Steve Gibson should consider history-making Middlesbrough hire if Michael Carrick is sacked | OneFootball

The Boro owner may decide to search for a new manager this summer, and he may be wise to go down the history-making route he once did.

Michael Carrick's future as Middlesbrough head coach remains up in the air heading into the summer, as Boro owner and chairman Steve Gibson along with his board members conduct a thorough review of the 2024/25 season.

The club's hierarchy are in the process of completing a deep dive into Middlesbrough's 24/25 season, in order to determine how and why their promotion push went so wrong.

Once those findings have been reached, we look set to discover the fate of Carrick as Boro boss, after his team could only muster a 10th-placed finish in the Championship this past campaign.

This was an obvious failure of the promotion remit set by the club, and as such, there has been a growing unrest among Teessiders over their club's relative top-half stagnation over the last two years, after they registered an eighth-placed finish in 2023/24.

Confidence in Michael Carrick seems to be at an all-time low among Middlesbrough supporters

Appointed in October 2022, Carrick arrived at the Riverside Stadium ready to take his first steps into full-time management.

Given his background as a player, it was a hiring that whilst there was evident risk attached to it, largely filled Boro fans with excitement and belief that their club had found a real gem of a coach.

At the conclusion of the 2022/23 season, many Middlesbrough fans were feeling vindicated in that regard, as Carrick introduced some of the finest, exciting, and dominant football that many Riverside regulars hadn't seen for many years.

He guided Boro to a fourth-placed finish that year, having taken over from Chris Wilder with the club sitting just one point above the relegation zone.

Indeed, it was he who unlocked the Championship golden boot-winning potential of Chuba Akpom with his masterstroke of deploying him as an attacking midfielder instead of a centre-forward.

Boro fell short in the play-off semi-finals to Coventry City, but optimism was rife among supporters that Carrick was clearly the man to lead the club back to the Premier League in the near future. However, as of yet, that hasn't been the case.

Whilst the club's success rate from a recruitment perspective has been as high as it's been in quite some time, and whilst Carrick continues to field potent attack forces, Middlesbrough have taken consecutive backward steps with regard to their league standings.

In what was one of the weakest races for a play-off spot in recent memory, Boro still finished four points and four places short of achieving that - something that given the talent at Carrick's disposal and the money which has been spent, wasn't an acceptable outcome for many.

Therefore, it's fair to say his approval rating on Teesside is at its lowest since he arrived, and there is a significant contingent of supporters that are hoping Gibson swings the axe on the 43-year-old this summer.

If Steve Gibson does sack Michael Carrick, now might be the time to repeat history-making Aitor Karanka hire

Much like the final weeks of the 2024/25 season, the Riverside Stadium wasn't a happy place to be in 2013.

Attendances were regularly falling below 15,000, Tony Mowbray's side were languishing in mid-table in the Championship, and the team and club as a whole was in desperate need of an injection of excitement to get Boro fans falling back in love with their club again.

So, in November 2013, Gibson decided to rip up his rule book and create Middlesbrough managerial history, as he appointed Spanish coach Aitor Karanka to be the club's first ever foreign manager.

After guiding the club to a 12th-placed finish in the 13/14 season, Karanka - José Mourinho's former assistant at Real Madrid - would soon install a brand of football that would become the gold standard on Teesside for many years to come.

He was able to forge a new identity for Middlesbrough Football Club on the pitch, which was one of organisation, bite, steeliness, and uncharitable in nature. In short, he crafted a side that was incredibly tough to beat.

In the 14/15 season, Karanka's men conceded just 37 times in the Championship, as they went all the way to the play-off final after finishing fourth, but would ultimately fall short to Norwich City at Wembley.

However, it was clear that the Spaniard had found a recipe for success, and with some added ingredients such as Cristhian Stuani, Stewart Downing, David Nugent and Gaston Ramirez, success is exactly what was to come the following year.

Boro sealed automatic promotion to the Premier League in 2015/16, once again playing a brand of football that so often simply required his side to take the lead in a game, and let his watertight and highly-organised defense see the game out.

Middlesbrough conceded just 31 league goals that season, whilst scoring a modest 63. They weren't the most exciting team to watch, but they were extremely well-drilled in defence, which enabled Karanka to hand his creative and characterful attackers such as Albert Adomah, Ramirez and Stuani to express themselves and unlock defences with their skill.

Karanka's promotion squad was nasty in midfield too, with the midfield pairing of Grant Leadbitter and Adam Clayton seldom seen losing the battle for control in the middle of the park.

The gamble to appoint Karanka in that history-making move was sudden and surprising, but it worked. However, in the years since his 2017 exit, Gibson has yet to hand the reins to a foreign manager again.

But with his club at risk of second tier stagnation, a general sense of apathy towards the playing squad, and belief waning in Carrick, now might be the time to cast his net towards the continent once again, in the hope that a coach from foreign shores can arrive on Teesside and follow in Karanka's promotion footsteps.