Sir Jim Ratcliffe offered measured praise for Michael Carrick after a strong run of results but stopped short of committing to a long-term appointment. United have won six of eight under Carrick, a sequence that has put them in control of the race for Champions League qualification.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s doing an excellent job,\u201d Ratcliffe added. \u201cYeah, absolutely.<\/p>\n
\u201cClearly we\u2019re thinking about [qualifying for the Champions League]. But there\u2019s still seven or eight games to go. Still a while yet.\u201d<\/p>\n
The interim manager\u2019s early impact is rooted in familiarity. Carrick made 464 appearances for the club and returned to the Old Trafford dugout able to remind the squad what it takes to represent United. That closeness to the dressing room has been cited as one of his greatest strengths since his January appointment.<\/p>\n
His r\u00e9sum\u00e9 was modest at the time of his hiring, with just one senior post on it. Three mixed years with Middlesbrough in the Championship made the job seem a short-term solution, yet the results have altered the conversation around his prospects.<\/p>\n
Carrick has rejected a conservative brief. He has laughed at suggestions of \u201csteadying the ship\u201d and instead produced big victories early on, including wins over Manchester City and Arsenal in the opening weeks. A first defeat, against Newcastle United, presents a different kind of examination.<\/p>\n
How Carrick responds to that setback and restores momentum will reveal more about his managerial credentials than an unbeaten sequence. Club officials are monitoring his reaction closely as the run-in continues.<\/p>\n
Reports have indicated Carrick has been set the challenge of leading United to Champions League qualification. Securing a top-four finish, or possibly a top-five place, could influence the club\u2019s thinking on a permanent contract. Carrick has said he wants to remain at Old Trafford beyond this season, but his temporary agreement expires in the summer when several high-profile managerial names are expected to be available, including Roberto De Zerbi and Oliver Glasner.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Ratcliffe praised Carrick’s start as interim boss but stopped short of backing him for permanency…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8505,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[179,172],"tags":[1047,1529],"class_list":["post-8506","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-manchester-united","category-epl","tag-champions-league","tag-interim-manager"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8506","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8506"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8506\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8505"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8506"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8506"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8506"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}