The more things change at Manchester United, the more they seem to stay the same.

In the 13 years since Sir Alex Ferguson finally hung up his hairdryer, Old Trafford has burned through serial winners, eminent coaches of varying ages and those steeped in club DNA, with Michael Carrick joining the latter category in the wake of his sacking.

The former midfielder becomes United’s third mid-season change in as many years, joining Ruben Amorim and Erik ten Hag in their increasing hall of managerial infamy.

Manchester United need to end manager churn cycle

He was the latest convenient scapegoat for the failings of those above him, who are yet to face repercussions no matter how many managerial reigns continue to be tarnished by them. The unstinting backing he received from the United faithful, even as results continued to tumble, bought director of football Jason Wilcox and chief executive officer Omar Berrada more time to conjure up something resembling a coherent succession plan.

The top brass, including absentee co-owners Sir Jim Ratcliffe and the Glazers, were put on notice as early as a late-October humbling by Bournemouth. The green and gold movement which dominated early protests against the American overlords is back in vogue, as are industrial-language chants demanding they sell up and vacate at speed. Players, too, are no longer being afforded a free pass after throwing yet another manager under the bus. A steadily-formed queue of dissidents in the wake of a Champions League humbling by Como, headed up by captain Bruno Fernandes, lifted the veil of immunity which previously hung over the dressing room.

If not for a sprinkling of hollow platitudes, the confirmatory statement which sealed Carrick's fate could have easily been copied and pasted from the one which rendered Amorim as persona non grata in January. There will be no shortage of material for Amazon's upcoming behind-the-scenes documentary on the club, yet the modus operandi remains painfully familiar. The Red Devils have cast aside another Champions League-winning fan favourite who answered the call in their latest hour of need. But while Ole Gunnar Solskjaer spent three years 'at the wheel', Carrick was barely allowed to ride pillion in his 10 months.

Both remained publicly in thrall to Ferguson's heyday despite the fact their former mentor indirectly set the wheels in motion for their respective dugout departures. For all his reverence, the Scot's previous autonomy paved the route for the imbued chaos that is the modern-day United. He was an analog man who resisted moving into football’s new digital age at every turn. A necessary recalibrating of the power dynamic for those that followed has proved detrimental to a club once famed for being ahead of the curve on the pitch but increasingly behind the times in its internal mechanisms.

Ferguson is also the reason why Carrick was afforded a painful stay of execution under the illusion of it being a chance to turn around the club's dismal on-field fortunes. The glittering era which his old manager presided over at the Theatre of Dreams was indebted to a sliding doors moment that was destined to elude the most recent dugout incumbent. United's comebacks against Roma and Aston Villa in the space of four days were hardly a present-day answer to Mark Robins at the City Ground.

The initial shortlist to replace Carrick was as predictable as it was uninspiring. Eddie Howe, Julian Nagelsmann and Antonio Conte headed up a who’s who of managers in between jobs. True to form, a club perennially at odds with itself remained split on which candidate represents the best fit. Wilcox reportedly favoured the ex-Newcastle boss, ironic considering his predecessor Dan Ashworth was dismissed for making that same recommendation prior to Amorim's appointment. Christopher Vivell, the club’s head of recruitment, believed the architect of Germany’s humiliating World Cup exit to Paraguay last summer is a more ideal fit to rouse the club from its worst start in 40 years.

Conte, meanwhile, has a penchant for challenging hierarchies which makes him a combustible option as the scorched-earth policy which delivered both uncomfortable home truths and an end to his Tottenham reign attests. Mauricio Pochettino, one of the Italian's predecessors in north London and currently head of the United States national team, is now the preferred option despite unsuccessfully interviewing for the job on three prior occasions. The Argentine represents an ideological choice but not necessarily a quick fix with United currently in the relegation zone. That none of the contenders were definitively whittled down prior to Carrick's exit is a damning indictment of an act first and think later approach which continues to paralyse the club.

Carrick's protracted stay should have stirred the decision-makers towards a more cogent succession plan. Instead, they elected to fiddle while the former empire continued to burn. The eventual appointment of choice is still unlikely to move the needle sufficiently enough to stop the club ending up in the exact same position within 12 to 18 months' time; doubtless with another revered former player waiting in the wings to sip from what is now increasingly poison chalice.

The 20-time English champions are battling another winter of discontent and the answer in its powerbrokers’ minds is seemingly to continue running towards nostalgia or vibes with middle ground of rationale increasingly shunned.

It’s a situation which was foretold by Amorim at the outset of his own doomed reign, warning that the same problems would manifest unless a different outlook was embraced. AC Milan’s manager may hold the lowest Premier League win ratio in his former employers' history and share commonality with the man who replaced him in failing to beat Bournemouth but could be forgiven for claiming vindication.

Carrick’s departure offers United a potential escape from this vicious cycle. A best-in-class replacement may currently be out of reach but a club which once prided itself on doing things the right way can finally divert its path away from never-ending malaise.