Another Championship season has come and gone, and Middlesbrough are once again left reflecting on what might have been.
For the ninth consecutive year, Teesside will remain in the second tier of English football, with Michael Carrick‘s side finishing a disappointing 10th—four points shy of the play-offs, just as they were 12 months earlier.
Despite initial promise and flashes of progress, Carrick’s time at the Riverside now feels like a story of near misses and unfulfilled potential.
As the countdown to the Championship play-off heightens, with the Blades the favourites in the Sheff United vs Sunderland odds, let’s take a look at Carrick’s Boro tenure.
From relegation fear to play-off push
Carrick’s appointment in October 2022 injected new life into a Middlesbrough side teetering just above the relegation zone.
Taking over from Chris Wilder, the former Manchester United midfielder transformed the team’s fortunes almost instantly, guiding them from 21st to a seventh-place finish by the end of the campaign.
That remarkable turnaround earned Carrick plenty of plaudits and optimism ahead of his first full season in charge.
He largely delivered on that promise in 2022–23, as Middlesbrough finished fourth and reached the play-offs.
Though they were narrowly beaten by Coventry City in the semi-finals, Carrick’s attractive, possession-based style of football had fans believing again that a Premier League return was close.
A plateau in progress?
However, that momentum has since stalled. The 2023–24 and 2024–25 seasons have seen Boro fall short of the play-offs by the finest of margins—just four points on each occasion—but there’s a growing feeling that they’re slipping further behind the promotion pack.
This season, a poor finish—with four defeats in their final six matches and just three goals scored in that run—summed up their inability to seize big moments under Carrick.
In truth, while the margins are small, they’re telling. Carrick has yet to show he can master the gruelling, often chaotic demands of the Championship over a whole campaign.
His teams can be fluid and exciting when at their best, often making them favourites in the Championship odds, but inconsistency and a lack of cutting edge at key times have undermined progress.
What’s next?
Carrick remains defiant and insists he’ll be in the dugout next season. “I’m carrying on,” he said following their final game.
“We’ve got a good squad, good stability within the group and we’re doing a lot of good things. We can add to that and improve, and things can look up from there.”
There’s merit to that view. Middlesbrough aren’t far off the pace, and with a few smart additions and tweaks to the approach, they could easily be contenders again next term.
But questions remain over whether Carrick is the man to take them that extra step. For all the structural stability and tactical identity he’s brought, two straight seasons of near misses may be enough for the Boro hierarchy to reconsider their options.
Carrick’s time at Middlesbrough has seen some undeniable positives. He rescued a sinking ship, brought belief back to the Riverside, and pushed for promotion with style and purpose.
But as the seasons have worn on, the results haven’t quite followed the promise. Now, heading into a crucial summer, the club must decide if Carrick gets the chance to finish what he started—or if a fresh face is needed to finally end their exile from the Premier League.
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