Roy Keane names three ‘better options’ than Michael Carrick as Man Utd manager

Roy Keane has named three options to be the next Manchester United manager, believing Michael Carrick is not the man for the job.

Carrick has enjoyed a superb start to his spell as interim boss, beating Manchester City and Arsenal, which has already led to calls for him to remain in charge next season.

There is plenty of football still to be played this campaign, but the former midfielder has the chance to prove that he is capable of leading the Red Devils to success over the coming months.

Keane insists he will not be swayed by the team’s performances over the rest of the campaign, believing that there are better managers, with much more experience than Carrick, and they are the right options regardless of what he achieves this year.

‘I hope they give it to him, I hope they give it to him in the summer,’ Keane said, on The Overlap. ‘I don’t think it’s the right decision, but good luck with it. I’m sticking to my guns, but if he gets it in the summer, good luck to him.

‘Caretaker manager is a different animal to being manager of United trying to win league titles over the next two, three, four, five years. I think you can get a better manager than Carrick, absolutely. But he’s doing a good job. Perfect timing for him. He’s got the players back, it’s been sliding doors moments and he’s took advantage of it.

‘His job the last week or two is to get results at Man United, if you become a manager you have to start looking at the structure, the scouts…

‘So Michael Carrick is going to be the manager of Man United? He hasn’t got enough experience. I don’t think he’ll have enough football knowledge.

‘I’m not saying Michael Carrick can’t be a top manager, but the timing for him to be manager of Man United in the summer? I don’t see it.

‘If he goes in and proves me wrong and starts competing and winning titles, I’ll say, “Tell you what. Unbelievable”.’

The Irishman feels the club has to stick to its process of finding the best candidate available, with a caretaker role, when fourth place deemed a successful season, an entirely different task to winning the title again.

‘If you’d asked us four or five weeks ago who the future manager of Man United would be, Carrick wouldn’t have been mentioned,’ he said.

‘It was perfect timing for him. United should definitely be fourth or fifth unless the wheels come off, so just doing that means you should become the manager of Man United?

‘Forget top four or top five over the next few years. I’m on about winning titles. That’s where Man United have to be.’

Who does Keane want in charge of Man Utd?

The men who fit Keane’s bill of being experienced and successful are the current managers of England, Paris Saint-Germain and Atletico Madrid.

‘There’s better options out there,’ he said. ‘It could be [Thomas] Tuchel, it could be [Luis] Enrique. I like [Diego] Simeone. Go and get the best.’

Carrick looks to continue his perfect start to life in charge of the Red Devils when they host Fulham in the Premier League on Sunday.

He will be without Patrick Dorgu due to a hamstring injury, after the Dane had been one of the stars of the wins over Manchester City and Arsenal.

Matthijs de Ligt and Joshua Zirkzee are the only other players expected to be out of action for the home side at Old Trafford.