Middlesbrough fans saying same thing about Michael Carrick - Swansea City 'first choice' may need re-think | OneFootball

It's been three years since Carrick was appointed as Boro boss, and reflections of his Teesside spell from Smoggies may be cause for a Swans rethink.

Swansea City boss Alan Sheehan is under growing pressure to save his job, but our Swans fan pundit may wish to re-think their stance on replacing him with ex-Middlesbrough head coach Michael Carrick judging on the sentiments of Smoggies.

There is a growing hunger in South Wales for a manager to come in and break the team free of the relative mid-table Championship obscurity they've found themselves in for a number of years now.

Indeed, from 2021/22-2024/25, Swansea have finished 15th, 10th, 14th and 11th in the second tier respectively, despite the fact they're undoubtedly a big club in the division given their recent Premier League pedigree.

Alan Sheehan was the man tasked with finally bringing the Jacks back into the promotion picture when handed the head-coaching job on a full-time basis back in April.

But, despite a significant summer of transfer spending and high-profile investment coming from the likes of Luka Modrić and Snoop Dogg, the Swans are once again meandering towards another mid-table campaign.

Given the growing frustration around the Swansea.com Stadium over the performances and results under Sheehan so far this season, we asked our Swansea City fan pundit, Will Hughes, who their ideal replacement would be if Sheehan was to be sacked.

"My number one choice would be Michael Carrick," Will said.

“On the floor football, on the front, electric in attack. Solid at the back, as well. Granted, he did leave Middlesbrough in a bit of a poor position, but they did sell a lot of players.

“I do think he would align with how we want to play. He would be a statement, he’s a name and he’s a free agent as well. I just think he’d be a statement signing and it would be a chance to prove himself to be able to get more than one side into the play-offs at this level, and even push further. He’s my number one pick."

The England and Manchester United icon has been out of work since Middlesbrough in June, with Friday also marking three years to the day when the 44-year-old was handed his first full-time managerial role with Boro back in 2022.

This anniversary was recognised by the Second Tier Podcast via X, to which they posed the question to Smoggies: 'How would you sum up his time at the Riverside?'

The fairly unanimous responses from Middlesbrough fans, however, may be cause for Will and any other Swansea supporters thinking of a Carrick-sized succession plan to have a change of heart.

"Fantastic first season, loved the bones of him. Didn’t have the right people around him and sadly ended so badly. Probably slightly stubborn and reserved but I won’t ever think badly of him," said one Boro fan.

"Attacking flair, defensive fragility, weak mentality, lack of tactical nous. Brilliant at the start then lost his way," commented another Teessider.

"First season was fantastic, some of the best football I’ve seen, but he was too stubborn to change or try different things. It was ultimately his downfall," remarked another Middlesbrough supporter.

"He was inexperienced but will have learned a lot from his time at Boro. Played some beautiful stuff under him, but he was too tactically inflexible and not reactive during games. Once teams had a blueprint to beat us, we were fragile," summarised another Middlesbrough fan.

"‘I think the lads did a great job’ When we got absolutely battered. When he came in he transformed the team, and I respect him for that, but refused to change anything, which became his downfall the second we got found out. Never used subs too - massively frustrating," said another Smoggie.

"Disappointing. The team played in his image. No aggression no passion too passive. Wanted to play like Man City with very average Championship players," said another Boro supporter.

There is an alarming similarity in the sentiments of Middlesbrough fans regarding Carrick's Teesside tenure.

Criticisms over his lack of tactical nous, ingenuity and flexibility are rife among the responses. As is the contrast to Middlesbrough's excellent start under him during the 22/23 campaign, before that soon petered out into frustration and back-to-back play-off misses to boot.

Adjectives such as 'stubborn' and 'frail' crop up numerous times among the Boro fan responses too, whilst multiple people also credited the lack of a strong coaching team around him, and the departure of former first-team coach Aaron Danks to Bayern Munich in the summer of 2024 as both being key contributors to his Boro downfall.

The worrying thing about all this if you're a Swansea fan? Many of these same question marks regarding tactics, identity and fragility in the team are being asked by Swans supporters regarding Sheehan.

Judging by the Boro responses, replacing Sheehan with Carrick could see the club making a very similar appointment, and that's often the exact opposite of what is required when making a managerial change.

Of course, one would presume that Carrick's experience at Middlesbrough will have seen him learn a lot about the management game, and indeed the style of head coach he wants to be moving forward, and you only need to look at what Frank Lampard is doing at Coventry City to see the potential rewards on offer to a club willing to take another chance on a young, reputable coach.

However, his lasting Riverside legacy is one of 4-2-3-1, slow build-up, possession-oriented football, consistent defensive problems, and a reactive rather than proactive in-game management approach.

This appointment would bring a big name and high-potential appointment to Swansea City, but it would also be caveated with question marks and red flags.