Neville brands Man United's Carrick sacking 'disgusting' as Pochettino talks confirmed

Gary Neville has condemned Manchester United’s treatment of sacked manager Michael Carrick as “disgusting”, after reports emerged that the club had already reached an agreement in principle with Mauricio Pochettino before informing Carrick of his dismissal on Thursday morning.

United parted ways with the 45-year-old following a dismal start to the Premier League season that has left the club 18th in the table with just one win from their opening ten matches — their worst start to a campaign in four decades.

Neville, speaking as a pundit, reserved particular anger for the manner in which the decision was handled by the club’s hierarchy. Sir Jim Ratcliffe attended a senior Ineos staff meeting in Monaco — where Carrick’s future was discussed alongside sporting director Jason Wilcox and chief executive Omar Berrada — while Carrick himself was taking training at Carrington, unaware of his fate.

“In the last 24-48 hours it’s been spectacularly bad to be in Monaco as an executive and an owner whilst your manager, who’s a club legend, is taking training on the pitch and simultaneously approaching the US Soccer Federation to approach Mauricio Pochettino,” Neville said.

“It’s just quite simply disgusting. That falls well below the standard of what you would expect in any other business, in any other industry. It would be constructive dismissal and you’d be getting sued.”

Neville also pointed to the Bournemouth fixture as the moment the writing appeared to be on the wall for Carrick. “I think after the Bournemouth game I said at the time that Manchester United effectively watched Michael Carrick resign on the pitch at the end of the game with that lap around, that wave goodbye. I think he was expecting it to come at that point and they were indecisive.”

He added that the optics of senior leadership operating from Monaco while the club’s day-to-day staff remained in Manchester compounded the sense of dysfunction. “It reflects badly on the leadership. I don’t think anybody comes out of this well.”

Pochettino, who most recently managed the United States national team, is now expected to take charge at Old Trafford. United’s next Premier League fixture will be their first opportunity for a new head coach to begin reversing a run of form that has alarmed supporters and pundits alike.