Roy Keane has said he hopes Michael Carrick is named permanent Manchester United manager this summer – before immediately warning it would be the wrong decision.
Keane has mainly rubbished Carrick’s job credentials since United appointed him on an interim basis following Ruben Amorim’s sacking, only offering occasional begrudging praise.
Carrick’s appointment reignited a dormant feud between Keane and Carrick’s wife, Lisa Roughead, dating back more than a decade. Even beating the Premier League’s top two teams, Manchester City and Arsenal, in his first two matches failed to win over Keane, who said after United’s 3-2 win at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday that he would not give Carrick the manager’s job if the club won every remaining game this season.
By Thursday, Keane appeared to have performed a complete about-turn when he told The Overlap’s Stick to Football podcast: “I hope they give it to him. I hope they give it to him in the summer.”
But after co-host Gary Neville was about to challenge him about his previous comments, Keane interrupted him, saying: “I don’t think it’s the right decision, but good luck with it.
“Yeah, but I’m sticking to my guns. I’ve said my piece, I think that he’s got the job, and if he gets it in the summer then you go, ‘Listen, good luck to him’, but as a caretaker manager, it’s a different animal to being manager of United trying to win league titles over the next two, three, four, five years.
“I think you can get a better manager than Carrick, absolutely. But he’s doing a good job, perfect timing for him, and even if he doesn’t get the United job, these results, a bit like Ruud [van Nistelrooy], he can get another job, probably another Premiership manager.
“But just because you’re doing well at United, it doesn’t mean he’ll do well at another club. He’s got the players back, it’s all been sliding-doors moments. Great for him, and he’s took [sic] advantage of it.”
He added: “It’s still only two games. United beat Liverpool earlier in the season. They’ve found ways to win games of football before. It’s definitely been better, but let’s see over the next few months and the next year or two. Let’s not get carried away. The attacking play has been excellent, but they gave up two goals at Arsenal.”
Speaking after United’s win on Sunday, Keane told Sky Sports: “Two great performances but anyone can win two games. Even if they do get into fourth, I still wouldn’t be convinced he’s the man for the job. Absolutely not. They need a bigger and better manager. But he has got the opportunity and what a chance for him. And, you know what, he’s taking it.”
After Carrick was appointed United manager until the end of the season, Keane took a cheap shot at his former team-mate’s wife, with whom he had a brief spat in 2014. Keane told Stick to Football: “His wife can always come in ’cause she’s got a bit of a big mouth sometimes. She’s probably doing the team talk.”
He and Roughead clashed 12 years ago after United lost 2-0 against Olympiacos in the Champions League while Carrick was a player and Keane a pundit covering the match.
After Carrick gave a post-match interview, Keane said: “That interview was just like the performance, flat. He should say a bit more, have a bit more urgency, even in the interview.”
Roughead responded on Twitter, now X, by writing: “Roy Keane what a ----, says anything to provoke a reaction.”
She hastily deleted her comment and posted: “Deleted my tweet... emotions got the better of me.”