Jonny Ingbar
Well-known member
Article from The Athletic on yesterday's game for anyone interested.
“I’m not here for a fairytale. I’m here to work, to give my best, to use my experience and help the players.”
If Michael Carrick sounds pragmatic about his first permanent job in management, it is easy to understand why. Middlesbrough’s new head coach needs results if he is to haul the club away from the Championship relegation zone before league fixtures pause for the World Cup next month.
He started his reign with a 2-1 defeat by Preston North End on Saturday to leave Middlesbrough — who, three months ago, were fuelled by high expectations after a fine first full campaign under Chris Wilder — 21st in the table after 17 games.
To say things had not gone to plan before Carrick’s arrival is something of an understatement. Two wins from 11 games resulted in Wilder being sacked at the start of October by owner Steve Gibson, who has been trying to restore the club’s Premier League status since they lost in it in 2017.
Carrick is the latest to attempt that ultimate objective after he left his role as Manchester United first-team coach in December. He spent time with his family and waited for the right opportunity to come along to return to the game, feeling he had to be patient to make the step into his first managerial role at the right time. He was linked with League One side Lincoln City following Michael Appleton’s departure in April 2022 but was never under consideration for the job. They instead appointed ex-Manchester City midfielder Mark Kennedy.
The Boro rumours seemed more likely to stick given Carrick’s ties to his native north east. He tried out for the club as a player before making the move south to West Ham United in his teens.
“It just feels right,” Carrick said at his unveiling as Boro head coach. “I have always trusted my gut with any decisions that I have got to make. I’ve got a real affinity with the north east, I was here as a nine-year-old boy and then I moved on — football throws up some funny things at times. My dad was here as a player and played for the reserves. He says he was half decent but I didn’t see him.
“So there’s a real attachment with the football club and my family is still in the north east — I know what football means to this area of the country. With the passion and enthusiasm, they’re the life and soul of the football club. There’s also Steve (Gibson), who has given so many managers the chance to learn and develop.”
Carrick alongside Kieran McKenna at Manchester United (Photo: John Peters/Manchester United via Getty Images)
Growing in the job is not something Carrick has been shy to talk about having taken confidence from his experience at United, where he also had a spell as caretaker boss. Though he felt ready to take the next step after serving in the backroom staff of Jose Mourinho and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer alongside current Ipswich Town boss Kieran McKenna, Carrick has stressed that he was “not in a rush” to take a job for the sake of it.
Patience is a theme of the appointment for Boro, too, with director of football Kieran Scott saying he wants the new head coach to be given time to build and bring a sense of stability to a club on its fourth permanent manager in just over three years. A two-and-a-half-year contract usually means little in management but it is a vote of confidence from Gibson that the urgent need for results will be matched by the growth of a longer-term project under Carrick.
Early signs suggest an upturn in results could come soon. His new side got off to a flying start at Preston with a goal after eight minutes, with Chuba Akpom converting a header at the back post from a well-delivered corner. Cameras caught the new manager telling his players to “enjoy the ball” during his first training session earlier in the week and the message landed with Boro, who looked comfortable in possession and unafraid of a stubborn Preston side.
Improving defensively from set pieces looks crucial after Ryan Lowe’s side equalised when Emil Riis picked up a loose ball in the area that was not cleared well enough from a free kick and later had the ball in the net from a corner in the second half that was ruled out for offside. Middlesbrough grew in dominance in the game and looked to move quickly in transition from defence to attack, making good use of wing-backs Isaiah Jones and Ryan Giles but never capitalised on their chances and were made to pay by a late Preston winner headed in from a free kick by Jordan Storey.
Carrick can feel hard done by with the result given Boro’s largely positive performance but it was as good a lesson as any in the cruel nature of the Championship if teams fail to take their chances.
Any discussion of philosophy and managerial style for a player inextricably linked with Manchester United is always likely to return to the influence of Sir Alex Ferguson, who has been a listening ear since his former midfielder’s retirement. At least some of the old ideas at United seem to have stuck with Carrick, who made the last of his 464 appearances for the club in 2018. He suggested he would follow the “if they’re good enough, they’re old enough” policy when promoting from the academy. That, however, could be where the similarities end — Carrick quipped, “Do I look like an angry Scotsman?” when asked if he would emulate Ferguson’s man-management style.
“I felt comfortable in the role, that ultimately is the biggest thing,” he said of his three matches as caretaker manager of United in 2021 following the departure of Solskjaer. “I was quite comfortable in the role without being relaxed. Sometimes, you don’t know how you are going to feel and what it’s going to be like but it was a natural fit for me. People were asking me what it was like but I felt quite calm. I’m not getting carried away, I know it was three games in a different situation to what I am in now but at the same time, it gives me confidence in my ability.”
Carrick has left his family living in Manchester to take the job — “When I’m in somewhere, I’m all in” — and is yet to appoint an assistant manager but has confirmed former Middlesbrough manager Jonathan Woodgate will be part of his coaching staff. Few know Boro like Woodgate, and he has his own recent experience in the dugout after a run to the play-offs with Bournemouth in 2021. He should be a useful resource as Carrick looks to steady the ship at the Riverside, though he was sacked as Middlesbrough manager himself in 2020.
Woodgate has made a surprise return to Middlesbrough (Photo: Stu Forster/Getty Images)
“Woody’s vital to helping me to work together. It’s not about me, it’s about us as a group and us as a club,” Carrick said. “He’s vital and I have known him for quite some time. Not that we’ve been super close but I’ve known him and speaking to him in recent times when this was the plan, we clicked big time. We get on so well but it’s not about being mates. It’s about seeing the game in a certain way. Woody knows the club inside out and everyone is delighted to have him back. I see us having a really strong relationship so I’m delighted that we are working together.”
At 1-1, Carrick and Woodgate huddled together deep in conversation, with the former looking relaxed as he remained on his feet in the technical area for the duration of the game.
There were repeated chants of, “We’ve got super Michael Carrick” from the away end as well as a host of friendly exchanges with fans on the way into the ground when Boro’s bus got stuck entering the car park.
So it was not a day when everything went quite to plan but there remains plenty of positivity around Carrick’s arrival.
(Top photo: Getty Images)
“I’m not here for a fairytale. I’m here to work, to give my best, to use my experience and help the players.”
If Michael Carrick sounds pragmatic about his first permanent job in management, it is easy to understand why. Middlesbrough’s new head coach needs results if he is to haul the club away from the Championship relegation zone before league fixtures pause for the World Cup next month.
He started his reign with a 2-1 defeat by Preston North End on Saturday to leave Middlesbrough — who, three months ago, were fuelled by high expectations after a fine first full campaign under Chris Wilder — 21st in the table after 17 games.
To say things had not gone to plan before Carrick’s arrival is something of an understatement. Two wins from 11 games resulted in Wilder being sacked at the start of October by owner Steve Gibson, who has been trying to restore the club’s Premier League status since they lost in it in 2017.
Carrick is the latest to attempt that ultimate objective after he left his role as Manchester United first-team coach in December. He spent time with his family and waited for the right opportunity to come along to return to the game, feeling he had to be patient to make the step into his first managerial role at the right time. He was linked with League One side Lincoln City following Michael Appleton’s departure in April 2022 but was never under consideration for the job. They instead appointed ex-Manchester City midfielder Mark Kennedy.
The Boro rumours seemed more likely to stick given Carrick’s ties to his native north east. He tried out for the club as a player before making the move south to West Ham United in his teens.
“It just feels right,” Carrick said at his unveiling as Boro head coach. “I have always trusted my gut with any decisions that I have got to make. I’ve got a real affinity with the north east, I was here as a nine-year-old boy and then I moved on — football throws up some funny things at times. My dad was here as a player and played for the reserves. He says he was half decent but I didn’t see him.
“So there’s a real attachment with the football club and my family is still in the north east — I know what football means to this area of the country. With the passion and enthusiasm, they’re the life and soul of the football club. There’s also Steve (Gibson), who has given so many managers the chance to learn and develop.”
Carrick alongside Kieran McKenna at Manchester United (Photo: John Peters/Manchester United via Getty Images)
Growing in the job is not something Carrick has been shy to talk about having taken confidence from his experience at United, where he also had a spell as caretaker boss. Though he felt ready to take the next step after serving in the backroom staff of Jose Mourinho and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer alongside current Ipswich Town boss Kieran McKenna, Carrick has stressed that he was “not in a rush” to take a job for the sake of it.
Patience is a theme of the appointment for Boro, too, with director of football Kieran Scott saying he wants the new head coach to be given time to build and bring a sense of stability to a club on its fourth permanent manager in just over three years. A two-and-a-half-year contract usually means little in management but it is a vote of confidence from Gibson that the urgent need for results will be matched by the growth of a longer-term project under Carrick.
Early signs suggest an upturn in results could come soon. His new side got off to a flying start at Preston with a goal after eight minutes, with Chuba Akpom converting a header at the back post from a well-delivered corner. Cameras caught the new manager telling his players to “enjoy the ball” during his first training session earlier in the week and the message landed with Boro, who looked comfortable in possession and unafraid of a stubborn Preston side.
Improving defensively from set pieces looks crucial after Ryan Lowe’s side equalised when Emil Riis picked up a loose ball in the area that was not cleared well enough from a free kick and later had the ball in the net from a corner in the second half that was ruled out for offside. Middlesbrough grew in dominance in the game and looked to move quickly in transition from defence to attack, making good use of wing-backs Isaiah Jones and Ryan Giles but never capitalised on their chances and were made to pay by a late Preston winner headed in from a free kick by Jordan Storey.
Carrick can feel hard done by with the result given Boro’s largely positive performance but it was as good a lesson as any in the cruel nature of the Championship if teams fail to take their chances.
Any discussion of philosophy and managerial style for a player inextricably linked with Manchester United is always likely to return to the influence of Sir Alex Ferguson, who has been a listening ear since his former midfielder’s retirement. At least some of the old ideas at United seem to have stuck with Carrick, who made the last of his 464 appearances for the club in 2018. He suggested he would follow the “if they’re good enough, they’re old enough” policy when promoting from the academy. That, however, could be where the similarities end — Carrick quipped, “Do I look like an angry Scotsman?” when asked if he would emulate Ferguson’s man-management style.
“I felt comfortable in the role, that ultimately is the biggest thing,” he said of his three matches as caretaker manager of United in 2021 following the departure of Solskjaer. “I was quite comfortable in the role without being relaxed. Sometimes, you don’t know how you are going to feel and what it’s going to be like but it was a natural fit for me. People were asking me what it was like but I felt quite calm. I’m not getting carried away, I know it was three games in a different situation to what I am in now but at the same time, it gives me confidence in my ability.”
Carrick has left his family living in Manchester to take the job — “When I’m in somewhere, I’m all in” — and is yet to appoint an assistant manager but has confirmed former Middlesbrough manager Jonathan Woodgate will be part of his coaching staff. Few know Boro like Woodgate, and he has his own recent experience in the dugout after a run to the play-offs with Bournemouth in 2021. He should be a useful resource as Carrick looks to steady the ship at the Riverside, though he was sacked as Middlesbrough manager himself in 2020.
Woodgate has made a surprise return to Middlesbrough (Photo: Stu Forster/Getty Images)
“Woody’s vital to helping me to work together. It’s not about me, it’s about us as a group and us as a club,” Carrick said. “He’s vital and I have known him for quite some time. Not that we’ve been super close but I’ve known him and speaking to him in recent times when this was the plan, we clicked big time. We get on so well but it’s not about being mates. It’s about seeing the game in a certain way. Woody knows the club inside out and everyone is delighted to have him back. I see us having a really strong relationship so I’m delighted that we are working together.”
At 1-1, Carrick and Woodgate huddled together deep in conversation, with the former looking relaxed as he remained on his feet in the technical area for the duration of the game.
There were repeated chants of, “We’ve got super Michael Carrick” from the away end as well as a host of friendly exchanges with fans on the way into the ground when Boro’s bus got stuck entering the car park.
So it was not a day when everything went quite to plan but there remains plenty of positivity around Carrick’s arrival.
(Top photo: Getty Images)