Former Premier League owner Simon Jordan believes Manchester United Michael Carrick would represent a ‘calculated risk’ for Middlesbrough as he closes in on a first ever managerial role at the Championship side, speaking to talkSPORT (11 October, 11.30am).
The team from the north east have been burned before when putting their faith in a once top-class footballer looking to make his mark in the dugout.
Jonathan Woodgate won just nine out of a possible 41 games at the Riverside; Boro owner Steve Gibson forced to crank up the Bat Signal and give Neil Warnock a call with relegation a very real possibility following Woodgate’s departure in 2020.
Time will tell whether 41-year-old Carrick, Middlesbrough’s number one managerial target according to the Northern Echo, can thrive where Woodgate failed.
The 2008 Champions League winner spent three games in charge of Manchester United on an interim basis last year. He now feels ready to make the step up to a senior role.
Michael Carrick in talks to become new Middlesbrough manager
“Interestingly, they seem to have this penchant at Middlesbrough for liking people associated with Manchester United,” Jordan points out; highlighting the previous appointments of Steve McClaren, Bryan Robson and Gordon Strachan.
“Carrick, I don’t know. We don’t know what kind of personality he is. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer presided over an erosion of United’s standards, of which Carrick’s coaching was a part of that.
“I don’t know Carrick as an individual, whether he’s got the ability. We have seen certain people go into jobs who have either not cut it or not been given the opportunity to cut it. It’s a calculated risk.”
Gibson, an owner renowned for his patience, has now sacked each of his last five managers after 80 or fewer games at the helm. Wilder, Woodgate, Warnock, Gary Monk and Tony Pulis lasted, on average, just 53 matches. Carrick would have little wriggle room, too, with Boro mired in a relegation battle as things stand.
“Steve Gibson is a really good, committed football club owner. (But) the managers he has gone for recently surprise me,” Jordan adds.
“It depends on what kind of person (Carrick) is; his character as a manger. Are they bringing in a coach to develop young players? If he interviews well, if he gives Gibson the comfort to feel that Middlesbrough will be (moving) in a forward direction, why not?
“But not because he’s Michael Carrick.”
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