MANCHESTER, England (AP) — Manchester United has gone from crisis to within sight of a return to the Champions League since calling on Michael Carrick to salvage its season.
Seven wins from nine games have transformed the mood inside Old Trafford — lifting United to third in the Premier League and prompting club great Wayne Rooney to declare Carrick the man to bring the good times back.
“100% he should (get the job),” Rooney told the BBC after United's 3-1 win against Aston Villa on Sunday. “We have seen the players play with more quality, more together as a team, and they look like a very strong team. Why would you change?”
Carrick was hired in January as temporary coach to rescue a season that was imploding under former coach Ruben Amorim. The former United midfielder, who won five Premier League titles and the Champions League during a trophy-laden playing career with United, was only given a contract until the end of the season while United weighed up long-term options.
But United's turnaround - going from sixth when Amorim was fired to third following a string of wins that included games against Manchester City and Arsenal - has led to growing calls for Carrick to get a long-term deal.
“It’s only noise if you listen to it. It doesn’t affect me one bit," Carrick said after the win against Villa. “I’m in this position at the moment, doing the best I can.
"Whatever’s going to happen is going to happen.”
Speculation was rife regarding potential candidates to take over when Amorim was fired in January - becoming the sixth permanent United manager or head coach to be discarded since club great Alex Ferguson retired in 2013.
Thomas Tuchel, Oliver Glasner, Julian Nagelsmann, Roberto De Zerbi and Luis Enrique were among a slew of reported options.
The field appears to have narrowed with Tuchel signing an extension with England, while the reputations of Glasner and De Zerbi have not been enhanced over the past few months.
Glasner's Palace was dumped out of the FA Cup by sixth-tier Macclesfield and is currently 14th in the standings.
De Zerbi left Marseille last month following a 5-0 defeat to Paris Saint-Germain.
Carrick, meanwhile, has likely pushed his own name up the list as United's sporting director Jason Wilcox considers plans beyond this season.
United's results and the manner in which Carrick has handled himself suggest he is not overawed by the challenge of leading one of the world's most storied sports teams.
He had an outstanding career as a player at Old Trafford and was also an assistant to Ole Gunnar Solskjaer when he moved into coaching.
“I know what it takes to succeed here; my focus is now on helping the players to reach the standards that we expect at this incredible club," Carrick said when he was appointed.
He has so far produced effective soccer that has also entertained - getting the best out of players like Bruno Fernandes, Casemiro, Matheus Cunha and Benjamin Sesko.
Academy product Kobbie Mainoo has been reinvigorated under Carrick after being largely overlooked by Amorim.
Carrick appears to have had a calming effect on a club that felt like it was in turmoil before his appointment.
Even after his impressive start in the job, it would be a gamble for United to go with someone so inexperienced as a top level coach.
Carrick's only head coach role was at second division Middlesbrough from 2022-25 and he was unable to lead it to promotion to the Premier League.
United turned to a former player when hiring Solskjaer as Jose Mourinho's successor in 2018. The Norwegian enjoyed a flying start - including a memorable Champions League win against Paris Saint-Germain. But he ultimately failed to deliver a trophy in almost three years in charge, despite leading United to a second-place finish in 2021.
The fear would be that after an initial bounce under Carrick, his lack of experience would tell in the long run.
United's good run has also come at a time when the club is not involved in any other competition and playing one game a week. Aging players like Casemiro and Harry Maguire are not being overworked and proving to be key figures with a reduced schedule.
How would Carrick be able to juggle a league campaign at the same time as the Champions League and two domestic cup competitions?
United has tried just about everything and still failed to avoid more than a decade of decline after Ferguson.
It went down the route of the top tier, tried and tested in the form of serial winners Louis van Gaal and Mourinho, but neither could deliver the Premier League title.
David Moyes was a well-established top-flight manager, while both Erik ten Hag and Amorim came in as title winners from overseas.
None have reached the standards required.
Solskjaer was an iconic player - part of the club's DNA - and despite having the affection of the fans ultimately came up short.
Carrick is another throwback to United's glorious past when it dominated England and Europe.
He is strengthening his case with every win. Should United maintain this form until the end of the season, it will be very difficult for the club's hierarchy to look past him.
James Robson is at https://x.com/jamesalanrobson
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
Manchester United's coach Michael Carrick and Casemiro walk off the pitch after during the Premiier League soccer match between Manchester United and Aston Villa in Manchester, England, Sunday, March 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Dave Thompson)
The wait in Hollywood is almost over: The 98th Academy Awards premiere at 7 p.m. Eastern/4 p.m. Pacific on Sunday.
Comedian Conan O’Brien is back for a second year to host the ceremony, held at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. It’s an Oscars race that seemed like a runaway for “One Battle After Another” but may be a close call after all, thanks to some late-season wins for “Sinners.” Other films with several nominations include “Sentimental Value,” “Marty Supreme,” “Frankenstein” and “Hamnet.”
A picture-perfect sunny afternoon greeted early arrivals at the Dolby Theatre on Sunday.
The Latest at the Academy Awards:
He will be onstage tonight performing “I Lied to You,” which is up for best original song.
“That’s what we want to do, that’s what music is supposed to do, we’re supposed to move people,” he said.
The Oscars will be saying farewell to a lot of cinema titans, and taking more time to do so.
Among them are Robert Duvall, Robert Redford, Diane Keaton and Rob Reiner.
Other talents who died in the last year include Brigitte Bardot, Val Kilmer, Michael Madsen, Terence Stamp, Diane Ladd, Sally Kirkland, Tom Stoppard and Malcolm-Jamal Warner.
Already this year, the film world has lost Catherine O’Hara, Robert Carradine, Eric Dane, James Van Der Beek and Bud Cort.
Among the foreign talents who died were Joan Plowright, Claudia Cardinale, Dharmendra, Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa, Mohammad Bakri, Béla Tarr and Jimmy Cliff.
Given the large number of bold-faced names, producers have decided the In Memoriam segment will be longer than usual.
Assembling the segment involves deciding who gets placed in what order, choosing music and the graphic design of the names and titles, as well as where pauses are built in for the select giants of the film world.
It’s up to the academy to decide who is included, which often leads to outcries about who gets excluded.
Maggie O’Farrell, who wrote the book that was adapted into Chloé Zhao’s best picture nominee, said she knew the movie wouldn’t be a “conventional, antiseptic kind of costume drama.” One scene in particular read differently from her novel: Will’s proposal.
“They make it really funny, which I never expected it to be,” O’Farrell said.
For the first time in Oscars history, a statuette will be handed out not only to the stars but also to the person who casts them.
The inaugural casting Oscar doesn’t recognize the performance of the actors, unlike the Actor Awards’ best cast prize, which “Sinners” won earlier this month, and other comparable accolades. This award, by contrast, recognizes the behind-the-scenes creative process and collaboration by a casting director with the filmmakers to select the actors for their roles and craft a cohesive ensemble.
The nominees are Nina Gold (“Hamnet”), Jennifer Venditti (“Marty Supreme”), Cassandra Kulukundis (“One Battle After Another”), Gabriel Domingues (“The Secret Agent”) and Francine Maisler (“Sinners”). Each of the five films they worked on are also up for best picture.
The directors of the nominated Iranian documentary “Cutting Through Rocks” plan to be at the Oscars ceremony, but the woman at the center of their film won’t make it as they’d hoped.
The film, shot over many years in Iran by directors Mohammadreza Eyni and Sara Khaki, tells the story of Sara Shahverdi, who fought to loosen the grip of the patriarchy as the first woman to be elected to the council of her village.
“Due to the U.S. travel ban, along with the many ongoing circumstances in Iran, Sara Shahverdi is not able to be present at the Oscars, the directors said in an Instagram post. “We truly hoped to be together after eight years of working on this film side by side, but unfortunately, that won’t be possible.”
“Cutting Through Rocks,” which premiered at last year’s Sundance Film Festival, is nominated for best documentary feature.
The Oscars red carpet sports an naturalistic, Japan-inspired motif this year, with Japanese maple trees lining the path to the Dolby Theatre and wood slat panels adding texture to some of the walls.
The carpet itself is “red rock,” according to Academy representatives, with shades of earthy brown making it darker than the traditional bright red.
If everyone is looking a little shinier today, it’s because it is already quite toasty on the red carpet, which is only going to get more crowded.
Production people say that after two days of blazing heat during rehearsals, they were promised it would be freezing.
Ryan Coogler understands what tonight could mean for Oscar history. He’s just not dwelling on it.
Instead, on Thursday, the Oscar-nominated filmmaker was looking forward to spending one more night with his “Sinners” collaborators who helped bring the film to life.
Coogler could become the first Black filmmaker to win best director in the Academy Awards’ nearly century-long history. While speaking before the eighth annual Macro Pre-Oscars party in Los Angeles, he said he’s trying to stay present as the ceremony approaches.
“I’m just trying to enjoy the days as they come, stay present in the moment,” Coogler told The Associated Press. “When Sunday comes, man, I’m pull up and enjoy celebrating all the movies that’s being celebrated here, including our own.”
▶ Read more from the interview with the “Sinners” director
The Iranian dissident filmmaker, whose film “It Was Just an Accident” was inspired by his time as a political prisoner, is facing a yearlong prison sentence and two-year travel ban for the film.
Yet Jafar Panahi still plans to return home.
“I know where I live and under what government,” he told AP through a translator before the war broke out, something he’s reiterated to news outlets since. “I also know that such works of art come with a price that I have to pay.”
“I also have the experience of living in prison with people who are completely anonymous and unknown, and when they can go through massive pain and no one will hear about it. But as soon as something is wrong with me, the entire world knows.”
“ICE OUT” and “BE GOOD” pins have become one of this awards season’s most visible accessories.
Mark Ruffalo, Jean Smart and Ariana Grande were among the Hollywood stars donning the protest apparel at January’s Golden Globes. But organizers actually took inspiration from AIDS activists of the 1980s and 90s.
Maremoto Executive Director Jess Morales Rocketto says they followed the example of groups like ACT UP, whose red ribbons appeared at the televised 1991 Tony Awards as a sign of solidarity.
“It is supposed to intervene in a place that would otherwise be 100% about the commerce of brand deals and movie promotions,” she said of the white buttons protesting the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement.
Performances are often the most memorable parts of the Academy Awards. If you disagree it is probably because you skipped the 2024 Oscars when Ryan Gosling’s performance of “I’m Just Ken” stole the show. This year, viewers can expect some similarly entertaining moments. EJAE, Audrey Nuna and Rei Ami, the voices behind the fictional girl group HUNTR/X, will perform the massive “Golden” from the animated blockbuster “KPop Demon Hunters.” According to the Academy, the performance will feature “a fusion of traditional Korean instrumentalists and dance” as well.
That’s not all: Miles Caton and Raphael Saadiq will bring their “Sinners” hit “I Lied To You” to the Oscars stage — and will be joined by Misty Copeland, Eric Gales, Buddy Guy, Brittany Howard, Christone “Kingfish” Ingram, Jayme Lawson, Li Jun Li, Bobby Rush, Shaboozey and Alice Smith for the bluesy number.
Josh Groban and the Los Angeles Master Chorale are also scheduled to appear.
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“Sinners” is already in uncharted Oscar waters.
It has 16 Oscar nominations, two more than any other film in history. “Titanic,” “La La Land” and “All About Eve” all had 14.
“Titanic” won 11 Oscars, while “La La Land” and “All about Eve” each won six.
So, it’s reasonable to expect a somewhat sizable haul for “Sinners.” Then again, “The Turning Point” and “The Color Purple” probably felt the same way in their Oscar years. They both went 0-for-11 on Oscar night.
“Sinners” grabbed 16 of a possible 17 Oscar nominations this year. The one it didn’t get: best actress.
The record for Oscar wins is 11: “Ben-Hur” (out of 12 nominations), “Titanic” (out of 14 nominations) and “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King” (which went a perfect 11-0, sweeping wins in every category that it was up for).
Lynette Howell Taylor has seen the Oscars from a few different vantage points: As a nominee, in 2019 for “A Star is Born,” as a producer of the broadcast in 2020, as a member of the film academy’s board of governors and, for the last three years, as awards chair. It’s made her first year as the president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences feel like a natural transition. And one thing she is certain of is that every Oscars is unique.
“Every year is different,” Taylor said in a recent interview alongside film Academy CEO Bill Kramer. “Every season is different. Every set of movies is different. And so, the show is always different every year.”
It’s a tricky thing to both honor the people in the room while also making an entertaining show for a home audience. But behind the scenes, from returning host Conan O’Brien to the producers and Emmy-winning production design team, is a group of people who know how to dazzle a global audience.
▶ Read more from the interview
After successfully presiding over the 97th Oscars, Conan O’Brien is hosting for the second year straight. His return to the Oscars stage was announced almost a year ago. In a statement last March, he said, “The only reason I’m hosting the Oscars next year is that I want to hear Adrien Brody finish his speech.”
Showrunner and executive producer Raj Kapoor and executive producer Katy Mullan have been toiling for months putting together Sunday’s show.
“His humor, his tone, his reverence to the art form? He really cares about making this a true celebration,” Mullan said of O’Brien. “We’ve been in tears of laugher … There are so many great moments that he’s going to bring to the show.”
One of the themes of the show this year is the human touch, Kapoor said, from the set design to the packages.
“It’s really the story of how we feel this connection and how this heartbeat of cinema is unmistakably human,” Kapoor said. “Hopefully the entire show and how Conan makes you feel and all of it is like it’s all touched by human hands and human creativity.”
Liza Powel O'Brien, left, and Conan O'Brien arrive at the Oscars on Sunday, March 15, 2026, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP)
A general view of atmosphere inside the Oscars on Sunday, March 15, 2026, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. (Photo by Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP)
People look on as workers install Oscar statues Saturday, March 14, 2026, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, in preparation for Sunday's 98th Academy Awards ceremony. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)
