The Head Coach Thread.

["KM" 1,656]

Looks like the entire coaching set up will be announced next week too. If what SDS has said is true then we are in for a long few years in the Championship folks. 

[Will 2,958]

Just now, GwenStuani said:

3.4% of the population are black.

IIRC , at the time we had Powell, Ince, Hughton, Ramsey and I've probably missed one or two.

There is a distinct lack of black officials however, but that's probably not sought after tbf.

The Rooney rule is for Black and Multi Ethnic, which make up a significantly higher proportion of the population. 

 

I also dont don’t think the ones you’ve named were all in management at the same time.

[Downsouth 6,328]

Based on what is being speculated and discussed clearly there is one thing to consider very carefully in that the club is broke and who knows sliding down a slippery slope finance wise.

If all we can afford is Woodgate then so be it but if his remit is to maintain Championship status with probably zero money for transfers, and to be honest I do not think there will be a lot of other clubs going for many of our players, then the club have openly declared this situation. If things go Pete Tong early doors then Woodgate and Gibson will receive so much flack it would make Tony Pulis's reign a golden period by comparison.

The club, despite other rhetoric to the case obviously knew about this situation and that is what galls me more because we could have done more last season to ensure the chance of the play off's. That 6 game run of defeats will turn out to be a pivotal period in our recent history.

With regards to the Black/ethnic minority conversation my position is simple, the best man available (perhaps not in our case) should get the job.

In time I hope more will be seen coming through and from lower divisions to interview stages of the bigger clubs. 

[boro_fan_in_brum 604]

57 minutes ago, D.Z. said:

I'm a ***.

Can well imagine.  Have a lovely day

[Denzel Zanzibar 6,972]

Just now, boro_fan_in_brum said:

Can well imagine.  Have a lovely day

You too ?

[jamesp 125]

Why have the club gone through a full interview process if they know they are skint and it was going to be woodgate anyway? Was it just another way to try to deceive fans?

["KM" 1,656]

Does appear like the Gazette have turned into the club’s PR Machine again. Embarrassing. They’ve made it so obvious in recent weeks that the job is Woodgate’s yet they continuously dismiss that they already know when asked by fans on Twitter. 

[J.T. 640]

https://www.gazettelive.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/middlesbrough-expect-name-boss-coaching-16396908.amp?__twitter_impression=true

 

This article makes me feel physically sick. It is exactly what many of us predicted from the start. 

 

A lot of of us knew the club/Gazette (same difference) would come out at the end of this process spouting a load of rubbish about how they looked everywhere for a new manager and that Woodgate was the best man for the job. Low and behold, a few days before the appointment is due, these exact words are being used by the Gazette. 

 

Do the club think our fans are thick? Do they think we can’t see through the bull-***? Just be honest with us. It would make it much easier to get behind the club if they were. I am completely fed up of Gibson and co thinking they can manipulate the fans with the aid of the Gazette. 

[wilsoncgp 9,283]

On the Rooney Rule, I have held the similar views as D.Z. for some time. Don't get me wrong, implicit racism is a problem and I couldn't be more for stamping out inequalities in our society whether that be for skin colour, race, disabilities, sex, gender, etc. But there is one black manager who I've followed in regards to this particular subject that throws concerns my way over whether this is the right way to do things; Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink.

He's not had a successful managerial career, arguably less so than say Paul Ince who does think lack of representation has caused his lack of managerial jobs (which is arguable, given the trajectory his career went on). And yet when he went to Burton, he pretty much said exactly as I felt. He would want to be called because he's the right person, not because of the Rooney Rule. Like D.Z. alluded to, there is the potential there for black managers to come to the table simply because of the colour of their skin. Is that really progress?

Perhaps I'm too much of an idealist, I'd like to think there are better ways we can tackle racism in order to educate those who make those decisions so they actually judge potential interview candidates on their merit. Enforcing a rule like this feels like it creates this awkward situation where interviewer and interviewee may be thinking in the back of their minds that this situation has only occurred because of the colour of the candidate's skin, even in those situations when it actually isn't. Like Jimmy says, that's not what he wants.

[estonpidge 1,449]

11 minutes ago, jamesp said:

Why have the club gone through a full interview process if they know they are skint and it was going to be woodgate anyway? Was it just another way to try to deceive fans?

Don't they have to go through the process to comply with employment law?

[LinoJo3 3,191]

I’m still not buying it, however that gazette article sounds like a compilation of last weeks posts on here, it even says ‘ducks in a row’ haha.

 

[wilsoncgp 9,283]

28 minutes ago, jamesp said:

genuainly hope it blows up for Gibson and we go down. Nothing more than we deserve

[Downsouth 6,328]

Sadly we are getting just what we deserve and that is the simple truth of the matter.

It is now up to us as individuals to either go or not go to Boro games, because the club will always have our hearts.

If things do go wrong which I hope does not happen then please do not expect a early sacking, cos Woodgate will have this job for quite sometime even perish the thought that we were to be relegated.

This is a real wake up call for us all

[TLF10 4,497]

@Jamie H. I don’t think JW was loyal to AK. I am not blaming him for the lack of loyalty but I get impression that JW and AK had a falling out based on what happened before and after the whole pre-Charlton game debacle. Whether it was linked to the Charlton game I don’t know.

If you recall JW actually retired the season we lost play off final but he then re-signed for a season due to Alex Baptiste suffering that bad knee injury. If I recall he said he was aware he would not play much but was ready if and when he might be needed during that season.

PROMOTION SEASON: During that promotion season JW said he was actually learning a lot from AK and his staff and also taking the young kids training sessions as he was working towards his coaching badges. All the signals were he would continue in a similar role during our PL season as he did the early parts of his coaching. He regularly praised AK training methods. I recall him actually saying “you could not get a better place to learn” when referring to fact he was doing his coaching badges in line with coaching under AK

SUMMER WE GOT PROMOTED TO PL:  JW rather suddenly leaves and rather randomly becomes Liverpool’s Spanish scout. I say random because few months prior he seemed keen to be cracking on with his coaching badges and learning under AK

AK LEAVES: Agnew becomes manager and within a week JW is back within the MFC coaching.

Therefore and I am just speculating here something happened between AK and JW for him to go from doing his coaching and praising the set up here under AK to suddenly leaving to become a Spanish scout to then returning as a coach within a week of AK leaving.

Btw I am not blaming JW for the above. It could easily have been AK fault for all we know but I found the sudden departure and return of JW rather strange given how highly he spoke of AK prior to it all. Not sure if any possible fall out between JW and AK was linked to the bad blood that seemed to exist between AK and Downing.

[Smokedsalmon 1,247]

The absolute meltdown on here man. He's not even been announced. If it gets to Christmas time and we're in a relegation battle I'll be amongst the first to get the pitchforks and torches out, but until then, how about we try and be positive?

I'm well aware that the last 2 seasons have been an absolute shambles and that has contributed to the negativity surrounding the club, but I can't remember the last time I went to a Boro game (home or away) with a half-decent atmosphere that wasn't just moaning and groaning. Get behind the team. It makes a difference. If people turn up day 1 of the next season and start kicking off if we happen to go 1-0 down then we just come across as bad as the barcodes.