Yes I’ve just seen that he’s the bookies’ odds-on favourite for Celtic.
Chris Wilder was second on the list....
Finding the right manager to lead a football team appears to be more of a random process than perhaps it is in other organisations. I sometimes wonder what the thought process of chairmen and club owners are when they appoint someone - perhaps they should just employ an experienced football person to carry out the process or indeed appoint a director of football.
Though in general football is probably too chaotic for any manager to succeed in delivering as building a team has become a season-by-season activity, where everyone is at the mercy of an overheated market. As I mentioned earlier, Warnock brought in 11 players this season and may well do the same next season. Before football became a sport driven by money, clubs would normally only make a few signings each season - whereas now the trend is to operate a revolving door policy with recruitment - unless of course you've overfilled those players wallets and they no longer can pass through that door.
It seems there are two alternatives being pursued in a bid for instant success - spend big to acquire the best available talent or bring in a manager who specialises in stopping the opposition on a budget. In theory, building from within and coaching players through the ranks would be a more sensible model and perhaps Boro have the academy in place to achieve that. Far better to source promising talent at an affordable level than constantly gamble on players who add millions to their price-tag after one above average season.
Though you still need a manager who knows what he's doing and is prepared to stick around to build a team - preferably one that also plays football that the supporters will be looking forward to watching. Neil Warnock and his methods are as much of a short-term fix as spending big to blow away the opposition - neither are a sustainable way to play football.
Andy's suggestion of Eddie Howe sounded a good shout but sounds like he may be off to Glasgow. Boro need to put in the structure to match their facilities, academy and ambition and that would mean a DoF to oversee the footballing aspects and a good technical manager (head coach) who can develop the team into one that can play all parts of the game and not just the stopping the opposition from playing bit. Leeds found such a manager in Bielsa and had confidence in their project and and are now seeing the rewards, which has even seen Patrick Bamford becoming one of the PL's leading strikers!
Glad to see you back Werder. Whilst you’ve been away I’ve been writing short pen pictures of mainly past Boro players and what is noticeable is that not only managers but indeed players very rarely stay with a club for more than a few seasons nowadays. In fact since the Second World War only Bob Dennison (almost 8 years), Stan Anderson (almost 7 years), and Bryan Robson (7 years) have stayed for any significant period of time with Boro. Gone are the days when the likes of Alex Ferguson 27 years, Arsene Wenger 22 years or Dario Grade 24 years with Crewe, stayed for any length of time. It’s the same with players with only George Friend (8 years at Boro) being the only recent player to a have made anywhere near 300 appearances for Boro. In fact 30 players have made over 300 appearances for Boro and another 19 making over 25 appearances. I guess it’s a sign of the times that the modern day player will stay with one club for the rest of his life, partly due to the abolition of the minimum wage and the Bosnam ruling. In my view it’s imperative to hang on to our star academy players instead of signing Championship hasbeens. The recent debuts of Connor Malley and
continued
Josh Coburn have been a breath of fresh air and a fillip to other academy players. I understand to a certain extent with Neil Warnock’s reluctance to play too many of them all at once in the first team, but one or two at a time even as substitutes would enable them to learn from their elder statesmen. Sending players out on loan is fine for short periods but these lads are chomping at the bit now and perhaps we should accommodate more of them in the second part of next season.
Thanks Ken, yes it seems longevity is a dying breed - I suspect the Bosman ruling and the introduction of finite contracts gave players a decision to make and indeed forced clubs to sell players with value before their contracts ended and left on a free. Not that Boro have worked that one out in recent times or perhaps paid the price of giving average players inflated contracts that they couldn't get elsewhere.
I guess it's also a function of the high turnover of managers, who inevitably start their tenure already under pressure to keep their job and subsequently are keen to bring in their own players rather than risking taking time to coach their methods into existing ones. Though strangely both Warnock and Pulis seemed to do better before they brought in their own players, which may tell a story of the perception of the grass not always being greener on the other side of the transfer window.
Although, it seems managers never quite seem to get the 'right' players who are better than what they had. Neil Warnock is now about to embark on recruiting a new strike-force that will deliver the goals he's been lacking. However, his recent talking out loud in the press has claimed he'll only be looking around the £3m price-tag, which is unlikely to bring that Ivan Toney type he's been enviously coveting that guarantees an end product. Maybe one or two of those youngsters could prove they are potentially beyond that price range if given the opportunity to improve.
Unfortunately, £3m seemingly is the price of the best available from a limited pool of talent if we view that in terms of how he rated Chuba Akpom. Besides any player available on that budget is unlikely to be the Premier League quality that will keep him in the team should Warnock actually pull off that one last promotion bid. The odds are that many of the next batch of new signings will fall below the mark and not fire Boro to promotion and will be earmarked for replacement. It's the way of football that perhaps finding the right players has become the art of serendipity - you probably don't need a good manager as much as a lucky one!
So does Neil Warnock feel lucky? I'm afraid he hasn't made my day so far...
correction
In Boro’s long history 30 players have made more than 300 appearances, and another 19 have made more than 250 appearances, not 25 appearances as I forgot to amend.
My point of course being that it is unlikely that in the future that any player will stay with a club for more than 6 years, and that we shall never see again a player spending his whole career with the same club as Tim Williamson did with 602 appearances and more recently Gordon Jones with 532 for Boro, and not forgetting the amazing career of Guisborough born James Coppinger who will retire this weekend having spent 17 years as a player with Doncaster Rovers and having made 688 appearances, a career total of 809 counting his early years on loan to Nottingham Forrest which is even more than Stanley Matthews did and he played when he was 50 years old.
I've probably seen a few Boro players over the years who have looked like they were 50 when they played...
This is the first chance I've had to look in on the blog this week and it's great to see Werder back in full swing and that Andy has penned a magnificent opener.
The trials and tribulations of this season had left me somewhat weary. Empty stands with zero atmosphere, toxic or otherwise didn't help with the total apathy especially in the light of the pandemic.
Five years ago today I was at the Riverside watching Gashed Shin Ramirez and the after match celebrations. I captured a brilliant photo of Adomah celebrating in front of the North Stand, then thousands of fans including my youngest lad (who had been warned by me pre KO not to run onto the pitch) celebrating with Grant. How times and fortunes have changed.
Yes, times have certainly changed - actually I was just looking at when we started Diasboro back in January 2017, Boro had just drawn against Leicester in the PL to go 16th on 19 points - sadly the next 18 games in the top flight saw Boro pick up just nine more with only that one win against fellow relegated rivals Sunderland and a paltry ten goals scored after that Foxes game. Six managers in four years have yet to revive our fortunes as Karanka, Agnew, Monk, Pulis, Woodgate and now Warnock have so far all failed to solve that ongoing problem in front of goal.
2020-21: 55 from 45 games (Warnock)
2019-20: 48 from 46 (Woodgate, Warnock)
2018-19: 49 from 46 (Pulis)
2017-18: 67 from 46 (Monk, Pulis)
2016-17: 27 from 38 (Karanka, Agnew)
btw A quick tip on making an image that you upload visible in your post...
Click on the uploaded image link and then copy the url of the image and paste it into your post.
Kebano tweeted he won’t be able to play in the final game tomorrow and thanks the fans for their support during his time at the Boro
OFB
A very perceptive post, and on reflection, hurtful to any supporter who observes the football World in general and what trends are working, and which not working. As people who have experienced every type of manager, and then some, it was very foolish of the club, when enjoying a season in the Prem, to allow a plunge into despair before Xmass, followed by outright missbehaviour by a group of players, followed by sacking the manager who had got us there, followed by an outrageous and total no show as they slid out of the league, followed by more ruthless and unprofessional behaviour and open boasting of getting rid of the Manager. We were in a reasonable position, with 120 million basic, a decent team, getting some premier league experience, we could have easily have come down with our manager still knowing the champ league well, with money, and a Good chance of staying up, (we played some trash teams in the run in) some deep seated basic flaw at the heart of this club I think.
Please remember that the Championship season will be ending this lunchtime. So 12:30 BST kick-off time today, if you are interesred in the finale.
I will be watching the game, though. I hope we will win as I hope we will finish as high as possible in the league. A 3-1 win will do nicely.
Up the Boro!
Thanks Jarkko for the reminder ! To be truthful I’d forgotten the ko time was early today !
OFB
This has all the hallmarks and signs of the proverbial Boro banana skin.
Here's hoping Mr Warnock gets them fired up for a bullying and physical start not the 'after you, no, no I positively insist you try to score a worldie direct from a corner. This offer is only good for the first fifteen minutes then we'll start playing properly'.
Not an OFB 'Eyes in the sky'. I'm with Jarkko, Boro to win 3-1, however please see above for get-out clause.
All the best everyone.
UTB,
John
I honestly cannot see Boro scoring today, 0-1 defeat likely. Derby and Rotherham both to lose, and a must win game for Hartlepools. I even think that Cas will lose in RL Challenge Cup tonight, a miserable day all round in prospect for yours truly 😫. Maybe I should stay in bed!
35 mins gone - absolutely pathetic 0-2! 😎
Meanwhile elsewhere a magnificent controlled volley from Wing put Rotherham ahead, Bamford has scored his 15th Premier League goal of the season., and Harrison, not considered by Pulis to be good enough for the Championship, continues to shine in the top division, as he has all season.
Three footballers who have all found good form after escaping from the clutches of a succession of Riverside pragmatists, a trend that shows few signs of abating.
Patrick Roberts scores for Derby, a goal which keeps them up if the 2-1 score remains! 😎
The big question now is can Wycombe score another eleven? With 'Fergie time' they quite possibly could.
The only prediction about this game that I got right was that it wouldn't an 'eyes in the sky'.
UTB, whatever that means,
John
70 mins 0 shots on target against bottom team absolute #hite
Oh no! Cardiff have equalised with only a couple of minutes remaining.
Wouldn’t surprise me if Warnock doesn’t just walk away
OFB
This is the response I’ve received from Hodgy ! David Hodgson
He should after the last 10 games tbh.
And that’s the team, pretty much, that he thinks are good enough for next season? Done serious summer work to do #UTB
OFB
A shambles of a performance against the bottom team. Complete lack of professionalism when nothing at stake. If supporters had been present they’d have been booed off the pitch at half time and full time.
All in all, an average season which doesn’t give much confidence for a top 6 finish next season.
If NW thinks he’s got the bones of a good team only needing a few additions then he’s mistaken. He raves about some players who are decent Championship standard . Can’t think of any players getting in the top 3 or 4 teams in the Championship.
The real disappointment today is Rotherham, played 11 games in the last 30 days, losing lots of games by a single goal and then today, needing a win were 2 minutes away from achieving it. Their goal by Lewis Wing was outstanding - a bit like some of Rooney’s best.
Philip of Huddersfield
A nothing performance from a nothing team. I'm not sure if we ever managed two attacking passes in a row. It was a nothing game but the one thing you expect from a Warnock team is team spirit: players playing for each other and the manager. There was none of that.
We can't keep ripping it up and starting again but it's hard to see what there is to build on.
That has to go down as one of the most uninspiring and spiritless showings from a Boro side. There was absolutely nothing whatsoever to give any belief or reason for positivity regarding next season.
I can accept that Wycombe had nothing to lose and so played without fear but to not register an effort on target against a relegated side at Home is unacceptable. NW had a really good B+ 2020, saving us from relegation then having us chasing the Play Offs at the end of the year but 2021 has been a shocker of a D- variety.
The January incomings seemingly upset the balance and atmosphere within the squad. Unfit in the most part and pushing regulars to one side who previously had us knocking on the Play Off door we then ended up with a dysfunctional unbalanced rabble who took months to get fit and then underdelivered.
A seriously big question now has to be asked regarding the sense in continuing with the same management team who have screwed up so badly especially given the nature of the length of any new Players contracts and the known short term of the Managers tenure. What we saw today was the bare bones of a squad who have struggled for months with a minimum of ten new signings or loans required just to stand still. That is far too many new faces to gel and forge into a promotion chasing side, more so considering the abject failings over the last five months.
The likelihood of finishing nowhere again next season with a new Manager then taking over in twelve months time, inheriting a squad full of Warnock's signings/misfits fills me with dread based on what has transpired since January. There are of course lot's of excuses but that's precisely what they are, excuses and they have worn thin. extremely thin.