Exclusive: Steve Gibson told to avoid big Middlesbrough, Michael Carrick decision | OneFootball

Speaking exclusively with FLW, Lee Hendrie has been discussing whether Middlesbrough owner Steve Gibson should sack Michael Carrick or stick by him.

Middlesbrough head coach Michael Carrick is facing the possibility of being sacked as Boro boss.

As per an exclusive report from Football League World on 6 May, sources exclusively informed FLW that the 43-year-old is possibly facing the axe at the Riverside Stadium after failing to guide his Middlesbrough side to a play-off finish this season.

Having evidently fallen short of club targets this term with a 10th-placed finish, and after taking a step backwards after their eighth-placed finish last season, fan pressure and frustration has been growing on Carrick in recent times.

It was even revealed by talkSPORT in mid-February that Middlesbrough chairman and owner Steve Gibson may have explored a Steve Cooper succession plan, had he relieved Carrick of his duties at that stage of the campaign.

Speaking exclusively with Football League World, we asked Sky Sports pundit and former player, Lee Hendrie: 'We understand that Michael Carrick is facing the threat of being sacked at Middlesbrough. Would axeing him be the right or wrong call in your eyes?'

Hendrie said: "Michael Carrick - obviously not making the play-offs, which it's another season that they've been relatively close again.

"Will they be looking to get rid? I mean, I've got this thing about Middlesbrough. The certain criteria they have with the way that they go about bringing players in, the loan players, and I think they're slowly building something there to be quite honest.

"I think Carrick should stay at the football club. That's my personal opinion. I think he's been close. They got rid of Emmanuel Latte Lath, and that was a big blow to them going into the latter stages of the season.

"You need big players, key players, that can get you over the line, and squad depth. I know that they brought certain players in: Finn Azaz, Morgan Whittaker, Tommy Conway - they've brought lots of players in that certainly can give them a platform to go by.

"You hear good reports about what he's (Carrick) like in the dressing room and on the training field. So for me, I'd be keeping Michael Carrick. Personally, I feel that he deserves the opportunity with the way that they're slowly and gradually bringing players in to work off a decent platform.

"They had some good loans in, and they lost the likes of Ben Doak as well. So listen, I think he's got bags of potential. If he goes, I think there would be lots of clubs looking at him for a vacancy, because I think his style and his way is very good.

"I just think that he needs the resources to take a club forward, and I think he needed a little bit more at Boro. But, clubs like that want success, they want to get in the Premier League, and they haven't done it again.

"So, it'll be a big shout, but for me, I'd be keeping hold of Carrick."

Middlesbrough and Michael Carrick fell short this season, but Boro boss is ticking key Steve Gibson box

10th and another season of no play-off football is undoubtedly a failure of a season for Middlesbrough, regardless of whether Carrick possibly doesn't conform to that opinion.

£4.5m was spent on acquiring top scorer Tommy Conway in the summer, a further £5m rising to £7.5m was splashed on Morgan Whittaker in January, whilst further chunky fees were spent on bringing the likes of Aidan Morris, Micah Hamilton, Delano Burgzorg and Neto Borges to the club on permanent deals this season.

On top of that, Middlesbrough completed winter loan moves for Bournemouth goalkeeper Mark Travers, Aston Villa wideman Samuel Iling-Junior and Sevilla striker Kelechi Iheanacho.

In short, Gibson has backed his head coach significantly when it comes to bringing players in. However, it's been a real hit-and-miss season of recruitment on Teesside.

Despite that, Carrick has been helping to deliver on a fundamental aspect of the club's vision for the future: the selling on of players for profit.

The sales of Isaiah Jones and Latte Lath during the winter window landed Middlesbrough comfortably over £20m in profit, should the add-ons be paid in full as part of Lath's record-breaking move to Atlanta United.

Prior to that, Boro made around £14-15m in profit thanks to the sale of Morgan Rogers to Aston Villa in February 2024, with the Teessiders also understood to have inserted a sizeable sell-on clause in that deal, potentially setting them up for another big payday in the future.

Chuba Akpom was also sold to Ajax for a healthy amount of profit in the summer of 2023, and it's this aspect of Carrick's Middlesbrough reign that has brought about major success, and credit in the Boro bank.

As such, whilst parting ways with him from a results perspective could be justified after a highly disappointing season on the pitch, any decision made by Gibson and the club's board will surely be complicated significantly given how successful his appointment has been in terms of implementing a self-sustainable business model for the club.