Given that few on here are very positive about another season under NW, and also acknowledging that he’s only likely to be here for one more season, who would you like to take over the Manager’s role?
Would McLaren be an option that was acceptable? How about Big Sam?
Who’s on your wish list?
Steve Bruce
only joking 🙃
Firstly I should say that I am positive about NW as he seems to me to be the best overall club manager that we have had in the last ten years at least. However, at his age one cannot count on much longer and even if he stays on as a Consultant/Adviser to SG, we will need another hands on manager. I wonder if SG will be tempted back to Woodgate with NW to oversee him? That would certainly set social media ablaze. Maybe even a move to bring back Southgate after England fail to win the Euros.
More in the realm of reality, how about Chris Wilder after he has had six months to charge his batteries. It would be the Sheffield United old boys club.
UTB
or how about Nuno now that he has left Wolves.
Never Fat Sam.
Looks like Gibson will go from an experienced manader to a rookie and vise verse. So I think the next one is a rookie one in turn.
Mind, we have had some good young managers in several cases. Like Big Jack.
During Gibson days, we have had McClaren, Karanka and Southgate (see where he is now). Even Woody could come good.
Ii is difficult to say who next. But I wish we could have Mogga once more or Southgate back. I even would take Woody with Warnock upstairs. I do not know many young candidates but there must be plenty out there.
Thank you Martin for opening the debate. Up the Boro!
Fat Sam would be a step too far for me, I’m afraid and as much as I think NW could help Woodgate in the job, I think he’d struggle to get the fans onside.
An interesting topic but one where it is difficult to come up with a choice given we do not know how long NW's tenure will last (I have already said not long if the team continues to play like it did for most of the latter part of last season and with crowds back in grounds) and who will be available when he does leave.
Some of the names already mentioned, Lampard, Wilder etc look as though they may already be with new clubs before the start of the new season.
It is probably easier to pick who you would not want and for me that includes SA and JW. The former because of the type of football he tends to serve up and the latter because he is still on a steep learning curve and the majority of fans would just not accept him. 😎
Perhaps we should take the comment that next season will be Neil Warnock's last as a manager with a pinch of salt. I noticed as far back as 2008, when Warnock was placed in charge of Palace he stated that that would be his last managerial role in football.
He left Palace at the end of January 2010 after they were placed into administration but then actually took over at QPR a few months later in March and gained promotion to the PL the following season. However, he left the hoops in January 2012 after a string of eight game without a win left them just one point and one place above the relegation zone, blaming the delayed take-over and financial restrictions.
Warnock announced he had spent a long time in the game and was now going to spend time with his family and friends. Though he actually took over at Leeds a month later but only lasted just over a year at Elland Road after a run of bad results ended their play-off challenge leaving his team in mid-table but only 5 points off a relegation place in a tight table.
He was back in football the following year after returning to Palace to take over from Tony Pulis but was dismissed after the club fell into the bottom three after another bad run of results. He then re-joined QPR again but as first team advisor but ended up back in temporary charge as manager.
Warnock was then appointed manager at struggling Rotherham in February 2016, who had dropped into the bottom three but he succeeded in keeping them up with an unbeaten run of eleven games including the manager-of-the-month award for March. At the end of the season he announced that he wanted one more year managing in the Championship with Rotherham but didn't agree terms with the club. He subsequently took over at Cardiff in October instead, where he won promotion with them in his second season but they struggled in the PL and came straight back down - with Warnock being dismissed in November 2019 after a home defeat to Bristol left them in 14th place.
As we know, he replaced Woodgate in June 2020 after a Covid-affected season with eight game remaining saw Boro only outside the bottom three on goal difference. He says he now wants one more season managing in front of supporters and would like to go out on a high with a shot at promotion. OK, he'll be 73 in December and he may mean it this time - but I suspect football is a drug for Warnock that may be a hard habit to kick while he's physically still able to do the job.
There are no signs of him slowing down and he even shrugged off Covid last year - perhaps he's got his eye on being the oldest PL manager ever the following season beating Roy Hodgson's 73 years and 42 days record. Though if Joe Biden can handle the more demanding role of running the US at 78, he may have a few more years yet left in the tank!
Nuno signed a contract for three years a few months ago at Wolves, I believe he has struggled with being apart from his family, and the parting was strongly linked to that fact. So I believe he will be disappearing abroad to be with his family.
Potential New Managers Contd
One of our greatest captains has just retired from football.
As well as Sunderland, Leadbitter is a legend on Teesside too where he spent seven years of his career, captaining the Boro to promotion in 2016 under Aitor Karanka.
Leadbitter may yet to decide to play on but should he decide to hang his boots up he's already started his coaching badges and discussed on the official Sunderland AFC Unfiltered podcast that youth/academy coaching was something that particularly interested him.
Maintaining close relationships with many people at Rockliffe, including academy boss Craig Liddle and U23 manager Graeme Lee, it's not beyond the realms of possibility that Leadbitter one day returns to Boro in that kind of capacity.
Alternatively he could work with the current managerial team learning the ropes whilst he obtains his coaching badges and becomes the first team coach bringing success to the Boro
OFB
he'd be a real inspiration to the U-18s and U-23s whilst learning his coaching ropes.
Another potential Boro Manager?
JUST two days after telling wife Claire that he was retiring as a player, Lee Cattermole was in Belfast beginning his Uefa B Licence.
“I went straight over to Northern Ireland and got fully engrossed,” he tells TGG. “I hardly slept for the 12 days, I was just thinking about my ideas.”
The former Sunderland midfielder had long harboured ambitions of becoming a coach and manager, he just hadn’t expected the journey to begin so soon.
A couple of months earlier he’d started for VVV Venlo against PSV Eindhoven in the Eredivisie, performing impressively in a 1-1 draw. He was enjoying life in Holland, liked the style of football there and hoped to play on for another year. But then Covid struck.
The Eredivisie season was suspended on March 12th and Holland locked down three days later. By then the Cattermoles had packed up their belongings and returned to the North East.
“I’d joined Venlo in September (2019) and missed pre-season and felt I was playing catch-up after that,” he says. "I wanted to have a full pre-season and have a really big season over in the Eredivisie.
“It’s a shame that didn’t happen, but you have to adapt and keep moving forward. Going into coaching was something I’d always wanted to do. I was planning to do my badges the year later, but because of Covid I ended up getting in touch with the all the FAs and Northern Ireland actually had a B Licence course two days after I’d told my missus I was finishing playing.”
The 33-year-old is now well into his A Licence and has been coaching on a voluntary basis at Middlesbrough’s Academy since last October. Next season he'll be working full-time at the club where he himself began his career, predominantly with the 15s and 16s.
At first, former coaches didn’t believe Cattermole when he told them he was retiring from playing at the age of 31.
“Most players have this idea of playing to 35, but I got to a point where I thought, ‘just be brave and make the decision you think is right.’ And I’ve not looked back.
“I’ve absolutely loved the transition into coaching and haven’t regretted it for a second. Some of the coaches I’d worked with had a chuckle when I told them and said, ‘you’ll be putting your boots back on soon,’ but I’ve really enjoyed it.”
Cattermole made his Premier League debut for Boro at the age of 17 - and in a Tyne-Tees derby as well. The experience would have overwhelmed many teenagers, but the combative midfielder thrived and was man-of-the-match in a 2-2 draw against Newcastle.
Soon he became a regular and is the the youngest player to have captained the side, at just 18. For 13 seasons he lived the high-pressure, high-profile life of an elite-level footballer. Not that he'll be harking back to his playing career when he talks to his players though.
"I'm not someone who wants to count how many games I played and shout about it," he insists.
“I’m not interested in that one bit. It’s not only about my career as a coach now, it’s about the careers of the players I’m working with too.
“They’ve only got one opportunity and I don’t want to do them a disservice. I really want to give them the best chance and the best information I can. I feel I’m back to school now, back to the start.
"I need to know I can improve players, not only with the style of play, but individually. Being in and around the Academy gives me less pressure and also the opportunity to really learn my trade. The way you engage them is by trying to improve them and that’s what I aim to do."
This determination to look forwards instead of talking about his playing career is evident throughout our chat. There were highs and low during his time with Sunderland, the club he's synonymous with, and many of them were captured in the Netflix series Sunderland Till I Die.
“I had some wonderful times at Sunderland and remember good and bad throughout my career,” he says. “I remember us beating Chelsea on a Saturday and then Everton on a Wednesday one season and the noise was such that the referee couldn’t hear himself talking to the linesmen. They’re the things you need to remember.”
What lessons did he take from his latter years, when the Black Cats dropped down the divisions from Premier League to League One? They haven't managed to climb up again yet.
“Somebody told me I played with 155 players in 10 seasons, which is averaging more than 15 a season,” he says. “It was difficult to keep reinventing the environment, getting the togetherness.
"We tended to finish seasons strong, lose players and then have to rebuild it. And trust is huge within a dressing room - you need to trust each other and the staff as well.
I’ve used that and will have learned from stuff I’ve seen, good and bad.”
Cattermole has been blown away by the number of people who have offered help and advice as he begins his coaching journey. One of them was the legendary youth developer Dave Parnaby, who was Boro's Academy Manager for 20 years and oversaw the development of a golden generation of players including Cattermole and Stewart Downing.
“Dave is someone I’ve reconnected with and used as a sounding board,” Cattermole says. "He gave me some great information and platforms to use and advised me to look back on my own experiences as a player and think about how different coaches had affected me.
“Dave’s given a lot of his life to Middlesbrough’s Academy and he still likes to keep an eye on what’s going on. I bump into him at some of the U23 games and it’s always an education to talk to him about football and coaching.”
The Academy has changed a lot since the midfielder was coming through.
“With EPPP, they are giving the boys the best of everything, with analysis, individual development plans, S&C coaches, nutritionists,” he says. “There’s a brilliant holistic approach and what the lads need to do is bring an attitude to make the most of that and to learn and to improve.”
There has also been an evolution in learning and leadership, much of which he welcomes.
“The thing with the first-team environment, in my experience, is that you get told what to do but not always why,” he says. “I think it’s important to give the why, particularly in development. That’s why we try to explain things.
“I put on sessions where the players come across situations they would in a game and have to figure out what to do. It’s problem solving. It could be zoning areas of the pitch and restricting the right back and right midfielder to play in that area and create an overload, or playing 2 v 1.
“If they’re struggling, you can give them a couple of options, but more often than not they work it out for themselves. That’s why session design is really important.
"It’s the same with analysis. I give the players scenarios. What would you do in this situation? How would the opposition respond? What would you do then?
Fortunately, the Academy has a lot of experienced coaches around who Cattermole can bounce ideas off, including Head of Coaching Phil Shead.
“I’m constantly thinking about how I communicate with the players and Phil is great at giving ideas and feedback. Am I giving them too much information? Or not enough?
“Communication is so important. Things like not pulling players to talk to in a group session, because that means 14 others are standing around waiting. Working in blocks and having a chat with a player during a drinks break is better, because you're not interrupting the session and the learning."
After going on holiday this month - a novelty for any recently-retired player - Cattermole will be back with the U15s and U16s in August. He can’t wait to get started with them.
And what about his long-term ambitions?
“Initially I thought I wouldn’t want to work with kids, because I was so intense and the professional environment is so impatient,” he admits, "but I've loved it.
“Ultimately, I do want to work in first-team football, as a coach or manager. I love that driving factor, that intense atmosphere, but I’m just soaking up all the learning and experience I can at the moment.”
OFB
As a famous tennis player said (on numerous occasions) “You can’t be serious” same as Leadbitter, next you will be proposing Downing.
Come on Boro.
I don’t think OFB was actually suggesting that Lee Cattermole should be a future Boro manager, but merely asking the question. And there was no suggestion that Grant Leadbitter or Stewart Downing should be considered either, but the story of Cattermole was worth writing. But exMiill appears to have an unfortunate brusque attitude in questioning some articles with the odd sarcastic comment, and I always thought it was I who had occasional Victor Meldrum tendencies.
Ken Smith: I suggest you read the opening line of OFB post regarding Lee Cattermole, I thought the subject was future Boro potential managers. As for your “quote” that Leadbitter was not suggested as a future Boro potential I suggest you read OFB post of May 28 @ 10:34 especially the last paragraph.
Ken, I admit I have a straightforward approach to writing comments and this is not the first time you have mentioned it, so if you don’t like them, don’t read them, just walk on by.
Come on BORO.
why have a go at Ken?
This forum has always taken pride at being non confrontational and there is really no need for it!
my opening line was
Another potential Boro Manager?
note the question mark as an interrogative for discussion and the post was only for information for those interested in what was happening behind the scenes at Rockliffe.
OFB
Maybe it’s the heat 😉. I’m sure we’re all friends on here really - bring on the season so we’ve definitely got something to agree on.
OFB: You seem very blinkered if you think my post is having a go at Ken yet his post is not having a go at me !
Come on BORO.
Surprising though it may seem to some, I thought that Cattermole came across very well in his interview. I hadn't realised that he has already been working with our Academy for a while. He was always a whole-hearted player who, at least in my opinion, had a better skillset and passing vision than he was often given credit for. I can see him being a good role model for the youngsters as he works his way upwards and as for the future........who knows.
Keep well everyone as 'freedom' arrives in the UK. Here in Sydney we're going through a mini-Covid crisis. We're actually hitting round 100 cases a day (shock horror) and everyone's getting quite excited about it. We're on lockdown for another two weeks.
UTB
Any news on the Streaming yet?
Bahrain still on the red list and we are down to 100 a day from 3,000 a day but the Boro bar is back in business!!
Watched the England match and it felt like a Boro match.
Best wishes to all on freedom day - even though Boris is locked up, they always bend the rules for the big wigs - Harry and the funeral, Gove and the trade trip and of course Handc*ck in the lift.
Take care everyone on this auspicious day.
Any news on the Streaming yet?
Bahrain still on the red list and we are down to 100 a day from 3,000 a day but the Boro bar is back in business!!
Watched the England match and it felt like a Boro match.
Best wishes to all on freedom day - even though Boris is locked up, they always bend the rules for the big wigs - Harry and the funeral, Gove and the trade trip and of course Handc*ck in the lift.
Take care everyone on this auspicious day.
The irony of Boris being locked up on "Freedom Day" with cases soaring just beggars belief. Apparently cases are rising rapidly in the teens/twenties age groups and no doubt after the Football, Tennis and Silverstone will continue to rise as Night Clubs now reopen.
I'm all for getting back to normal as Covid has personally cost me dearly but surely Boris should have eased the clutch out gently whilst accelerating, waiting for the biting point. We all know what happens when you let the clutch out too quick.
To get this back on topic, Catts wouldn't immediately spring to mind as someone who I think would be a great Manager but if he is doing his badges and learning the ropes then with his grit and determination who knows? It is very rarely top class ex Players make the most successful Managers and usually it's the mediocre or even non descript ex Players who succeed.
It's a shame that GS has declared that he wishes to stay on at least until the next World Cup is over.
Whilst I am not in favour of going back to old boys, he is one who I thought was unfairly treated by being entrusted with a job too early and then sacked when we were still in with a shout of promotion.
He has developed and learned a lot since then so I for one would be happy to see him back at the Riverside as Manager; after all he can't do any worse than some of the recent appointments. 😎
Ps nothing on streaming so far Allan, I trawl the website daily despite saying to Mrs P at the end of last season I might not renew given the dross that was being served up and some of the spin about the performances! 😎