With the international break under way: Manchester United settle their decision on Carrick's future

A highly complicated situation

Manchester United have settled on a decision over the future of first-team manager Michael Carrick amid a slump in results, according to a press report.

Third in the Premier League last season under Carrick, United believed they were on the verge of a permanent return to the summit of English football. This season has told a different story. Ten games in, they have won just once and sit eighteenth.

Stuck in the relegation zone, the Red Devils trail Coventry, the first team outside the drop, by a single point.

For weeks, this complicated picture has left Carrick's future hanging in the balance.

On Sunday, United fell two goals behind, then trailed 4-2 to Aston Villa, before snatching a 4-4 draw with two goals in stoppage time.

The local media were not won over by another chaotic afternoon. The "Daily Mail" tore into the team and its manager: "Results will not save Manchester United and the Carrick disaster. Manchester do not have a real football team, but a group of adrenaline addicts. And with time, that will not be enough".

The paper went on: "Carrick's players are so lacking in quality that they will not be able to keep their manager for much longer. They look unqualified".

Yet the Villa comeback appears to have handed Carrick a lifeline. He insists he will not walk away: "That will not happen. We have not achieved enough victories, but I expect to continue working, to improve the performance, and to win".

 The board, meanwhile, show no appetite to sack him, according to some English media.

 The international break offers the ideal window to make a change, but the mood points firmly towards continuity, as reported by the "Mirror" and "Manchester Evening News".

 For now, calm reigns at Carrington. Whether the board hold their nerve or change their minds remains to be seen.