You would have to be touching 60 to have any recollection of the last time United were relegated.
Legend has it that old boy Denis Law sent them down with an impudent back heel he didn’t celebrate when he was at Manchester City. The reality is United were already doomed under then-boss Tommy Docherty.
United have not been in the relegation zone after nine games or more since November 1986, when they collected a single point in Sir Alex Ferguson’s first two games in charge following Ron Atkinson’s dismissal.
Their lowest position after at least nine games of a season since then was 17th in 1989-90. They are back there again right now, mainly thanks to the failings of others in results elsewhere on Saturday.
It is now nine games in all competitions since Carrick’s side won, their worst run since 1988-89. Their single Premier League win of the season was when they came from behind to beat Ipswich at home in August.
Of course, United’s supporters have very recent experience of seeing their team in the lower reaches of the table. They were 16th under Ruben Amorim after 37 games of the 2024-25 season. The caveat is they were 14 points clear of third-bottom Leicester and at no point in that tortuous campaign were they in danger of relegation.
One club that has been at real risk in recent years is Tottenham, who were third bottom and two points behind West Ham with four games of last season remaining.
So, it could happen, even if it remains unlikely a club that should post revenues in excess of £700m for the current campaign will finish in the bottom three.
“You can look at it like that, or you can look at how far you can move up the league quite quickly if you win football matches,” was Carrick’s response when asked if his players are equipped for the “mentality shift” required to deal with the present situation. “That’s the way it’s got to be approached.”
