Michael Carrick has laughed off suggestions that he didn't want to become a manager again after being sacked by Middlesbrough, insisting that he's 'loving' life in the dugout. Former Manchester United star Nicky Butt recently revealed a conversation that he'd had with Carrick prior to him taking over at Old Trafford in January.
Butt's podcast claim
Speaking on The Good, The Bad & The Football podcast, Butt recalled: "I was with Michael before he got the Man United job and spoke to him about management. He went, '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."
Those comments from Butt were put to Carrick at his press conference on Friday ahead of United's trip to Leeds, with his side searching for only their second Premier League win of the season. "I definitely wouldn't be here if that was the case, would I?" the Red Devils boss smiled.
Carrick's response
"At this stage. It's the best job I could possibly have. It's 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.
"So yeah, I'm loving it. I love the situation when actually you get a little bit of a some sort of struggle where you've got to find a way out of it."
"I actually really enjoy that because that's part of what drives you to have success, and that's part of the end of it. And 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."
United's view and job security
United are understood to have taken a dim view of Butt's decision to go public with their conversation, especially at a time when results aren't going Carrick's way. The 45-year-old has only won two of his nine games in his first season as the club's permanent manager, a stark contrast to the form which the Red Devils enjoyed earlier this year after he was appointed initially on an interim basis.
But Carrick, who was dismissed by Middlesbrough in the summer of 2025, denied the notion that he needs a positive result against Leeds to keep his job. "I don't think it's the last game I need right now, for sure," he said.
"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 you want to feel it, but I don't go looking for it. I don't want to feel it."
"I understand the reality and I've said it enough in terms of feeling like I'm saying the same things, but accepting where we are, but I don't feel that. I'm totally focused on what's best for this place and this football club and what it's going to take to win games, you know, and get the boys playing what we know we're capable of, which we still don't think we're that far away."
"You know, we can turn a few things in our favour and we'll be in good shape again and we can move forward pretty quickly. So, like I said earlier, I really don't think about me."
"I don't think 'how am I going to get through this, how am I going to survive this and what do I need to do to look after myself'. It's not important. It's about this football club and winning football matches."
