He manages to come late?

[Rich7]

Test No. errors/inter-3 "Sally and her Letter", question 8

He always manages to arrive lately at work although he has recently bought three alarm clocks.

(a) manages
(b) lately
(c) bought
(d) alarm clocks

Test No. errors/inter-3 "Sally and her Letter", answer 8

He always manages to arrive late at work although he has recently bought three alarm clocks.

Correct entry: late
The error was: (b) lately
_________________________

although I found the mistake I was wondering why is "manage" used in these sentence, is it logical?
"Manage to come late" ?

[Torsten]

Hi Richard,

The phrase he always manages to arrive late is meant to be ironic. It stresses the fact that although the person has so many alarm clocks he still is not capable of being punctual.

TOEIC listening, talks: Welcome speech