Michael Carrick won’t ‘chase’ Sir Jim Ratcliffe for an answer over his future as Manchester United’s head coach, and has dismissed comparisons with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s spell as caretaker boss at Old Trafford.
Daily Mail Sport revealed this week that Carrick is in pole position to get the job on a permanent basis after overseeing a run of eight wins in 12 games to take United to the brink of Champions League qualification.
There are echoes of Solskjaer’s three-year stint in charge when he impressed as an interim but couldn’t maintain that success when he landed the full-time job.
Carrick, who was chosen ahead of Solskjaer in January, was reluctant to compare the two situations and pointed out that he was part of the Norwegian’s back-room team as a coach.
‘I’ve got the utmost respect for him,’ said the United boss. ‘He’s a close friend of mine and I worked closely with him when I was here. I was quite attached to that, and we did a lot of good things.
‘We came close. In the end, it changed and went in a different direction. That’s football. You can compare to all sorts of different situations in managers and coaches and teams over the years. It just depends on what you choose to compare, but it’s irrelevant really. That’s not a negative or a positive. It just doesn’t have a link at all.
Michael Carrick is in pole position to get the Man United job but is still waiting for a decision
‘We’re a different team now, irrespective of me and who is in charge. It’s a different team and different time. So I don’t really think comparisons literally make any difference.’
Carrick had talks with minority owner Ratcliffe at Carrington on Monday but is still waiting to find out if he will get the full-time job, with United keen to wait until they have secured a Champions League place.
‘It’s not something in terms of deadline that I’m really chasing,’ he added. ‘It will become clear when it becomes clear. There’s only so much I can say, but I love being here. It’s a real privilege to be in the position I am, thriving with the responsibility that we’ve got.’
