Boro chairman Steve Gibson notified Carrick of his decision this morning following a thorough end-of-season review at Rockliffe.
Carrick was the Championship’s longest serving manager but ultimately paid the price for Boro’s disappointing 10th place finish last season when the minimum aim at the start of the campaign was a place in the play-offs.
Assistant boss Jonathan Woodgate and first team coach Graeme Carrick have also left the club.
There’s no official word at this stage on the future of Grant Leadbitter and goalkeeper coach Alan Fettis.
Boro said in a statement: “We’d like to thank Michael, Jonathan, and Graeme for all their hard work and unwavering commitment. We wish them all the very best for the future.
“The club will be making no further comment at this stage.”
Boro bosses have been conducting an in-depth review since the end of the season in a bid to get to the bottom of what went wrong. That included extensive talks with Carrick.
Gibson backed Carrick in February after Boro’s form nosedived and was keen not to rush into a decision at the end of the season.
But after detailed reflections over recent weeks, it was decided that the best course of action was a fresh start with a new head coach.
Carrick leaves having led Boro to a fourth place finish in his first season, eighth in his second and 10th in his third and final campaign.
The ex-England midfielder had an instant impact after replacing Chris Wilder in October 2022, transforming Boro into automatic promotion contenders. But they faltered at the end of the season and ended up losing to Coventry City in the play-offs.
That led to the departure of a number of star players and a squad overhaul in the summer of 2023, which resulted in a slow start to the following campaign. After eight winless matches, Boro found their feet and ended up with a respectable eighth placed finish.
The aim last season was promotion. Boro held on to star players such as Emmanuel Latte Lath, Hayden Hackney and Rav van den Berg last summer and build a squad that was assembled to challenge for promotion, with the likes of Tommy Conway, Aidan Morris and Ben Doak all signed.
But inconsistency plagued the side all season, and although the exit of Latte Lath and Doak’s season-ending injury in January had an obvious impact, Boro still underperformed.
Carrick expressed his desire to carry on at the end of the season but his exit has now been confirmed.
Boro will be inundated with interest in the vacancy.
