Neville says United must not keep Carrick

• Gary Neville says Michael Carrick cannot be viewed as a permanent solution, even if results surge between now and May.
• Neville points to a summer market that could include Mauricio Pochettino, Thomas Tuchel, and Carlo Ancelotti.
• Roy Keane pushes United to chase elite names and demands players embrace the pressure that comes with the shirt.

Manchester United have turned to a familiar face in Michael Carrick, yet the first big argument around his appointment has already arrived.

Carrick has been handed the head coach role until the end of the season, stepping in after Ruben Amorim’s dismissal and a short caretaker spell under Darren Fletcher. United’s hierarchy has been on site at Carrington this week, with senior figures gathering in Manchester as the club tries to steady itself ahead of Carrick’s first match, the derby against Manchester City.

Carrick’s brief is clear. Stabilise performances, pull the group together, and keep Champions League qualification within reach. The longer-term question is where this goes in the summer, and that is where Gary Neville drew a hard line.

Speaking on the Stick to Football podcast, Neville insisted there should be no drift into sentiment if Carrick strings results together.

“I hope he does really well,” Neville said on the Stick to Football podcast. “There cannot be any consideration that Michael takes the job beyond this season, for Michael and for the club.

“If he wins every game, look, we could be sat here in the season where he’s done unbelievably well, and we’re always thinking the fans are up and they’re in the Champions League places, fifth or whatever. It could happen if there’s a good run and we could all be getting swayed with it.

“I honestly feel like [you have to look at others] at the end of the season when you’ve got [Mauricio] Pochettino, [Thomas] Tuchel and [Carlo] Ancelotti.

“I’ve said Ancelotti. I just feel purely because he’s 66 years of age, he’s got probably the best job in the world right now. He’s probably got one job left at club level.

“If there’s one person who’s got the patience, the composure, the experience of the Premier League.”

Neville’s point is not aimed at Carrick’s competence. It is aimed at United’s recent habit of reacting to short bursts, then paying for it when the bigger rebuild still sits untouched. Carrick has done a version of this job before, and he is widely respected inside the game as a coach who works closely with players on the training pitch. Neville is arguing that competence and comfort are not enough for a club that still sees itself as the top table.

Roy Keane took the conversation further, turning it into a question of ambition. Neville floated high profile names, then Keane challenged the tone of the debate itself.

“But isn’t that bizarre, we’re talking about options and you’re ruling people out,” Keane said. “But United should be thinking ‘let’s try and get the best of the best.’”

Keane’s focus then moved from the boardroom to the dressing room. His message was simple: outside noise is part of the job. Big expectation is part of the job. A United player has to cope with it.

“I could give you a list of players here who played for Man United over last 20-30 years,” he said.

“Deep down I might think ‘they’re not really top players’, but they’ve been able to deal with playing for Man United.

“They’ve rolled their sleeves up, they’ve ended up playing one, two, three hundred games for Man United because they’ve been able to deal with all of that.

“Technically, you might go ‘he’s a lucky boy here to play for Man United’ but part of the challenge is to deal with the expectation of ‘you’re expected to win every week’ and Carrick goes in there now. You embrace that.

“Don’t be hostage to the past and worry about what the previous [have done]. That’s not on this team but you have to go out and embrace it, lads.”

United’s decision to appoint Carrick on an interim basis also buys time for Jason Wilcox and the recruitment team to run a full search for the next permanent head coach. That process will play out under intense scrutiny, with the derby and the league run-in serving as Carrick’s immediate test.