Man Utd need their fans now more than ever: Red Devils supporters must band together to get rid of objectionable owners or risk remaining a laughing stock

As illustrated by Bruno Fernandes' explosive post-match comments in Como, Carrick has quite clearly lost the dressing room, but he retains the support of the fans - and not because they believe him capable of turning the situation around. The cheers that accompanied him down the tunnel after the full-time whistle against Bournemouth immediately turned to jeers for the remaining players on the pitch because the supporters quite clearly feel that while Carrick cares about the club, his squad does not.

Former United right-back Gary Neville even called the players out on his Sky Sports podcast after the game. "A few of them aren't that professional," the ex-England international said. "I live in Manchester. Some of them aren't that professional. So I've got no time for them.

"There's a few of them that don't go to bed at the right time, don't eat the right things, don't think about Manchester United every single minute of every day, and aren't living and breathing this football club as they should be - and as professionals should. Why? Because it's gone to their heads. They are nothing, some of those players." And who's fault is that?

As the coach, Carrick clearly bears some burden of responsibility for being unable to get players to even run for him. United's listless displays this season reflect horribly on his motivational skills, and this is not a squad that should be languishing just above the relegation zone.

However, no matter what one thinks about Lisandro Martinez's personality or performances this season, nobody could possibly look at United's bench against Como and disagree with the Argentine's insinuation that Jason Wilcox is doing a disastrous job as director of football. The club has spent more than £550 million ($735m) on players since Wilcox's arrival at Old Trafford in April 2024, and yet the team is short on quality or cover in every area of the field.

Of course, it doesn't help that have had three different permanent bosses in that time, given Wilcox and the rest of Sir Jim Ratcliffe's recruitment team are completely incompetent. INEOS have got every single management decision wrong since buying a 28 percent stake in the club more than two-and-a-half years ago.

Erik ten Hag never should have been allowed to continue after the 2023-24 season (let alone backed to the hilt in the transfer market!), Ruben Amorim was a disastrous appointment who was also allowed to go on far too long, while it was clear all along that Carrick was never more than anything than another Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. Consequently, the same supporters who welcomed United fan Ratcliffe taking over the footballing side of the club have long since realised that he's no better than the Glazer family, the owners who burdened the club with more than £600m worth of debt when they completed their leveraged takeover in 2005.

The Red Army fan group even unveiled a banner at last month's Manchester derby that read, "The way you treat us is a disgrace." And while that's undoubtedly true, it's also high time that all United supporters did something about it.

There has always been fan-led resistance to the Glazers, but never enough to drive the Americans out of the club. Until now perhaps. 

Certainly, the level of vitriol now being aimed at the owners and the directors has increased significantly. As well as the usual calls for the Glazers to "sell United and f*ck off home", Wilcox was called out by name on Sunday, while Ratcliffe was told to stick his plans for a new stadium up his "a*se".

However, the best gauge of just how toxic the atmosphere at Old Trafford has become were the calls to "Build a bonfire, put the Glazers on the top, put Ratcliffe in the middle and burn the f*cking lot!" Such violent imagery is obviously uncalled for, but there is no getting away from the fact that there needs to be an aggressive, sustained and, most importantly of all, fully united effort from all of the club's fans to topple the co-owners. 

Actions speak louder than words, after all, and the only thing that businessmen like the Glazers and Ratcliffe understand is money, meaning United fans need to hit them where it hurts by reducing the club's revenue streams. At the very least, supporters should take a leaf out of the Spirit of Shankly's playbook by implementing their own 'not a pound in the ground' protest by refusing to spend any money at Old Trafford, or in any of the club's numerous merchandising outlets. 

There's also a case to be made that United fans should follow the lead set by their Lazio counterparts, who are currently boycotting home matches in order to force their own hated owner, Claudio Lotito, to sell the Serie A side.

Some would no doubt argue against such drastic action, claiming it would only negatively impact the team, but how much worse can United really get at this stage? And besides, it's not as if their support is making a blind bit of difference to the players' performances at the moment. All they did on Sunday was offer a painful reminder of just how low 'standards' have fallen since the days of Bryan Robson, Eric Cantona and Roy Keane.

The fans are no fools either. They know that there's a real risk of the situation worsening. The 1958 Supporters Group has been arguing for well over a year that their beloved club is dying a slow death - and it's clear that the only way to save it is by getting rid of the Glazers and INEOS.

Because sacking the coach isn't going to cut it. Replacing the players would merely be papering over the cracks. Until they change the owners, United will remain the same sorry shambles they've been for more than a decade.