OFFICIAL: Carrick wins his 1st EPL Manager of the Month award

Man Utd head coach wins the prize after overseeing impressive wins against Man City and Arsenal

OFFICIAL STATEMENT:

Michael Carrick has won January's Barclays Manager of the Month for the the first time after a flawless return to Manchester United.

After taking over from Ruben Amorim in mid-January, Carrick guided Man Utd to stunning victories against the top two in the Premier League.

Having kicked off his temporary tenure at Old Trafford with a sensational 2-0 derby win against Manchester City, he then masterminded a 3-2 success at Arsenal to inflict a first home league defeat of the season on Mikel Arteta's title-chasers.

Man Utd took twice as many points from their two January matches under Carrick - against the teams first and second in the table - as they collected from the three before that, against Leeds United, Wolverhampton Wanderers and Burnley, three of the bottom six.

Carrick is one of only seven interim managers/head coaches to earn the accolade, and the second Man Utd boss to do so alongside Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, who won it in January 2019 following a brilliant start to his interim spell.

Darren Moore (West Bromwich Albion, April 2018), Mike Jackson (Burnley, April 2022), Mike Phelan (Hull City, August 2016), Rafael Benitez (Chelsea, April 2013) and Phil Thompson (Liverpool, November 2001 and March 2002) have also won the award while not being the club’s permanent appointment.

Carrick is also the first English manager/head coach since April 2024 to win the award, when Sean Dyche was in charge at Everton.

Carrick topped a four-man shortlist also featuring Dyche (Nottingham Forest), Andoni Iraola (AFC Bournemouth) and Liam Rosenior (Chelsea) after votes from fans were combined with those of a panel of experts.