Neil Warnock’s 41-year career in management could well be over following his sacking as Middlesbrough manager.
Warnock was shown the door to make way for former Sheffield United boss Chris Wilder.
If Warnock does retire, it will have hardly been the most fitting way to finish a remarkable career.
Having learned of his fate via a leak to MailOnline on Saturday morning just days after celebrating his 1,602nd match as a manager, the most of any Englishman in history, his side put in a fairly drab performance to draw 1-1 away at West Brom.
“They’ll get someone in now and give him the players I should have had six months ago,” Warnock said dejectedly after the game. “I understand they want to look beyond this season, but I think if I’d have had the full support in the summer we could have done it this season.”
The result, however, was a fitting encapsulation of why his time on Teesside has come to an end.
Middlesbrough initially showed promise, creating several chances in the first half and opening the scoring six minutes before half-time.
But they couldn’t hold onto their lead and were up against it for much of the rest of the game, conceding in the 65th minute to Grady Diangana.
Inconsistency and a failure to build on good results has become a theme of Warnock’s side in recent months and, in a sense, Boro’s opener reflected the team he envisioned creating at the Riverside.
Former Sunderland winger Duncan Watmore jinking his way into the box and laying the ball off for lanky 18 year-old Josh Coburn to rifle home.
Coburn is one of several promising academy graduates – like full-back Williams Kokolo and wingers Isaiah Jones and Jeremy Sivi – who have been gradually bedded into the senior squad, while senior pros with experience in English football – see Sol Bamba, Grant Hall and Matt Crooks – have been the focus of Warnock’s transfer policy.
His approach to recruitment, however, has been out of step with the club’s since the arrival of new sporting director Kieran Scott in September.
Boro have shifted their focus to Europe, Africa and South America: the signings of Slovenian international Andraz Sporar from Sporting Lisbon, Cameroonian midfielder James Lea Siliki from Stade Rennais and hotshot Martin Payero from Argentina were clearly not Warnock’s.
It is significant that it was Scott who was pictured with Wilder at his unveiling, not chairman Steve Gibson or chief executive Neil Bausor as has been the norm previously.
Form and philosophy therefore explain why he was swiftly deposed as soon as Boro knew Wilder was interested, with the idea being that a more dynamic on- and off-field approach will better align with the club’s long-term vision.
Such is life in modern football, where there is little room for sentiment even for a legend of the game like Warnock.
from Football – inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/31J48xZ
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