Man Utd are looking for a long-term head coach this summer but the pool of candidates available appears to be shrinking.
Erik ten Hag and Thomas Tuchel
Thomas Tuchel could have replaced Erik ten Hag as Manchester United manager but he won't be taking the job this summer
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Strike a line through Thomas Tuchel's name, then. While you're there, you can probably cross out Oliver Glasner as well. The race to be the next Manchester United manager is going through a fair few false starts at the moment.
Tuchel's decision to extend his contract with the Football Association for another two years rules out the possibility of the German taking over at Old Trafford at the end of the World Cup. That was always a long shot, anyway.
The 52-year-old was close to replacing Erik ten Hag in the summer of 2024 and held talks with Sir Jim Ratcliffe. The decision to stick with Ten Hag wasn't a good reflection. Tuchel can be an abrasive character, which might be something the current United structure are keen to avoid.
His start date would have also been a problem. The World Cup final is on July 19 and that would have meant missing a good chunk of the summer and the start of pre-season, while agreeing to take over at Old Trafford as he prepares for a World Cup would have gone down terribly.
But now we know for sure that Tuchel isn't the one. Surely Glasner won't be either. The fact that the Austrian remains the third favourite says plenty about the lack of clear candidates.
He is enduring a dismal run at Crystal Palace, who are at risk of being dragged into a relegation battle, and the manner of the 3-2 defeat to Burnley on Wednesday was another mark against him. Like Tuchel, Glasner can be difficult to handle, while Thomas Frank's failure at Tottenham is an example of how hard it can be to step up from the Premier League's middle classes to the elite.
In some places, Roberto De Zerbi has jumped into second favourite behind Michael Carrick. De Zerbi has got admirers within the corridors of power at Old Trafford, but his exit from Marseille was a reminder that he isn't exactly a low-key character either. The Italian is actually the favourite for the Tottenham job, and what happens there could affect events at United.
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It certainly feels like Carrick's job to lose right now. He has had an excellent start in charge, with four wins and a draw, and other potential candidates are dropping by the wayside or seeing their stock fall at inopportune moments. The fact that Gareth Southgate still features prominently in the bookies' list shows how bare the cupboard is.
Luis Enrique is also prominent, but the Spaniard is likely to extend his stay at Paris Saint-Germain, although his CV is almost certainly the best out of all the potential candidates.
Julian Nagelsmann is another who features highly, and he has a good relationship with United's director of recruitment, Christopher Vivell, whose power base is growing. But Nagelsmann poses the same problems as Tuchel, as he is in charge of Germany at the World Cup.
Right now, this is a field where more people are ruling themselves out rather than in, and at the moment, that is good news for Carrick.