•  Middlesbrough’s start to the 2023/24 Championship season has been difficult, with four losses and one draw in the league.
•  The team has struggled to score goals and has conceded 11 so far, posing a big concern for manager Michael Carrick.
•  Despite the poor start, Middlesbrough should remain patient with Carrick, as he has shown promising results in the past and has the ability to turn things around.

It’s been a very difficult start to the 2023/24 Championship season for Middlesbrough and Michael Carrick.

Since October of last year, Middlesbrough have been on an upward trajectory under the guidance of Michael Carrick.

Boro were languishing in the bottom half of the table at the start of last season, and it wasn’t until Carrick’s arrival that things started to improve.

The club went from the bottom of the table to play-off contenders in a matter of months, something that took everyone by surprise.

Boro put themselves in contention not only for the play-offs but for automatic promotion as well, but a dip in form meant they had to settle for a top-six finish.

Their fine form that earned them their play-off spot couldn’t continue in the dreaded play-offs as they were brushed aside by Coventry City over two legs.

But that meant they came into the new campaign as hot favourites to seal promotion this time around, and Boro have yet to live up to those expectations.

How have Middlesbrough started the 2023/24 season?

We are now five games into the Championship season, and Middlesbrough have lost four and drawn one.

The club has yet to win in the league, with their only victories this season being in the Carabao Cup against Huddersfield Town and Bolton Wanderers, respectively.

Unfortunately for Carrick, Boro lost some key players throughout the summer, either due to being sold or because their loans had ended at the club.

So there has been a lot of turnover in the last few months, and with the disappointment of the play-offs, Middlesbrough haven’t gotten going at all this season.

This will be a big concern for Carrick, as his team struggles to score goals, with only three coming in the league, while conceding a lot, with 11 so far.

There is definitely a long way to go for Middlesbrough to be near the top end of the Championship again, but that doesn’t mean they should panic when it comes to Michael Carrick’s future at the club.

Why Middlesbrough must remain patient when it comes to Michael Carrick’s future

Middlesbrough have been through a lot of managers in the last few seasons, but when they appointed Carrick last October, they were trying to move away from the norm.

The former Manchester United coach is an up-and-coming manager who is very much learning on the job and will no doubt have weaknesses.

This appointment was considered a risk for Middlesbrough, as they are used to appointing the more proven, experienced managers, and Carrick wasn’t that at all, as he never managed in the Championship and his only experience coaching was in his short time at Man United.

However, that risk looked to pay off straight away as the club stormed up the Championship table and looked like a really strong outfit at this level.

That continued all season, but despite falling short in the play-offs, it was still miraculous that the club was even in them in the first place. So, obviously, expectations will have changed for this season, and rightly so, but with the season not getting off to the best of starts, pressure will be on Carrick to change it quickly.

That, of course, is expected, as no club wants to be winless in the league and sit bottom after what they achieved the season before. But Middlesbrough shouldn’t be panicking yet, as there is still a long way to go, and Carrick has all the ability and management quality to turn this around and make Middlesbrough a play-off contender once again.

The club has lost some key players, and they have been replaced by players who are very inexperienced at this level. So, it is going to take time for them to adapt to a new league, and at this stage, it is not going to help them or Middlesbrough if they were to make a quick-fire decision and sack Carrick.

Carrick has so far taken charge of 40 matches at Middlesbrough, and he has a points per match record of 1.65, as per Transfermarkt. Of course the start to the season hasn’t been good enough, but there have been so many positives under Carrick’s helm that he still deserves times.

There has been no talk about Carrick’s job being under scrutiny, but he will know if this continues, that will happen. At this stage and with this international break, Middlesbrough must remain patient with Carrick, and they will no doubt see the rewards.