Football Daily | Manchester United and the Carrick conundrum

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Having “given it Carrick ‘til the end of the season” and with the conclusion of the campaign heaving into view, the Manchester United hierarchy will soon be forced to make a Big Decision. Whether it has involved laying off staff, spending the thick end of £40m hiring and firing head coaches and suits in the middle of an economy drive or airing his opinions on immigrants, many of the decisions Big Sir Jim Ratcliffe has made have been bad. There’s no guarantee he’ll pick the right head coach to lead the club into next season. On the face of it, Michael Carrick has done a decent job. helping mastermind victory in nine of his 13 matches in charge, while his narrowed eyes, bestubbled jaw and the upturned collar of his black wool-blend overcoat lend him the air of an unflappable Berlin-based intelligence officer in a gritty cold war spy thriller. Softly spoken, liked by United fans and players, he seems the easy (possibly even obvious) option now Bigger Cup football has been all but secured for next season.

It’s Bigger Cup semi-final time. Bayern Munich, PSG, Atlético and Arsenal all going at it to prove who’s the best in Europe. There’s really only one thing missing: the booming tones of Rio Ferdinand and his otherworldly non-sequiturs. Who can forget him shouting ‘Ballon d’Or’ repeatedly or even ‘This is a win for football’ echoing around Europe? My own personal favourite? ‘Space kills!’ Rio Ferdinand, part-pundit, part-philosopher. We miss you” – Myles Flynn.

Always love when you make a wry Wire reference (yesterday’s Football Daily, full email edition). In response to your Jimmy McNulty comment, perhaps the street corner whisperings of ‘Rochdale coming’ will put a bit of fear into rivals’ hearts” – Mike Wilner.

Mention of Halley’s Comet (yesterday’s Football Daily) reminded me of how old I am, having seen it last time. Back in those days of course clubs never used their financial clout to gain an advantage. Apart from Liverpool (which worked) and Manchester United (which, erm, didn’t – see Mike Phelan, Neil Webb and Danny Wallace)” – Andy Taylor.

As a fan of the Football Daily’s last line, not only do I understand yesterday’s text, but I have an answer to ‘DID THEY RUN 27.2 MILES?’ Yes, they bloody well did. I ran it back in 1992 and I still wake up screaming some nights in memory. Fun runners, my @rse!” – Shaun Clark.

Now that you’ve awarded a (well merited) prize again, no doubt you will be inundated by letters from all the Old Faithfuls around these parts, clawing at any trivial issue to compete for a similar award. Step up Messrs Oh, Francis et al. What’s that? My trivial issue? Oh, let’s see, how about your use of ‘best legal team’ when it should have been ‘better legal team’, considering you explicitly stated ‘two footballing behemoths’? Will that do? No, thought as much” – Ken Muir (and no other Old Faithfuls).