i think having a (non-player) thread for him is fine. we don't know what the future will be for him but imo he's been unfairly compared to the Solskjær situation who has also been unfairly tarred with a bad brush. based on Solskjær's remit, the situation he inherited and performances he earned a shot at the job. his audition could hardly have gone better. so at the time i don't think it was a wrong decision even if it ultimately didn't work out. regardless, i think Carrick should be judged on merit and not automatically discarded because of a very different situation. there is the possibility he does not want it himself either based on the power structure or other reasons. as mentioned before i don't think this current club model works for the best coaches out there anyway. maybe in a weird way Carrick is the better fit versus the established man who demands control. time will tell. good luck
It’s a bit premature to start the permanent position talk. But I do think if he finishes in the top 4 then he should be in consideration.
Think a few things on this; - Ole period was actually one of the better ones, we felt like Man Utd again for parts of it, sure it ended badly - to quote Tom Cruise in Cocktail "everything ends badly, otherwise it wouldn't end" - Steve Holland is key to a lot of this, actually think whatever happens to Carrick / Woodgate that Holland may remain much like he did at Chelsea where he worked with 7 managers in 8 years (Ancelotti, AVB, Di Matteo, Benitez, Mou, Hiddink, Conte) Think Carrick / Holland have the potential to complement each other. Carrick 'boro team was known for attacking / high xG / scoring but being vulnerable defensively whereas Holland is specifically known for his coaching a solid defensive shape at both Chelsea and England. Especially like that Holland known for defensive positioning, defensive shape and set-piece setup and think from watching this is what is most apparent in the massive change in the team from under Fletcher to under Carrick/Holland. So Carrick getting the plaudits, but biggest change last three games (ie their first) are that we look harder to score against as the back four and midfielders look "coached" which I think is probably mainly Holland.
my memory can be hazy, but i remmeber 3 months of slight nosalgia, then a 15 game winless streak. There was more bad that good. The good was mostly a feeling created in the beginning, but once the smoke cleared, it wasnt good. Reading some of the story after the fact makes it worse. There are bigger complaints, but one thing that stands out is, he wanted to press high, but he bought Harry Maguire?
I’ve never been sure how to read between the lines on that era. Ole’s on record saying he wanted Maguire and Ronaldo, but the latter is hard to believe. And mourinho wanted Maguire, and put him on the recruits list. I almost feel like they offered Ole little in the way of choice if at all. I remember doing well against the top sides because we were a decent counterattacking team. And I remember doing poorly against the low block teams and struggling to break them down. But we were ultimately fun to watch, especially in the big games. It got worse in the last games because Ronaldo was an albatross.
I remember losing badly to Liverpool the start of the season he was let go. But again, I don’t really count that season with Ronaldo brought in.
aside from the formation and the personnel, another thing i really like that has changed under Carrick is the up tempo start to games. there is a marked difference in how we start games now (at least for now) compared to previous managers going all the way back to Solskjær. i was beyond tired of the pedestrian starts
So of course we go from "he's great" to "he's sh1t" - glad some are calling out our ex-players for the pile-on (below). For the record I remain lets wait and see where we finish and how the football is at the end of the season and call it then. Plus there is a huge amount of context that needs accounting for regardless. Also interested to see if we fall apart (as happened a little after Ole good start) or if we can get some of the earlier mojo back. How this current challenge is faced will probably end up being decisive. Only 2 remaining games in March (Villa away, Bournemouth home) and just 3 in April (Leeds & Brentford home, Chelsea away). Then Liverpool start of May. Patrice Evra: “I really don't understand the lack of support behind Michael Carrick; he's one of us and he's doing very well.There's been negative analysis from Scholesy, but also from Roy Keane and Gary Neville. It annoys me because we want to be in the top four, and those…— utdreport (@utdreport) March 6, 2026 It’s Carrick, you know. Can’t believe the chippiness from Scholes. It’s Carrick who's helping out the club he loves, stepping into the breach after Amorim’s meltdown. You can question Carrick's subs against 10 men. Amad could have been earlier. Heaven can play left-back -…— Henry Winter (@henrywinter) March 5, 2026
love Scholes the footballer but as a commentator he's just dog shit. goes off emotion purely with no logic no thought and chats nonsense galore. he should have lost all credibility after that overlap episode where he says he feeds his autistic son or whatever issue he has all the chocolate and whatever else he wants because it makes the boy happy. complete neglect of his duty as a dad to keep the child's body healthy. tells you all you need to know about the logic he employs
I don't agree with much of what Scholes opines on regarding football. However, I have zero judgement how he parents his disabled child. None of us should. As a father of 2 children with disabilities, it's ********ing hard. I sympathize and empathize with Scholes on that front. The only thing I know for sure is there is a metric tonne of grey area that he didn't comment on and we don't see, in regards to his sons diet. It's not as black and white as "keep the boys body healthy" no matter what, especially with ASD children at the severe end of the spectrum. Don't pass judgement.
Honestly Benni, I've never seen the picture and no nothing about that story or the context. I can't really comment. Generally, I try not to pass judgement on other parents. Even more when I'm not close to the situation.
he's just most likely triggered. doing whatever makes the child happy has never been a good strategy outside of getting them a gift or a treat or deciding where to go on vacation. you can't on one hand say the kid had horrible tooth aches and cavities and how badly he suffered but also feeding him tons of junk and chocolates constantly. those two things simply aren't congruent. not that it changes my original point either way anyway
https://www.skysports.com/football/...-latest-on-deals-signings-loans-and-contracts well he's either clarified or walked it back. i suspect the latter. Wes Brown was on that episode of his podcast if anyone cares to listen btw