Exclusive: Middlesbrough's decision to sack Michael Carrick was 'strange', says former England international
Danny Mills has described his former club Middlesbrough’s decision to axe Michael Carrick as “a strange one”.
For the second consecutive campaign, Middlesbrough missed out on a place in the Championship play-offs.
An end-of-season review was then conducted and the conclusion that Carrick needed to move on was reached.
Mills, who was part of Middlesbrough’s 2004 League Cup-winning squad, has claimed Carrick did a “great job” at the Riverside.
Danny Mills issues verdict
Speaking exclusively to The Yorkshire Post, he said: "I found it a strange one, if I'm honest. When you look at what Michael was doing, obviously and his staff with Jonathan Woodgate in there as well, I think he's done a great job.
“I love Middlesbrough - played there for one season, won one trophy. It's a great club but realistically, for the size of the club, it's a top-end Championship/lower-end Premier League club - a yo-yo club. That's where they're going to be in terms of their fanbase, their global reach.
“When you sell your best striker [Emmanuel Latte Lath], what do you expect? It's very, very difficult. He brought in players and developed players.
“Ben Doak, there is talk of massive money for him, possibly going wherever. He's developed players, he's made players better. But he's had to sell some of his best players within that.”
Hiring and firing in the modern game
Managers rarely get the time to see long-term projects through and by the modern game’s standards, Carrick had been given a decent amount of time.
However, Mills has insisted clubs should not necessarily pull the trigger if goals have just been missed out on.
The former England defender said: “What was the expectation for Middlesbrough at the start of the season? Probably 'we've got a good chance of making the play-offs'. But a lot of other teams thought that as well.
“You can't just go around sacking managers just because they finish two or three places short. Who's going to come in next? Are they going to be any better? I think Michael Carrick is a good manager, a sensible manager, he has improved players.
“I was a little bit disappointed for Michael. It's all about recruitment. Nine times out of 10, the team with the best players wins the league.
“There's a little bit of give and take. I bet if you looked at the Championship last season and looked at the budgets, within two or three places, teams with the biggest budgets finished higher. That's generally how football is. It's about expectations I think.”