Middlesbrough have parted ways with head coach Michael Carrick after a three-year spell.
The 43-year-old has been meeting with club bosses – including owner Steve Gibson – on Wednesday morning to learn his fate.
Assistants Jonathan Woodgate and Graeme Carrick have also departed the club.
Carrick has been in charge since October 2022 and he failed to lead the club to the Premier League in the three seasons in charge.
The former Manchester United, Tottenham and West Ham midfielder is a popular figure on Teesside but the club feel this is the right time for a change.
An unfortunate ending, but Carrick can’t argue he didn’t get time and backing
Sky Sports EFL Editor Simeon Gholam:
It was a sad ending to a relationship that once seemed so promising for Carrick and Middlesbrough.
The run to the play-offs in his first season from the cusp of the relegation places was remarkable, although they did eventually fall short in the semi-finals to Coventry.
But, from there, Carrick will never be able to argue he did not get time or backing. Falling short of the top six in his first full season in 2023/24 was disappointing, but not entirely unexpected considering the loss of some key players.
This season, the finish was unacceptable. Boro invested, Carrick was backed. In the second half of the campaign they fell horribly short of what was expected, and what should have been.
Most of the talk in the first half of the season was that their performances levels should have put them far closer to the top four – particularly to local rivals Sunderland, who went on to win promotion from the play-offs – than they were. To crash out of the top six was unthinkable, particularly considering the signings in January.
Carrick could point to the loss of key winger Ben Doak to injury, and the sale of top scorer Emmanuel Latte Lath in the winter window as what derailed his side.
But Morgan Whittaker and George Edmundson were brought in permanently midway through the season at some expense, with the signing of Whittaker in particular falling very flat. While they also recruited Ryan Giles, Mark Travers, Kelechi Iheanacho and Samuel Iling-Junior on loan.
Gibson was desperate for it to work with Carrick, but ending up 10th and seemingly taking another step backwards was a bridge too far.
An unfortunate ending, but Carrick can’t argue he didn’t get time and backing.
