Michael Carrick has laughed off former Manchester United midfielder Nicky Butt’s claim this week that the Old Trafford boss had told him he was no longer interested in football management before landing the job.
Butt told The Good, The Bad & The Football podcast sponsored by Midnite this week, that Carrick had revealed in a private conversation before replacing Ruben Amorim: ‘no it’s not for me, it’s too much, my head’s all over the show, I’d only do it for the big job. The big job is Man United.’
Carrick returned to Old Trafford in January as Ruben Amorim’s replacement seven months after he was sacked from his first managerial job at Middlesbrough, and led United to a third-placed finish in the Premier League.
Carrick insists though, ahead of this weekend’s trip to Leeds: ‘I definitely wouldn’t be here if that was the case, would I?’ At this stage, it’s the best job and the best role I could possibly have.
‘I feel a real privilege of being in this position and a real responsibility, but equally a drive of wanting to make a difference and having success here.
‘I’m loving it. I love the situation when actually you get some sort of struggle and you’ve got to find a way out of it. I actually enjoy that because that’s part of what drives you to have success.
Michael Carrick was given the permanent role as Manchester United manager in the summer but has experienced a challenging start to the new season
Nicky Butt took to his podcast to suggest that Michael Carrick had no desire to go into management before landing the United job
‘If you’re not ready for that and you can’t do anything that’s difficult, then you’re never going to be great. So we’ve got to work our way through it, and I’m enjoying it as we go.’
Carrick will take United to Elland Road – the scene of Amorim’s last stand as head coach in January – adamant that he does not fear for his job.
United face old foes Leeds with Carrick under increasing pressure after a run of four defeats and two wins in nine games this season.
His predecessor Amorim was sacked over a post-match meltdown at Elland Road in which he took aim at director of football Jason Wilcox but Carrick isn’t worried about his future.
He said: ‘I don’t think about: ‘How am I going to get through this? How am I going to survive this? What do I need to do to look after myself?’.
‘It’s not important. I really don’t take it about me. It’s about this football club and winning football matches.
‘I don’t think (Leeds) is the last game I need right now. I’m really looking forward to the game. I generally feel the drive for myself to want to push this club forward more than anything.
‘There’s always negativity if you want to look for it or want to feel it. But I don’t go looking for it, and I don’t want to feel it.
‘I understand the reality. I accept where we are, but I don’t feel that. I’m totally focused on what’s best for this football club and what it’s going to take to win games: get the boys playing how we know we’re capable of, and we still don’t think we’re that far away.
‘We can turn a few things in our favour, and we can move forward pretty quickly.’
