Michael Owen is baffled by the suggestion that Michael Carrick should not continue as Manchester United manager next season, saying he is ‘astounded’ by the ‘stupid’ opinion.
Ruben Amorim was sacked as Red Devils boss in January, briefly replaced by caretaker Darren Fletcher before Carrick took interim charge of the club until the end of the season.
Things have gone very well since then, with performances and results considerably improved under Carrick.
With just one defeat in his 10 games in charge, Manchester United sit third in the table and are firmly on course for a return to the Champions League, currently six points ahead of Liverpool in fifth.
When the 44-year-old was appointed, the likes of Gary Neville and Roy Keane were clear that they did not see Carrick as an appropriate permanent option, not matter what he achieved during his interim spell in charge.
Instead, the two Manchester United legends wanted to see a more experienced, higher profile manager given the job.
However, Owen could not disagree more with this opinion and thinks it would be bizarre not to give Carrick the role next season given what he has done so far.
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‘I’d be firmly in the camp of Carrick keeping the job,’ Owen told the Manchester Evening News, via Casino.org. ‘They have tried virtually everything. And after a dozen years of trying and failing, you land on somebody, that’s getting a tune out of the players, they’re winning games and looking progressive, some of the players are playing the best football they’ve played in years.
‘Imagine if you got rid of Michael Carrick, just imagine it, and you brought in whoever, I don’t care who it is, a born winner, they’ve already had that type of manager. Imagine if things start going poorly again. I mean, the ownership would get absolutely lynched.
‘I mean what a stupid… how on Earth anybody can say that he shouldn’t continue. What’s the worst that can happen? You give him a couple of years’ contract, what’s the worst that can happen? He starts the next season for the first three or four months, he loses every game and he’s useless. You can part company. It’s not like you’ve got to stick with someone for 10 years.
‘It’s not like this is the biggest decision ever. He’s doing well, why not just let it continue? This is absolutely unbelievable what we’re seeing from Manchester United. I mean if the league started when Carrick took over, Manchester United at the top of the league.
‘I mean, what on Earth? Why on Earth is this even a question? I don’t get it. I’m astounded by certain people saying “No, no, no, they shouldn’t appoint him”, astounded.
‘I’m not saying yeah go and give him a 10-year contract, everything’s perfect. But bloody hell, what more can he do? You’ve just got to let this roll. You’ve got to let it roll. This is Manchester United looking like they’re on the way back at this stage. Why would you interfere with anything?’
After Carrick’s arrival as interim boss, Neville could scarcely have been more clear, saying on the Stick to Football podcast: ‘There cannot be any consideration that Michael takes the job beyond this season, for Michael and for the club.’
Keane also felt the former England midfielder was not the man for the job, saying: ‘So Michael Carrick is going to be the manager of Man United? He hasn’t got enough experience. I don’t think he’ll have enough football knowledge.
‘I’m not saying Michael Carrick can’t be a top manager, but the timing for him to be manager of Man United in the summer? I don’t see it.’
Neville has since accepted that Carrick is now in a great position to get the role permanently, whether he feels he is the right man for it or not.
‘The run they have been on has been a shock to everybody,’ Neville told Sky Sports earlier this month. ‘Michael would not have expected this in his wildest dreams.
‘(He) is in the box seat for the job. Looking at what is happening now, I think they will qualify for the Champions League.’
Co-owner Jim Ratcliffe told Sky Sports Carrick is doing an ‘excellent job’ and a report from the same outlet states that the club is yet to contact any other potential candidate for the role.
It appears that if Carrick does deliver Champions League football then he may well be offered the job on a longer-term basis.
