Alan Shearer says Fabian Hürzeler would be a good replacement if Manchester United part with Michael Carrick, but adds a caveat. A former scout, meanwhile, is wondering whether the early critics were right.
Michael Carrick’s position at Old Trafford is now a regular talking point. After a 1-1 draw at Leeds, TheNiche reports that United are 13th with one win, two defeats and four draws from seven league games. Brighton, under Hürzeler, are third.
Shearer’s view
TheNiche attributes Shearer’s comments to Betfair, without giving a date or a link to a transcript, so treat the wording as second-hand. As reported, he said: “If Michael Carrick is relieved of his duties, Fabian Hürzeler would be a good replacement”, and added: “but it is a very different model at Brighton.”
Two things stand out. First, the sentence is conditional: Shearer is not calling for Carrick to go. Second, the caveat is doing real work. Brighton’s model, as Shearer implies, is not the same as the demands of managing United, and a good coach at one club does not automatically transfer. That is a sensible hedge rather than a recommendation.
The other side: a scout’s doubts
A different strand of the Carrick debate came from Bryan King, a former Tottenham, Everton and Aston Villa scout, speaking to Football Insider. Yahoo Sports carried his comments on 14 October. King argued that United “should have taken in a more experienced manager in the first place” and admitted he was “beginning to think at times whether they’re right”.
“They” are the pundits, including Roy Keane and Jamie Carragher, who had argued that United should have gone for a more experienced appointment. The Yahoo piece paraphrases that position rather than quoting either man directly, so we are doing the same here. King also noted that Carrick had saved the previous season as interim manager before struggling, and that the next international break could be a natural moment for a decision if results do not improve.
Where Neville sits
Not every pundit has hardened. Gary Neville’s view, which we covered in his scorecard for Carrick, is covered separately, and Neville called the Leeds result “a point’s a fair result”, according to a match report. That is hardly the language of a man calling for change.
Context
The league table is not the full picture. TheNiche notes that Carrick was made permanent manager after guiding United to a top-five finish and Champions League qualification, which gives him credit with the club. Seven games is a small sample, and one win in seven is a poor return, but the arithmetic of a season leaves time for a recovery.
What makes the Shearer comment notable is that it names a candidate at all. Pundits usually argue about whether a manager is failing, not who should follow. Naming Hürzeler, even conditionally, moves the conversation from diagnosis to succession. It does not mean the club is considering anything of the sort; there is no suggestion of that in any of the sources we have seen.
Our view
The three positions are consistent enough to be called a spectrum: Keane and Carragher doubted the appointment, King is coming round to them, Neville is giving Carrick time, and Shearer is preparing for the worst. Which is right depends on results over the next month. If United are still hovering mid-table when the international break arrives, expect the Hürzeler conversation to become louder.
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