Stop me if you've heard this one before. Manager gets sacked. Club appoints a caretaker. Players come out and say "yeah he's the one." The vibes are immaculate for approximately 11 days. Then everything collapses like a Jenga tower in an earthquake. 💀

Amad told the world this week that Manchester United's players believe Michael Carrick is "the right man" to take the head coach job permanently. And look, I love Amad. Generational talent. But the moment a player publicly endorses a caretaker manager, something ancient and terrible awakens in the football universe. The memes write themselves. So I ranked every notable time this has happened and rated how cursed it was out of 10.

9. Ryan Mason at Tottenham (2021) — Cursed Rating: 4/10

Players said nice things. He beat Southampton. Then Nuno Espírito Santo got the job and everyone remembered what actual suffering felt like. Relatively harmless in the grand scheme. Mason didn't get the gig but he didn't get the blame either. A rare clean escape. ⚽

8. Michael Carrick at Man United (2021, The First Time) — Cursed Rating: 5/10

Wait. WAIT. This has literally happened before with the same man at the same club. Players backed him then too. He won a few games, looked composed on the touchline, and then the club hired Ralf Rangnick and the entire squad collectively forgot how to play football. POV: you've been here before and the GPS is definitely recalculating. 😭

7. Guus Hiddink at Chelsea (2015) — Cursed Rating: 6/10

Players loved him. Everyone was vibing. They drew about 47 consecutive games. It was like watching a team actively choose mid. No caption needed.

6. Freddie Ljungberg at Arsenal (2019) — Cursed Rating: 7/10

Players said he understood the club. He looked like he was going to cry on the touchline by match three. Lost to Brighton. The "he's one of us" energy evaporated faster than you can say "Unai Emery's revenge tour." 💀

5. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer at Man United (2018) — Cursed Rating: 8/10

The mother of all player endorsements. "Give him the job!" chanted the fans. "He's transformed us!" said the squad. They gave him the job. They finished the season by losing 4-0 to Everton. This is cinema. The absolute worst part? It worked SO well for three months that everyone genuinely believed. The hope made the fall so much more devastating. 🔥

4. David Unsworth at Everton (2017) — Cursed Rating: 8.5/10

Players said he was the right man. Lost 4-1 to Southampton. Lost 5-1 to Atalanta. The vibes didn't just collapse, they were never there. Unsworth looked like a substitute teacher who'd been told he was covering one lesson and ended up doing the whole term. 😭

3. Gareth Southgate at England (2016) — Cursed Rating: 2/10

Players endorsed him. He got the permanent job. He took England to two major tournament finals. This is literally the ONLY time it's worked. One out of however many. The exception that proves the rule is absolutely devastating.

2. Carrick at Man United (2026, Right Now) — Cursed Rating: TBD/10

Amad has spoken. The squad is behind him. The sun is shining on Old Trafford for approximately the next 72 hours. If you've read everything above and you're still feeling optimistic, I genuinely admire your commitment to delusion. 🐐

The historical success rate of "the players want him" actually leading to sustained success is roughly 6%. I didn't run those numbers scientifically. I don't need to. We've all lived through this cycle enough times to know that player endorsements of caretaker managers are the football equivalent of saying "at least it can't get worse." It can. It always can. And at Manchester United specifically? It always does. 💀