Gary Neville slams Manchester United's 'disgusting' treatment of Michael Carrick as Pochettino deal nears
Gary Neville has hit out at Manchester United for a "disgusting" handling of Michael Carrick's dismissal, accusing the club of indecision and "really poor leadership" in the build-up to his exit.
Carrick has been sacked as head coach, and Mauricio Pochettino is in line to replace him. United and Pochettino have reportedly reached a full agreement in principle, with talks between the club and the US national team ongoing, with the Premier League side prepared to pay the Argentine's release clause.
Neville discussed his anger at the timing of the decision. Carrick was taking training in Manchester on Wednesday while club executives were meeting in Monaco and pursuing his successor.
The former midfielder took charge in January after Ruben Amorim's departure, winning 12 of his 17 games to secure Champions League qualification and a permanent two-year deal. However, United are 18th in the Premier League this season with one win from 10 league games.
Despite those results, Neville believes a man who served United with distinction as a player deserved more respect. Peter Schmeichel had already called the club's treatment of Carrick "disrespectful" on Wednesday evening.
For Neville, the end was clear after the 3-0 home defeat to Bournemouth last month, and he described the last day or two of the saga as "spectacularly bad".
"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. "They obviously felt that they might be able to get to the international break and there could be some sort of pick-up in results, but it's been a difficult two weeks. Indecision, lack of authority, just basically really poor leadership.
