Manchester United can’t even sack a bloke with any degree of competence. Business as usual said Michael Carrick of his attendance at an under-21 fixture on Monday afternoon, as if anything were remotely business-like at Old Trafford, other than the avaricious leanings of the joint owners.

Carrick is wholly exposed in his unsuitability for the post he occupies, in much the same way as his predecessor Ruben Amorim, who was gone after 13 months.

For all his failings Carrick deserves better than the public silence of owners ferreting in the shadows to identify a successor. It is a cruelty to keep him in for the next fixture at Chelsea, as suggested by some, on the ridiculous grounds that there is a big red future for him to rescue.

And when he looks back on this chapter he might wonder would it not have been better to have gone by his own hand.

United fans have cause for envy across myriad fronts. There will be an understandable longing you would imagine to share in the experience of FC Lausanne-Sport supporters, who learned this week owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe wants out.

The disillusioned at Old Trafford would probably accept relegation if it meant the end of Ratcliffe and the Glazer family, distant speculators who care only for brand and nothing for the football bit.

Ratcliffe is particularly culpable given the promises he made to knock United back into shape. Disguised as a white knight, he would bring serious commercial acumen to the business of transforming a legacy institution, pledging a modernised, data-driven club powered by industry expertise.

The Glazers didn’t fall for all that guff. They just looked at the numbers, cashing out 27 per cent of their investment for six times the purchase value. The only miscalculation they made was believing Ratcliffe would take the heat off them by resetting the football offering.

United fans were so desperate to see the Glazers gone they would have judged plausible any chancer with a few quid. In Ratcliffe’s case they were prepared to ignore an impressive list of sporting catastrophes, including Americas Cup sailing with Sir Ben Ainslie, Grand Tour cycling at Team Sky, and sponsorship of the mighty All Blacks in rugby.

Ineos split with Ainslie and the All Blacks in April 2025, the cost of supporting both incompatible with a rapidly deteriorating commercial environment in the petrochemical industry that made Ratcliffe Britain’s richest man.

Having dominated cycling as Team Sky with nine grand tour victories, the British outfit have not won under Ineos since 2021. The economic downturn experienced in energy and chemical sectors has deepened since, particularly following the disastrous American war in Iran, forcing Ineos to bail on its big sport projects.

Is it a coincidence that United went for Carrick, a sentimental choice without any Premier League coaching experience and only one prior management post?

Amorim was sold as an A-list recruit but was, rather, a young coach who had not managed outside Portugal. Gone are the days when United got their man. Paul Pogba remains United’s record buy, £89m, a decade ago.

Manchester City spent £100m plus on two midfielders this summer plus £85m on an 18-year-old prospect. United bagged an ageing Youri Tielemans for a knock down £35m, a Chelsea second-stringer in Andrey Santos and, in the closing days of the window, gambled on Carlos Baleba.

The outstanding candidate to replace Carrick is Unai Emery, yet United are closing in on Eddie Howe on the basis that he is English with Premier League experience. Howe is presently in repose doing Wordle everyday having guided Newcastle to 12th last term. If he were the answer for Manchester United he would still be at Newcastle.

Emery is not barricaded inside Villa Park. He remains in post because Ratcliffe won’t meet the market rate to get the best in class. This shouldn’t surprise us since he has failed to deliver on that premise at every turn.

The next level technical department headed by Jason Wilcox is a proven dud. The executive branch above Wilcox is adept only at staring meaningfully into the distance as the goals fly past Senne Lammens.

If either chief executive Omar Berrada or director of football Wilcox had an ounce of leadership, decency or integrity about them they would be out in front of this mess explaining themselves instead of allowing Carrick to drown in his own incoherence.

Ratcliffe is self-evidently not the banker United thought he was. The Glazers hang on until the best circumstances for sale present themselves. Maybe the development of the new ground will bring a new, mega investor to the table.

Until both are gone this isn’t getting any better. Howe is not the answer. Emery might at least bring proven management expertise to the piece. He would take the gamble for sure. The ownership just doesn’t have the means nor the IQ to make it happen.