One win in six Premier League games. Manchester United and their faithful are in uncomfortable yet discernible territory yet again.
With no clean sheets and just the solitary win over Ipswich Town, pressure is mounting on Michael Carrick, who oversaw a third place finish and Champions League football last season.
The Red Devils are in the midst of their worst start to the league term in 40 years, and the 1-1 draw against Tottenham Hotspur deepened a few cracks. In what has been a repeating occurrence so far, they were alarmingly outrun by 10-man Spurs.
Carrick penned a two-year deal after taking over from Ruben Amorim, and while two months into the season isn't a substantial sample size, there's enough evidence to suggest something isn't quite clicking at Old Trafford.
On that note, here are five managers who could replace Carrick, should the Manchester United hierarchy pull the trigger.
Eddie Howe
Eddie Howe resigned as Newcastle boss in the summer after a mass exodus after five years at St. James' Park. In his time, he shepherded the Magpies to automatic UCL qualification, as well as their first trophy in 56 years with a League Cup triumph.
Plenty of Newcastle players have experienced their career-best form under Howe, which speaks volumes of his player development acumen.
In the eight years he spent at Bournemouth prior, Howe earned the Manager of the Decade accolade at the Football League awards for a fairytale-like promotion story with the Cherries from League One to the top-flight.
With issues spanning from an unbalanced wage structure to wider scrutiny of the medical department, perhaps onboarding a manager with proven history of leaving clubs in a better place by rebuilding from the inside out, is the need of the hour.
Julian Nagelsmann
One of the most prominent, tactically flexible young coaches going around, Julian Nagelsmann left the hotseat after Germany's Round-of-32 exit at the World Cup.
He remains the youngest Bundesliga coach, announcing himself to the European centre stage by steering Hoffenheim out of relegation.
The 39-year-old maintained a stellar 71.43% win rate with Bayern Munich, clinching his first league title in the 2021-22 season.
The counter-pressing associated with his philosophy would lift Manchester United, although he remains one of the highest earning managers in world football.
Fabian Hürzeler
Another young, supremely talented German coach is on the cards. Fabian Hürzeler marked a statement when his Brighton and Hove Albion side dispatched the Premier League champions Arsenal 3-0 before the international break.
They took down Manchester United themselves in the FA Cup third round prior to that, and outplayed Sunderland despite being down to 10 men for the last half an hour last weekend.
And all of that despite injuries to key attackers Kaoru Mitoma, Evan Ferguson, Yankuba Minteh and Jack Hinshelwood.
What's most markedly eye-catching is the improvement in defensive numbers; the Seagulls have only conceded five goals from the first six PL matches.
How difficult it would be to prize him away from Brighton remains unknown, but there will be links if Carrick was to be axed.
Kieran McKenna
Kieran McKenna is a candidate who knows the United way. He was assistant to Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and comes with industrial as well as institutional knowledge, in this context.
The Northern Irishman amassed three promotions in four years with Ipswich Town, but surprisingly stepped down from the role in 2026 citing personal reasons.
The Manchester United head coach role is a different realm, however, due to the noise and rumblings surrounding it. Still, McKenna's sharp transitions and tactically fluid principles to coaching offer an exciting prospect.
Antonio Conte
"If you go to a club where the history speaks for itself, a history made up of trophies, league titles and victories - you can only honour that history in one way: by having the ambition to bring that club back. If it isn’t there today - to fight for those goals."
These were the words of Antonio Conte, a former Premier League and FA Cup winner, in a recent interview with The Athletic, as he vowed to return to a club with 'history'.
Conte is a no-nonsense appointment; the Italian will live by his ideology and increase the standards at Carrington. Sometimes, that's not always well-received and comes with repercussions, but what's guaranteed more often than not, is silverware.
Manchester United would be a terrific challenge for the former Italy, Juventus and Chelsea man, given the dysfunction extends well beyond the dugout.
