Rio Ferdinand appeared to hit out for a second time at the stance held by his former team-mate Roy Keane – and other Manchester United fans – that Michael Carrick should not be handed the permanent job at Old Trafford this summer.
Under the interim manager, the struggling side have won four Premier League matches on the bounce for the first time in two years, with many believing that appointing Carrick full-time would help the club move on from its challenging Ruben Amorim era.
But Keane was an early vocal critic of the idea, stressing that there are ‘bigger and better’ candidates to take the reins at the end of the season.
Ferdinand has been one of Carrick’s most outspoken supporters among the ranks of former Man United stars who have moved into punditry. Speaking on his podcast on Monday, he said Carrick should be given the job if he guides the club into the Champions League.
He had earlier said he thought the disrespect shown towards the former captain was ‘unbelievable’.
The ex-defender doubled down on his stance after Man United’s fourth win under the temporary head coach against Tottenham on Saturday, underlining how every potential new managerial appointment would come with a risk – not just Carrick’s.
Since his appointment as interim manager at Man United, Michael Carrick has only burnished his credentials
Under the temporary head coach the side has won four consecutive Premier League matches
‘There’s risks with anyone that goes in there,’ he said on his Rio Ferdinand Presents podcast. ‘No matter what Michael Carrick does, how well he does, and if he got the job on the back of a great ending to the season, there’s still risk.’
‘There’s an element of risk, but with every one of the names that get thrown into the hat, there an element of risk with all of them.
‘I don’t know in any walk of life, where someone comes in given the opportunity to do well, and put their first foot forward for a job opportunity, they smash it – and hopefully he carries on, at the moment he’s smashing it, four wins out of four, and people are going “no, he shouldn’t get it though”.
‘I don’t understand that with Roy, I’ve got to be honest. I don’t know how you can be so against it.’
After taking such an extreme stance in the early stages of Carrick’s time at Old Trafford, Keane appeared to soften somewhat, saying on his Overlap podcast that he wished Carrick well and hoped he did get appointed.
The pronouncement coming as a surprise to his co-host Gary Neville, Keane was pressed to remember what he had said days earlier, prompting him to add: ‘I don’t think it’s the right decision, good luck with it.
‘Yeah, but, I’m sticking to my guns. I’ve said my piece, I think that he’s got the job, and if he gets it in the summer then you go “listen, good luck to him”, but as a caretaker manager, it’s a different animal to being manager of United trying to win league titles over the next two, three, four, five years, whatever it might be,’ he added.
‘I think you can get a better manager than Carrick, absolutely. But I think he’s doing a good job, perfect timing for him, and even if he doesn’t get the United job, these results a bit like Ruud (Van Nistelrooy), he can get another job, probably another Premiership manager.
‘But just cause you’re doing well at United, it doesn’t mean he’ll do well at another club.
Rio Ferdinand has been keen to make sure Carrick is receiving the praise he deserves
‘He’s got the players back, it’s all been sliding doors moments. Great for him, and he’s took advantage of it.’
Carrick himself has been keen to snuff out murmurings that he is already thinking of taking the position permanently, confirming ahead of the Spurs win that he doesn’t want the club to make a ‘knee-jerk’ decision.
‘I’m loving what I’m doing,’ said Carrick. ‘I’m here, and I feel at home here, but I fully understand the situation, so I’m not getting too carried away.
‘Nothing has changed. To be honest, it’s not going to change what I do or how I feel about it. I think I’m fully aware of the role I’m doing here and the responsibility I’ve got.
‘We want to be successful. I want the club to be successful beyond the end of the season: if that’s me, if that’s somebody else. At this stage, I can’t control that, and we’ll see what happens.
‘But it’s certainly about trying to improve the team and keep making Manchester United stronger and improving all the time. So results over a short period time don’t change that.
‘If they have changed that there is something wrong. It can’t be so knee-jerk whether it’s really good or whether there’s a few issues we need to solve. It’s steady progress really.
‘Football can twist and turn just as quick, so we have got to keep level and focus on what we need to do.’
Carrick will look to continue the club’s winning run on Tuesday, when they travel to relegation-threatened West Ham.
