26 Jan 2026 16:39:55
Hugely impressed by Carrick's tenure so far. Calm. Logical. Pragmatic. Yet hugely positive. His substitutions yesterday were a breath of fresh air.

His team selections are brave and show a team perspective in mind - not how much players cost or individual ability. That's not to be overly critical of Cunha, but his output had been patchy. Now Carrick has a selection dilemma - and that makes a refreshing change.

I'm keen to see the team for Fulham. There's good players not starting at the moment and this will test Carrick's leadership and individual man-management skills.

Despite this last two games, I'm not sure if Carrick is ready for the permanent step up (not that we should be making knee-jerk reactions at all, however the narrative will grow if the results remain). Sadly that's not so much his ability or potential, it's the toxic environment he has to operate in - especially the ex-player brigade (who should be ashamed of themselves) and some of the legacy media who have clear agendas. It's about time the club adopted some of Fergie's tactics and banned them from news conferences.

However, Carrick must remain in the club. Whoever we appoint, Carrick has to remain as Assistant Manager (or coach). Whilst I have no first hand evidence, I suspect Holland has had a major impact on the training ground and should also remain.

Final point. It goes a long way to show the incompetence of the executive leadership that the majority of our best performances post-Fergie have come under interim/caretaker managers.

It seems the more time they have to make big decisions the worse they are.

Anyhow. Enjoy the sunrise everybody - as history tells us the storm clouds are never far away. What's nice is Carrick seems to have brought an umbrella!

1.) 26 Jan 2026
26 Jan 2026 17:43:46
Nicely put BRD.

2.) 26 Jan 2026
26 Jan 2026 18:09:06
Thanks Jimbo. Just enjoying the new found optimism.

3.) 27 Jan 2026
27 Jan 2026 00:53:18
I remain as optimistic as I've always been about the journey.