Michael Carrick is somehow clinging on at Manchester United, with the club’s hierarchy giving him another chance to turn things around against Chelsea.

Things look bleak for the former midfielder, but plenty of managers have recovered from seemingly hopeless situations.

We’ve revisited eight famous examples of managers who looked on the brink of the sack but somehow survived.

Mikel Arteta

The example cited every time a struggling manager is going through a tricky patch.

How close did Arsenal actually come to sacking Arteta? We’ll probably never know.

There were no concrete reports that his job was on the line, but the club hierarchy’s patience must have been tested after an eighth-place finish in 2020-21 left them without European football for the first time since before Arsene Wenger’s time.

Winning the FA Cup in his first season had bought him some belief. But surely that goodwill was running thin when Arsenal lost their opening three matches of 2021-22 without scoring. A 5-0 demolition at Manchester City that left the Gunners bottom of the Premier League.

Arsenal responded by taking 20 points from their next eight games, and they’ve never looked back. Trust the process and all that.

Andoni Iraola

Remember when Iraola couldn’t buy a win at Bournemouth? Nine games. Zero victories. Four points.

That was the Basque coach’s record when Bournemouth hosted Burnley in October 2023.

He’d arrived with rave reviews from Rayo Vallecano, but you have to wonder how much longer the Cherries would’ve waited for his methods to click.

Frank de Boer was gone after four games at Crystal Palace. Other managers have barely been afforded the time to unpack their bags. Look at the pressure the likes of Pierre Sage are under right now.

Bournemouth held their nerve, beat Burnley 2-1 and soon embarked on a run of six wins in seven matches.

Iraola went on to break the club’s Premier League points record that season, and do so twice more, culminating in European qualification. Now they’re enjoying famous victories over the likes of Real Sociedad and AC Milan under Iraola’s successor Marco Rose.

Imagine if the owners hadn’t held their nerve early on.

Luis Enrique

Now a two-time treble winner and widely regarded as one of the best managers in the world, it’s funny to think that Luis Enrique might’ve been remembered as a bloke who struggled at Roma, did alright at Celta Vigo and flopped at Barcelona.

That looked a distinct possibility in January 2015. Messi was reportedly unhappy, results were patchy and the Catalan press were sharpening their knives.

But a mid-season victory over Atletico Madrid changed everything. One iconic photograph tells the story.

Daniel Farke

Harsh as it seemed, there was a certain logic to the murmurs that Leeds considered replacing Farke after their 100-point promotion in the summer of 2025.

His time at Norwich had given him a reputation as the managerial equivalent of Cameron Jerome or Dwight Gayle. Too good for the Championship, not good enough for the Premier League.

A dire run of six defeats in seven appeared to vindicate those concerns, with widespread, credible reports that Farke was on the brink in late November.

But the German showed a pragmatism few expected, switching to a back three and almost overnight transforming Leeds into one of the division’s toughest sides to beat.

Twelve months on, The Athletic reports that an agreement is in place for him to extend his contract at Elland Road through until 2029. Quite the turnaround.

Sir Alex Ferguson

The classic.

David Moyes

‘David Moyes likely to be sacked if West Ham lose to Everton on Saturday’ ran a headline in The Guardian from January 2023.

“Moyes has clashed with some senior players this season, and there is a feeling at the club that his counterpunching tactics do not suit the squad, despite a summer outlay of £160m,” read the report from journalist Andy Martin.

West Ham were flirting dangerously with relegation, but a 2-0 victory against Everton earned Moyes a reprieve. Lampard was sacked two days later, while the Hammers gradually climbed clear of trouble.

Five months later, Moyes was going loco celebrating Conference League glory. And it was glorious.

Erik ten Hag

Where do you start with this escape artist?

Ten Hag looked a dead man walking ahead of the 2024 FA Cup final, with reports suggesting he’d be sacked regardless of the result.

But Manchester United produced a tactical masterclass to beat Manchester City 2-1, prompting the hierarchy to reconsider and hand the Dutchman a new contract despite a dismal eighth-place finish.

You can understand the fans who wanted Ten Hag to stay after that unlikely Wembley triumph. But the hierarchy should have known better. A little more ruthlessness that summer could have saved United an awful lot of trouble down the line. Yet here we are.

Mauricio Pochettino

Tottenham were languishing in the bottom half when they travelled to Aston Villa in November 2014, with Pochettino already facing questions about his future.

They trailed until the 84th minute before Harry Kane’s deflected free-kick completed a dramatic comeback.

“Maybe I can find many other goals that were fantastic but for me the goals are related to emotion, in the period you are living,” Pochettino reminisced.

“For me that goal was an amazing goal because it meant for us, for everyone, the possibility to stay here today.

“It’s true, the team were 14th or 13th and we were a little bit under pressure because the team were there and play well, but not win games.

“Always in football, when you don’t get good results, the first to be sacked is the manager. That is why that goal allowed us to carry on working and try to change the club.”