Man Utd next manager: Clear favourite has emerged after Como humiliation with Michael Carrick on brink
Eddie Howe is the current bookmakers' favourite to replace Michael Carrick as head coach after Manchester United's 4-1 defeat to Como in the Champions League.
United endured a miserable night in Lombardy as Cesc Fabregas' side dismantled their defence repeatedly across both halves.
The Serie A side had eight shots on target and could have made the scoreline even worse for United, who scored a consolation goal in second half stoppage time through substitute Joshua Zirkzee. Attention will inevitably be focused on Carrick's position after the defeat, with pressure already having grown on him due to recent results. And there appear to be a number of candidates who could step in to replace him if United make a decision.
Next Man Utd manager odds as clear favourite revealed
As per Oddschecker, former Newcastle boss Eddie Howe is the leading contender to take over from Carrick at Old Trafford if a change is made.
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According to TEAMtalk, United have held internal discussions about replacing Carrick with Howe, with the report claiming that Howe being a British manager stands in his favour. For his part, Howe is believed to be keen on a return to club management after stepping down as Newcastle head coach at the end of July.
Howe is the 9/4 favourite to take charge of United with several bookmakers, though BetVictor rank Antonio Conte (2/1) at the same odds as Howe to replace Carrick.
Brighton boss Fabian Hurzeler, former Germany head coach Julian Nagelsmann and ex-Ipswich manager Kieran McKenna are also among the leading contenders.
Except Hurzeler, all four of those managers are currently out of work, having all left their previous clubs either at the end of last season, during pre-season or, in Nagelsmann's case, after Germany's unsuccessful World Cup campaign.
Why Man Utd face huge decision over next manager
Sir Jim Ratcliffe and INEOS will have to succeed in an area they haven't managed in nearly four years at United: to appoint a head coach who can deliver sustained success to United.
They splashed out approximately £37 million to sack Erik ten Hag, replace him with Ruben Amorim from Sporting, and then to sack Amorim just 14 months after he took the job in January.
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The appointment of Conte would, United hope, provide at least short-term success, though the Italian does not have a track record of spending considerably long in a job and he would require significant control over new signings that would, in all likelihood, go against Ratcliffe's more cautious - and much criticised - approach to transfers.
They could turn back to Kieran McKenna, the former United first team coach who left Ipswich in the summer after guiding them to promotion to the Premier League for the second time. But McKenna was relegated with Ipswich in his only season of Premier League football, and the Tractor Boys weren't always convincing last season despite finishing second in the Championship. Ipswich are also entitled to around £7 million in compensation, according to reports, if he takes a new managerial role in the 12 months following his June departure.
Nagelsmann, meanwhile, is untried and untested in the Premier League, having spent his entire managerial career either in Germany or managing the German national team. That, then, leads back to Howe, who has sustained success at Newcastle on his CV and may see United as the ideal return job. Whether this current United side can play the way he wants to, though, is another question entirely.
Topics: Michael Carrick, Man Utd, Premier League, Champions League
Ryan Smart