Manchester United boss Michael Carrick visiting a fan.
I had great sympathy for Manchester United manager Michael Carrick last week following his side’s Champions League defeat in Italy to Como.
If suffering a heavy 4-1 defeat wasn’t enough for the Reds boss, he then had to endure a sly verbal volley from his captain, Bruno Fernandes, who openly criticised his manager’s tactics to the press afterwards.
Despite coming into the club last season and overseeing United’s qualification for the Champions League when their campaign appeared to be going nowhere fast, Carrick seems to be using up the credit he has in the bank rather quickly. Indeed, he was clinging grimly to his position when these notes were written.
Manchester United boss Michael Carrick visiting a fan.
A poor start to his team’s Premier League campaign, coupled with some misfiring European nights, has heaped huge pressure on his continued role at Old Trafford.
Of course, United’s problems run much deeper than matters on the pitch, with the well-publicised and often questionable running of the club, along with the seemingly never-ending stream of bad news that emerges on an almost daily basis.
Now, the football department can have little bearing on what happens in the corridors of power at the club, but one thing they can do is present a united front and show some solidarity when times are tough.
Fernandes is undoubtedly a talented player who has, at times, almost single-handedly won games for his team in the past. On his day, he is an immense talent.
However, he should be the first to hold his hands up and admit that this season he has fallen well short of the high standards he has set himself in previous campaigns.
His attack on Carrick, at precisely the moment when his manager would have been looking for words of support, was unwarranted and completely unnecessary, especially coming so soon after the final whistle.
As captain, Fernandes should be a role model both on and off the pitch, but in recent weeks the flapping arms and petulant behaviour have returned as his team continues to flounder.
I think it was Gary Neville who pointed out during the week that Fernandes has now taken a pop, in one way or another, at four or five of the club’s previous managers, including Carrick, while questioning why the Portuguese international never seems particularly keen to shoulder any of the responsibility himself.
It would be wrong of me to lay all of Manchester United’s shortcomings this season at the door of Bruno Fernandes because, in truth, it appears that many of the current squad simply aren’t at the level required to represent the club, let alone bring silverware back to Old Trafford anytime soon.
Sir Alex Ferguson’s legacy of trophies may never be bettered and, while those were magnificent times for United, when they appeared to be winning cups for fun, that success has made the job of those attempting to follow in his footsteps an almost impossible one.
Top-quality coaches have arrived one after another, with many departing within two or three years having failed to deliver the success demanded of them. That tells its own story.
Instead of playing the blame game, the current squad needs to stand up and be counted, steady a ship that appears to be taking on water from several directions, and show some real fight for the club and, in some cases, their own futures at what remains one of the biggest football clubs in the world.
Personally, I fear it’s already too late for Michael Carrick, and I’m sure he will be relieved of his duties sooner rather than later.
That would be a shame because he does appear to care deeply about the club, perhaps more so than some of those who currently play under him.
King's Lynn Town boss Paul Caddis.
It’s the ‘Paul Caddis Derby’ this weekend as the Linnets head west to take on Hereford in their latest National League North (NLN) fixture.
Lynn’s current boss was, of course, in charge of the Bulls last season before being sacked in February.
He took over the head coach’s role at The Walks the following month, where he oversaw Lynn’s remarkable escape from what had looked like certain relegation.
Much has changed for both clubs in the intervening months, with good runs of form seeing them settle into the early NLN play-off positions.
Saturday’s encounter has all the makings of a real cracker, with both sides enjoying good goalscoring form and generally playing some excellent football.
There will undoubtedly be plenty made in the build-up to the game of Caddis returning to the M&M Edgar Street Stadium for the first time since his dismissal earlier in the year.
However, I’m sure he will sidestep any awkward questions fired in his direction and instead focus on the fine form of his current team, who have now gone five league games unbeaten.
This column was written ahead of Tuesday evening’s visit to Worksop Town, with Lynn’s latest point coming from last weekend’s goalless draw with Southport.
Caddis will prepare his squad no differently for this fixture than he would for any other because, when all is said and done, it really is ‘just another game’ in the marathon that is a football league season.
For two clubs separated by a considerable geographical distance, there has been a healthy rivalry and intensity between them for many years.
It probably stretches all the way back to their meetings in the Southern League, when the two sides produced some memorable encounters along the way.
I well remember a young Toby Hilliard scoring two cracking goals in those particular fixtures back then. How time flies!
It’s pleasing to see the club laying on a supporters’ coach for Saturday’s game and, more importantly, attracting enough people to make the trip viable.
Hereford always attract large crowds for their home matches, particularly when things are going well, and having a healthy sprinkling of Linnets supporters in the West Country this weekend will make a difference to the players, I can assure you.
While on the subject of supporters, I thought the turnout of more than 1,200 at The Walks for the Southport game, in what were absolutely dreadful conditions, was tremendous.
One of the most encouraging features of the new regime running the club has been the consistently healthy attendance figures.
For the crowd to remain at a similar level on such a wet and thoroughly unpleasant afternoon is a very positive sign indeed.
I have little doubt that the conditions played their part in a match that certainly won’t live long in the memory, with a draw probably being a fair reflection of proceedings.