If possession is “nine-tenths of the law” then the odds have considerably shortened on Michael Carrick becoming the next full-time manager of storied English football champions Manchester United.
The Red Devils, give or take a few laboured victories, have been in the doldrums since the departure of their legendary football manager Sir Alex Ferguson in 2013, but last Saturday saw return to spectacular winning and free-flowing form in an attacking masterclass against fierce local rivals Manchester City, who have dominated much of the last decade of EPL history.
In their first league game under Carrick, United beat Pep Guardiola’s City 2-0.
And it could have been more, with ManU having three goals disallowed for marginal off-sides, and hitting the post twice.
During his playing years with the Red Devils–one of the richest sporting franchises in the world–Carrick proved himself a wonderfully gifted, but under-rated–holding midfielder — as his relatively few international appearances for England indicate.
Back to Winning Ways?
Now, if United can win–or at least not lose–their next game against current league leaders Arsenal and finish in the European placings for next season, it would seem a dead cert that Carrick’s interim status is turned to permanent.
Logic would demand as much; although logic, in an increasingly mad merry-go-round of 13 managers since the departure of Ferguson, has not been one of Old Trafford’s fortes.
Despite the return of the attacking good vibes to the red half of Manchester, current Crystal Palace manager Oliver Glasner remains the bookies favourite to be sitting in the United hotseat come the start of the 2026-27 season on Saturday, August 22.
Glasner, an Austrian, has had some success leading clubs in his home country and under his tutelage the previously unfancied south London team won their first-ever significant trophy in the shape of the hallowed FA Cup, the oldest continuously-played sporting competition in the world, and the start-of-the season Charity Shield, traditionally played between the previous season’s FA and Premier League winners.
Odds for Glasner are currently running at 7/2 with most bookies and at 9/2 for Carrick, with both former can current England manager, Gareth Southgate and Thomas Tuchel running at 10/1.
The Trophy Years
Manchester United, who along with Liverpool F.C., have won England’s top-tier football division a joint record 20-times, have run through 10 managers, both permanent and interim, since the departure of Ferguson, who won 38 trophies in his 27 years at the cup, including 13 Premier League titles, five FA Cups, four League Cups, and two Champions League titles; marking his status as English football’s most successful manager.
Yesterday Manchester United’s record goalscorer Wayne Rooney, commenting on the Manchester derby victory at Old Trafford, said: “Younger fans got a taste of what it was like under Sir Alex Ferguson.
“Some of the young fans who have been through a terrible time over the last 10, 13 years, really, since Fergie left. Hopefully that’s what we’ve got coming in the next 16 games.”
Carrick, aged 44, a former manager of Middlesbrough, currently in the English second tier, was appointed as United’s interim head coach until the end of this present season last week, replacing the sacked Portuguese Ruben Amorim, whose reign of inflexible and tactically-incomprehensible football came to an end after 14 tortuous months.
Sacking Jackpot
Amorim and wife were pictured smiling the day after his sacking while walking through the moneyed Greater Manchester suburb of Alderley Edge, home to many of the North West’s footballers and glitterati.
It was at first difficult to know why appeared so pleased, until the next day it was revealed that Amorim and his five-person coaching team walked away with a £12 million pay-off (€13.84m/US$16.11m).
Perhaps under Carrick, a modest but model professional footballer, this money train will return to being a trophy train.
Watch our space!
