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- [00:00]
Adam Leventhal
Par le tu francais hablas espanol?
- [00:03]
Mark Critchley
Par le italiano.
- [00:04]
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- [00:40]
Matt
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- [01:23]
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- [01:59]
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The Athletic fc.
- [02:01]
Podcast Host (likely Adam Leventhal)
Welcome to the Athletic FC podcast with me, Adam Leventhal. So the Michael Carrick era at Manchester United has got off to a flying start. So how has he done it and what would it take for him to get the job permanently? Well, with me for this one is Adam Crafton out in New York City and Mark Critchley in Manchester. So we're going to be talking about the great form that Manchester United are in in fourth after that 1 nil win over Everton. How Michael Carrick's dealing with on and off pitch matters as well which includes Sir Jim Radcliffe. And we'll also be talking about the future. But I wanted to start with Adam Crafton and a little peek behind the curtain of us preparing for podcasts. Adam, what did you post in the pre show group late last night about how well Manchester United are doing? You can tell everyone. Come on.
- [02:56]
Adam Leventhal
It was a table, I think of. Was it the last 10 games?
- [02:59]
Podcast Host (likely Adam Leventhal)
Yes.
- [03:00]
Adam Leventhal
Manchester United, the most informed team in the Premier League. Six wins, four draws. I think that must also encompass a couple of Ruben Amering games.
- [03:10]
Podcast Host (likely Adam Leventhal)
Indeed it does.
- [03:11]
Mark Critchley
In the Wolves game as well. Even the one one at Wolves, which was like, horrific result.
- [03:16]
Adam Leventhal
So give Reuben his due as well for his role in that. But, you know, clearly, I mean, it shows what kind of everyone's had the sense of which is that playing Man United at the moment is probably strangely like the hardest game in the Premier League and has become, you know, a huge shift under Michael Carrick in terms of results. Not necessarily always performances, but I think there is clearly a momentum with them and it's a pretty amazing transformation if you just compare it to, I think, how the club and the fan base were feeling after the FA cup defeat against Brighton, where, you know, it kind of felt at that point like Man United might not even make Europe and, you know, they were sort of sliding down the table. So it's a pretty remarkable turnaround.
- [04:04]
Podcast Host (likely Adam Leventhal)
Yeah, Crit, just give us a little vibe check. You've been around the fans. How are they feeling? Yeah, I mean, you know, we're sort of almost making light of the fact that, yes, they are top of the form table, but it means a lot. 22 points from the last 10 games. Below them are Arsenal and Manchester City, who are considered to be going along like a train of sorts. So tell us, how does it feel right now?
- [04:27]
Mark Critchley
Very positive, honestly. I take Adam's point that the performances perhaps haven't always been there, and maybe the real highs were right at the very start of Michael Carrick taking charge with those wins against City and Arsenal. And there's been a few more concerns along the way once United have played against teams that they're expected to beat. But he's still getting results. And that's key, more so than anything else, I think, in this Premier League season where nobody's quite sure whether the standard has been raised or whether it's been lowered, everybody just can just beat about anybody else on any given weekend, and it's all very tight. If you can put a string of good results and good performances together, that can catapult you into places that you never really expected to be. I think we saw that earlier this season with Aston Villa and with that run of forward wins in a row, not five, just four, but then the draw at West Ham and then. And back to winning ways again last night. Suddenly you're looking at the table and United are in a far stronger position than again, as Adam mentioned, I think anybody could have realistically expected, even after that Brighton game, or certainly when Reuben Amarim departed at the turn of the year. There's a real positivity around the way that, not only the results, but the way that United are playing. It's seen as though the style, the intentions that they show when they're out on the pitch are more aligned, if you like, with what people like to think of as the traditions of the club, the way that they're supposed to play. Taking risks has been a huge, huge factor. It was something a bit of a stick that was used to beat Ruben Amarin with during the final days of his reign, that he was being too conservative, that if he was going to change things, it would always be one center off for another on 60 minutes and nothing much else. Carrick's changed that. He has sought to take risk later on in games. You can think of the Arsenal game where Dawgu came off injured, but he brought on Cesko. It was the sort of thing that you hadn't seen before from United managers or certainly under Amarim, and they went on to win that game later on. I think more substitutes have scored goals under Carrick than they had previously throughout the rest of the season. In the last few games, he's affecting things from the bench. He's employed a style of play that United fans resonate with. And I think that's part and parcel of why everyone's feeling so positive at the moment.
- [06:50]
Podcast Host (likely Adam Leventhal)
Now, Adam, obviously Michael Carrick wasn't in charge of any sort of recruitment decisions, but did it feel symbolic to you last night, watching the goal set up by Cunha to Mbumo to then Sheko, and it almost reflecting the fact that there have been some things that. That Manchester United have got right. We'll talk about the goalkeeper in a minute with Mark, because he's been writing about him. But that goal in particular, it was a moment where you thought, yeah, we are on the up. This is looking good and those players are what we needed.
- [07:24]
Adam Leventhal
Yeah. I mean, to be fair, for most of the season, they've kind of been. Obviously Cesko's form's got a lot better over the last few weeks. But Mburma and Cunha really, from the first game of the season have looked like they could cope at Manchester United. And I think most people had that sense when they coped of, you know, they were players who had already proven themselves in the Premier League that had been at kind of mid, I guess wolves, maybe mid to lower last. Last season, to be fair, mid to lower Premier League teams. But they felt like very low risk signings in many ways. Like if these guys can't crack it, you know, you tried buying players from Holland, you've tried buying players from sort of castoffs from Real Madrid. It was almost like, well, if these guys won't work, then who was ever going to work at Manchester United at this point? So I think it's a much better recruitment model to sort of buy what's already proven in the Premier League rather than trying to sort of adapt people. And they needed goals. You know, Manchester United haven't scored enough goals over the past few seasons and that's been. That's been a major issue. It was a huge issue for the club last season and, you know, this season it's a lot better. Their attacking record is far better, is far improved. I still think they can add to it, particularly in kind of wide positions with, you know, now that Manchester United have decided they're a team that plays with wingers again, they probably need to go and sign one or two in the summer, given the system change. Look, Ineos have had a huge amount of scrutiny and criticism at times, and I think rightly so over, you know, what happened with Dan Ashworth, over keeping erik10 hag over the extent of their belief for a period of time in Reuben Amarim in the face of all of evidence of performances and results. But the recruitment has got better, you know, not just last this summer, just gone, but the summer before. You know, if you look at Matthias Delict, Lenny Yoro, not so much on Joshua Xerxe, but, you know, they're getting more right than wrong in the transfer window and if they can get another couple of windows like the one they had last summer, then they'll have a team.
- [09:40]
Podcast Host (likely Adam Leventhal)
It was interesting what you said there about, you know, buying players that are ready for the Premier League and not necessarily having to adapt players. But I was reading what Benjamin Sheesko said after the game against Everton and he was very sort of direct in talking about how much help Michael Carrick has given him and his staff as well. And it seems that that attention to detail is also part of the package that Michael Carrick brings, especially having been a player that came to Manchester United with big expectation. Yes, he was a different character, very cool, calm and collected. But I suppose that feeds into his offering as a Manchester United manager in particular.
- [10:25]
Adam Leventhal
Adam, yeah, he's got experience, he's been there, he's done it. Similar to Solskjaer before. I think there's a lot of similarities, actually between interim period and what we're now seeing from Carrick's interim period, which is, you know, taking over from a Portuguese coach who had exploded by the end and caused ructions with those, you know, potentially with those above him. Not a great mood among the fan base or the playing staff. A kind of a sense of lost traditions, of style. So Solskjaer came in like Carrick came in, sort of went back to what is considered a recognisable Manchester United style, simplified it. You know, players would speak of those little touches of little bits of advice on the training ground. Supportive. And I think that's, you know, both encouraging, you know, given, you know, the results, but possibly also like a note of caution as well, because, you know, interim period doesn't necessarily translate into kind of being ready for success. But no, clearly, I mean, Carrick Karrick's just come in and simplified everything, you know, from press conferences where there's now very few headlines compared to Amarim, where there was a thousand headlines, to the style of play on the pitch, where I think every player. There isn't a player who is playing worse now than they were seven weeks ago. So I think that is of huge credit to the coaching staff. There isn't one Manchester United player who was playing regularly that you could say has got worse. Everyone is better. And that's both damning of Amarim, but also of huge praise to Carrick.
- [12:08]
Podcast Host (likely Adam Leventhal)
Critch, I did say I was going to ask you about the goalkeeper and I will do that in a moment's time. But just picking up on what Adam said there in terms of the press conferences. Obviously, Amarim press conferences were very interesting and incendiary at times. Honesty and, you know, humility. And there was kindness in there as well. I get it. But what's the feeling now amongst the press pack walking into a Michael Carrick press conference? Is it okay? It's going to be quite straight back and, yeah, we don't mind it. Or do you think, ah, this is a bit dull.
- [12:43]
Mark Critchley
I think the feeling among the press pack is, wouldn't it be great if Michael Carrick could manage the team, but Reuben Amrun could Still do the press conferences. I think that would be the ideal scenario. Look, I think there's an element of that, what you say he absolutely does play things with a straight back, the straightest bat that I've ever really known any manager to play it. And it's not even like he doesn't engage with the question, though I think that's important to say he does. He will take a question on board and we'll speak at a considerable length about what you're asking him about. And what he says often, I think is it's perfectly reasonable. It's like the most reasonable answer you could possibly give and something that I think we would say ourselves or agree on. And so it's not even like there's an issue from that perspective. It's not his job to create headlines. His job is to create a stable environment where it's conducive to winning football matches. And I think that's exactly what he's done in all of his press dealings, in all of his press conferences so far. You're just not getting the same because the answers are so reasonable. You're not getting the same incendiary, controversial talking points that Amren would routinely come out with. And from this purely selfish journalistic perspective, it makes it a bit harder to necessarily sell the lines that you're getting out of this stuff and use them in pieces and use them in copy. But I think from the club's perspective, there'll be people in a very tired and fatigued media department at Manchester United who are quite happy that there's a manager who is answering things with a straight bar and who isn't giving us reams and reams of things to write about afterwards. The one thing I perhaps would say is that, you know, the results have been really good so far, and that's great. When results don't go your way, that is, sometimes when you need to be able to tell a slightly more engaging story as a manager, to be able to defend your ideas. Ideas and what you're doing. And that is something that Michael Carrick hasn't been tested on yet, I suppose, simply because he is getting the results on the pitch and ultimately that's what matters.
- [14:41]
Podcast Host (likely Adam Leventhal)
Just a word on how he does deal with things in press conferences as well. When I was reading the transcript of what he said after the game, and now I can talk about the goalkeeper, he was even sensible without trying to hype up Senna Lomonds and comparing him with Edwin Van der Saar and things like that. You know, he's even sensible with that, you know, never too high, never too low. And that's. That's a good way of being, isn't it?
- [15:08]
Mark Critchley
Yeah, I think so. And that is even.
- [15:10]
Podcast Host (likely Adam Leventhal)
Even though Lemons is clearly brilliant, by the way.
- [15:13]
Mark Critchley
Yeah. No, like last night for Lemons to have that performance last night for Edwin van der Sau to be as appearing as a pundit on the main television channel in the UK reviewing it absolutely set up, like, for comparisons to be made and similarities to be drawn and those parallels to be spoken about afterwards. So it was inevitable that they would be. I think Carrick toed the right line in terms of saying, look, I can see why you're asking the question and I can see those similarities myself without trying to heat too much pressure onto Senor Lamas. But to be honest, he was always just focusing the answer back on Senor Lamas himself and his performance. And it was a great performance. I mean, I think we were talking about the signings there. There's an argument that this is the first time in a long time that all of United's major signings in one summer have about, what, six, seven, eight months into the season. We can say that they're all having good seasons and I think they're all making a difference, but I think the argument is that Lammens is probably making the biggest difference of any of them. If you compare him to his immediate predecessors in his position, you imagine some of the other goalkeepers who play for United in recent years being in the position that he was in last night, being under those, that intense pressure, those balls dropping underneath his crossbar, but right on top of him over and over again, the stromash of plays in the middle of the box. Something that we've seen a lot more often this season compared to previous years, but something that a lot of goalkeepers in the Premier League are struggling with. I can remember Altay, Bayern Deer, United's second choice goalkeeper, when he was starting games at the beginning of the season, struggling with it on a weekly basis, essentially. Lammens has never really looked like that. He's, you know, at a time when a lot of goalkeepers are really being tested by the approaches that teams are taking and opponents are taking on set pieces. He's always brought this air of calm, of composure, of just being able to deal with it, of command and control, essentially. It's not like he's perfect, though. There was only a few weeks ago in the Arsenal game. Arsenal's equalizer for 22 comes from 1 of these situations. And maybe there's questions to ask about how Lammers deals with that. But this is a very tested environment for goalkeepers in the Premier League at the moment. And the thing, the difference that I see with Lahmans compared to those goalkeepers who were playing for United previously is that if he does have an error, if he does make a mistake, you expect him to get over it. You don't think that there's going to be a pattern of them following one after another again and again afterwards. That's something that is a real key difference. And I think that's why last night in that game, you know, United with a different goalkeeper in the net, they maybe dropped two points, maybe three points. They didn't. They took all three. And you can attribute that, a lot of that down to Sennalamas performance.
- [17:59]
Podcast Host (likely Adam Leventhal)
And Adam, I just wanted to get your take on this because, you know, people that aren't obsessed with Manchester United will be listening to this. But one thing that they will know, especially if they're from England and they're English football fans, they'll know that Kobbie Mainu is a really good footballer. And they will have been confused watching Manchester United with him not in the side. Reuben Amarim just clearly not fancying him. But now he's back, he's playing well and he's having a sort of a metronomic presence just like Michael Carrick. It makes sense, doesn't it? I just wanted to sort of get your take on. On overall what he has been able to do with. With just putting players in the right shaped holes, basically.
- [18:46]
Adam Leventhal
Yeah. I mean, Mainoo. I mean, it doesn't matter if you're a Man United fan or you're watching football for the first time. I don't think anyone could make sense of what happened there with Ruben Amarin and Kobbie Mainoo. It was. It was crazy. And it was also crazy that Manchester United, it didn't get to. If Reuben Amarin would have stayed, Manchester United would have taken his side on this and they would have lost one of the best young footballers they've ever produced. So, you know, for all the credit that we're giving Ineos for the summer dealings, I mean, that could have been one of the biggest mistakes that Manchester United have ever made. I don't think I'm sort of exaggerating there because it's just so clear that, you know, they've got a 70, 80 million pound midfielder and they weren't using him. And I do get the argument that in Amarim's system. The amount of ground that needed to be covered and the gaps between defense and attack made it difficult for Mainoo. I'm not sure he's quite got the engine for that, but I don't know any. I actually don't really know any central midfielders who have the engine for that specific system. Amerman played in the Premier League. It's different with the speed and the physicality of the Premier League and the demands of it. And the truth is that Manchester United were prepared to sell Mainoo last summer. What is interesting is that the offers didn't quite come, that whatever Amarin was seeing, there was some skepticism being shared in other parts of the Premier League. It wasn't like Chelsea came with a 60 million pounds offer, which Manchester United would have taken, or Newcastle came with 50 million. I think they would have even taken 45, 50 million last summer for him. And Manchester United should be grateful, you know, that he didn't. But, you know, just on Amarim's kind of judgment, it wasn't just mania. I mean, even on Lohmans, there was that sort of strange period where Lomonds first came, where Lohmans couldn't get in the team for the first few games because he sort of stuck with buying deer. Now, you could say that was just kind of getting him ready in training for the Premier League. You could say that's good management. We know he wanted a more experienced goalkeeper. Emi Martinez was clearly the one that I think his preference was. And I think that was a case of actually a sporting director model, a better recruitment model, putting their foot down and saying, actually no, Ruben, we're going to do what's right for Manchester United in the long term here, not spend probably far higher wages on a World cup winner who's getting towards the other end of his career. And I think they've been proved right on that. So we often take the side of managers, don't we, in those battles with sporting directors? And I think that's an example of it working better. But Mainoo would have been an example of it working the other way.
- [21:43]
Podcast Host (likely Adam Leventhal)
Yeah, it was an easy win, it seemed, for Michael Carrick to get Kobbie Mainoo back into the Manchester United side on a regular basis. And we'll continue our analysis of the interim Manchester United manager and his composure with more off the field distractions at United, thanks to Sir Jim Radcliffe. Next,
- [22:05]
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- [25:16]
Podcast Host (likely Adam Leventhal)
So we've been speaking of how well Michael Carrick has done done in reducing the noise around Manchester United, but he could do nothing about the Manchester United co owner Sir Jim Radcliffe speaking on Sky News not that long ago and claiming that the UK had been colonized by immigrants. And then he later apologised for his choice of language. It was pretty much a half apology. United, meanwhile, released a statement expressing their commitment to being inclusive and welcoming to people from all backgrounds. So we're a few days on now from this and it's been something that we've wanted to get into on the podcast. Just give us a take Critch on how you feel that situation was dealt with both publicly and also behind the scenes.
- [26:10]
Mark Critchley
Well, I think first of all, from a purely United perspective, I think it's hard not to I find it hard not to have an element of sympathy with the club for being embroiled in something that was not of their own making. If we accept that Manchester United is not defined by as an entity that is owned by Sir Jim Ratcliffe, Sir Jim Ratcliffe is an extremely successful businessman and entrepreneur in his own right and he will often hold court on subjects that aren't related to football. And I think he likes to see himself as somebody who is able to do that and has the right to do that as a hugely successful business person. But I think what it would be useful for him to realize is that people care a lot more about football than they care about hydrocarbons. And so when he speaks on any subject in any capacity, if what he says is interesting, newsworthy, or particularly if it's as divisive and as controversial as what he said in that interview with Sky News, then that is going to be framed as the views of the Manchester United owner or part owner co owner. And that is something that when he says things is like what he said, it puts the club in an awkward spot publicly and it causes a lot of I mean, puts him in an awkward spot publicly. It's Extraordinary that they ended up releasing a statement which was essentially refuting the sentiments of their owner. Not directly as such, but everybody knows the context in which that statement was made so publicly. It puts them in an extremely awkward spot. I think internally it caused a lot of disappointment. People that I was speaking to within the club, around the club, felt extremely let down by rattles remarks. Myself and Adam wrote a piece in the days that follow, sort of looking at, sort of placing the comments within their UK political context, but also within the context of what was happening at United. And I think we mentioned in air reported in there how staff were raising concerns the day after Ratcliffe's comments, before the statement, the club statement was released, how the inbox was receiving a lot of complaints from individual fans, but then also even the Fans Forum group, which is essentially the representative body that liaises with the club on important fan matters and meets regularly with the club. You know, we were doing pieces a couple of weeks ago about how United are struggling at the minute on the commercial side of the business to attract and retain sponsors and partners at the same level that they were previously, given the results, given the off field controversies that there's been. And in that piece, actually, you know, one part of that piece was reflecting on how because of the changes that Ratcliffe has essentially led and the INEOS hierarchy of led over the past couple of years in terms of job cuts and redundancies, there's actually fewer people around now in the commercial department to help keep sponsors happy. When, for example, the co owner of the football club goes out and says what he says about immigration, these are actual effects. And so it's fallen out of the news cycle now. I'm not saying that people have forgotten about it. It was actually one of the more intense United stories that I can remember covering. Because despite all the things that happen at this club on a seemingly weekly basis, it's very rare that you have the Prime Minister discussing it, that you have, you know, huge political figures, that it being the lead item on Newsnight or whatever, it's rare that that happens and it did that week. And although it's sort of falling out of the news cycle now, I think in the respect of the commercial impact on the business, how it's made staff within the club feel, I think it's only going to be a story and a sentiment that runs and runs and runs in that respect.
- [29:58]
Podcast Host (likely Adam Leventhal)
Yeah, it's really interesting, isn't it, Adam? Because obviously Critch has said that, yeah, it's fallen down the news cycle, but is This a case of mud sticking. And this will be something that a lot of United fans and potential partners will always revert back to. It will always be in their mind.
- [30:15]
Adam Leventhal
Yeah, I mean, I'm not sure that commercial partners will necessarily associate, you know, Manchester United with these comments long. You know, long term. I. I do think for Ratcliffe, it's going to be one of the first things that people think about. You know, it's the old man, the old man in the corner of the room who has a lot of opinions, and some people will like those opinions, and some people very much don't like those opinions. Some staff that I spoke to, you know, said they were, as Crip said, they were incredibly disappointed by it, that some complaints were made. There would also, you know, as is always the case in these situations, you only hear from staff who are disappointed. You don't hear from the staff who are agreeing. Because that's just the nature of the world, that people who might agree or who might not be bothered have less to say. So that should always be kind of reflected as well in these moments. The obviously disappointing thing, purely from a Manchester United perspective, is, you know, for once, for the first time in a few years, like, the vibes were good. The vibes were good at Manchester United. There weren't really any. There wasn't. You know, there was a long period without games. There was nothing to write about. You know, journalists were crying. You know, there was.
- [31:33]
Mark Critchley
It was the guy with the hair. That was the only thing anybody was thinking about.
- [31:36]
Podcast Host (likely Adam Leventhal)
The dude with the hair.
- [31:37]
Adam Leventhal
Yeah, the dude with the hair was the only guy, was the only story around. That's how calm it had become in the space of five weeks. And then, you know, to have a story like that, where it really was a story of its moment, because it just. Every sort. Every political figure in the UK attached themselves to that story in some way. And if you remember, at the start of that week, Keir Starmer seems to be facing a coup from within his own party. That was the story of the week, and it was overtaken. That story was genuinely overtaken because Manchester United are a bigger global deal than whether Wes Streeting, the Health Secretary, might try and become the Prime Minister. And it was almost as though. I'm sure Keir Starmer genuinely disagreed with Jim Ratcliffe's comments. But I think there was also probably a little bit of a calculation of, well, who does the public love talking about more than difficulties in the Labour Party? It's difficulties at Manchester United, and that's why it became a Story of greater significance beyond the obvious concern that many people had as well. But I think from a Manchester United's perspective, to see, like, you know, far right agitators, people, people like Tommy Robinson kind of attaching themselves to the comments of a Manchester United owner, I mean, it's deeply embarrassing. The comments were obviously offensive to very many people. The apology I thought was pretty pathetic, to be honest. It was basically like, I'm right, lads, but sorry, you sorry. If anyone took offense and, but, but equally at the same time, it was the only apology he could really give because if they'd have come out with like a statement saying, jim, you know, retracts everything he said, no one would believe it because everyone had seen the video and everyone had seen him that chant that the Sky News reporter Ed Conway actually gave him, where he actually goes back to him and says, sorry, colonized. And then Ratcliffe comes back and kind of explains, yes, colonized for X, Y, Z reasons. And the difficulty for United as well is even when he's comparing about how to fix the country, he uses the example of how he, in his mind has helped to fix Manchester United. So you can't make the argument that these comments can't be linked to Manchester United because Ratcliffe himself uses Manchester United as a comparison. I mean, whole different story about whether he's fixed Manchester United or not. So, yeah, that's kind of scattered thoughts of kind of how that week played out.
- [34:16]
Podcast Host (likely Adam Leventhal)
Well, with all of this going on, what we're going to deal with next, what does all of this mean for making the right choice for a permanent manager at Manchester United?
- [34:34]
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- [35:29]
Adam Leventhal
Par le tu francais hablas espanol, Parl italiano.
- [35:34]
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- [36:08]
Mark Critchley
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- [36:44]
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This is the Athletic FC podcast with
- [36:47]
Podcast Host (likely Adam Leventhal)
Adam Levanthal so Michael Carrot remains in situ until the end of the season at Manchester United. But considering what we've been talking about with Sir Jim Radcliffe and potentially a disconnect between him and the Manchester United fans and people questioning his credibility in terms of involvement in footballing decisions, let's not forget there was the silence and then reactionary retention of Erik Ten Hag and then backing Reuben Amarim in in October saying that he's got three years to demonstrate that he's a great coach and then he got sacked in in January. Mark where did Manchester United hope the decision or Manchester United fans hope the decision making will be focused when it comes to who's going to be the next boss? Do they do they hope that Sir Jim Radcliffe keeps his his ore out of all of this and is that in any way, shape or form possible?
- [37:45]
Mark Critchley
I think it's very rare for football owners to be universally popular among a fan base. There are exceptions to that, but it's rare. I remember and Andy Mitton brings us up on Talk of the Devils quite a lot. But I was there myself. There was a game, I think it was against Leicester City. It might have been shortly after Ten Hag had been dismissed last season before Ameron came in. So during the Rud van this Del Rey interregnum period where Ratcliffe came down onto the pitch at Old Trafford to present Bruno Fernandes with Frane shirt to commemorate his 250th game and there was applause and cheering for him while he stood there on the pitch. It was not surreal, I would say, but it captured the moment. It was that there was still very much a honeymoon period. I think, even though you mentioned the 10HAG decision, the will they, won't they? And then keeping him and then sacking him. Despite that, there was still. I think fans were still willing to give Ineos and Ratcliffe as a sort of figurehead for Ineos, a lot of leeway on the direction that they were taking the club in. I don't think he'd get the same reception now if he was out on the pitch or Trafford giving Bruno a plaque for his 350th appearance or whatever. It's different now and I feel that it isn't just within the context of those comments the other week, which I think we should also say were divisive in the sense that a lot of people disagreed with them, a lot of people found them offensive. Some people agreed with them as well. And so I don't think we can only say that those comments were, you know, the reason for discontent with Ratcliffe within the fan base. There's the wider things for that as well. If you think about. I mean, we did the piece on Amrim's dismissal at the turn of the year. There was a lot of detail in that about how Ratcliffe was somebody who was pushing for a shift to a back four formation, who was having a level of influence over proceedings within the club. And a lot of the feedback that we had to that article was, why is Jim being allowed this level of influence? Why is he having so much of a say over what's going on? So I think there is a degree and a large degree of skepticism within the fan base over rattles role. If you look at how it will work, look at the Carrick appointment. That was a process that was led by Jason Wilcox. It had Omar Morada feeding into it. They were sat in on the interviews together. It was their recommendation that went to the board to sign off to appoint Michael Carrick as head coach, interim head coach, whatever we want to call it, until the end of the season. That's how the structure at United is set up. That's how this process that will take. That's how the process will take place, I expect, for a permanent manager as well. But I wouldn't underplay Ratcliffe's influence in things. At the same time, I think, you know, handling his input into the club is part of both Wilcox and Berrada's roles. Within the club. And he was, you know, the process for appointed Amarin, that was heavily influenced by Omar Barada, but there was still also a one on one interview with Jim Ratcliffe and Amarin as part of that process. Ratcliffe has admitted in other unguarded media moments over the past year that he has an influence on transfer policy. Even that, you know, yes, Jason and Omar and others decide, but I have a little bit of decision and a little bit of sway in that too. So he is not a neutral actor within this. He's not rubber stamping things. He is still somebody who has a great sway of influence. As you'd expect when you pay, what was it, £1.6 billion for 29 point whatever percent of a club.
- [41:23]
Adam Leventhal
Maybe he should stick to transfers then. They've done quite well at that.
- [41:27]
Mark Critchley
He's done okay with that.
- [41:29]
Podcast Host (likely Adam Leventhal)
But Adam, you know, it's obviously going to be my way or the highway with Sir Jim Radcliffe, you know, love him or hate him, but in terms of making the right decision on whether Michael Carrick deserves to get the job, obviously there's a fair bit of road between, you know, now and the end of the season and whether Manchester United are going to qualify for the Champions League. But what you've seen so far, do you think that Michael Carrick has a genuine chance of getting the job if those targets are met? So Champions League football continuing to sort of bet in the new signings and then perform well. Do you think he. He deserves to get it?
- [42:09]
Adam Leventhal
I don't think he deserves to get it based on one month's work or one and a half months work.
- [42:16]
Podcast Host (likely Adam Leventhal)
Yeah. But if he gets into the Champions League, does he deserve it, even getting
- [42:19]
Adam Leventhal
into the Champions League? The hesitation I might have is, and this is by no means Carrick's fault is the second half of this season is so different to what Manchester United's usual workload will be over the course of a full season. You know, where you'd normally be in four competitions, be aiming to get at least two quarterfinals. Champions League will add eight games minimum as well. That in some ways I don't think that helps Carrick and it's not his fault at all. I think if he was to get into the Champions League, he deserves to be part of the conversation, you know, whether that means interviews and whatever the kind of frustrating thing is, if they're going to give Cariot the job, they actually may as well give it him as soon as possible. Because you want to start your planning for next season, you want to get on with your recruitment, you want to align on a playing style, all of that sort of thing. And the longer Manchester United leave the new manager, the harder the transfer window becomes. And the last thing Manchester United need is to go back to one of those transfer windows where they're doing things in August again and it's all a bit chaotic. So there's merits on both sides and I'm not really answering it directly, what
- [43:35]
Podcast Host (likely Adam Leventhal)
you've said there is really important because obviously you've also got a World cup slap bang in the middle of the summer as well. So it makes it even more important to make your decision and to show faith. If you really believe in Michael Carrick, do it now. Or if you think that someone else come the summer is going to be better than him almost. You don't necessarily have to make it be known, but at least ensure that you are doing your squad planning now because you need to, you need to hit the ground running in the summer.
- [44:08]
Adam Leventhal
I think you're right in some ways. I'd be surprised if there's a coach they take from the World cup at this point just because of, as you say, the logistical difficulties of that. I mean there's not many left now actually to be fair, that I think they would take given Ancelotti's extending and Tuchel says he's extended, said he's extending as as well. There's Nagelsmann. That's it really from, from a World cup perspective, I don't think Manchester United would go for Pochettino. I feel like his stock maybe isn't what it was a few years ago. Maybe I'm wrong. So then you get into the pool of people who are available around Europe and it's not that many people who scream out to you as obviously better than what Michael Carrick's been doing over the past five or six weeks. I do think Iraola at Bournemouth, there's gonna be a lot of interest in him in the summer. You've also got to bear in mind that there's other clubs who are going to be looking for coaches. You know, Tottenham obviously, Liverpool possibly, who knows what's how that season's going to end. Chelsea with apparently a long term project with Lima Senior. But let's see, Manchester City, Manchester City, Real Madrid, you know, like there's potentially sort of first mover advantage to this. But what we know is that probably Tottenham aside, there's not going to be people lining up to take Michael Carrick. You wouldn't think, you know, Manchester United and Michael Carrick is Quite a unique situation. So they can afford to sort of lead him along a little bit, I think, and basically let it get to a call perhaps and say, look, if this is still the way we're playing by the middle of April, I do think it's hard not to give him the job at that point. And I don't think that's like, you know, people said, oh, then you're going down the Solstice path again. Well, actually Oligonisalska didn't do a bad job at Manchester United based on what came before and what came after, you know, over the past ten years or so. If Michael Carrick was to do a job where Manchester United finished third a couple of times and second, that's okay. You know, it's not where the fans maybe want to be, but it's not terrible. It's not where they've been the last few years or so. So there are merits for it.
- [46:33]
Podcast Host (likely Adam Leventhal)
Last word to you, Chritch. How do you see this panning out? And also from the people that you speak to, do you feel like they've got a handle on a strategy behind the next couple of months or do you think that it is going to be perhaps again a little bit reactionary? Whatever happens?
- [46:53]
Mark Critchley
I stand to be made a total fool of here. But what I will say is the one thing I don't expect them to do is repeat the Solskjaer decision making process in the respect of giving him the job before the season is over. I feel that Adam's point about the fact that nobody else is necessarily coming in to steal Michael Carrick away from them was always a strong argument. I fought for not rushing the Solskjaer mid season appointment last time. It's the same case again and I would be surprised if they go down that path and repeat that because that was. It was just something that wasn't necessary to do. Even if you wanted to give Solskjaer the job in the long term, you didn't need to necessarily get him through the door immediately, quickly in March or whatever it was. I understand the argument of do you not want him in place so he can plan for the summer? But then I think that idea of United and most top clubs being manager led on their recruitment is a little bit. I don't know if it's archaic, but a lot of clubs would want you to believe that, you know, they're not being dictated to in terms of their recruitment by whoever's in the manager's office. And I think United would be the same if you look, if you think about United's priorities this summer, it's clearly going to be midfield. You've got Casemiro going. But not only that, it's been a problem position for years. We know the names that they're interested in. It's Elliot Anderson at Nottingham Forest, it's Carlos Palabra at BrightonHove Albion. They admire Adam Wharton at Crystal Palace. There's others too. They want to sign at least one of those players, perhaps two. That's been the case with Amarim. It's been the case since Amarim's gone. It's the case that now Carrick's in charge. That doesn't really change. And so I don't think the identity of the manager really affects that. If he gets Champions League football, if results are sustained, I think he has to be in the conversation for the permanent job and I think he probably would be. But even then, I just wonder if. Even then, I think, is he still only just in the conversation? There's like, there's a bit of a theory that when United appoint a new manager, they're often reacting to whatever the failures were of the last one. And if we sort of accept that theory and take that for granted, ask yourself, what were Amarim's limitations? It was probably the fact that he lacked truly high level experience. And I think that is something that I look towards in terms of who United might get. I mean, Adam's right. The market for that level of manager has narrowed a lot in the last few weeks with Tuchel signing his contract extension. With Ancelotti not being signed, a new deal, with reserve looking like he's going to. That pool of options has got a lot shallower. But I still wonder whether that will be a deciding or certainly very important factor within the process. And whether Carrick is experienced enough for the job, I think is still an open question. But there's no doubt that if he gets Champions League football and if results are sustained, then he has to be in that conversation. And like I say, I think he probably will be.
- [50:07]
Podcast Host (likely Adam Leventhal)
Mark, thank you so much for your insight. Same to you, Adam as well out in New York. Wrap up warm out there as it gets a little bit warmer over here in the uk. I do hope you've enjoyed listening and we'll be back with you on the Athletic FC podcast tomorrow.
- [50:26]
Fabletics Advertiser
You've been listening to the Athletic FC podcast. The producers were Guy Clark, Mike Stavroo and Jay Beal, with editing by Paul Iliff and Nick Thompson. The executive producer is A.D. moorhead. To listen to other great athletic podcasts for free, including our dedicated club shows. Search for the Athletic wherever you get your podcasts. You'll also find us on YouTube at the Athletic FC Podcast, so make sure you subscribe. The Athletic FC Podcast is an athletic media company Production.
- [51:03]
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Mark Critchley
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Mark Critchley
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