Middlesbrough Head Coach Michael Carrick has acknowledged that consistency will be key if his side are to make the Championship play-offs come the end of the season. Daniel Wales reports.
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00:00A trip to the south coast to face Portsmouth for Middlesbrough on Saturday is not an easy
00:05test for Michael Carrick's side, who are looking to get back to winning ways after a disappointing
00:10draw at home against Cardiff City last time out in the Championship. This comes in the
00:15midst of a January transfer window full of speculation.
00:19Middlesbrough do sit just inside of the play-off places but could be even higher in the league
00:23this season if it were not for large spells of inconsistency throughout the campaign so
00:28far. Finding how to pick up regular wins will be key if Borough are to be one of the
00:33real play-off contenders come the end of the season.
00:38Michael Carrick certainly knew the importance of being consistent in football and made clear
00:42that whilst weekly messages change depending on opponents, Borough's overall principles
00:46remain the same.
00:47I think it's a magic ingredient to success, it really is. I think being able to do something
00:54to a high level over and over again ultimately separates you and that's what the league is,
01:01doing it over a course of so long. Messages change, of course, through a week. I say that
01:11in terms of every game is different, every phase of a game is different, the periods
01:15through a season, how it, as I've already said, the dynamics and the flow of a season
01:20change so I think we have to adapt to that. Largely what we are, what we want to be, our
01:27principles, they stay the same but it doesn't mean that we're rigid and stubborn and stuck
01:32in our ways, hopefully not.
01:34As a player, Michael Carrick was a consistent winner and played under several of the biggest
01:38names in management at the time. He revealed what he gained from those experiences and
01:42how they've shaped him as a manager.
01:44I think the beauty of experience is you pick it up without realising it. Sometimes for
01:49the good, sometimes maybe not so much. Sometimes it's conscious, sometimes it's something that
01:55just kind of seeps into you and you've seen it and you've digested it and you don't really
01:58know why you behave or you think a certain way about a certain thing or a certain situation.
02:03It's maybe because you've been through it or someone's been through it and it's very
02:07difficult to know what you have taken sometimes, a specific thing, if that makes sense. It's
02:13just that's the beauty of experience and using it in a positive way.
02:17Speculation over key players at Borough, including striker Emmanuel Latté-Lath's potential exit,
02:22have made it a stressful window so far. Carrick outlines how his role as head coach is currently
02:26balanced between on-field and off-field.
02:28Yeah, there's a big balance. It's the role, it's the responsibility. It's not a sideshow
02:35by any stretch. It's such an important part of the season and building the club, building
02:40the squad and dealing with what comes around. Certain times it's challenging, certain times
02:51you're really in control of it. It depends on what side of defence you're on, what you're
02:55trying to do or what's thrown at you, but it's something you've got to accept and embrace.