Jonathan Woodgate, Boro through and through, has this morning been announced as the new manager of Middlesbrough Football Club.
When rumours about the appointment began to swirl several weeks ago, they were roundly condemned by a large majority of Boro supporters, many of whom used poorly informed and somewhat illogical arguments based on rumours from over a decade ago to do so.
However, following a four-week recess which saw the subsidence of immediate negative reactions, the development of rational debate and Woody’s continued presence as the leading contender for the job, attitudes towards a prospective Woodgate revolution have warmed.
Though pockets of resistance remain, namely in some quarters of the Gazette’s comments section and among anti-Gibson social media users, this mass shift towards pro-Woodgate positions bodes well for the future and will be vital if the appointment is to stand any chance of realising its huge potential.
It is a shift which is deserved, too, not just out of courtesy or purely because he is one of our own, but because it is grounded in reality.
For under Woodgate, an opportunity emerges to build on Pulis’ internal reforms, to synchronise the entire club under one youth-, passing- and development- oriented footballing philosophy and to move away from the ‘promotion or bust’ and ‘spend your way to success’ model of the past two seasons towards a fiscally-prudent, rough diamond-centred recruitment policy.
Doing so will facilitate a club ethos which will outlast individual managers and ensure more sustainable long-term development on and off the pitch. On the basis of the initial announcement, which mentions a desire to “develop a new identity”, and on what Woodgate himself said in his first interview, it seems likely that this is what the club intend to do
“We want to get fans on the edge of their seat. We want as many fans back in the stadium as we can by playing attacking, exciting football with high pressure, pressing in different areas. I’m not just talking about gung-ho, I’m talking about players running the extra yard, knowing when to press, how to press and I’m looking to bring kids through the system and that’s really important for this football club.”
“In the last few years we’ve maybe gone away from doing that, but I know every player from the Under-12s to Under-23s to first team level and I know what they can do. I won’t be frightened to put a young player in and the fans can start connecting with them, because they have a hunger and a desire to learn and go forward.”
With experience working within recruitment from his time as a scout and analyst with Liverpool during the 2016/17 season, good contacts from his reputation, his playing career and his post-playing career and respect from Boro’s current playing squad as a figure of authority thanks to his time as club captain and as first-team coach under Agnew and Pulis and as an individual well-known and well-liked within the club and the academy with a positive footballing philosophy (just look at his, Neil Maddison and Curtis Fleming’s testimony), Woody is an insider who possesses all the tools and attributes to lead a new-look, spectator-entertaining MFC to success.
After all, the club’s most successful and influential managers have often been those given time and patience to make widescale changes, regardless of limited managerial experience. Think Charlton, Rioch and Robson, even McClaren and Karanka.
These managers may not have always achieved the ultimate successes or ended their spells on Teesside in the best possible manner, but we certainly had fun along the way.
And that is exactly what Boro need right now.
Ever since everything began to go south for Aitor after Christmas 2016, undercurrents of division have existed within the fanbase. Although forced momentarily underground by post-Agnew and post-Monk optimism, these deep fault lines of opinion, widened by the vitriol and personal attacks of social media vitriol, have repeatedly re-emerged in ever more toxic forms − whether it be during the last few months of AK’s reign, from September onwards during the Monk era or throughout the entirety of last season under Tony Pulis.
Woodgate, and his backroom staff of Leo Percovich, Danny Coyne and Robbie Keane, have the pedigree, knowledge and footballing philosophy required to unite the supporters around a team which, as a blend of academy prospects and seasoned pros proud to play entertaining football for a badge they are committed to, makes our area proud.
Do that, and it’s likely that there will be a re-emergence of positivity, unison and hope for the future, regardless of financial constraints. However, continued success will require a conscious effort from supporters to resist the temptation to over-react and make ‘told you so’-type comments as soon as results go slightly awry. Remaining patient and continuing to back the team with gusto is far more important than getting a few likes on Twitter or a thousand views on Boro Fan TV.
At the end of the day, a loud and passionate Riverside atmosphere and positive, attack-oriented football is what will be most enjoyable as a Boro fan next season, especially after the one that has just gone. As such, success should not be placed as far ahead of enjoyment as it was under Pulis. That applies to us as fans as well as those in the dugout and boardroom.
Similarly, we do not possess a God-given right or a neo-Erastian entitlement to be a Premier League club. Only if we shake off this quasi-nationalistic baggage can we thrive as a football club which represents and entertains the people from whom it originated and to whom its future belongs.
To those who say appointing Woody lacks ambition, I ask what is more ambitious than going against the grain and doing the opposite of what is expected in pursuit of sustainable long-term success by placing trust in a relatively inexperienced, but nonetheless well-qualified, Boro lad?
He deserves to be backed. Let’s go and do it.
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