I think I agree that if you told me that Boro would either be promoted or relegated this coming season, I think there's more chance of relegation. That's shocking.
I think that last paragraph is shocking coming from someone I see as a very thoughtful person.
I also agree that the majority on this forum would ( maybe not happily) have given Carrick another chance if we saw that there was to be some change in direction or another assistant added that would come with a Plan B. Of course that may have been discussed, but Micheal wasn't for turning.
The Boro fanbase generally though, I believe was beyond that and probably we'll above 50% waiting a new Coach.
Well they have now got their wish, but probably not who they wanted, even if they knew they wanted.
I am with Len in as much that, Mr Gibson and MFC are at a crossroads. If it goes badly, then if Mr Gibson was concerned at the ST sales, just and see what follows in their wake.
Yes there certainly are a lot of unknowns at the moment and to quote Donald Rumsfeld…
…as we know, there are known knowns; there are things we know we know. We also know there are known unknowns; that is to say we know there are some things we do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns—the ones we don't know we don't know… it is the latter category that tends to be the difficult ones.
Basically anything could happen next season and will we get promotion Rob Edwards or relegation Rob Edwards? Which players will stay and who will arrive and will they perform and make the team better or not and make it worse.
What we don’t really know for sure is whether the Scott-Carrick relationship was affecting team performances - then consequently if Edwards is on the same page as Scott will that mean everyone’s energy is focused and the club are pulling in the same direction?
Then there’s the supporters and what atmosphere they will create at the Riverside - will it be sceptical impatience that adds pressure if Boro have a bad start?
Edwards has to win the support over quickly - though I read that he actually lost his last ten away games at Luton so home form will be very important!
As for those unknown unknowns - well nobody knows…
Any sign of white smoke from Rockcliffe towers?, what's the problem
@paulinboro. Well Edwards is the new Coach and the confirmation is imminent in the next day or so or coming soon, according to various sources.
Probable delay down to choosing the lounge curtains of the new Company house.
Or it may just be, Edwards is having second thoughts about the very difficult job he is going to inherit. Still, he will always have his previous and new contact to fall back on.
Tumbleweed blows across the wasteland. In Deadman’s Gulch a long-deserted, tumbledown house creaks eerily in the wind. Doors hang off hinges, shutters flap in the gale. Coyotes howl somewhere in the dusty distance. That’s it. The full scenario. Nothing happens. Absolutely nothing. It’s getting very tedious, this film.
Just surfing the internet for any believable information as to what is happening, just in case MFC are not telling the local media first.
Do I really not have better things to do with my time?
Anyway, what one does pick up is the general disbelief in some areas as to Edwards’ appointment.
As werder said, home form will be so important. Wins away against points dropped at home will not be acceptable in any shape or form to the depleted fanbase in the Riverside.
This appointment is mirroring the one when Jonathan Woodgate was appointed and we all know how that ended!
I became very disillusioned toward the end of last season and remain in the same mindset; it’s seems to be a case of being on a three year rinse and repeat cycle where things do not improve.
We may be better financially following some successful player purchases and sales but the new model does not, so far, appear to allow for the building of a team which can compete for a top six spot successfully.
Meanwhile, we watch teams which have been relegated to the league below us return to the Championship and then gain promotion; individual and collective responsibility for failure is evident but only the manager and coaching staff pay the price.
I am still undecided about renewing my Riverside Live season pass and will wait to see how matters unfold over the coming weeks but long gone are the days when I looked forward to a season with expectation that we would be in with a chance of promotion or even that we might play well consistently. 😎
I may be wrong, but I'm beginning to wonder if the delay is down to the rumoured construction of a stone circle at Hurworth in order for the druids of Teesside to anoint Rob Edwards on the solstice after consulting the entrails of the chicken runners of yesteryear and then making an early-bird sacrifice to the footballing gods - that was the leaked conclusion of the review anyway...
Well, it is midsummer’s day tomorrow!
😂Tumbleweed blows across the wasteland. In Deadman’s Gulch a long-deserted, tumbledown house creaks eerily in the wind. Doors hang off hinges, shutters flap in the gale. Coyotes howl somewhere in the dusty distance. That’s it. The full scenario. Nothing happens. Absolutely nothing. It’s getting very tedious, this film.
Zach Hemming has joined Chesterfield on a 3-Year-Deal.
I wish Rob Edwards had joined Chesterfield on a 3-year deal………
According to the Gazette, it was Edwards' knowledge of the Boro squad that won Gibson over.
One guess on how he came to acquire such granular knowledge.
Edwards seems to be a decent individual with good man-management skills. I feel rather sorry for him, but he is the beneficiary of a thoroughly discredited process the results of which will be played out over the next few weeks and months
Does Rob Edwards exist? Who? You know, the new Boro manager. Him? Who? Their new tactics are called 'silent running' apparently.
UTB,
John
Well, when I posted the opener 4 days ago, having written it the day before - I started it with “At the risk of going too early…” - perhaps I should’ve done a risk assessment as early doesn’t begin to cover it!
It’s surely only a matter of time before a hostage video is released with demands…
Maybe because he apparently is chums with Mr Scott, he knows him well enough to make sure he negotiates enough control for himself before signing up....
Highly-rated Harry Watling, Michael Beale's number two at Rangers, expected to be part of the coaching staff
OFB
Harry Watling is an English footballcoach. He has coached and managed in four different leagues and in three countries during his time in senior football. These roles included being First team coach at Queens Park Rangers & Glasgow Rangers, while also managing both Hartford Athletic in the US & Ebbsfleet United in the National League.
Coaching career
Watling earned his UEFA B licence at age 18, UEFA A licence at 26 and his UEFA Pro licence at 33, which at the time made him one of the youngest coaches in England to have such coaching licence’s.[1]
Watling went on to work as an academy coach with Chelsea from 2009 to 2014, Millwall from 2014 to 2018, and West Ham United from 2018, before becoming head coach of USL Championship side Hartford Athletic on 13 January 2021.[2][1]
After joining Hartford Athletic on 13 January 2021, he won his first match in charge 3–2 against New York Red Bulls II on 30 April 2021. On 6 June 2021 in his fourth match he broke the club record for the biggest ever win in their history when he beat New York Red Bulls II 7–0 at home who had seven MLS contracted players from the first team in the lineup.[3] Watling broke several club records in his first season in charge of The Athletic, including most goals scored in a regular season and most clean sheets. Hartford finished 5th in Watling’s first season. In his second season On 25 June 2022, Watling resigned from his role as Hartford coach to attend family matters back home in England.[4]
On 25 July 2022, Watling was appointed First Team Development coach at Championship side Queens Park Rangers.[5] After topping the championship with QPR, Watling followed Michael Beale who was head hunted to Glasgow Rangers as first-team coach.[6]
On 12 September 2024, Watling was appointed manager of struggling National League club Ebbsfleet United.[7] Watling had an instant impact providing the clubs first win of the season in his first game in charge against Hartlepool United. Despite that, he could not turn the clubs fortunes around in his short time as manager and, on 11 December 2024, and winning only one game out of 13 with 4 draws, the club announced his departure by mutual consent.[8]
Michael Beale (born 4 September 1980) is an English football manager who was last the assistant manager of Saudi Pro League club Al-Ettifaq.[1]
Beale played football as a youth, but retired at 21 and became a coach. He worked for Chelsea, Liverpool and São Paulo. After stints working as first team coach with Steven Gerrardat Rangers and Aston Villa, Beale became manager of Queens Park Rangers in June 2022. He left QPR after five months to become manager of Rangers, but was sacked from that role in October 2023. Beale subsequently joined Sunderland in December 2023, lasting 12 games in charge, before being sacked in February 2024. Beale was appointed assistant manager of Al-Ettifaq by Steven Gerrard in November 2024, and sacked in January 2025.
These are the coaches rumoured to be joining the ghost team at Middlesbrough FC
OFB
Is it only me who thinks this is descending into farce? It's getting to the stage when I think someone should be walking up and down Linthorpe Road with a Boro programme from any Riverside game folded under his or her arm and asking bearded men if they are Rob Edwards and I claim my £10.00 reward.
That's for those who remember the Daily Mirror's 'Lobby Ludd' who patrolled towns and Seaside resorts in the 50's waiting for someone to triumphantly claim their £10.00 note, they even used to say which town he would be in that day. That would be a breakthrough.
Sorry, this is getting desperate, what is their plan? OFB's posts depressed me a bit...
UTB,
John
@john-richardson - It is NOT only you who thinks this is descending into farce.
I haven’t ruled out there may have been an unfortunate incident during the solstice ceremony when anointing Rob Edwards with the hastily erected altar stone - that’s one stone I suspect nobody will be keen to unturn…
@original-fat-bob Beale seems to have been sacked after relatively short periods in what ever job he has had, Edwards not a great CV (except for being Scott’s mate) and Watling has hardly had a glittering career, so we seem to be assembling a coaching team of failures, be afraid be very afraid 😱.
Come on BORO.
Maybe the Publicity Department at MFC (I hesitate to use the phrase "public relations" as that might suggest an element of professionalism) is on holiday at present? Unless someone informs the cleaners what is going on, and then encourages the cleaners to put out the information on their FaceBook pages, the great unwashed Boro-supporting public will have to wait until the Publicity Department returns from its holiday in Magaluf, before anything further is heard on the "management front".
Apparently Rob Edwards now to be announced on Monday - or the "coming days" or maybe later...
A new name mentioned as backroom staff with Watling in Adi Viveash? Yes him?
According to EFL Analysis, after retiring from playing in 2007, Viveash took up his first role in management with Cirencester Town. He then enjoyed several successful years with Chelsea, acting as their U18 and U21 manager before departing in 2017.
He then joined Coventry City as assistant manager to Mark Robins in July 2017, where he helped bring about two promotions in three seasons. The 55-year-old went on to leave the Sky Blues in July 2024, just over a year after he had signed a new four-year contract.
No mention of Beale in that though, maybe he's already been dismissed...
I think while Michael Beale has failed as a manager, he’s done quite well as an assistant/first team coach. It was certainly notable how poorly Steven Gerrard did as a manager without Beale by his side, compared to the two of them together.
I don’t know Watling at all but have some hope for the prospective coaching team.
It’s the quality and of the playing team and the atmosphere within it that I’m more worried about.
As has already been mentioned is it seems the whole coaching team has been thrown together and they will also have to learn to work together - plus hopefully they get on with each other too!
What began as tragedy has now descended into farce with Gazette reporters the only ones contracted to keep a straight face.