There was a possibility that having never considered managing United in his "wildest dreams", Fletcher could do so twice in nine months, but Carrick has been given a chance to drag United out of their current plight.

It feels like Carrick has been given a stay of execution. The hammering against Bournemouth felt like his farewell, and it seems incredibly unlikely he will be able to salvage the season from such a low ebb.

The lack of a succession plan has muddied the waters and contributed to keeping Carrick in the role. There is uncertainty over permanent candidates to replace Carrick, and that is without mentioning that United may have nobody to take training in the short term.

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Fans have naturally pointed at Fletcher again, but when he was appointed caretaker after Amorim's dismissal, he was supported by Jonny Evans and Travis Binnion, who are now part of Carrick's backroom staff.

If United had sacked Carrick after Bournemouth, they would have found themselves in a situation where his staff would have taken training, with Steve Holland (assistant manager), Evans (first-team coach), Binnion (first-team coach) and Craig Mawson (goalkeeper coach) still in place.

That wouldn't have offered separation from Carrick, so what would be the point in sacking him? The alternative United may have considered on Monday was sacking Carrick along with Holland to offer more of a clean break from the previous set-up.

That would have opened the door for Fletcher to take over as caretaker again, to possibly oversee two games before a permanent hire could be finalised, but he would have required Evans, Binnion and Mawson alongside him to do the job.

Fletcher was joined on the bench by Evans, Binnion and Mawson for games against Burnley and Brighton in January, along with Alan Wright, who subsequently returned to his role as Under-21 assistant.

There is deep respect for Fletcher at the club. He has worked in various roles at United since retiring as a player and is highly valued, but even he cannot single-handedly put the cones out, take the warm-up, oversee training, and tactically prepare for Chelsea.

And while Fletcher would never admit it publicly, it would be understandable for him to be against the idea of stepping in as caretaker manager again having been overlooked for the interim role in favour of appointing Carrick.

Fletcher insisted taking the job was not something he'd thought about before his first game as caretaker boss. Then, after Brighton, he confirmed he'd not had conversations and spoke of the importance of the season not being wasted.

It's understood Fletcher does want to go into management. However, while he is learning his way in the academy, taking the United job for his first management role is obviously not realistic, even as a former player.

Fletcher may still be willing to act as caretaker if Carrick is sacked, but his backroom staff would need to be retained for the first team to function, so the short-term plan for sacking Amorim is not available this time.

That suggests that United will be forced to have an immediate permanent successor for Carrick lined up if they decide to sack him. Any new appointment would have to be ready to start immediately.

That obviously narrows down the field in an already small pool of potential candidates. The situation is a total mess.