Man Utd 'have to pursue another manager right now' as Gary Neville deems permanent Michael Carrick appointment too much of a 'risk'

United’s form under the 44-year-old has been nothing short of remarkable, with five wins from six Premier League outings propelling themselves back into the Champions League conversation. This run includes back-to-back scalps against title contenders Manchester City and Arsenal.

The latest victory under Carrick came in a gritty 1-0 win over Everton at Hill Dickinson Stadium, with Benjamin Sesko scoring off the bench to as United reclaimed a spot in the top four. Despite the growing "fever" among the fanbase, to see Carrick handed the job full-time, Neville remains unconvinced that his former team-mate is the right long-term solution. The Sky Sports pundit is adamant that the club needs a proven, elite-level head coach to avoid repeating the past mistakes.

Speaking on Sky Sports's Monday Night Football show, Neville laid out his concerns regarding the appointment process: "Manchester United have to pursue another manager right now around the fact that you don't know how the results are going to go. But 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."

The former Red Devils captain primary concern is that United have already tried the formula of hiring young or inexperienced managers, specifically referencing the tenure of another club icon, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

"If he gets United into the Champions League there will be a lot of fever around that should be appointed," Neville added. "I'm not against him being appointed, I love him to bits. But I think United should go for the best class of manager available. They've had young and inexperienced managers in the last two picks. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has come in before as an ex-player and that didn't work in the end. So I feel removing as much risk as possible is the right option."

While the outside noise grows, Neville revealed earlier this month that he has taken the proactive step of "speaking to the club" to understand their official stance on the managerial vacancy.

Reflecting on his conversation with Old Trafford officials, Neville explained: "I asked the club what is the official position of the football club in terms of what you're saying publicly to everybody else. I have to say I thought their answer was pretty good. They said they've actually begun the process now, starting to look for another manager, which I thought right. That's good to hear because you need to plan for everything. They've started the process of speaking to and looking at other managers, building all the sorts of data and analysing who should be the next manager of the football club. But what they've said is they're not going to be bounced into - irrespective of wins or draws or losses on the pitch in this next couple of months - making an appointment. They're going to wait until towards the end of the season."

Despite his reservations about the permanent job, Neville is confident that Carrick will deliver Champions League football to Old Trafford this term. The Red Devils currently sit three points clear of Chelsea and Liverpool in the race for the top four, and Neville believes their lack of European distractions could even see them overtake Aston Villa for third place.

He added: "I think they could finish third, I really do think they could finish third. I said a couple of weeks ago I thought Villa might just get pulled back a little bit. These teams [Aston Villa, Chelsea and Liverpool] have got European football in front of them and that's a big distraction. Manchester United don't have that and I think they're in a decent place. You look at the players out there, they go over to celebrate, they look like they're in a decent sort of mood. They're winning when they play well, they're winning when they don't play well... all the right things are starting to happen."

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