So, Woodgate has indeed been sacked. Something had to be done. The only surprise is that something actually has been done.
Neil Warnock replaces him with immediate effect, but there is no word as yet as to whether this is a permanent or temporary appointment.
Wow, just got back in from an appointment, I wasn't expecting to see Woodgate sacked so soon after the restart - I'll digest the news while I have a coffee break...
Thank God, we have no nonsense, tough guy Neil Warnock. He will sort them out. I guess the appointment will be till the end of the season.
Bloody hell. It had to be done.
I have sympathy for Woodgate. He was handed a hospital pass but no one is going to say no when you get offered a chance to manage your home town club.
There is a stench of systemic failure at MFC. Has been since the appointment of Southgate. Occasional positive moments have been overwhelmed by it.
I think Warnock has enough about him to keep us out of the bottom three because, if nothing else, the shock may fire up the players.
I would imagine that Warnock’s ability as a proven man-manager will be paramount in the effort to preserve the clubs Championship status. At least SG has bitten the bullet and made a decision. Hopefully it won’t be too late.
I agree with that, Deleriad. Last summer, the club was in as poor a position as it has been in any time during Steve Gibson's chairmanship. All the more reason to find a steady hand to guide the team through what was always going to be a difficult season. Woodgate should never have been appointed but could not turn the opportunity down. The responsibility lies higher in the hierarchy.
That said, Woodgate has achieved nothing in terms of out-preforming the club's prospects. Indeed, we have somehow managed to underachieve from a pretty low base.
I have railed against some of the more personal and unnecessary criticism Woodgate has suffered and wanted him to succeed. The Christmas period gave real hope that the club was heading in the right direction but it proved to be a cruel reverse-blip.
Like Steve Gibson it seems, to see us come back with a fully fit squad after three months' preparation and put in THAT performance on Saturday, was too much for me. He had to go, though I'm surprised that he actually has.
Warnock? My immediate reaction is: Good appointment, but I hope its only until the end of the season. That said, I mentioned earlier the need for a steady hand to guide us through a difficult period. This period will undoubtedly continue into next year, so maybe a longer deal, whilst not obviously appealing, would be the right move for the club at this point.
‘Bloody hell, didn’t see that coming’, has been the reaction from my family and friends. Nor me.
I’m glad SG has acted swiftly and has brought in someone with the necessary experience and nous. If Warnock performs as he usually does, then we should at least be safe. But if we thought Pulisball was boring........ Still, I’ll settle for boring if it keeps us up.
But whether this is a short or longer-term appointment - and Warnock has retired once already, so I don’t expect it to be for too long - I just hope SG has learned his lesson this time. Enough of the in-house, inexperienced rookies, thank you very much. Please let us run with proven quality managers from now on.
Due to the change in manager challenge entries already submitted can be amended as I will not record them until Friday night but if you change Boro prediction don’t forget to amend the opposition if they are in the 8.
Come on BORO.
Just a thought on the Covid-19 implications on hiring a 71-year old manager who in theory should according to government advice be limiting his social contact with people. Let's hope the players can at least shield him from criticism...
@exmil I can't recall if I managed to enter Part 1. If I did I will enter part 2 for a bit of fun. Do you know? Thanks, Andy.
@werdermouth Funnily enough I was also thinking about recent off-field developments, and wondered how the immediate appointment of Warnock falls in line with the Rooney Rule?
Well hello again, friends. I was alerted to the "New Diasboro" by a message I think Jarkko sent to me and Untypical Boro, which I quickly scanned before accidentlly doing something technical (maybe "deleting it"?) so that I lost it as soon as I saw it. However, when I went to the old site the instructions to join the new Blog were simplicity itself, so HELLO EVERYBODY.
Three things (1) Pleased that Warnock is appointed. Not because I dream about his football but because he generally gets things working, and that's clearly not what we have been seeing for a while under Woody. No acrimony but clearly the club could not be allowed to hit the rocks AGAIN so something had to be done. Warnock was available, fits the bill, so why not? The odds of Championship survival have now grown, thank goodness.
(2) I know I have not visited Disaboro for a while. My fault. Just losing enthusiasm, really. To be fair to me, it seemed as though the players had recently been doing the same (with not a single home win yet, in 2020). Let's see if the change at the helm stirs things up on the field, and also encourages the supporters spread, as they are, across the world on on the interwebby. When I registered I saw there were already 4 pages of members in such a short time, maybe some encouraged by the change in Leadership at the Club and I smiled to see some of the old names there.
(3) Despite it all, and even before hearing this morning's news about Warnock, I yesterday renewed my ST again for next year. Must be a sign of madness or senility. Come on Boro!
I think the key word in the brief statement by the club was that they've hired an 'experienced' manager - and they don't come much more experienced than Warnock with almost 1,500 games managed and is now taking charge of his 17th club with Boro.
I figure Gibson saw the shambles on Saturday and realised Woodgate was not only without a paddle as the club headed down shit-creek but he was also missing the boat!
As I mentioned the other day, with this restarted season behind closed doors the games will come every three days, which leaves no time for Woody to try and work out a new plan or attempt to find his best team. So in the circumstance, someone like Warnock can hit the ground running and gain instant respect from the players that he knows what he is saying and says what he knows.
Whereas I suspect the players were probably beginning to wonder if Woodgate simply knows he has to say something but forgot to say what he actually knows.
Having said all that, he was the wrong appointment for what was already a difficult job after parachute payments ended - he came with big ideas but seeming left with probably no idea what to do next. Another manager leaves and will now become just another footnote with Monk and Agnew.
Anyway, that means more work as I'll now have to edit my new home page graphic of Boro managers at the Riverside to include Warnock...
Not only was Woodgate without a paddle or boat, he didn’t even have some bin liners to act as waders....
Haven’t quite got used to this new format, so I’m whistling in the dark a bit. I thought I’d posted something yesterday but it disappeared into the ether so I’m trying again.
The basic message yesterday was that I was resigned to a local derby with the Mackems as I couldn’t see JW keeping us up and felt it was too late for anyone else to come in and save us.
I do have a little sympathy with JW as he was given a poison chalice but SG had to do something following Saturday’s debacle.
Whether or not Warnock can pull of the miracle remains to be seen. For all our sakes, I hope he can as the alternative is going to be hard to bear.
Can't say I'm overly fond of Warncok, but at least he knows his footballing onions & is a safer pair of hands. Am mightily relieved that Woody's gone & that Gibbo dumped him in time to give Warnock a fighting chance of steering the Good Ship Boro away from the rocks that were looming large. The report from the Beeb:
timing is a big surprise, but Saturday was bad. it will be fascinating to see Warnock's first team selection.
I wonder how much insight Warnock has regarding the players at his disposal. Has he been looking behind the scenes or is he dropping in blind?
As BoroPhil says, it will be very interesting to see his first team selection.
@grovehillwallah Expect to see Britt selected on reputation - the very opposite of Robbie Mustoe in that respect who always had to work his way back into the team when managers changed.
@grovehillwallah Given all the coverage these days, stats and recordings of games he will hardly be blind if he does some homework.
It will be a bit like when TP arrived, we could all see that the first thing to do was shore up the defence and give the team a shape and structure to work to. If he can do that quickly then we may be able to eke out a few draws and the odd win or two to keep us up.
But don't forget this is the Boro we are discussing, so it is bound to go down to the wire and no doubt there will be a nail biting last match/day in store for us! CoB 😎
Can't say I'm overly fond of Warncok, but at least he knows his footballing onions & is a safer pair of hands. Am mightily relieved that Woody's gone & that Gibbo dumped him in time to give Warnock a fighting chance of steering the Good Ship Boro away from the rocks that were looming large. The report from the Beeb:
The spelling of Warnock's name was a genuine typo (typing dyslexia at its worst), but when I tried to edit it, I got a message saying it was too late & I couldn't! *shakes head*
Just to flag up that the league table for part one has been posted in the Exmil Challenge forum...
🔴 Sorry, this may be a pain but I edited this post instead of showing the table as I'm trying to encourage the concept of posting in the relevant thread so people get used to not just using the current most popular thread to add a post that belongs elsewhere - Werdermouth
I'd love to hear his first talk to the players! Can't believe he hasn't been watching DVD's of all of them in action so I'm sure he'll have an idea of where he's going with his first selection. Interesting times have got yet more interesting, but, I'm still worried although slightly more hopeful. there's going to be some interesting chats with the out of contract players.
Stay safe and UTB,
John
I think Warnock is probably the best possible choice for manager at the moment based on his track record, experience and no nonsense attitude, the kind of attitude the club needs after what appears to have been the pandering nepotism of recent years.
I only hope that the change of manager is not too late to save the club from relegation. Why it has taken Gibson so long to make the decision is beyond me when it has been obvious since the start of the season that Woodgate was completely out of his depth. It is no consolation that many of the contributors to this forum predicted what would happen when Woodgate’s name was first touted because the consequences could be catastrophic. The statement from the club about Woodgate's termination was very brief with little in the way of praise for his contribution just a terse expression of thanks. Maybe the powers that be realised that any fulsome praise would go down like a lead balloon with the fans when Woodgate’s only achievement has been to bring the club to the brink of League One.
I hope that Gibson is intending to keep Warnock as manager for next season even if the club is relegated because I think he is the perfect choice for a season in the Championship (fingers very much crossed) or a battling scrap in League One.
Werder, can I congratulate you on the new Diasboro.club. It is a terrific new home for all things Boro and you deserve everyone’s thanks for your effort and dedication to it.
Well I go out driving some NHS patients to hospital appointments and the world changes! Not only will I be able to go to the pub(should I so wish?) and have a haircut, Boro have yet another new manager!
whilst I pontificated that SG should get a DoF type person in, I never expected it to happen quite so quickly. For once, Mr Gibson would appear to taken the right action at the right time, guided by the results.
I presume it is only until the end of the season and I can’t work out if JW is still with the club - statement read that he was- but it gives us a fighting chance of staying up. If nothing else it will give the players a kick up the backside as I don’t think he will mince his words.
Team selection will be interesting on Saturday as to how we shape up and play. I had almost given up but have a bit more vim and vigour Boro wise now!
Werder, can I congratulate you on the new Diasboro.club. It is a terrific new home for all things Boro and you deserve everyone’s thanks for your effort and dedication to it.
Seconded
🔴 Although technically you should have both probably posted this under perhaps the 'Site Feedback' thread in the Announcements forum 🙂 but I'll let you off - Werdermouth