Michael Carrick was appointed manager of Middlesbrough FC on 24 October 2022, following the departure of Chris Wilder. Carrick, a former Manchester United and England midfielder, had previously been part of the coaching staff at Manchester United. Before taking on the managerial role at Middlesbrough, Carrick had no prior experience as a head coach at club level except a brief time in charge of Manchester United as interim manager.
When Carrick took over, Middlesbrough were struggling in the Championship, sitting in 21st place and were only 1 point above the relegation zone. Despite this, Carrick managed to turn the season from a relegation battle to a push for the play-offs, finishing the 2022-2023 season in 4th place. Carrick's first game in charge against Preston North End on the 29th October 2022, saw his side take the lead but ulitmately lost 2-1. In December of that year, Carrick was nominated for the EFL Championship Manager of the Month award after a strong run of form in November. Carrick would go on to actually win the award for March 2023, after gaining 10 points from a possible 12 in that month and scoring 13 goals across those four games. After recieving the award however, Carrick would face a tough end to the season. With 8 games left, Carrick's Middlesbrough were still pushing for an automatic promotion spot, sitting in 3rd place, 3 points behind 2nd place Sheffield United who had a game in hand. Middlesbrough went on to win only 2 of their final 8 games, including a crucial 2-1 away defeat to Luton Town, and ultimately finished the season in 4th place, missing out on automatic promotion. Middlesbrough would end up facing Coventry City 3 times at the end of the season, once in the league and twice in the play-offs semi-final. Middlesbrough would draw against Coventry 1-1 in the league at home, before playing two legs for the semi-final awat from home and then at home. Middlesbrough drew the first leg 0-0 at Coventry, before losing the second leg 1-0 at home, thanks to a Gustavo Hamer goal. Matt Crooks believed he had equalised late on for Middlesbrough, only for the goal to be ruled out for offside despite the substitues pleas that he was onside. Despite, Coventry progressing to the final, they would lose to Luton Town who was managed by future Middlesbrough manager Rob Edwards, who had knocked out 6th place Sunderland to reach the final.
Despite having a strong first season in charge, Carrick's second season at Middlesbrough started poorly. Carrick had lost several key players in the summer transfer window, including top scorer Chuba Akpom who had scored 29 goals in all competitions the previous season, wining the Golden Boot. Several loanees also returned to their parent clubs, including Cameron Archer, Aaron Ramsey and Ryan Giles (who all had a combined 35 goal contributions the previous season) as well as goalkeeper Zack Steffen. Middlesbrough bring in some promising talent however, with the likes off Emmanuel Latte Lath, Finn Azaz, Morgan Rogers and Rav Van den Berg all joining the club. Despite this, Middlesbrough struggled to find form in the opening months of the season with a particularly disappointing show against Sheffield Wednesday. Both teams were on 1 point but due to Sheffield Wednesday's higher goal difference, they were above Middlesbrough in the league. Sheffield Wednesday fans were also protesting the club's ownership and a large amounty of tennis balls were thrown onto the Hillsborough pitch, causing a delay to the match. Both teams ended up settling for a point each, which saw both teams remain in 23rd and 24th. Middlesbrough's first win came the game after on 4th November 2023, Gameweek 8. A 2-1 home win against Southampton, including a penalty scored by Jonny Howson who celebrated by performing the griddy, saw Middlesbrough climb to 22nd place. Middlesbrough then went on a 6 game winning streak, including a 4-0 thrashing of local rivals Sunderland away at the Stadium of Light, which saw them climb to 7th in the table. However, Middlesbrough's league action was not the talk of the season, as they managed to reach the semi-finals of the EFL Cup, reaching a major cup semi-final for the first time since the 2005/06 season. Middlesbrough beat Huddersfield Town, Bolton Wanderers, Bradford City, Exeter City and Port Vale in order to reach the semi-finals, where they were drawn against Premier League giants Chelsea. Many were reminiscent of Middlesbrough's famous 2004 run to the final, where they won the cup against earlier opponents Bolton Wanders and had reached the latter stages once again 20 years later. The first leg at the Riverside Stadium, was watched by a sell-out crowd of 32,097 and 100s of thousands on TV, saw local hero, 21-year-old Hayden Hackney, score the only goal of the game in the 37th minute. The return leg at Stamford Bridge however, was a different story and Chelsea would end up winning 6-2 on aggregate. Despite the heavy defeat, many fans were excited to see the club in such a high-profile tie and were just happy to have reached the semi-finals. Middlesbrough would end up selling Morgan Rogers to Aston Villa after his impressive performance but also a lucky tie to face them in the FA Cup 3rd round 3 days before the semi-final against Chelsea. In fact, Aston Villa former Head of Football Operations, Monachi, confirmed that Rogers had not been a target for Aston Villa until after his performance against them in the FA Cup. Middlesbrough's league campaign would ultimately end disappointingly however, as they finished the season in 8th place, just 4 points off the play-offs. Middlesbrough, pushed amazingly for a play-off spot in the final 12 games of the season winning 7, drawing 4 and losing only 1 to eventual 3rd place Leeds United in a hard fought 3-4 loss at home.
Carrick's future at Middlesbrough was decided on 3rd June 2024, when it was announced that he had signed a new 3-year contract with the club, keeping him at the club until 2027. He however, would not see out this contract, as on 4th June 2025, just over a year later, Carrick would leave Middlesbrough by mutual consent after finishing the 2024/25 seaosn in 10th place. The season was one to forget as Middlesbrough struggled for consistency all season and by the most fans were unhappy with him. Carrick's transfer dealings were also questioned, mosty notably when Carrick veto-ed the signing of David Strelec from SK Bratislava (a player who would later join under Rob Edwards's reign) for Kelechi Iheanacho on loan from Sevilla, who would garner a lot of scrutiny for his lack of goals but also for his weight and apparent fitness levels. In the end, the season was a disappointment and both parties agreed to part ways.
TBA.