Man Utd reach Carrick sack decision as expert reveals four tell-tale signs it’s game over
A body language expert has revealed the four major indicators that show why Michael Carrick knows he is on borrowed time as Manchester United manager after Saturday evening’s 1-1 draw at home to Tottenham Hotspur confirmed the club’s worst start to a season in 40 years.
The Red Devils squandered a lead they scarcely deserved, given to them through a well-taken Bryan Mbeumo finish, when they allowed their 10-man opponents to salvage an equaliser in added time through Dominic Solanke, who was allowed to wriggle free of his marker, Lisandro Martinez, to glance the ball home.
That leaves United down in 13th place, with just one win from their six games so far and with just six points on the board so far. They now have three successive away games – Champions League trips to Atletico Madrid and Como sandwich a Premier League clash at Leeds – and, remarkably, the Red Devils are second favourites in all three games.
A loss in those games would seriously crank up the pressure on Carrick, and a body language expert has now revealed the four tell-tale signs that suggest the 44-year-old knows he’s under increasing pressure of the sack.
After being booed off the pitch and both half-time and full-time, Darren Stanton – nicknamed the ‘Human lie detector’ – reckons Carrick knows he’s doomed.
“Michael Carrick looks like a man feeling under extreme pressure. There are four massive red flags in his gestures and expressions to focus on,” he said, via The Sun.
“Firstly, we see a one-sided shoulder shrug, which denotes a total lack of confidence in what he’s saying when talking about certain parts of the game being better. He has no real belief in what he’s saying.
“Secondly, we see the furrow lines across his forehead, which are a sign of distress, worry, anxiety and frustration.
“We also see some extreme lip suppression, which is the physical manifestation of wanting to hold back words and what he really wants to say, but he knows he can’t. He is making a conscious effort to hold back what he really wants to say…
Carrick showing signs of being under severe pressure
Explaining in more detail, he continued: “The next key one is Carrick’s tongue. He keeps sticking his tongue out, which is a self-assurance, pacifying gesture. It’s part of a family of gestures, like putting your hand to your mouth or rubbing the back of your neck, or pretending to have something in your eye, which is intended to soothe you.
“Sticking your tongue out is the self-reassuring gesture we see in very young children when they’re unhappy and uncomfortable in a situation. Carrick, too, feels very uncomfortable at the moment in his job and how it’s going for him.
“Carrick’s face was also pale. He was sweating a lot. We saw him take a beat later on when asked to answer more questions so he can try and take a moment and collect himself.
“We also see him look down but then keep his head down even when answering and that is an attempt at shielding himself, tucking his chin into his neck.
“Internal emotions are linked to what we call detection apprehension. For example, when people are about to get caught in a lie, there’s a number of physiological things that happen in the mind. We see a fight-or-flight response. If the reaction is to fight, the heart pumps blood to our hands because it’s a primaeval gesture to get ready to act.
“If the reaction is flight, to run away, the adrenaline instead leads to blood being pumped into the legs and feet. That’s why sometimes we feel wobbly in our legs ahead of doing something stressful, like public speaking. It’s a dissipation of adrenaline.”
“Carrick’s face looked really pale. His instinctive response is to get as far away from this situation as possible.”
Man Utd make Carrick sack call
Despite all that, sources insist that United have no plans to sack Carrick any time soon in the wake of their disappointing start to the season.
Indeed, as revealed by our transfer correspondent, Graeme Bailey, on September 21 that Man Utd are backing Carrick.
Then on Friday, on the eve of Saturday’s clash against Spurs at Old Trafford, Bailey stressed that co-owners INEOS still retain their faith in the 44-year-old.
“The message from the club is that they don’t think they have played too badly,” Bailey said on TEAMtalk’s YouTube channel.
“Clearly being in 12th at this point isn’t ideal, but they weren’t putting the pressure on him to have a title charge this season.
“It was more of a top-four finish, but again, that’s looking a bit of a stretch so far, but we are only five games in, and things could be a lot worse.
“Look at their opponents on Saturday; things could be a lot worse for him.
“But no, the message coming from Old Trafford at the moment is he’s not under pressure.”
United left the field to a chorus of boos on Saturday, and Carrick said about that reaction: “When things aren’t quite going to plan, I understand the reaction at times. Obviously, it hurts, it hurts a lot.
“It’s not nice to go through, but sometimes you have to go through it; that’s how it is.
“I care as much as anybody about this place, so sometimes you could say too much because then it overspills. But it’s coming from a good place, really, and so I understand it.
“But of course, it’s not nice to have to go through that. I thought the players dealt with it well, to be honest.”
