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When Frank Lampard brought his Everton side to Steven Gerrard’s Aston Villa in August, the build-up to the match was focused on how we saw the future of English management.
Both have since been fired after spiraling results. Only four of the 20 Premier League clubs have a permanent English boss, and only Eddie Howe has been in charge for more than six months.
Graham Potter is one of the best managers in this country, but so far he is failing at Chelsea. He begs the question: why can’t England produce good managers?
Of the last generation of England footballers, Paul Scholes lasted just seven games in charge of Oldham, Sol Campbell failed at Macclesfield and Southend, while most have yet to try their hand at management.
So here comes the diamond in the rough of a hitherto subpar generation of English players and coaches: Michael Carrick.
Michael Carrick is bidding for promotion with Middlesbrough in third place in the Championship
No Championship team has scored more points than Boro’s 40 since Carrick joined the club.
Perhaps the most underrated midfielder of his time, the former Manchester United man is now making a genuine case for national management awards at Middlesbrough.
He took charge of the 21st club, one point above the relegation zone after a torrid start to the season under Chris Wilder, and now Boro is four points behind second – more on that later.
In a league table since Carrick took over, no team have won more points than Boro’s 40, while they have scored a league-high 37 goals.
When you assess the state of a team that inherited Riverside Stadium, is any Englishman doing a better job this season?
Not far off Howe would rail against that theory, while further afield Will Still has a strong case: his Reims side are 10th in Ligue 1 after losing just four games.
Another Carrington prodigy, Kieran McKenna, is also doing a good job at Ipswich.
But Carrick has guided a stinking team not just to mid-table safety, not just to a playoff push … but to a genuine shot at automatic promotion.
They finished the weekend four points behind Sheffield United, having beaten Paul Heckingbottom’s side convincingly on Wednesday. Why can’t they catch them?
English manager seeks automatic promotion alongside league leaders Burnley
Paul Heckingbottom’s Sheffield United are on pole position, four points ahead of Boro
Blades suffered back-to-back defeats for the first time since October and, even when they were 14 points clear of third and seemingly on a procession towards a promotion, cracks showed at Bramall Lane.
United’s next 10 games include trips to Sunderland, Norwich and Burnley, as well as home games against play-off chasing Blackburn, Luton and West Brom.
Middlesbrough can certainly catch up with Sheffield United. Heckingbottom’s team has more experience with promotions, but it will be intriguing to see how they react to this problem.
Carrick is bringing out the best in many players who simply underperformed Chris Wilder on Teesside. Chuba Akpom, for example, has more goals than all but Erling Haaland in England’s top four tiers this season.
Young midfielder Hayden Hackney, 20, was playing for Scunthorpe a year ago in their dismal relegation campaign. He is now a key component of the Carrick team, starting every league game since October.
Only Erling Haaland has more goals than Chuba Akpom in England’s top four tiers this season
Ryan Giles is emerging as one of the best full-backs in the league, while Riley McGree scored his sixth goal of the season on Saturday and is full of energy after playing four World Cup games for Australia in Qatar.
So after a season of thinking the automatic points were up and dusted off, the promotion race still has life. And don’t bet against Middlesbrough winning the race.
Seasoned veteran Neil Warnock returned to Huddersfield as manager to help them battle relegation from the Championship.
As I battled train cancellations, crowded carriages and bad weather to get to Huddersfield for the first time on Saturday, I thought of one of Neil Warnock’s slogans.
“You have to die to get three points,” he said. ‘You have to die to get a tick on the ground,’ I thought. Beautiful stadium, Huddersfield.
It was energized by Warnock’s return and the fanbase has deserved better after two torrid managerial appointments that left them eyeing relegation.
Warnock might be labeled a dinosaur by some, but all 11 players embraced his old-school methods on Saturday. If they do that for the remaining 15 games, they’ll stay up.
There was an uproar in Grimsby this week when their fans were banned from bringing their inflatable Harry Haddock mascots to the upcoming FA Cup tie in Southampton.
The Mariners’ craze for inflatables began in their 1989 FA Cup run and resumed this year, with them making the fifth round for the first time this century.
They were also banned for a league match against Barnet a few seasons ago, with fans instead donating £1,000 for a mariachi band to attend the game.
Grimsby’s chief executive, fans and original creator Harry Haddock jumped like salmon at the opportunity for airtime on BBC News to denounce the decision to ban them.
And so the Saints relented and reversed their decision with around 5,000 Grimsby fans ready to ride in their numbers. A victory for the little ones.