ONE is a former Manchester United legend who won five Premier League titles and a Champions League during his time at Old Trafford, and who is now excelling in his first managerial role in the Championship. The other is a former Manchester City star who won four league titles and two FA Cups at the Etihad Stadium, and who is also hitting the heights as a rookie manager in the second tier.

When Michael Carrick and Vincent Kompany go head to head at the Riverside on Friday evening, they will not just be involved in a match that could have far-reaching repercussions in the battle to win promotion to the Premier League, they will also find themselves involved in the first instalment of a managerial rivalry that looks set to run and run.

“There are one or two managers in the league at the moment who I feel have a really good intelligence about them, about to how to run a football team,” said Sunderland boss Tony Mowbray last week, when reflecting on the emerging managerial talent within the Football League. “Vincent Kompany is one, and Michael Carrick is another. It’s exciting these new, young football coaches are coming along.”

Kompany is at a slightly more advanced stage of his managerial development given that he spent two years in charge of Anderlecht, reaching the Belgian Cup final in the process, before joining Burnley last summer.

The 36-year-old has done superbly in his first season at Turf Moor, leading a much-changed Burnley side to the top of the table in the wake of last season’s relegation, and looks destined for the very top, with Pep Guardiola having tipped him as a future Manchester City boss ahead of the Clarets’ FA Cup trip to the Etihad.

Carrick dipped his toes into management with a caretaker spell in charge of Manchester United, and had established a reputation as a talented coach thanks to his work as part of the backroom set-up at Old Trafford prior to moving to Teesside.

The Middlesbrough job is his first as a head coach, and while Kompany is keen to stress that he and Carrick are different personalities with different strengths, he was always convinced the current Boro boss would make a success of life in the dugout.

“I know Michael well as a person, and I have a lot of respect for him and his work ethic,” said Kompany, ahead of Friday’s visit to the Riverside. “His brain and the way he thinks is definitely something that makes him stand out, not just as a manager, but also when he was a player as well.

“I understand why people will put the two of us together, but I think it’s difficult to draw comparisons between us because we are all on our own trajectory. I look at Michael Carrick and I am impressed with what he is doing, but he is at his own club dealing with his own issues.

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“Yes, I see why people will draw the parallel between myself and Michael Carrick, but we are different people trying to make our way in management.”

Kompany has been keeping a close eye on Carrick’s successes with Middlesbrough this season, but as a young manager learning his trade, the Belgian has also been trying to learn from other, more experienced, bosses within the second tier.

Last Friday, his Burnley side were held to a goalless draw by Mowbray’s Sunderland, and when he looks at the Black Cats boss, who has also previously been manager of Middlesbrough, he sees someone who he would like to emulate.

“I have a lot of respect for lots of different managers,” said Kompany. “Look at Tony Mowbray, who we played against as manager of Sunderland on Friday night. When I get to Tony Mowbray’s age, I would love to think that my teams are showing what his team did against us.

“I am sure Michael would say the same. We are just starting out, and there are going to be ups and downs along the way. You look at someone like Tony Mowbray, and I am sure he has had to reinvent himself over the years. He’s always played the way that his team play now, but I am sure he has had to make tweaks and changes to the way he does things to keep improving.”