Carrick refuses to rule out dropping Fernandes in emotional address

Manchester United boss Michael Carrick spoke for five minutes and 30 seconds without taking questions at the start of his media briefing to outline what the club means to him, then later refused to rule out dropping captain Bruno Fernandes. Under-pressure Manchester United boss Michael Carrick delivered a passionate and emotional address lasting five minutes and 30 seconds as he battles to save his job. And he refused to rule out dropping skipper Bruno Fernandes for Sunday's Premier League meeting with Bournemouth at Old Trafford. Instead of taking his seat and answering questions as normal in Friday's scheduled pre-match media conference at Carrington, Carrick said he wanted to start himself. It was a strategy former boss Sir Alex Ferguson used, although the legendary Scot rarely spoke at such length.

After a run of seven games without a win, culminating in Wednesday's shocking 4-1 Champions League defeat by Como, and attacks on the club's hierarchy by defender Lisandro Martinez and then Fernandes' condemnation of his own tactics in Italy, Carrick wanted to reaffirm his view of what United stood for. "Recently we haven't had a good time, I think that's pretty obvious," he said. "Wednesday was a bad night, and it hurt me to see us play like that. It was unacceptable. "My responsibility is to get a team on the