Gary Neville claimed the actions of Bruno Fernandes suggest he and the rest of his Manchester United teammates don’t respect Michael Carrick and have no faith in his tactics.

The expectation in the aftermath of Man Utd suffering back-to-back defeats by three-goal margins was Michael Carrick would be sacked.

Ultimately, the club’s hierarchy have chosen to stand by their man for one more game at least.

Reasons behind the decision to stick and not twist have been put forward, with financial considerations, a desire to break the cycle of hiring and firing, and the hierarchy being split on who should succeed Carrick all cited by one report or another.

The end result is Carrick remains in charge for now, but according to United legend, Gary Neville, the stay of execution won’t last long.

Speaking on the latest episode of the Stick to Football podcast, Neville said: “I reckon what’s happened in the 24 hours after Bournemouth is that they’ve literally debated it back and forth.

“I don’t know this, but they’ve debated it to the point where they’ve got themselves into a muddle, and thought, ‘we’ll just stay with him’.

“I think staying with him is a result of the lack of planning, the lack of probably available options, the lack of decision-making around the two people that probably are available. That’s when you’re really struggling.”

Neville added: “Sometimes a manager needs sacking for their own good. I needed sacking at Valencia. I was happy that they put me out of my misery.”

Man Utd players don’t take Michael Carrick seriously – Gary Neville

The recent comments made by Bruno Fernandes in which the captain publicly criticised Carrick’s tactics were then addressed.

In Neville’s eyes, the mere fact a player, and one as influential as the captain, derided Carrick in public suggests the overwhelming feeling in the dressing room is Carrick is unfit for purpose and out of his depth.

“We’ve all been in football dressing rooms, and they’re quite brutal places,” Neville continued.

“If Bruno Fernandes, the captain of the club… if he comes out and questions the manager’s tactics after a 4-1 defeat in Como, where he’s played like a drain, and he’s been playing like a drain for three months, and the rest of them have as well, that is only 1 or 2% of what they’re actually saying internally.”

Michael Carrick wants to be sacked – Jamie Carragher

Co-host, Jamie Carragher, gave his verdict on Carrick’s situation, claiming the under-fire 45-year-old secretly wants to be put out of his misery.

Furthermore, Carragher suggested the players won’t pay any attention to what Carrick says and demands in the build-up to Saturday’s Chelsea game given almost everyone now believes it’s when and not if Carrick is sacked.

He said: “I think he can never say publicly, but I think Michael Carrick would want to be put out of his misery. I really do.

“The thought of going into that training ground now… and trying to do that team talk before Chelsea, when you know the players just aren’t having it at all.

“Those players know Michael Carrick’s not going to be there in two or three weeks. He knows it, they know it, everybody knows it.”