MICHAEL CARRICK says he’ll use the experience of the “tougher moments” in his football career to help guide Middlesbrough through their troubled start to the Championship season.
And the Boro head coach insists he’ll be a better boss and his squad will be better players when – rather than if – they emerge from their current struggle.
Carrick’s side head for Sheffield Wednesday tomorrow night for a crunch Championship clash between the division’s bottom two teams, who are both still winless. Boro’s disappointing start to the season continued on Saturday with defeat at Blackburn, their fifth loss in six games.
Boro’s struggle has been all the more difficult to take on Teesside after last season’s near-miss, when Carrick’s side came so close to winning promotion. The head coach enjoyed a stunning introduction to life in the dugout and obviously achieved so much as a player at the very top.
But he also had to deal with setbacks in his playing career, including suffering relegation from the Premier League with West Ham when he was a youngster. And having been shaped by spells that have tested him, Carrick says those experiences will help him lead Boro through their difficulties.
“Have I learnt anything about myself (in this spell), not really no,” he said.
“I know I’m enjoying the challenge and as I’ve said at some point in the position I’m in you have to expect a time where you don’t get the results you want.
“But for me it’s about embracing that, taking on the challenge but actually dealing with it in a certain way.
“I wouldn’t say I’ve learnt anything about myself because I’ve suffered plenty of tougher moments but when you come through them you’re better for it. I’ll be a better person, a better manager and the boys will be better players when we come through it.”
He continued: “Experience helps, of course it does. For me, you are who you are and you deal with things in certain ways.
“Some people are fiery, some people are up and down, for me I try to be a bit more stable, in terms of don’t get too carried away when it’s going well and don’t get too down about things when its not going so well.
“You still have to make a clear judgement and decide what is going right, what do we need to do better, how do we make things better for the next game. That’s my role and responsibility that I’m happy to take on.”