Patrice Evra has blasted Manchester United’s gang of pundits for trying to ‘kill’ Michael Carrick’s career.
The Frenchman namechecked Paul Scholes, Gary Neville, and Roy Keane in a withering takedown of their credentials.
It comes after all three have suggested Carrick should not get the permanent job in the summer, with Scholes most recently branding United ‘c**p’ under him.
Evra, who won five Premier League titles with United, claims that none of them have a leg to stand on after their own failures as managers.
‘I hope Paul Scholes’ Instagram story is fake, I hope he was hacked,’ Evra told Stake.
‘To be honest, I’m not surprised at that from Scholesy. He was the quietest player I’ve ever played with in my entire career. Now, in the media, he drops bombshells.
Patrice Evra has called out Gary Neville, Roy Keane and Paul Scholes for their attempts to ‘kill’ Michael Carrick’s managerial career
All three have said Man United should not give him the permanent job despite his strong start
‘I really don’t understand the lack of support behind Michael Carrick, he’s one of us and he’s doing very well.
‘There’s been negative analysis from Scholesy, but also from Roy Keane and Gary Neville. It annoys me because we want to be in the top four, and those comments are unnecessary, but this is what you do when you work in TV. You can’t be positive, you have to be negative.
‘Most of these guys get a managerial job and get fired straightaway. I said to Neville: “It’s easy to talk on TV. When you were at Valencia, they asked you for paella, and you gave them fish and chips.”
‘After three months, they said goodbye. People can’t forget what they have done as a manager. As players, they’re legends, but as managers, they haven’t done a great job. So for them to speak and possibly kill the career of a manager, it’s a little bit too much.’
The trio’s main gripe is that Carrick is not experienced enough as a manager to handle one of the world’s biggest football jobs permanently.
But the 44-year-old has done a fine job since replacing Ruben Amorim, winning six of his eight games in charge.
On Wednesday, he suffered his first defeat at the hands of Newcastle, prompting Scholes’ late-night outburst on Instagram, which he hastily deleted: ‘Michael has definitely got something special about him… cos United have been c**p last four games… night’.
Neville, Scholes, and Keane all had short-lived managerial careers. Neville lasted 28 games at Valencia, Scholes had seven games at Oldham and two brief interim spells at Salford, while Keane had mixed stints at Sunderland and Ipswich, leaving both under a cloud.
Scholes branded Manchester United ‘c**p’ after their 2-1 loss away at Newcastle (pictured with Carrick in 2013)
Keane’s opposition to Carrick has been evident from the start, with the Irishman strongly resisting the idea of handing him the permanent job.
‘Two great performances but anyone can win two games,’ he told Sky Sports early in Carrick’s tenure.
‘Even if they do get into fourth, I still wouldn’t be convinced he’s the man for the job. Absolutely not.
‘They need a bigger and better manager. But he has got the opportunity and what a chance for him, and you know what, he’s taking it.’
He added: ‘If Manchester United win every game until the end of the season, I still wouldn’t give him the job.’
Meanwhile, Neville has told United to ‘pursue another manager’.
‘I think Manchester United have to pursue another manager right now around the fact of you don’t know how the results are going to go,’ he told Sky Sports ahead of United’s 1-0 win at Everton last month.
‘Little things like [Thomas] Tuchel re-signing with England does start to take away the options for Manchester United and they don’t harm Michael’s chances of getting the job. If he gets United into the Champions League there will be a lot of fever around that he should be appointed.
‘I’m not against him being appointed. I love him to bits and think that he’s done an incredible job so far. I just feel that Manchester United should go for the best class of manager available.
Neville has called for the Red Devils to hire the best candidate available instead of Carrick
‘They’ve had young and inexperienced managers in the last two picks which have not quite worked. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has come in before as an ex-player, who did a very good job for a couple of years, but that didn’t work in the end. So I just feel removing as much risk as possible is the right option.
‘But people who know me will know that’s not personal against Michael because I love him to bits. He’s a great lad, a great player and someone who’s doing a very good job as a coach now.’
And Scholes recently said on The Good, The Bad & The Football Podcast: ‘The perfect one out there – I say perfect – Ancelotti is still out there. I know he is coach of Brazil… he is the perfect one for Manchester United where you think he will make players feel a million dollars.
‘And he has the experience of winning stuff. But the question is, is he too old now? That’s the only thing. Is there anyone else of that ilk, with more experience? They need presence as a leader.’
