Michael Carrick has spoken publicly for the first time since being removed as Manchester United manager, using social media to deliver a measured and emotional farewell to the club and its supporters.<\/p>\n
His departure came after the 4-4 draw with Aston Villa, a result that proved decisive as the club used the November international break to make a change and appoint Mauricio Pochettino, the U.S. men\u2019s national team manager, in his place.<\/p>\n
Carrick\u2019s statement was notable for its warmth and for the emphasis he placed on what Manchester United means to those inside it. He wrote that he was \u201cincredibly grateful\u201d for the chance to lead the side he loves, while also paying tribute to the staff, players and fans who supported him during his time in charge.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve had the immense privilege of leading Manchester United, the football club that I love,\u201d Carrick wrote on Instagram . \u201cThere are very few who get to live that and feel it, and for that I\u2019m incredibly grateful.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith that comes huge responsibility, and to be at Manchester United, you need to understand exactly what that means. It\u2019s different to anywhere else.<\/p>\n
\u201cUltimately, you need to push to be the best, but there is a culture, there are values and there are behaviors that you have to live by and respect, which have been built over a long period of time. It\u2019s a football club that is unique, with substance and history that cannot be ignored. This is what inspired me every single day.<\/p>\n
\u201cI want to say a big thank you to the supporters. I must say, you are a special, rare breed.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve had some great times this year and moments we\u2019ll all remember. The best thing about being in my position was seeing so many of you lose yourselves in the emotion of those moments, leaving the stadium desperate to come back again next time.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just wanted to give you something back. That love never dies.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know we\u2019ve not had the results lately, but you\u2019ve shown me nothing but love and support in times when the easiest thing, and what most end up doing, would be to turn the other way. That means more than a win or two. That\u2019s what makes you who you are. That\u2019s why I fell in love with this club all those years ago.<\/p>\n
\u201cA special thank you to my coaching staff. You gave me everything you had, every single day, and I couldn\u2019t have asked for any more. I\u2019m incredibly grateful for your loyalty, hard work and support throughout. To all the staff behind the scenes, thank you for everything you do for this football club. So much of your work goes unseen, but it never goes unappreciated.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd to the players, thank you for your efforts and the moments we\u2019ve shared. I wish you all the very best for what\u2019s ahead.<\/p>\n
\u201cI want nothing but success for Manchester United. This club has been such a big part of my life and that will never change. I\u2019ll always be proud to have played my part and I\u2019ll always want the very best for it. I\u2019ll be right there with you from now on, watching from the sidelines, cheering the lads on.\u201d<\/p>\n
Support for Carrick also arrived from Gary Neville, who criticised the way the club handled the dismissal. Reports of Carrick\u2019s exit had already emerged on Monday, yet he was not formally removed for another three days and still took first-team training on Tuesday and Wednesday while waiting for confirmation. The process ended with CEO Omar Berrada and director of football Jason Wilcox telling him face-to-face after discussions with co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe in Monaco.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s 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\u2019d be getting sued.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe 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\u2019s just not good and it reflects badly on the leadership. I don\u2019t think anybody comes out of this well at all.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Carrick’s farewell was heartfelt, while Neville condemned United’s handling of his dismissal.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":22449,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[179],"tags":[59,180,182],"class_list":["post-22450","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-manchester-united","tag-featured","tag-player-news","tag-transfers"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22450","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22450"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22450\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22449"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22450"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22450"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22450"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}