DAWN OF ANOTHER NEW ERA

A TUMULTUOUS TWO WEEKS AT OLD TRAFFORD...

- By TYRONE MARSHALL

T'S rarely quiet at Old Trafford but the first two weeks of 2026 have been explosive even for the standards of United Michael Carrick is the club's third head coach of the year already.

Ruben Amorim's dramatic end and Darren Fletcher's caretaker spell have led to the appointment of Carrick until the end of the season and the challenge that now awaits is to steer the club back into European competition.

That won't be easy and the start is a daunting one, but there is now a sense of calm at Carrington once more.

This is the story of a remarkable two weeks and how United got to the point where 44-year-old Carrick was summoned from a beach in Barbados to take charge of the first team...

HOW AMORIM SABOTAGED HIS OWN REIGN

There was frustration bubbling away at Carrington on the second day of 2026, but no sense of the explosion that was about to go off at the club's training ground.

The failure to beat Wolves a few days earlier had stuck in the craw of key executives, particularly given Amorim had gone back to his favoured back three formation.

Wolves boss Rob Edwards revealed post-match he had always expected Amorim to do just that, while the United head coach said he had wanted to match up the visitors.

That negative approach set alarm bells ringing again. Amorim had gone to a back four and a more attacking ethos against Bournemouth and Newcastle, but reverted to type for a game against a team that, at that point, were still to win in the Premier League. When director of football Jason Wilcox spoke to Amorim about it at a pre-planned meeting on the morning of Friday, January 2, the head coach 'blew up'.

He hinted at the unhappiness in his press conference ahead of the game and then cancelled a planned broadcast interview.