Gary Neville: Man Utd's treatment of Michael Carrick 'disgusting' as Mauricio Pochettino prepares to take over at Old Trafford

12.11.2026, 17:08 skysports.com

Sky Sports' Gary Neville has described Manchester United's treatment of Michael Carrick as "disgusting" after the club legend was sacked as head coach, with Mauricio Pochettino set to succeed him at Old Trafford.

Neville believes United have handled the situation poorly, with Carrick taking training in Manchester while club executives met in Monaco on Wednesday and pursued Pochettino as his replacement.

Sky Sports News understands a full agreement in principle has been reached between United and Pochettino. Talks between the club and US Soccer Federation are at the paperwork and regulatory processes stage.

Neville also warned the incoming head coach that the club's problems run much deeper than the manager, insisting Pochettino must take control of recruitment and demand significant investment.

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Neville believes Carrick deserved greater respect from a club he represented with distinction as a player.

The former midfielder was initially appointed in January, following Ruben Amorim's departure, and earned a permanent two-year contract after winning 12 of his 17 games to secure Champions League qualification.

But three wins in 15 matches this season have ultimately cost him his job.

Neville had questioned Carrick's appointment at the end of last season and felt the writing was on the wall after United's 3-0 defeat to Bournemouth.

"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 said on Sky Sports News.

"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.

"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.

"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.

"The optics of being in Monaco whilst the team, the staff, the people who are running the club on a day-to-day basis are in Manchester, it's just not good and it reflects badly on the leadership.

"I don't think anybody comes out of this well at all."

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Neville accepts Carrick must take responsibility for the results that have left United in the relegation zone, but believes the wider circumstances surrounding his departure are symptomatic of a club that continues to make poor decisions.

Carrick's departure will make him another name on a growing list of managers who have failed to restore United to the top of English football since Sir Alex Ferguson's retirement in 2013.

Neville believes supporters have become numb to the cycle of appointments and sackings, particularly given the money spent on players and the continued failure to build a squad capable of competing.

Asked whether the club had hit a new low, he said: "I think this is a low but it just feels like you don't even get angry anymore; you don't get animated. You just feel like nothing.

"It sort of knocks you numb because we've seen it so many times. Everybody's sick of it. The fans are sick of it.

"Michael felt that he was the right man for the job. He wanted to take it and you can't blame him for that.

"But at the end of last season, similarly to when they made the decision a few years ago with Erik ten Hag, they had to make better decisions and better choices and the people who are running the club are not making good choices in the football department.

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"I mean there's some off-the-pitch stuff as well that you could argue is questionable, but the on-the-pitch stuff for the last 12-13 years has been absolutely terrible.

"I think eight managers, £1.6 billion has been spent on football players and they ended up with a back four on Sunday of [Patrick] Dorgu, [Noussair] Mazraoui, [Leny] Yoro and [Ayden] Heaven and you've spent £1.6 billion on players.

"That's very difficult to do. You could put every single one of those Manchester United fans in charge of that club or put them in the dugout and you wouldn't end up with that back four if they were running the club.

"It's unbelievable what's happened.

"And Michael's demise in the end is because obviously he's not been able to get the same tune out of the players. That's the accountability he has to carry as a manager.

"But when you sign those midfield players in the summer that are well below the standard of the other midfield players that have gone to other clubs. United were at the bottom of the queue when midfield players were being handed out.

"They needed midfield players; they needed to bolster that department and they ended up with players ultimately that weren't wanted by Tottenham, by [Manchester] City and others.

"And then the back four needed strengthening. That back four, five, six that are playing currently have been there for five, six years, seven years, and they've been failing for four, five, six, seven years.

"Some of them have injury problems as well and some of them are getting on. The likes of Luke Shaw, [Matthijs] De Ligt, [Lisandrp] Martinez are injured quite regularly.

"They're inconsistent when they play, and then the rest of the players who are fit, to be fair, don't meet the standards.

"So this is not unsurprising totally. I am shocked it's come this early in the season. I didn't think it would happen this quickly and I thought Manchester United would have a half-decent season, but it's come a lot quicker than anybody thought and it seems to be something that happens quite regularly at the club and it's really disappointing."

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Pochettino has been considered for the United job on previous occasions, but Neville has warned him against believing that a change of manager alone will solve the club's problems.

Neville remembers visiting Pochettino at Tottenham during his early days in charge, when the Argentine was already identifying which players he wanted to build around and which he needed to move on.

"I think the mistake that Mauricio could make if he comes in is that he may get an initial bounce out of them. He may get six months of bounce out of them," Neville continued.

"I actually remember going to see him at Tottenham in his very early days. We used to, when I was coaching with England, train at Tottenham's training ground.

"He set out very quickly within the first six to eight months in the job. He had a whiteboard in front of him in his office with all the players' names on little markers and he actually moved a group of players over to the left-hand side of the board and said: 'These are the ones I know I need to get rid of. These are the ones I know I can work with and build around.'

"He's got to identify that very quickly at United and I'm sure he will do that. He's more experienced now than he was when he was at Tottenham.

"But he's got a big job to do in exiting players. Manchester United have been really poor at exiting players over the last 10 years. They've not done it very well at all."

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Neville believes Pochettino must also ensure he has sufficient financial backing and, crucially, control over recruitment.

United's summer business has done little to convince him that the existing structure can deliver the players required, and he believes the new head coach must make strong demands before taking the job.

"I'm hoping Mauricio Pochettino has done a couple of things on the way in and I'm hoping he protects himself on his contract because he'll need to.

"I'm sure he's stated that he needs a massive budget. I think he needs defenders straight away to get Manchester United anywhere near where they want to be this season.

"And the other thing is to make sure that he takes control of the recruitment because it's quite clear that what happened in the summer is well below the standard again.

"He's got to come in here and protect himself against actually the people that he's working with. They are currently trying to employ him.

"He needs to make sure he takes the club into his own hands, into his own destiny, make sure he controls his own outcomes and make sure he's absolutely unequivocal in getting money to improve the defence initially in January and improving the midfield and forward line next summer."

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Neville has made no secret of his admiration for Pochettino and believes the Argentine has the coaching ability and personality to manage a club of United's stature.

But he has also seen too many different types of manager fail at Old Trafford to believe the challenge will be straightforward.

David Moyes, Louis van Gaal, Jose Mourinho, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, Erik ten Hag, Ruben Amorim and Carrick have all experienced the difficulties of the job, while Ralf Rangnick also failed to turn things around.

For Neville, that history should serve as a warning to Pochettino.

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"I can't believe Mauricio would have looked at the last 13 years, looked at managers like David Moyes, Jose Mourinho and Louis van Gaal who are very experienced, brilliant operators in what they do and seen them fall short.

"He's then seen talented managers from Europe like Amorim and Ten Hag fall short.

"He's seen club legends who have got a lot of love for the club, who understand the