Michael Carrick leaves Middlesbrough FC | OneFootball

Middlesbrough have today sacked head coach Michael Carrick.

Michael Carrick has vacated his role as Middlesbrough FC head coach.

Journalist Keith Downie has broken the news that the 43-year-old had met with Boro's top brass this morning, including club owner and chairman Steve Gibson, in which he was told he'd be departing the Riverside Stadium.

This news comes after it was revealed almost immediately after the conclusion of the 2024/25 season that Middlesbrough's hierarchy would be conducting a major review of the season just gone, with the future of the Manchester United and England legend to be decided as part of their internal review.

Boro finished 10th in the Championship this past term, which marked a clear failure of the club's ambitions to win promotion to the Premier League.

Middlesbrough sack head coach Michael Carrick

Confirmed via the club website on Wednesday, Middlesbrough have parted company with head coach Michael Carrick.

Boro have also confirmed that first-team coaching staff members Jonathan Woodgate and Michael's brother, Graeme Carrick, have also departed the club.

In a brief statement on this news via the club website, Middlesbrough said: "We'd like to thank Michael, Jonathan, and Graeme for all their hard work and unwavering commitment. We wish them all the very best for the future.

"The club will be making no further comment at this stage."

Carrick had been in charge at the Riverside Stadium since October 2022, when he took over from Chris Wilder.

Sacking Michael Carrick is a big, but justifiable call by Middlesbrough

The mood on Teesside surrounding Carrick's departure will no doubt be bittersweet.

In his first season in charge (2022/23), his Middlesbrough team played some of the finest, most attractive and dominating football many Riverside regulars had ever seen.

He showed his coaching nous by turning Boro outcast Chuba Akpom into the Championship's golden boot winner by transitioning him from a centre-forward into an attacking midfield role.

The Teessiders finished fourth in that 2022/23 campaign, but ultimately fell short to Coventry City in the play-off semi-final. However, given the transformational impact he'd had on the team that year, many Boro fans were more confident than ever going into 2023/24 that they'd found the man to lead them back to the Premier League.

But, after a major summer overhaul to the playing squad, Carrick could only guide his side to an eighth-placed finish in the second tier the following year, and unfortunately, Middlesbrough would slip even further away from their promotion dreams this term.

With significant transfer fees spent on the signings of Tommy Conway, Morgan Whittaker, George Edmundson, Neto Borges, Micah Hamilton, Aidan Morris and Delano Burgzorg respectively, as well as a host of exciting loan additions such as Ben Doak and Mark Travers, Boro looked well equipped to make another big promotion push this past season.

2024/25 was a campaign laden with defensive issues, mistakes, cheap goals being conceded, tactical stubbornness, and once their 10th-placed finish was confirmed, a real sense of apathy from supporters towards their team, and their head coach.

So, whilst Carrick's sacking is a big call to make, and one that will be viewed as being harsh in the eyes of some, there was clear evidence to suggest that Steve Gibson was justified in his decision to swing the axe.