Michael Carrick announced as Manchester United interim head coach

Michael Carrick has been appointed as Manchester United’s interim head coach until the end of the season, the club have confirmed.

Carrick arrived at Carrington on Tuesday morning after verbally agreeing terms over the temporary role and make-up of his backroom team in meetings with club executives on Monday.

The 44-year-old will be assisted by former England No.2 Steve Holland and his old Middlesbrough first-team coach Jonathan Woodgate.

United’s Under-21s coach Travis Binnion and ex-defender Jonny Evans, who joined the back-room team when Darren Fletcher was installed as caretaker boss last week, will continue to work under Carrick, although Fletcher will revert to the Under-18s.

United will assess their options in the months ahead before making a permanent appointment, and sources say the club are still unlikely to do much transfer business in the January window.

'Having the responsibility to lead Manchester United is an honour,' said Carrick. 'I know what it takes to succeed here; my focus is now on helping the players to reach the standards that we expect at this incredible club, which we know that this group is more than capable of producing.

Carrick spent 12 years as a player at United and served as first-team coach under Jose Mourinho and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer before stepping in for three games as caretaker when the Norwegian was sacked in November 2021.

The former England midfielder was chosen ahead of Solskjaer and Ruud van Nistelrooy to replace Ruben Amorim, who was fired as head coach last week after 14 months in charge at Old Trafford.

Carrick faces a tough start with United playing Manchester City in the Old Trafford derby on Saturday lunchtime followed by a trip to Premier League leaders Arsenal the following weekend.

He inherits a team currently seventh in the table with the aim of qualifying for Europe this season after United were dumped out of both domestic cup competitions at the first hurdle.

Carrick, who was on a family holiday in Barbados with Evans and Wayne Rooney when United axed Amorim last week, has been out of work since he left Middlesbrough in June.

United’s director of football Jason Wilcox said: ‘Michael is an excellent coach and knows exactly what it takes to win at Manchester United. He is ready to lead our talented and determined group of players for the remainder of the season as we continue to build the club towards regular and sustained success.’

Club sources say they didn’t want to be in the position of changing coaches in mid-season and sack Amorim, but ‘results and behaviours’ made it necessary to act immediately as the team struggled to challenge for the top places and he clashed with Wilcox.

They added that United wanted to bring in someone who knows the club to make the transition as fast as possible, and interviewed ‘three excellent candidates’ in Carrick, Solskjaer and Van Nistelrooy.

However, Carrick’s strong knowledge of the players, ability to lead a team and work as part of a set-up weighed in his favour. The club are also ‘extremely impressed’ with Fletcher’s contribution as caretaker.

Although Carrick hasn’t worked with Holland before, it was felt that his skillset and experience would be beneficial in the circumstances.