MICHAEL Carrick was stopped in the street by Millwall fans thanking the Middlesbrough boss for sanctioning a deadline day loan move for striker Josh Coburn.
Coburn swapped Boro for the Lions on the final day of the window and made a flying start to life in the capital with a goal on his impressive debut in the 3-0 win over Sheffield Wednesday before the international break.
In a bit of down-time during the international break, Carrick was in Manchester, where he dug out his boots and played for Manchester United in a legends match against Celtic for charity.
And there some Millwall fans who were up north made sure they took the chance to thank Carrick for Coburn when they Boro's boss in the street.
"I’m delighted to see Josh do well," said Boro's head coach.
"Randomly, I’ve had a few Millwall fans stopping and thanking me while I was back in Manchester. They just randomly bumped into me and said ‘thanks for letting us have Josh!’
"He’s done great and that’s exactly the reason that he’s gone there - to play games and score goals."
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Coburn will look to build on his perfect start for Millwall when the Lions face Luton at lunchtime tomorrow, while Boro go up against Preston, who were also interested in signing the 21-year-old striker during the international break.
After his brief return to action, Carrick is glad to be back in the dugout rather than on the pitch this weekend - but he enjoyed catching up with some former teammates.
He joined the likes of Wayne Rooney, Dimitar Berbatov, Antonio Valencia and Darren Fletcher in the Manchester United side for the charity game and rolled back the years with one dazzling run that almost led to a stunning individual goal.
United ended up losing the game on penalties, not that the result mattered to Carrick, who was happy to play his part and help support the Manchester United Foundation.
He said: "That’s a different type of football. I enjoyed seeing old faces, going back to Old Trafford and seeing some of the staff and players that I played with.
"I think that once you’ve played and can’t reach a certain level anymore, for me personally it can never give you the same feeling.
"But it was for a great cause, nearly a million pound raised for a great charity, we had a really good day football wise and, in the end, charity was the real winner."
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