The clear-the-air meeting between Carrick and his captain took place on Tuesday at Carrington. The verdict from outside the dressing room has not softened.
Heskey, the former Liverpool and England striker, told TeamTalk that Fernandes is not a captain in the traditional sense and would be better suited to a supporting leadership role.
“I’m not overly sure Bruno Fernandes is a captain in the traditional sense; he’s probably a vice-captain,” he told TeamTalk.
Heskey’s wider argument to the outlet was that Fernandes should narrow his focus to his own game rather than the demands of leadership, naming John Terry, Steve Walsh and Gary McAllister as the type of dressing-room anchor he had in mind. His pointed message to the midfielder was that he “needs to concentrate more on his football” and leave the armband to someone else.
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The outburst at Como that started it
Fernandes drew the heat on himself after United’s 4-1 Champions League defeat at Como on 22 October, when he publicly questioned the tactical set-up at the Giuseppe Sinigaglia Stadium.
“It’s a decision from the staff not to press man-to-man and sometimes leave space behind,” Fernandes said after the match, adding that his side needed to be “more brave under pressure.”
The club chose not to formally punish him and he kept the armband. Carrick responded on the pitch instead: he dropped Fernandes to the bench for the Bournemouth game the following Sunday, Harry Maguire wore the armband, and United lost 3-0 at Old Trafford.
Asked afterwards why the captain had been benched, Carrick kept the answer short: “Pure football.”
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Scholes goes further
Heskey is not the loudest voice in the pile-on. Paul Scholes called the criticism of Carrick unforgivable and said Fernandes could no longer be trusted with the armband at any club.
“How can Bruno Fernandes be trusted to be captain of any team he ever goes to now? I don’t think any manager, any member of staff can trust him after that,” Scholes told Yahoo Sports.
Patrice Evra, the former United left-back, picked a different line of attack and questioned Fernandes’s positioning rather than his character, telling Goal that the captain tries to play everywhere on the pitch and ends up controlling nothing from his central role.
Chelsea on Saturday
United travel to Stamford Bridge on Saturday 31 October with Carrick still in post and the captain back in contention after Tuesday’s meeting at Carrington. The head coach is one point above the relegation zone on the back of an eight-match winless run in all competitions.
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