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Having witnessed their side fail to secure a win for the eighth game running, Manchester United supporters had every reason to turn their frustration toward caretaker manager Michael Carrick. Yet those present for Sunday's heavy loss to Bournemouth chose a different path.
As Carrick made his way around the Old Trafford turf following the 3–0 defeat to offer his latest round of apologies, he was greeted by an unexpected sound: genuine backing from the stands.
"It's Carrick, you know," the Old Trafford crowd sang to the melody of Pilot's 1974 classic Magic. "It's hard to believe it's not Scholes."
The moment Carrick disappeared into the tunnel, however, the mood shifted sharply. A fierce wave of boos merged with a string of colourful chants that served as a stark reminder that this fanbase is anything but content.
So, what exactly is happening at United?
Ownership Issues
United supporters have been protesting against the club's ownership ever since the Glazer family seized control on June 28, 2005. Midfield talent Kobbie Mainoo was barely two months old when the group took charge of his future club.
The Glazers have presided over substantial investment at United — the kind that rival supporters would typically envy — but the core issue for the Red Devils lies in how the Glazers structured their original takeover.
The bulk of the financing was secured through loans leveraged against the club's assets, carrying enormous interest obligations. The club's debts spiralled out of control, while the Glazers remained largely insulated in the boardroom.
"Sell United and f--- off home," has been the rallying cry for more than two decades, with fans making it abundantly clear that Carrick is not the one who should be shown the door.
The prevailing view among supporters is that the Glazers are motivated by profit rather than on-pitch success, which is why genuine excitement greeted Sir Jim Ratcliffe and INEOS when they tabled a takeover bid in December 2023. Ratcliffe assumed full oversight of day-to-day sporting operations but acquired only 25% of the club's shares, later increasing that figure to 28.9%. The Glazers remain in place, a source of deep frustration for a fanbase that has found little to celebrate under the INEOS era either.
INEOS has also overseen several notable appointments behind the scenes, including the recruitment of CEO Omar Berrada and technical director Jason Wilcox, brought in to inject football expertise into a group that was, to its credit, willing to acknowledge its own shortcomings.
Those sharp minds now find themselves on the verge of requiring a fourth permanent manager since INEOS's arrival less than three years ago, having also presided over a string of disappointing transfer windows that has left the squad floundering on the pitch. Centre-back Lisandro Martínez made sure the world was aware of that recently.
Underperforming Players
Carrick can only influence so much on matchdays. His responsibility is to organise the team and lay out a tactical framework for success. Once the referee's whistle sounds, however, it falls to the players to deliver.
United fans have been left deeply disappointed by the displays of several high-profile names. Captain Bruno Fernandes, dropped to the bench for the Bournemouth fixture after publicly criticising Carrick's approach, is among the many players to have fallen short this season — though his decision to openly challenge his manager raised serious doubts about his suitability as skipper.
The Red Devils have appeared flat and sluggish this season, routinely outpaced by their opponents. Supporters can forgive a dip in form, but wholehearted effort is non-negotiable, and the widespread belief is that the United squad simply are not delivering that. Carrick cannot do their running for them.
It was not so long ago that things looked brighter for Carrick. His interim spell in the second half of the 2025–26 campaign produced some of the most encouraging moments the club had seen in years, but this season's players have looked like pale imitations of those who were grabbing headlines just months earlier.
A banner calling for the "standards" set by legendary former captains Eric Cantona, Roy Keane and Bryan Robson was unfurled again during the Bournemouth match — a pointed message to the players that anything short of total commitment will not be accepted.
Déjà Vu
Among the deepest frustrations for United supporters is finding the club mired in this same situation once again.
INEOS arrived in late 2023 promising transformation. Erik ten Hag was handed a contract extension, only to be dismissed shortly afterwards when results deteriorated. Ruben Amorim followed, winning just 25 of his 63 matches before he too was moved on. Now, a third manager appears destined for the same fate.
Fans have been left asking when that promised change will actually materialise — or whether it ever will.
United's hierarchy has insisted they have had a clear direction over the past three years, investing heavily in a new structure aimed at restoring the club to its former standing, yet the misery persists. There is a genuine sense of grievance that a club legend like Carrick looks set to pay the price for the failings of those above him.
Make no mistake, Carrick is not without fault. Questions have long lingered over whether he was truly ready for a role of this scale, but even his harshest critics would concede that he has been severely hampered by factors beyond his control.
Supporters are bracing for yet another period of instability, with little confidence that improvement is on the horizon. Squad changes will be gradual, particularly given that club officials believe they are already two-thirds through a rebuilding process, and those who have so far failed to restore United as a genuine force will be left to find yet another solution.
With trust in that process all but exhausted, United fans can do little more than rally behind Carrick — perhaps the only figure in a long while to have genuinely convinced supporters that he cares deeply about the club.