There were smiles from the podium on a “huge day” for Middlesbrough, a real sense that the page was turning on a chastening chapter.
Neil Bausor, Middlesbrough’s chief executive, spoke of players and staff entering the training ground with a “real spring in their step” on the new bosses’ first day.
The league table might be hairy but his comment captured the unmistakeable mood: Boro feel they have pulled off a real coup with this, their ninth managerial appointment in nine years.
Michael Carrick is in town to restore stability, aspiration and – let’s be honest here – a bit of the stardust that has been missing during the toil of first Neil Warnock and then Chris Wilder.
So time for a bouncer from the floor: given what happened to his former teammate Steven Gerrard last week, is he really ready for the brutal nature of management?
“It’s my very first day!” he laughed with mock incredulity. But there is a point here: Gerrard’s demise at Aston Villa was as unceremonious as it gets, fired before the bus driver revved up the ignition after a heavy defeat at Fulham.
Carrick – a true student of the game – would have no doubt taken note of the vertiginous fall of one of the finest talents of his generation. Another mentor, Steve Bruce, was fired by West Brom a few days before.
A golden CV will always guarantee opportunities but this is a different era in English football. One of the top jobs is occupied by ex-lower league journeyman Graham Potter, an innovator who arrived at Chelsea via a stint in Sweden and teaching.
The rise of the data zealots has been consolidated by the increasing number of American owners in top flight football and Carrick is taking the first steps on a path laced with landmines for great former players.
If his career is as good as his eventual answer, he might be on to something. “You’ve got to respect it the difficulty of this job. I’m not coming in here for a fairytale. I’m here to do a job,” he said.
“We’re realistic, we understand what’s required. It’s something I’ve lived with all my career with Manchester United, you’re expected to perform and get certain results. It’s just how it is.”
Carrick does not strike you as the sort to send his playing CV to an owner and expect it to prise open doors. Over several hours of meetings with Steve Gibson, Boro’s all-powerful owner, what struck those who have handed him the opportunity was the breadth of his research.
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“I’m being given chance to develop, learn and – dare I say – make a few mistakes here,” Carrick said.
“And I want to give youngsters a chance, if you’re good enough you’re old enough. Hopefully that’s how Steve sees me as well.
“I just think it’s hugely important for the football club to have that connection. Otherwise what’s the point in having the whole academy, people working in it, coaching in it and making kids better if you’re not going to give them a chance? That’s just what I strongly believe in.”
Carrick is a managerial novice but not a complete beginner. Three games as Manchester United caretaker manager – unbeaten, it should be added – gave him a taste of life in the dug-out. Asked how that felt he paused before settling on “comfortable”.
“Sometimes you don’t know how it’s going to feel but it was a natural fit for me. It felt calm, not stressful,” he said.
Many inside Old Trafford were bemused when he was removed from that role in favour of Ralf Rangnick, who proved particularly unsuitable to the interim mission.
Carrick opted to take 11 months out, spending time with his wife Lisa and children Louise and Jacey “doing things I’ve never been able to do before”. Job opportunities arrived but “nothing felt right”.
This did, Carrick falling back on “gut instinct” despite the club being firmly in a relegation battle.
He has a tough start: three away games in the four matches before a break for the World Cup that will enable him to get more instructions into the players. But he will not be trying to make wholesale changes.
“When I hear people say philosophy it winds me up a little bit. I could put up a great presentation of how I want to play but it’s what happens on the pitch. Winning football is what matters,” he said.
“I don’t want to overload the boys with too much information, it’s small steps. There is a vision of what we want to look like in the future – climbing up the league playing attacking, attractive football but everyone wants that, don’t they?”
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