Can Carrick’s Man United lift the mood against City?
Talk of the Devils: The Athletic FC's Manchester United show
The Athletic
4.6 • 771 Ratings
🗓️ 15 January 2026
⏱️ 58 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Michael Carrick is the new Head Coach, interim or otherwise, of Manchester United. How will he change the way the team plays and is the target of qualifying for the Champions League, stated explicitly to players by Director of Football Jason Wilcox, really achievable now?
It will be a baptism of fire for Carrick and his staff with Manchester City coming to Old Trafford on Saturday lunchtime. Will the players returning from AFCON go straight into the team, and can they help Benjamin Sesko build on a promising couple of games? United will need to defy expectation based on a difficult recent record in home derbies.
If you haven't already listened to our documentary episodes published on the anniversary of the Glazer takeover of Manchester United, you can find them in our podcast feed back in May, or via the following links:
Episode 1: The Story of the Glazer Takeover
Episode 2: What next for the Glazers at Manchester United
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | The Athletic F.C. |
| 0:19.1 | This is Talk the Devils, the athletic show dedicated to Manchester United. |
| 0:22.9 | Coming up today, we get into the story of how the club appointed Michael Carrick as the head coach until the end of the season. |
| 0:30.0 | Lots more detail has transpired since our last show, so we'll bring you all of that. |
| 0:34.4 | We'll have a look at what sort of football he might play in his 17 matches in charge and the men he's appointed to his backroom staff. |
| 0:42.0 | And of course, we'll also preview the 198th Manchester Derby, which is on the way on Saturday at Old Trafford against Manchester City. |
| 0:52.6 | We've got Carl Andy and Laurie with us, so hello everyone, |
| 0:55.5 | and we're going to get straight into it, |
| 0:56.7 | because once again there is tons to get through, |
| 0:59.0 | and I've not yet mentioned your story, Laurie, |
| 1:01.1 | which has just dropped on the Athletic this morning, |
| 1:04.1 | and that's a meeting with the Glazers and Sir Jim Radcliffe |
| 1:07.6 | at Carrington as we record. |
| 1:10.1 | Yeah, it feels quite significant, really really because I don't know the last time that Joel and Avram |
| 1:15.7 | Glazer visited Carrington. |
| 1:17.5 | I'm pretty sure they haven't seen the new main building that 50 million pounds built |
| 1:23.5 | from Sir Jim Ratcliffe's investment. |
| 1:26.1 | It might be quite novel for them to walk around a building that's been paid for by somebody else. |
| 1:31.9 | And, you know, so this is what investment looks like in Manchester United. |
| 1:35.5 | But, yeah, Ratcliffe, Joel and Avram Glazer are flying into Manchester. |
| 1:40.8 | Well, they'll be in Manchester now. |
| 1:42.6 | It's an Exco meeting. |
... |
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