Middlesbrough were just a point above the relegation zone in the Championship when Michael Carrick was appointed in October.
The decision to appoint Carrick was certainly a risk. The 41-year-old had been part of Jose Mourinho and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's coaching staff at Old Trafford before briefly taking caretaker charge of the team, but this was something different.
Carrick, who was born in Wallsend, Newcastle, said in his first press conference that his decision to take his first job in management with Middlesbrough 'just felt right' and he spoke about his enduring connection with the North East.
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Just five months after his appointment, Middlesbrough have moved from the bottom of the table to vying for an automatic promotion place. They sit third in the Championship and Carrick has emphatically delivered on the touchline.
Carrick was born in the North East, but Manchester is also his home and the Manchester Evening News sat down with Craig Johns, Middlesbrough reporter at TeessideLive, to get insight into his successful first taste of management.
Q) What were the first impressions of Carrick and what was expected from him?
This is obviously Carrick's first managerial role, with the exception of that three-game spell in charge of United, and it's easy to forget now that Boro were really struggling when he arrived, both in results and in confidence.
Realistically, I think you'd have asked anybody at the club or indeed supporters back then what was expected of him, initially it would have just been to steer Boro away from the threat of relegation to League One - something that was a legitimate concern given they were just one place and point off the relegation zone when he arrived.
Regarding first impressions of him, he had a calm, bit confident demeanour. He was by no means brash or making any sweeping statements, but he appeared assured in exactly how he wanted to go about things, clear about his principles and expectations of the players, but also calm in his manner.
That early impression has ultimately proven to be the major driving force behind his success at the club so far, and it's very much in line with the way in which he played the game too.
Q) Has Carrick discussed the influence of Man United on his coaching career?
There have been odd references here and there, but by and large, he likes to keep the focus on the team, rather than himself. I've lost count of the amount of times he's said, 'it's not about me'.
But he's always willing to answer questions and he's spoken about certain experiences when playing for United such as influences of the coaches he played under, most notably of course Sir Alex, who he says he still speaks to from time to time. There's also experiences of going to different grounds that he might reference from time to time also.
In general, I think his experiences at United are shaping the manager he is, for example in his constant call for focus and taking things one game at a time in the promotion race. He doesn't specifically ever say, 'that's what we did at United', but it's always an obvious factor that of course, he knows what's required to achieve success.
Q) What is the style of play like at Middlesbrough and has it been successful?
Ultimately his principles rely in possession-based football and he'll speak often about feeling in control of games by being on the ball on having momentum in games. That's what he likes and the results speak for themselves in terms of its success.
A major plus of time on Teesside has been the free-scoring nature of his Boro side who in their last game became Boro's highest-scoring side in a season since 1998 when Bryan Robson led them to another promotion. And, of course, there are still eight games to go!
It's all about a really fluid attack in which four forward players are so flexible and ultimately drag defenders around with their movement. When he arrived Boro had just drawn 0-0 with Huddersfield in a game that highlighted a side absolutely shot when it came to confidence. Carrick immediately called for belief and bravery in the final third and said he didn't want his player afraid of failure. We now see that bearing fruit as Boro's attacking players rarely struggle to break sides down.
Q) What do supporters, players and journalists think about Carrick?
Everyone is loving what has been an incredible ride so far. Supporters have really taken to him, and results certainly help that. I think many would agree that is some of the best football seen at the club for a very long time.
There's just a real sense of enjoyment about coming to watch their team from supporters. In terms of players, they all love him. His calm demeanour and coaching styles seem to have really hit home with the players.
I spoke to Caolan Boyd Munce recently and he left in January having not played enough games, but he spoke about how positive the atmosphere around the club was, how down to earth and easy to talk to Carrick was and how incredibly easy to understand his coaching was.
In Caolan's words, it's the first time he's ever seen where, to man, absolutely every single player at the club is fully behind Carrick 100% with no exception.
Q) Do you think Middlesbrough will get promoted with Carrick this season?
It's going to be very tough to go up automatically. Giving Sheffield United a 17-game head start really wasn't ideal! But their form since Carrick has arrived has been sensational and you'd absolutely back them to keep that going from now until the end of the season.
But you're still relying on Sheffield United slipping up at least twice, and that's assuming Boro are perfect from here. They'll fight for every point that's for sure, and given Sheffield United are having a little wobble of late, there is that growing feeling - in me and a lot of supporters too - that it is possible.
If they weren't to get second and therefore requiring the play-offs, they are of course always more of a lottery, but playing the way they do under Carrick, I'd fancy them against anyone.
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You can follow Middlesbrough reporter Craig Johns on Twitter here.
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