Michael Carrick reveals phone call to Ole Gunnar Solskjaer

Michael Carrick has described his reaction to the surprising turn of events in the last 48 hours at Old Trafford. Manchester United parted ways with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer on Sunday and for the time being, Carrick was given the responsibility to be in-charge of the team. The former club midfielder has revealed that he called Solskjaer before taking up the caretaker position and preparing the side for the Group F encounter against Villarreal in the Champions League. Carrick also spoke fondly about the former manager, who left Old Trafford after the Red Devils suffered an embarrassing 4-1 defeat against Watford. 

When asked about his thoughts on Ole leaving the club, Carrick told MUTV, “Yeah, it’s been a bit of a rollercoaster 24 hours, or 48 hours if you include the game in that. Yeah, initial sadness really yesterday morning – disappointment and frustration seeing someone obviously I care about, and have worked closely with for so long really, I think we both understand, we all understand it’s a result-driven business and that dictates the path that you go on. Nevertheless, when it happens like that, it’s tough to see. I want to say a big massive thanks to Ole because I’ve learned loads off him, an awful lot off him.” 

Everything he did was for the club: Carrick on Ole

“The way he carries himself, how loyal he is to everyone, especially the staff and the players and the club, how humble he is as a man. I think you don’t always get what you deserve in life and this is a classic case of that because everything he did was for the club, for the players, for the staff and to protect everyone in every way he could. I think you see the outpouring of messages and emotion from everyone just shows what he means to everyone. Certainly, speaking on behalf of the staff, for sure, the trust that he had in us and the relationship we had, I could never thank him enough. 

“Certainly, I’ll never forget what he’s done for me and what I’ve learned from him. I think, honestly, the biggest thing was how he handled the whole thing yesterday. He stood with his head held high and spoke to the players, wished them all the best and actually will probably still be the biggest supporter in wishing them to do well, which doesn’t happen very often in that situation. I think everyone respects that, the players certainly do, we do as staff, and all the fans around the world and as a club would all echo that.”

‘I have a responsibility to the club’

A former English and Manchester United midfielder, Carrick, revealed about his latest conversation with Ole. “Yeah, the first thing I did, the first thing that crossed my mind when I realised kind of how the situation was developing, I spoke to Ed [Woodward] and went straight to Ole and said look, it wasn’t easy to just think right, let’s move on, I’ll take this role and everything will be alright. My first thought was speaking to Ole about it and he was fully supportive, as you’d expect, as he is, but it wasn’t something I just took for granted because, in some ways, it didn’t feel quite right – me being here and not having him around.” 

“But, of course, as I said before, football is a business and as a club, it’s the way it is. You’ve got to move on quickly. I spoke to Ole late last night [Sunday] anyway but in between that, I had to flip my focus and concentration into a new role and almost had to put my emotions aside the best that I could. Of course, it wasn’t easy but, at the same point, there was a job to do. 

“I have a responsibility to the club, for the players, to pull everything together and prepare the team for a big game on Tuesday night. I did manage to speak to Ole again late last night, which was nice, and obviously we’re friends and that will never change. I’ll catch up with him some time soon again when we get back.”