Michael Carrick is on the brink of being sacked after Manchester United were thrashed 3-0 by Bournemouth, but the real culprits for the club's mess were sat in the stands at Old Trafford

Michael Carrick was the man standing in the eye of the storm on the Old Trafford touchline, but the chant from the stands made clear the feelings of the Manchester United supporters.

After being taunted by the jubilant Bournemouth fans with shouts of "you're getting sacked in the morning", the United faithful issued their response. It was unequivocal support for their beleaguered boss.

The Sky Sports cameras then honed in on two of the other architects of the current mess at United: Omar Berrada and Jason Wilcox. The United chiefs are responsible for the decision to hire Carrick as the full-time manager in the summer and they were also behind the lopsided transfer window which saw £155million spent on midfielders and nothing elsewhere.

United's malaise is nothing new. Yet the nature of the past two games has made a managerial sacking feel all but inevitable. After the shambolic display in Como came the disjointed thrashing by Bournemouth.

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The build-up to the game was dominated by Bruno Fernandes. Carrick made the correct call in leaving the United skipper on the bench after his subordination in Como. But it didn't have the desired effect and two wins from 12 games this season, with an extremely daunting fixture list on the horizon, means the writing is on the wall.

"It is going to get ridiculously difficult for Michael Carrick to be Manchester United manager moving forward. That's the problem the club have got," Gary Neville said on co-commentary for Sky Sports.

"It is horrible to say that. I did think that last season that the club should have gone for the best manager they could have got and not given the job to Michael Carrick. Because I felt this might happen this quickly but this has gone very, very sour very quickly and the club is a mess."

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It was a neat summation of the current situation at United, where it is now nigh-on impossible to identify a glimmer of hope. The way they conceded the second and third goals spoke of a team completely bereft of confidence - and of one sorely lacking in quality.

Leny Yoro fell over to allow Marcus Tavernier to score. Senne Lammens lost his bearings and left his goal unguarded for Evanilson to help himself. They were mistakes more befitting of pub football in the local park.

The neglect the club's hierarchy have shown to the defence is ridiculous. And, what's worse, it was completely foreseeable. The failure to sign a left-back left an obvious Achilles' heel, while there is no chance any serious club would still be relying on over-the-hill players like Luke Shaw, Harry Maguire and Matthijs de Ligt.

That is there for all to see this season, and the Stretford End's focus as the game meandered to its close showed they know where the blame lies. Just as former executive Ed Woodward was previously, director of football Wilcox is now the lightning rod for their ire.

"They have badly let this football club down," Neville said as Wilcox and Berrada came into view after the full-time whistle.

He's not wrong. But their jobs are not up for discussions. They will be the ones to throw Carrick to the wolves after another another toxic performance.