are in false position

The way is clearing for underdogs like Brighton and Hove Albion, Brentford and Bournemouth to mount serious bids for Europe, revealing their own meteoric rises at the same time as the declines of everyone bar Arsenal and Manchester City.

It is therefore a distinctly low-calibre pack that United are currently leading, which risks rendering a potential high finish something of a false position, clearing a bar set only at knee height. The thought of the current United side, in their current form, facing Champions League opposition is terrifying.

Cause for concern

If Carrick’s side had maintained the breakneck form which swept aside both title contenders in his first two games in charge, then there would be little to discuss. An emphatic three months to ease into a third-place finish would certainly have landed the Englishman the job, and rightly so.

That he could still end up with it despite a worrying downturn in form starts to become a concern. What if he gets the nod but can’t reverse that trajectory? Time on the training ground clearly isn’t a magic bullet – there was plenty of that before the dismal defeat to Leeds United, which contained some of the very worst football of the Carrick era.

A more positive take would be that despite working with a squad with some glaring holes, Carrick will have done the job. A win is a win; you can only play what’s in front of you. History will look back on a league position, not form.

It’s hard to argue against appointing a coach who has delivered, in the circumstances, the best possible result and there is a strong case to make that his achievement, however many caveats there are, deserves a show of faith in return.

This summer will be make or break. Strong and decisive recruitment is essential to equip next season’s head coach – whoever that may be – with the tools to drag United back into the conversation for silverware.

In the current circumstances that could very well be the unassuming Englishman, but if he gets the nod then Slot, Rosenior and Villa’s busy fixture list could expect mentions in his acceptance speech.

Featured image George Wood via Getty Images

online polls

The Peoples Person has been one of the world’s leading Man United news sites for over a decade. Follow us on Bluesky: @peoplesperson.bsky.social