Middlesbrough are conducting a thorough review before deciding on Michael Carrick’s future.

EFL pundits Lee Hendrie and Adrian Clarke have offered contrasting views on whether they believe Michael Carrick will still be in charge of Middlesbrough next season.

Carrick’s position is under question as Boro’s hierarchy conduct a thorough review of the season and what went wrong. Setting an achievable target of finishing in the top six and making the play-offs this term, Boro fell short thanks to defeat in the final game of the season at Coventry City.

Finishing tenth in the end, they missed out despite the required points tally to get in being the lowest since 2013. On top of that, it was Boro’s second-lowest Championship points total in the last decade. As frustrating as that is though, there were mitigating factors such as the sale of Emmanuel Latte Lath and injuries to key players such as Ben Doak, which didn’t help the Boro head coach.

As such, the club are keen not to make any knee-jerk decisions and will instead all meet to discuss the various areas where the season went wrong, and crucially, what changes are needed to move forward. The conclusion of the meetings will determine Boro’s future direction and ultimately whether Carrick stays on as head coach or not.

For Hendrie, he believes the Manchester United legend should be in charge, telling Football League World: “Obviously not making the play-offs, which it’s another season that they’ve been relatively close again. Will they be looking to get rid? I mean, I’ve got this thing about Middlesbrough.

“The certain criteria they have with the way that they go about bringing players in, the loan players, and I think they’re slowly building something there to be quite honest. I think Carrick should stay at the football club. That’s my personal opinion. I think he’s been close. They got rid of Emmanuel Latte Lath, and that was a big blow to them going into the latter stages of the season.

“You need big players that can get you over the line, and squad depth. I know that they brought certain players in: Finn Azaz, Morgan Whittaker, Tommy Conway – they’ve brought lots of players in that certainly can give them a platform to go by. You hear good reports about what he’s like in the dressing room and on the training field.

“So for me, I’d be keeping Michael Carrick. Personally, I feel that he deserves the opportunity with the way that they’re slowly and gradually bringing players in to work off a decent platform. I think he’s got bags of potential. I think his style and his way is very good. I just think that he needs the resources to take a club forward.

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