Michael Carrick’s Middlesbrough future revealed, one thing ‘might be enough’ to save him even if he fails in promotion bid

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EFL Analysis can exclusively reveal just how delicately-poised the situation at Middlesbrough is right now, and how Michael Carrick can save his job.

Despite a highly promising start to the season, Middlesbrough have suffered a significant downfall of late. Not only are their promotion hopes on the line now, but so is Michael Carrick’s job.

Middlesbrough may still only be five points off the play-off places, but their recent form — just two wins from the last eight games — has done little to inspire confidence in Carrick.

Just last month, we revealed ‘Boro chairman Steve Gibson was willing to give Carrick more time to turn things around, and that it was likely the young Middlesbrough manager would get until the end of the season.

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Michael Carrick is in big danger this summer

Now, in a fresh EFL Analysis exclusive, we can reveal that there are very few permutations that would lead to Carrick still being in charge at the start of the 2025/26 campaign.

We spoke to TBR Football’s Chief Football Correspondent Graeme Bailey about Carrick’s position and what it would take for him to stay in the job, and it’s not looking good for the 43-year-old.

Bailey said: “If Middlesbrough make the play-offs it might be enough for Carrick to keep his job, although unlikely.

“The fans are not happy with how things have gone, but the squad has struggled with injuries. If they made the play-offs and went out, much would depend on how they go out – if they went out with a whimper then I would find it hard to imagine he stays – likewise, no play-offs and he is surely gone.

“Boro’s hierarchy have done work on potential options and Steve Cooper is someone the club admire and they did talk to him prior to Carrick’s appointment.”

Steve Cooper was linked to the job last month, and it sounds like the former Nottingham Forest and Leicester man could be back in the frame if things turn sour in the coming weeks and months.

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Play-off finish is still achievable for Middlesbrough, but they must improve fast

With ten games to go, it’s far from impossible for ‘Boro to make it into the top six. They’re five points off it at the moment (call it six, with goal difference), and as we’ve seen just this weekend in the Championship, anything can happen in this division.

Middlesbrough still need to play teams that are struggling, like QPR, Luton Town, Oxford United, and Plymouth Argyle. They simply have to get maximum points from those four games to be in with a chance of promotion.

Position	Team	Played MP	Won W	Drawn D	Lost L	For GF	Against GA	Diff GD	Points Pts
6	West BromWest Brom	36	13	16	7	46	32	14	55
7	Bristol CityBristol City	36	13	14	9	46	39	7	53
8	BlackburnBlackburn	36	15	7	14	41	37	4	52
9	MiddlesbroughMiddlesbrough	36	14	8	14	55	47	8	50
10	NorwichNorwich	36	12	13	11	57	49	8	49
11	WatfordWatford	36	14	7	15	46	50	-4	49
12	MillwallMillwall	36	12	12	12	36	37	-1	48

Beyond that, there’s trickier ties against the likes of Leeds United, Coventry City, Norwich City, and Blackburn Rovers. The negative of that is, they will all be very hard to beat, but the positive is, if ‘Boro do win any of those games, they’ll be beating the teams around them and potentially move ahead of them in the play-off race.

It would be a shame for Carrick to lose his job, especially after an injury-ravaged season, but that’s the way it goes sadly. When the fans turn against you, and the players seemingly stop fighting for you, there’s very little that can be done to turn the tide back in your favour.