The real Michael Carrick: Don't be fooled by shy exterior, Man United's new interim boss has ruthless side Sir Alex Ferguson spotted immediately and rooted out the flaws that did for Ole Gunnar Solskj

When Michael Carrick got up on stage at Manchester nightspot Victoria Warehouse after his testimonial in 2017 and sang Wonderwall with Robbie Keane, those who know him well weren't one bit surprised.

While Carrick has always come across as a softly-spoken, shy individual - as understated off the pitch as he was on it - there is another side to Manchester United's new interim coach that is not immediately evident.

Sir Alex Ferguson detected it soon after signing Carrick from Tottenham for £18.6million in the summer of 2006.

'He was a shy boy who needed to be shaken at times,' Ferguson wrote in his autobiography. 'There is a casualness about him that causes people to misunderstand his value and his constitution.'

Gary Neville goes further in his description of a team-mate who won five Premier League titles, the FA Cup, three League Cups, the Champions League, the Europa League and the Club World Cup during his 12-year playing stint at Old Trafford.

'What people may not understand is the quiet, introverted passion that he holds for Manchester United,' says Neville.

'When we won leagues, Michael would be the one singing the most and going home last from the parties; the one that would look the happiest and most joyous behind the scenes at having won a trophy.

'On the pitch, in front of crowds, he'd maintain his composure, but behind the scenes he showed how much he loved the club. Believe me, he absolutely loves United.'

Another ringing endorsement came when he was appointed interim five years ago, from no greater source than Cristiano Ronaldo: 'Michael Carrick was a class act as a player and he can become a great coach as well. Nothing is impossible for this guy. Personally, I’m proud to have played with him by my side as well as with him as a manager on our bench.'

Staff at United recall how Carrick and Ryan Giggs would take them out at the end of the season to make sure people who worked behind the scenes got to share in the club's success.

Those nights would often end with them standing on the tables singing, before Carrick and Giggs always made sure everyone got home safely.

When the Manchester derby at Old Trafford in December 2017 erupted into a dressing-room brawl involving both sets of players, Carrick - by then coming to the end of a playing career curtailed by a heart defect - was in the thick of it, hauling back team-mates and staff members while forcing himself closer to the front.

Carrick was also part of a delegation of senior United players who went to Louis van Gaal to tell the Dutchman his training methods were too stodgy and needed freshening up.

Van Gaal was upset, but respected Carrick and his team-mates enough to take their advice and give them more input.

This is man who, when selecting a name for the war game United players often enjoyed on their PlayStations during away trips, opted for 'Havoc'.

None of which plays to the popular view of Carrick as a rather timid individual; one Ferguson rates among the two best passers of a ball at United (along with Paul Scholes) and who was only sent off once in a career spanning 700 appearances, despite playing in the heart of midfield.

'It's easy to go and smash someone in a tackle but, for me, to take the ball in what people might think are the wrong areas instead of hiding is the most important kind of bravery,' Carrick once said.

Carrick wasn't a warrior like Roy Keane, who he succeeded in the No 16 shirt at United, but he was a strong character all the same. He needed to be, too.

Having criticised Carrick for a 'flat' interview after United lost 2-0 at Olympiacos in February 2014, Keane took aim again during Carrick's unbeaten three-match stint as caretaker boss following Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's sacking.

Keane raged: 'I get the impression at Man United the last few years that some of the backroom staff and people upstairs, there's an element of jobs for the boys. Wink, wink, look after each other, know the right people.'

That was never Carrick, though. As soon as United appointed Ralf Rangnick as interim boss, he handed over the reins and quit, much to everyone's surprise.

Yes, he wanted a break but also despaired of the drop in standards and the dressing-room cliques that undermined Solskjaer.

Less than a year on, the then 41-year-old was taking on his first full-time role back in his native North East at Middlesbrough. He did so with 25 years' experience as a player and coach under Ferguson, Jose Mourinho, Van Gaal, David Moyes and Harry Redknapp.

At his unveiling back then, Carrick said he spoke to Ferguson before taking the job and credited him for influencing his career – though he manages in a different way. 'Do I look like an angry Scotsman?' smiled Carrick.

He lasted almost three years in the job before being sacked in June. Since then, Carrick has been enjoyed his free time but stayed in close touch with football. When Ruben Amorim was sacked last week, he and his family were on holiday in Barbados with Wayne Rooney and Jonny Evans, who flew back to become first-team coach alongside caretaker boss Darren Fletcher.

A self-confessed Formula One nut, Carrick will have missed the adrenaline rush of being involved in live sport on a Saturday afternoon. Now, Carrick is frontrunner to return to the spotlight. Back on stage. It's a place that suits him more than we knew.

Click here to read article