Man United thwarted caretaker Mike Phelan’s plans due to fear of backlash

Manchester United had planned to make Mike Phelan manager after Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was sacked on Sunday but ultimately decided against the move after fearing a backlash from supporters, sources news told ESPN.

Solskjaer is exempt from his duties after the previous 4-1 defeat Watford at Vicarage Road on Saturday with assistant Michael Carrick set to take charge of the Champions League game Villarreal on Tuesday.

But sources revealed to ESPN that United bosses initially planned to hand power over to Phelan before deciding on Carrick, a famous former player who made more than 450 appearances for the club between 2006 and 2018 will likely receive more support from the players and fans.

Carrick will attend training in Carrington on Monday and will hold a new meeting at 1pm local time ahead of his trip to Spain.

Sources told ESPN that some players were confused by the club’s decision to sack Solskjaer but kept a core of his coaching staff including Phelan, Carrick and Kieran McKenna.

There are concerns that despite the Norwegian’s departure not much will change in the short term because much of the work of coaching and preparing for the matches has been left to those staff.

Sources revealed to ESPN that it was only on Sunday that United began looking for an interim coach to lead the team until the end of the season.

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Carrick was given no guidance on how long his tenure might last and could be in charge of the trip to Chelsea on sunday and ArsenalA visit to Old Trafford on December 2.

Before England The midfielder is looking to remedy a slump in form that has seen United lose seven of their last 13 games in all competitions.

Sources have told ESPN that Paris Saint-Germain owner Mauricio Pochettino is The club’s top pick to permanently fill vacancies and that the Argentinians would be interested in taking over.

Ajax boss Erik ten Hag is another name in the bracket while United will also take a close look Atlético Madrid owner Diego Simeone.