Newly-appointed Manchester United caretaker coach Darren Fletcher might not remain with the first team until the end of the season, as he could be replaced by his former teammate, Michael Carrick.
On Monday morning, the Premier League giants decided to put an end to Ruben Amorim’s tumultuous 14 months in charge.
The Portuguese manager explicitly voiced his frustration at the hierarchy in his post-match press conference following Sunday’s 1-1 draw against Leeds United at Elland Road, and it proved to be the final straw.
Darren Fletcher temporarily replaces Ruben Amorim at Man United
After sacking Amorim, Man Utd officials decided to replace him with Fletcher, who will serve as a caretaker.
The 41-year-old made for a natural choice, as he knows the club inside out. The Scotsman spent the bulk of his playing career at Old Trafford, and was a technical collaborator of successive Man Utd managers, namely Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, Erik ten Hag, Ruud van Nistelrooy, and last but not least, Amorim.
Last summer, Fletcher was appointed Man Utd’s U18 head coach, while his twins, Jack and Tyler, are now involved with the first team at the tender age of 18.
But while the consensus is that the Dalkeith native will either serve until June or be replaced by a permanent manager, Carrington insider Sully reveals a third option.
In an update posted on his X account, the reputable journalist claimed that United could opt to bring another interim manager until the end of the season, before appointing a permanent boss in the summer.
Darren Fletcher has took over first team training duties today at Carrington and expected to do so for this week. It's not known yet for how long he will lead these roles. Internal meetings will take place in the coming days and weeks to assess all options but I understand the… pic.twitter.com/VC1HhB9VH9
— Sully (@SullyTalkz) January 5, 2026
This would allow Fletcher to resume his duties with the U18 side. The source identifies Carrick as the main candidate for the role.
Why United are considering Michael Carrick?
Like Fletcher, the Englishman is a former Man Utd midfielder who has also taken on coaching duties at Carrington following his retirement.
The 44-year-old served as Solskjaer’s assistant for more than three years, and then took over as caretaker for three matches when the Norwegian was sacked, prior to the arrival of Ralf Rangnick. Hence, this wouldn’t be a particularly new assignment for the former England international.
Carrick is also considered a more experienced profile than Fletcher, having also served as Middlesbrough’s head coach for almost three years, before leaving the club last summer.
The former Wallsend is currently unattached, so perhaps he would fancy a return to Old Trafford, albeit on a short-term contract.
Fifteen months ago, just after Amorim’s hiring was announced, I said in these very pages that, though I was generally happy with the news given Amorim’s apparent tactical nouse and strong identity (the opposite of Ten Hag), I didn’t know how he’d go. My exact words were, “So how will he go? We’ll see, said the Zen master.” And here we are. There no such thing as certainty in football.
The recent strange substitutions now appear a little clearer. I think Amorim was trying to send the hierarchy a message: that he had to rely on inexperienced Academy players for rotation and needed more signings. His disappointment with being refused was clear and perhaps triggered the blow-up with Wilcox, which may even have been deliberate to precipitate a firing rather than him resigning.
Mind you, his substitutions had often been perplexing as were his out-of-position player selections. And his rigid adherence to his system was most worrying, particularly when a changed system had yielded better results. However, there were also clear improvements in both culture and on-field statistics, as hard as that may be to believe. Manchester United Muppetiers (Youtube) has previously gone into some depth of analysis on that point, and it’s worth a watch if you get the time. Though progress was painfully slow and beset with frustrating missteps, we were actually moving forward.
Amorim, as we have all seen, was far from perfect. I don’t think he was stupid, merely inflexible and with a partial blindness for reading the flow of the game and making effective changes. But the hierarchy cannot go without criticism. Fundamentally, Amorim was a high-risk choice. After over a decade of suffering from frequent radical change, in what universe is the best answer _more_ radical change? In other words, why, for the love of God, do you bring in a manager famous for his 3-4-3 system to a club that has always played 4 at the back and has literally the most creative “classic” No. 10 in Europe? Square pegs in round holes. That only makes sense if you have a serious _long-term_ plan, the budget to back it up and the wherewithall to carry it through. Man Utd, it now seems, had no such plan and no such budget.
Man u delayed to relieve Amorim, someone who is not flexible, made me to pretend that am not a supporter of man united, but let the board try and get a right person at least Xavi Hernandez or carrick but not a person of same system like Amorim, like palace manager i don’t want to see Oliver at man united, don’t bring panic options like Southgate because i know he will fail, try a profile coach
Oh, and while Darren Fletcher has been announced as interim manager (and, really, I think he’s the only available choice at such short notice), everything else is pure speculation. Every person and their canine is going to have an opinion and I expect there’ll be many wildly-unbelievable “scoops” for who will take over after Fletcher. The truth is, at this point, no-one knows.
For get his personal life which has nothing to do with anybody.
Ryan Giggs 1st as coach, Michael Carrick as assistant, both ex reds, both played under Fergie.
Giggs assistant to van Gaal.
It’s a no brainer.