Manchester United have won only once in their opening 10 Premier League games, their poorest start to a top-flight season since 1986-87.
The club sits 18th in the table, just one point clear of bottom-placed Crystal Palace.
United’s directors are due to meet in Monaco on Wednesday to consider Michael Carrick’s position, with his 10-month tenure as head coach now facing serious scrutiny.
Should the 45-year-old former United player leave, he would become the eighth permanent manager the club has appointed since Sir Alex Ferguson retired 13 years ago.
That would match the number of managerial changes United made over the previous 68 years, stretching back to Sir Matt Busby’s appointment in 1945.
Chief executive Omar Berrada and director of football Jason Wilcox are flying out for one of their regular pre-planned meetings to discuss strategy around the football club.
On this occasion, the main issue to be decided is Carrick’s future and what should happen next.
It is expected that Berrada and Wilcox’s recommendation is for the head coach to go.
It is not a situation Sir Jim Ratcliffe can have expected to find himself in again, less than three years after purchasing a minority stake in United.
