The former player and captain of the Red Devils is a dead man walking after seeing his side comprehensively beaten at home to Bournemouth - again.

Following on from outbursts by both Lisandro Martinez and Bruno Fernandes, as well as defeats against Como, Atletico Madrid, Brighton, Man City and Hull City, and draws against Tottenham Hotspur, Leeds, Fulham and Everton, there isn't really anywhere left for Carrick to go.

At least the supporters still appear to be behind him, after he was cheered off the pitch despite the loss against the Cherries, only for the players to be roundly booed by the Stretford End once the manager had disappeared down the tunnel at Old Trafford.

Problems run far deeper than the dugout

Despite support from the fans though, media outlets are suggesting that Carrick will be sacked this coming weekend if United fail to beat Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.

A Blues side that was given a right going over by Spurs in one of the biggest shocks of the Premier League season so far could well be there for the taking.

In any event, isn't it the case that Carrick will just become the latest scapegoat for the club's failings?

Ralf Rangnick called it correctly when he said back in 2022: "It's crystal clear. It's not that difficult. You don't even need glasses to analyse and see where the problems are.

"So, now it is only about how we solve them. For me, it is clear that it is not enough to do some little minor amendments, some minor cosmetic things. In medicine you would say this is an operation of the open heart."

Poor recruitment policy

In the four years since that wise counsel from the Austrian, United have hired Erik Ten Hag, Ruben Amorim and Carrick on a permanent basis, plus Ruud Van Nistelrooy and Darren Fletcher as interim managers.

The recruitment policy at the club under both the Glazer administration and that of Sir Jim Ratcliffe et al. isn't in keeping with a club of United's standing, whilst the promise of a 'United of the future' is nothing but window dressing from the owners.

Whilst it's easy for the likes of Gary Neville, Roy Keane, Wayne Rooney and other United legends to, sometimes unhelpfully, offer their opinions, the plain fact is that they're often not far wrong.

The managers are just the fall guys for the general malaise around the club and in the dressing room, which appears to be devoid of any leadership whatsoever.

Players can't be allowed free rein

One could argue that it's the manager's job to rule the dressing room, and in United's case, to do so in the way that Sir Alex Ferguson did - with an iron fist.

However, football has changed so much in a relatively short space of time that such an approach nowadays can often be counterproductive.

That doesn't mean player power can be allowed free rein either, though.

Ultimately, a lack of direction from the very top, to also include a lack of investment - which, in United's case, is as a result of the debt the club finds itself in because of the Glazer ownership - is what filters down.

Carrick, like those before him, is therefore trying to work with one hand tied behind his back, and getting rid of him to bring in the next whipping boy won't solve the Red Devils' problems.

Overhaul needed

Though one can partly understand the Geordie being relieved of his duties if he doesn't get a win at Chelsea, as this would then be a ninth game in all competitions without a victory, any such decision still conveniently masks the underlying issues.

The real question that needs to be asked is what is it going to take for the board to see some sort of sense?

Are they that blinkered and conceited to believe that without a root-and-branch clearout and a top-to-bottom inventory of processes and procedures, things are magically going to get better?

It wasn't so long ago that Sir Jim and his INEOS group were being seen as the saviours of the club, and a group of people who would finally be able to rescue the first team from years in the doldrums, relatively speaking.

Clearly, that hasn't come to pass, so until they're brave enough to look inwards and do something tangible, the conveyor belt of managers will continue to come and go with alarming regularity.