Middlesbrough part company with Michael Carrick

Middlesbrough have parted company with Michael Carrick after nearly three years in charge at the Riverside Stadium.

Carrick led Boro to the play-offs in his first season but narrowly missed out in the two subsequent campaigns, prompting a change in the dugout.

Middlesbrough were in 19th place and fighting a relegation battle when Carrick arrived at the club in October 2022, but a sparkling turnaround saw the side fly up the table, ultimately finishing fourth.

After a 0-0 draw at Coventry in the first leg of their play-off semi-final, Boro looked well placed to reach a first play-off final since 2015, but lost 1-0 with Gus Hamer's goal the difference between the two sides.

Middlesbrough struggled the following season following the departure of Championship top scorer Chuba Akpom and loanee Cameron Archer at the start of Carrick's first full season in charge, and while replacement Emmanuel Latte Lath scored a credible 18 goals, Boro's disastrous start to the season in which they picked up two points from seven games quickly quashed any promotion hopes.

After the first seven games, only four teams picked up more points than Middlesbrough, but their late season charge wasn't enough to record a second successive play-off berth.

Boro were fancied to challenge for the top six again in the 2024/25 campaign and looked on course to do so, but another poor run of form, this time around the turn of the year in which they won just two out of 12 games to fall from sixth place to 13th, going on to win just one of their final six games of the season.

Boro will now head back into the managerial market to appoint a head coach who can take them back to the Premier League and may look towards someone with a proven track record at getting teams out of the second tier.

While Carrick had a marvellous playing career and was building his coaching resume at Manchester United, Boro will perhaps look for a more proven name this time around.

Steve Cooper, Sean Dyche and Rob Edwards all have experience in winning promotion from the second tier and they are all considered to be on the list of contenders to be the next Middlesbrough manager.

Liam Williams

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