Michael Carrick told he can't be permanent Man Utd boss as Gary Neville names three potential candidates to take over at the end of the season

Carrick has returned to Manchester United, the club where he won all the major honours available as a player, to take charge of the first team until the end of the season following Ruben Amorim's departure as head coach. It's the second time that the former midfielder has taken his place in the dugout as caretaker manager, after he was also handed the role following Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's departure in 2021. Carrick has told fans already that he wants to see his team play the kind of football that will "get me off my seat" after a difficult 14 months under Amorim. The club endured their worst ever finish under the Portuguese coach in the 2024-25 campaign and have already slumped to early exits in the FA Cup and Carabao Cup this season.

There has been speculation that Carrick could be offered the job on a long-term basis if he impresses between now and the end of the season, but Neville does not agree and thinks the club's next permanent manager needs to be more experienced. He told the Stick to Football podcast: "I hope he does really well. There cannot be any consideration that Michael takes the job beyond this season, for Michael and for the club. If he wins every game, look, we could be sat here in the season where he’s done unbelievably well, and we’re always thinking the fans are up and they’re in the Champions League places, fifth or whatever. It could happen if there’s a good run and we could all be getting swayed with it. I honestly feel like (you have to look at others) at the end of the season when you’ve got (Mauricio) Pochettino, (Thomas) Tuchel and (Carlo) Ancelotti. I've said Ancelotti. I just feel purely because he's 66 years of age, he's got probably the best job in the world right now. He's probably got one job left at club level. If there's one person who's got the patience, the composure, the experience of the Premier League."

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Neville's Manchester United team-mate Roy Keane also suggested the possibility of the Red Devils going for PSG boss Luis Enrique or Atletico's Diego Simeone. When Neville doubted whether either could be tempted to Old Trafford, Keane responded: "But isn’t that bizarre, we’re talking about options and you’re ruling people out. But United should be thinking ‘let’s try and get the best of the best’."

The former midfielder also took aim at some of the players who have featured for the club in recent years, adding: "I could give you a list of players here who played for Man United over last 20-30 years. Deep down I might think ‘they’re not really top players’, but they’ve been able to deal with playing for Man United. Technically, you might go ‘he’s a lucky boy here to play for Man United’ but part of the challenge is to deal with the expectation of ‘you’re expected to win every week’ and Carrick goes in there now. You embrace that. Don’t be hostage to the past and worry about what the previous (have done). That’s not on this team but you have to go out and embrace it, lads."

Carrick's first two games in charge see Manchester United come up against Manchester City and Arsenal. It's a daunting start for the former midfielder and one made harder by the fact his team were knocked out of the FA Cup last time out by Brighton. However, Carrick will be boosted by the return of attackers Amad Diallo and Bryan Mbeumo. Both players are back from AFCON duty and are expected to be in the squad to face City on Saturday.