Southgate Sets Out Long Term Plan

Gareth Southgate has his eyes set on a long term plan at Middlesbrough FC and insists he is'nt using Middlesbrough as a stepping stone.

The Boro boss today read out to every member of staff and players a mission statement stating what he wants achieve and what he expects from them.

Southgate stated, “I’m thinking long-term, I’m not using this as a stepping stone for something else."

“When the players came back we wanted to set the tone for how the club’s going to run this year and beyond."

“I felt that too many times over the first two years of my management I had to compromise principles because we had to make short-term decisions on certain players."

“The speed of change had to be very delicately managed because if you change things too quickly you can have huge problems."

“Lots of things about the way we work I didn’t necessarily approve of, but also you learn as you go along what works and what doesn’t."

“Certainly the principles and values we have as a club I wanted to set in stone."

“It’s a special club because of the stability, we’ve got an English owner who comes from the town who’s thinking long-term and I’m very much thinking long-term. Now is the process of putting the work in place.”

"We wanted to remind the players what this club stands for both on the pitch and in the community," he said.

"We wanted to remind them what they are capable of doing, both in terms of what they have done already and what they can go on to do.

"Players want to be challenged. If they don't, then they are not just at the wrong football club, they are in the wrong job.

"We are a club that wants to be in Europe and that is where we are setting our aims again. That's where we want to go."

"I'm really excited about this year," he said. "There is a tremendous energy and ambition among this group of players to achieve things.

"There's a good feel about the place and lots of good things going on. I know there's so much more to come from these players.

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We have a longer term view about what we want to do. We want to bring players in who we can develop. That will allow them to buy in to what we want to do.