I had a long chat today with an ex member of MFC who left the club last year.
it was interesting to hear his thoughts on our managerial change.
He said “believe me Warnock was the only manager out there who could have saved the club from relegation.” He also said “
if they had backed him with signings then we could have been up at the top this season.
His final comment was “The allegations made by Warnock at his last press interview are all true!”
When asked about Chris Wilder he said
“A good appointment and a good fit for the club.”
We talked about other managerial candidates and sackings today. He thought Farke was not as good a fit as Wilder and said that Sheffield United played some good football the year that they finished 9th in the Premiership.
So an interesting chat and it made me look forward to seeing what Boro is going to do this season.
I also watched Chris Wilder video interview on Boro TV this afternoon and he came over well. He was also off to watch our u23 play later (we got stuffed 3 0 ) somethings never change!
UP THE BORO
OFB
Exactly, it’s like trading in an old car for a newer model.
I expect Leo to stay at least this season because there are other South American targets apparently to be signed in January. Leo acts on behalf of the Boro liaising with Agents and Clubs.
OFB
One word about a previous Manager
Talking to the ex MFC contact today he said Karanka would have gone a long time previously if it hadn’t been for his coach Steve Agnew.
OFB
Also what happens to Leo, will he be kept at the club as an interpreter?
Leo was there before Warnock. And most propably he will still be at the club in the future, too.
Upthe Boro!
“His final comment was “The allegations made by Warnock at his last press interview are all true!””
I’ve missed those allegations - what did he say?
I wonder if your contact raised the issues when he was still there. Whistleblowing is notoriously difficult, even more so in a close knit football club, I assume.
The more I read about Chris Wilder the more I like him, but I’ll be disappointed if fans and Diasborians get on his back if Boro don’t get off to a winning start straight away. He will need time but seems willing to also give youth it’s chance. As for Neil Warnock most of his players obviously liked him as did the journalists. His press conferences were a joy to listen to, unlike those of Tony Pulis who always seemed to have one foot outside the exit door. Give Warnock the keys to the door and he was potentially to football what Ken Dodd was to comedy. Nobody’s perfect and my main criticism of him was his regular hounding of referees and officials for whom he always seem to enjoy in some perverse sort of way.
As for his perceived criticism of Neil Bausor, the fact is that Steve Gibson has a multimillion pound company to run and can’t be expected to spend as much time as he probably would like on football matters, thus Bausor was if you like, in charge of the purse strings as OFB suggested still trying to unravel the financial mess that Garry Monk’s spending got the club into. This is probably one reason why Tony Pulis was appointed to get rid of some of our prized assets, not because of the transfer fees paid for players, but the extortionate salaries they were on. Similar to the struggle that Tony Mowbray had at the time especially with Scott McDonald. Most clubs in the Championship are recorded as having a lower budget than Boro, so one of Chris Wilder’s main tasks will to integrate some of the academy players into the first team but not all at once.
For what it’s worth I think that he is the right man for the job. He has friends in high places who know more than we do about how to manage a football club, so let’s give it a whirl, but let’s show some patience. If I can say that with my minimum time on earth, surely it’s not too much to ask of you comparatively young ‘uns.
Martim
if you can find the video interview that NW did post match at WBA it’s in there.
Perhaps one of us can find it??
OFB
We have to realistic as a club. We have been out of the PL for a good number of years now, excluding the one under Karanka. So as much as the fans believe we have a devine right to be in the EPL, alongside Sunderland et al, we are in reality a middling Championship club.
So Chris Wilder is not a bad punt, as they all are. As Werder said, a German Coach no has heard of was never going to happen.
I do feel sorry for NW and how his end came about. Not very nice especially as the rumour has been common knowledge for sometime. But that’s football. How many Managers have been sacked already and it is only just November.
At least NW will be able to enjoy his retirement a little more with the extra pension top up received from Mr Gibson.
As an aside, apparently, Boro have the fifth highest wage bill in the Championship. So still some biggish earners.
@ken Well said. I fully echo you. The more I read about him, the more I liked the appoinment. I also listened to his first interview as well the interview of Kieran Scott.
Looks like we finally have a long term plan and vision. The new manager plans to be here long term. A good appointment, me thinks.
Up the Boro!
That listing putting MFC at number 5 in terms of wage bill may well have been for the year just ended and the removal of some very high earners should have made a significant difference.
UTB
@selwynoz Let’s hope so. We need some wriggle room for January if we are to try and bring in an extra player or two. Mindful that we will be still paying for NW and his crew and now CW and his crew.
There cannot be much money around apart for maybe loanees.
One young left back on loan from the Premier League as Wilder has the connections. And then another Ikpeazu type striker. That's all we need, me thinks 😊.
Up the Boro!
No matter what people thought about NW I would say that the club handled his dismissal badly. The club said it was a mutual agreement but NW disagreed with that statement. You would think that at nearly 73 and many football achievements behind him that the club would have handled the situ much much better.
@malcolm. I have to agree Malcolm, from the outside it looks, again, to have been badly handled. No matter what discussions were had or not had behind the scenes, to learn of your impending departure via the press before your Chairman speaks to you does not reflect well on the club.
I have always held the view that NW should have been let go after he saved us from relegation but that didn't happen and whilst progress on the pitch has not been what many of us wished for you cannot criticise Neil for his commitment to the club, the players and the supporters and for seeing us through some unprecedented times.
Forgetting all his on field issues/antics, I think that praise for NW the man has been nicely summed up in Craig Johns article in the EG:
https://www.gazettelive.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/thank-you-neil-warnock-22093374
From me, thank you Neil for all you did whilst in charge during a very difficult period in the club's history and best wishes for a healthy, happy and long retirement (if you retire!). 😎
Obviously I don't know all the ins and outs but you can piece together a timeline from the outside. Warnock was an emergency appointment by Gibson who counts him as a friend.
Gibson has been trying for a while to put the club on a sustainable footing and wanting to be less hands-on. He decides to go back down the director of football route with Bausor as a chief exec. Scott is appointed to do the football, Bausor does the money. (I suspect that Bausor has been fancying himself as a chairman in all but name and getting more involved in the football side of recruitment and operations than he should.)
Gibson appears to believe that Warnock might get them in and around the playoffs if backed for another year. I suspect that Bausor didn't and Scott got caught in the crossfire.
Bausor (and possibly Scott) identify Wilder as someone who could replace Warnock immediately. Gibson would rather wait and trust Warnock while starting a new Karanka-like coach in the spring/summer. Bausor & Scott mount resistance and poor results on the pitch mean that Gibson can't hold the fort. With the clock ticking on Wilder and indifferent results on the pitch, Gibson agrees to let Warnock go.
Warnock has some justification for feeling aggrieved. Perhaps if the club had been 100% behind him he might have got better results. He possibly would have but his track-record in 2021 had been indifferent.
That's how it looks to me. The signals out of the club are that there has been a struggle for power between various factions and Warnock lost. I don't know if it is resolved but the club has been a mess since Charlton-gate so hopefully this is the end (or at least the beginning of the end) of that.
One media view and a good balanced read:
https://www.football365.com/news/opinion-chris-wilder-middlesbrough-perfect-match
Come on BORO.
Our new assistant manager is Alan Knil.
It was Knill who was the inspiration for the famous overlapping centre half tactic, which confused many teams along the way.
Struggling to break teams down in the early stages of the season in League One as opponents would often come to Bramall Lane and park the bus, Knill felt one way round that was to send a central defender forward to create an overlap for United to exploit.
He was also very popular at Sheffield United and taking charge of a lot of the day-to-day training.
Up the Boro!
We now have a new manager, who aligned with the head of football, will look to change fitness, training, strategy, recruitment, amount of injuries etc. Fans are going to have to be realistic in their expectations, it will not be overnight success, it will take time to fully alter the above, not only physically but mentally throughout the club.
The conceding of so many second half goals shows a lack of fitness, mentality, concentration and a will to give all for the club, saying that it was apparent in the WBA match but was that a one off, as they knew it was NW’s last game.
In my honest opinion it will take, not only the rest of this season, but possibly the whole of next season to get things fully in place. Fans always ask for SG to make a statement regarding a plan for the way ahead, but any knowledgeable fan can see now there is a plan in operation (such as the appointment of a head of football) things are changing at the club and I for one do not expect SG to come out and make a statement, look what happened the last time he did (we will try and smash the league).
I did not like the way the club handled NW’s departure and I will always be grateful to him for avoiding the drop to league 1 and spending the rest of my days battling Sunderland but we move on, hopefully to a better future giving SW years to achieve all our ambitions, stopping this manager revolving door mentality.
Come on BORO.
Thanks for that link, exmil. The article makes one hopeful for the future.... Chris Wilder has clearly done good work elsewhere before his stint at The Blades.
Onwards and, we hope, upwards!
Just a short report on the FA Cup 1st Round matches which too
@original-fat-bob. Or was he watching someone else with a view to January recruitment?
Given Spence is on a season long loan then I would be surprised if he is in CW's thoughts at present and the same for the others on loan who I believe are under Maddo's wing and he submits reports on their progress but I could be wrong about that.😎
@original-fat-bob. Or was he watching someone else with a view to January recruitment?
Given Spence is on a season long loan then I would be surprised if he is in CW's thoughts at present and the same for the others on loan who I believe are under Maddo's wing and he submits reports on their progress but I could be wrong about that.😎
It has been confirmed that Boro have a January recall clause in the Spence loan, that is why Forest fans are going mad on twitter 😂
Come on BORO.
@exmil. Thanks for that, I wasn’t aware of that and I thought it was for the season; perhaps CW should make use of it and see if he can get a better performance out of JS than NW did. 😎
Listening now (7pm to 8pm) to an hour's long interview with Neil Warnock by Alan Brazil (I know, I know....) on TalkSport. Recorded last week before the chop landed but after NW had broken the record number of league games managed in England.
One media view and a good balanced read:
https://www.football365.com/news/opinion-chris-wilder-middlesbrough-perfect-match
Come on BORO.
Curious journo who thinks "extinct" is a verb! *shakes head in disbelief*
Many great posts, everybody!
I was shocked when NW was dismissed, as I’d convinced myself it wasn’t going to happen any time soon. I’m also disappointed at the way it was handled, and feel sorry for Warnock. I genuinely liked him, even if I wasn’t overly impressed by his recent record with us. And he seemed to genuinely like Boro.
I’m not sure about Wilder. I hope he turns out to be as good as his record overall suggests, but I’m not convinced we will score many goals with him. I hope I’m wrong. But he’s the new boss and the new hope, so he gets my backing.
Now, if I were Barnsley, I might well take a punt on Warnock as the new manager there! Their recent experiments with Austrians haven’t proven very successful. Warnock knows the patch well and might just save them from a likely relegation. Besides, he’s managed just about everywhere else in South Yorkshire, so Barnsley seems a good fit. Personally, I hope he carries on and that he goes to Oakwell. Good luck to him, anyway.