“Only one winner”: Scholes believes United are unlikely to consider exciting young manager for permanent job

Michael Carrick has enjoyed the best possible start to his caretaker tenure at Manchester United. Brought in to steady the ship after Ruben Amorim’s troublesome 14 month spell, the Englishman has been like a streak of sunshine after months of overcast skies. The Red Devils appointed Amorim as former manager Erik ten Hag’s replacement in November 2024. The Portuguese head coach, however, endured a difficult first six months, with the Premier League giants finishing 15th in the league table that season and also losing the Europa League final 1-0 to Tottenham Hotspur. INEOS initially kept their faith in Amorim, and even invested heavily in the squad over the summer. However, following a topsy-turvy campaign and rumours of a backroom rift, the Portuguese was removed from his position at the beginning of this month. Darren Fletcher was initially put in charge on an interim basis and managed a draw and a defeat in two games before Carrick was handed the reins of the first team squad until the end of the season. Carrick’s fiery start to his second spell at Old Trafford Carrick was briefly in charge of United for three games in the 2021/22 campaign after former manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer lost his job. The Englishman managed two wins and a draw at that time, and this month, he picked up where he had previously left off. The former midfielder’s first game was the Manchester derby, and he passed the test with flying colours, securing a 2-0 win at the Theatre of Dreams. Bryan Mbeumo and Patrick Dorgu scored the goals as the Red Devils dominated their bitter rivals and played scintillating football. This weekend, United travelled to the Emirates to face league leaders Arsenal, who arrived at the game undefeated at home in the league this season. Carrick’s team fell behind early in the game, but rallied to pick up a stunning 3-2 win that sent supporters around the world into a frenzy. Michael Carrick Managerial Career Stats TeamFromToGames PlayedGames WonGames Drawn Games LostWin % Manchester United (caretaker)21 November 20212 December 2021321066.67 Middlesbrough24 October 20224 June 202513663244946.32 Manchester United (caretaker)13 January 2026Present2200100.00 Career total——14167254947.52 Source: Wikipedia. Under the Englishman, the Red Devils have rediscovered their old swagger and are playing football reminiscent of Sir Alex Ferguson’s legendary teams, igniting calls to hand him the full-time job. United are expected to make a permanent appointment at the end of the season, with the likes of Thomas Tuchel, Xavi, and Oliver Glasner in the running. However, one of Carrick’s former teammates believes that the Premier League giants will be reluctant to hand him the full-time job. United will be wary after Solskjaer fiasco Speaking on The Good, The Bad & The Football podcast, as cited by Metro, United legend Paul Scholes said: “It couldn’t have been better [timing], players coming back from the Africa Cup of Nations. It’s been perfect for him but he’s still got to do the job.” “He’s come into the job now and it’s been that bad for a year that it couldn’t really get any worse so the pressure isn’t really on you while you’re interim manager. Once you take that job full-time, at the start of the season next year, let’s say, all of a sudden you’ve got to be winning games straightaway.” “They will be scarred a little bit from the Ole [Gunnar Solksjaer] thing. If the Ole thing hadn’t have happened then it would probably be more likely. But if Michael has got to go up against, say, Thomas Tuchel in the summer then there’s only one winner if you’re looking at coaching big clubs and winning big prizes so you can’t really compete with that.” With Thomas Frank under pressure at Tottenham Hotspur at the moment, Scholes backed Carrick to take charge in north London at the end of the season. He said: “It could be like a Tottenham manager from this [for Carrick]. It wouldn’t surprise me.” Final Thoughts United fans remain draped in a shawl of nostalgia following Carrick’s arrival, and the team’s stunning transformation under his tutelage does make a strong case for his permanent stay. However, INEOS will have to take a pragmatic approach to the situation and should carry out a complete end-of-season assessment before making a final decision regarding the next permanent manager. Featured image Justin Setterfield via Getty Images The Peoples Person has been one of the world’s leading Man United news sites for over a decade. Follow us on Bluesky: @peoplesperson.bsky.social Deepungsu Pandit Deepungsu has been a Manchester United fan since 2000. In his playing days, he was an attacking midfielder with a proclivity for the back heel. Right now, however, he prefers to operate as a regista. Deepungsu has been writing about the Red Devils, Football, and other things since 2009. He has worked for over seven years with Sportskeeda, writing football reviews, opinions and news articles. Deepungsu also maintains a blog, The Thinking Me, where he writes about life and things that interest him. His favourite Manchester United player is Paul Scholes.