The verdict is mixed. Michael Carrick’s first Middlesbrough season produced a fourth-place finish and a playoff run, but the club finished eighth and then tenth in his next two seasons. The wage figures most often cited for 2024/25 are estimates—and two trackers disagree about who was the highest earner—so they cannot prove whether Carrick’s results represented value for money.
What Carrick achieved at Middlesbrough
Carrick took charge in October 2022 and led Middlesbrough through three season outcomes before his departure in 2025. BBC Sport records a clear decline in league position across those seasons:
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| Season | League finish | Promotion picture |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | Fourth | Qualified for the playoffs |
| 2023/24 | Eighth | Finished four points outside sixth |
| 2024/25 | Tenth, with 64 points | Missed the playoffs |
BBC Sport’s Middlesbrough table provides the season finishes and points. The first campaign was the strongest, though it began after Carrick’s October appointment; the following two seasons did not reach the playoff places.
The final season’s late slide
The tenth-place finish was accompanied by poor closing form. BBC Sport reported that Middlesbrough won one of their final six matches and ended the campaign with a 2–0 defeat at Coventry, missing the playoffs. The BBC’s season-ending report describes that run and the final-day result.
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Who was Middlesbrough’s highest earner?
There is no verified club-issued figure in the available sources that settles the question for Carrick’s final season. Two salary trackers give different answers for 2024/25:
| Tracker | Reported highest earner | Reported weekly pay | Confidence caveat |
|---|---|---|---|
| Salary Sport | Matthew Targett | £79,000 per week | Tracker estimate; not an official salary disclosure |
| SalaryLeaks | Kelechi Iheanacho | £75,000 per week | Tracker estimate; not an official salary disclosure |
The conflicting names and amounts mean neither figure should be presented as confirmed Middlesbrough payroll. The listed estimates also do not establish what the club actually paid, or how much of a player’s compensation was covered by another club or otherwise structured.
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Does the record represent value for money?
That depends on the standard. If value means an immediate push toward promotion, Carrick’s fourth-place finish and playoff qualification in 2022/23 were a meaningful return. If it means sustained progress toward the Premier League, the subsequent eighth- and tenth-place finishes make the case less convincing, with the final season ending on 64 points and a late slump.
The wage evidence does not support a precise salary-versus-results calculation. The published tracker estimates disagree, and the available sources do not establish verified individual salaries or provide a reliable wage-bill comparison. Without those inputs, a cost-per-point figure or claim that a particular salary made the results worthwhile would give a false sense of precision.
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Was Middlesbrough right to sack Carrick?
Carrick’s departure is reported as having taken place on 4 June 2025; Manchester United’s official profile describes his Middlesbrough tenure as two-and-a-half years beginning in October 2022. Manchester United’s Carrick profile supplies the tenure context, while BBC Sport’s report records the dismissal date and end-of-season circumstances.
On results alone, the decision can be understood as a response to regression: after a playoff finish, Middlesbrough ended the next two campaigns outside the top six. But the league record does not establish that the decision was right or wrong in isolation, and the uncertain wage estimates do not prove a financial case either. Steve Gibson is relevant as the club’s ownership context; these sources do not show that he personally set Carrick’s pay or made a salary-based decision.
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