Maybe it didn't even say Anderson. I'll have to find the picture now...
Stans nowhere near ... the bulk of his team morphed into Jacks formidable team and Stan brought Souness into the club... Stan tried hard but always in the top 8 but never a promotionKnow nothing about him as a manager, but tempted to say Stan Anderson solely because of the existence of a photo of my dad holding a copy of the Gazette with the headline "Anderson Quits" with the biggest grin you could imagine across his face.
I love that photo.
And even then, after all that analysis, it's still Raich Carter.Difficult because you need to think of it in relative terms: given their resources who made the worst job of it. So, although Woodgate was on track to get us relegated to the third tier, he was handed a hospital pass with no support as his first senior role. He has since shown that he is probably an ok to mediocre manager but a really good support coach.
On the other hand, Pulis inherited the best (if imbalanced) squad in the Championship and failed to get us promoted. Arguably, Pulis did a relatively worse job than Woodgate.
Strachan inherited a decent squad that was probably capable of promotion but was demoralised. A decent manager would probably have got us promoted; he actually destroyed any chance of that.
Robson was given almost unlimited money but still managed to get us relegated and lose every final he made it to. Then again he got us promoted twice. He pretty much played on Cheat mode and still didn't win.
Southgate, like Woodgate, got a hospital pass. Each season was worse than the previous but, in hindsight, he probably did better than he had any right to.
In the Riverside era, I think I have to plump for Strachan simply for the sheer misery of what we went through under him. Woodgate's appointment was almost a catastrophe but the fault doesn't solely lie with him; he was the Bobby Murdoch of his day. Likewise, Southgate's appointment was absolutely the wrong decision at the time.
I think while many of the comments are justified, I doin't agree with the "letting" Queudrue and Schwarzer leave bits, they were at the end of their contracts and clearly wanted to move on. Didn't Franck leave in the summer Southgate took over also? I think we pretty much knew at the UEFA cup final that it was Franck's last matchReflecting more on it, I am having nightmarish flashbacks to relegation under Southgate.
Truth be told, other than the 8-1, I didn't particularly enjoy his tenure.
On the old board I used to regularly trash him and perhaps his England success has affected my memories.
Selling Cattermole and Morrison go for a combined 5 million. Replacing them with Digard and O'neil for a combined 9 million.
Letting Boateng go, letting Rochemback when we had the OPTION OF ANOTHER YEAR. Replacing them with???? ???? Digard also???
Letting 3 central midfielders with a 500 odd games of premier league experience between them go for an injury prone young French midfielder.
Alves seemed to thrive off his connection with Rochemback yet he was allowed to leave. Stewey was moved into the middle at one point but prior to that was whipping balls in to sail over Alves head while Tuncay was 30 yards back in midfield helping out whoever we'd managed to field. Usually Matty Bates, Shawky, an injury prone Arca or poor young Josh Walker.
Persisting with Justin Hoyte.
Letting Quedrue leave and thinking Andrew 'one gear' Taylor was good enough to replace him.
Letting Schwarzer go and have Jones and Turnbull 'battle it out' for number 1 spot. How as a former centre half did he think that would work?
Marlon King. Shawky. Why were these players ever playing premier league football for Middlesbrough?
We didn't have as much cash but the cash he did spent was done so badly and seemingly without strategy.
He just wasn't ready and I think Gibson is as much to blame as he is but there's no get out. He was the manager and he should've been making it clear to Gibson that the team will go down unless we give a few lads an extra 2 year deal or find a replacement. That's part of his job.
People say he let players he'd played with go because he didn't feel he could manage their ego's or whatever. Then why bring a known muppet like Mido in?
Viduka replaced with Aliadiere, give me strength.
Not the worst but right up Strachan's behind in second place in my lifetime.
That said, I LOVE Gareth Southgate and I'm immensely proud of the connection he had/has with our club.
Cattermole was an utter todd and we decided to cash in on Morrison to go for players with more potential.Reflecting more on it, I am having nightmarish flashbacks to relegation under Southgate.
Truth be told, other than the 8-1, I didn't particularly enjoy his tenure.
On the old board I used to regularly trash him and perhaps his England success has affected my memories.
Selling Cattermole and Morrison go for a combined 5 million. Replacing them with Digard and O'neil for a combined 9 million.
Boateng was on decent wages and we clawed £1m backLetting Boateng go, letting Rochemback when we had the OPTION OF ANOTHER YEAR. Replacing them with???? ???? Digard also???
Was he injury prone befor Cattermole knacked him?Letting 3 central midfielders with a 500 odd games of premier league experience between them go for an injury prone young French midfielder.
Alves should have been able to score without Rochenback tbf Downing was in the top five of prem assists. We were restricted in midfielder as we couldn’t buy any players in January!Alves seemed to thrive off his connection with Rochemback yet he was allowed to leave. Stewey was moved into the middle at one point but prior to that was whipping balls in to sail over Alves head while Tuncay was 30 yards back in midfield helping out whoever we'd managed to field. Usually Matty Bates, Shawky, an injury prone Arca or poor young Josh Walker.
He wasn’t that badPersisting with Justin Hoyte.
MoneyLetting Quedrue leave and thinking Andrew 'one gear' Taylor was good enough to replace him.
Again this was down to money. We missed out on the Liverpool keeper in the summer too.Letting Schwarzer go and have Jones and Turnbull 'battle it out' for number 1 spot. How as a former centre half did he think that would work?
Money, circumstanceMarlon King. Shawky. Why were these players ever playing premier league football for Middlesbrough?
Even with the benefit of hindsight you wouldn’t do any better (I’ve tried tbh)We didn't have as much cash but the cash he did spent was done so badly and seemingly without strategy.
Our hands we tied by the banks.. remember the worldwide financial crash?He just wasn't ready and I think Gibson is as much to blame as he is but there's no get out. He was the manager and he should've been making it clear to Gibson that the team will go down unless we give a few lads an extra 2 year deal or find a replacement. That's part of his job.
Cattermole was fighting in local pubs and being a complete knob.. Mido was a high maintenance footballerPeople say he let players he'd played with go because he didn't feel he could manage their ego's or whatever. Then why bring a known muppet like Mido in?
Highly rated.. how many games did visual play on £50k a week?Viduka replaced with Aliadiere, give me strength.
Monk and Pulis are right behind for me.. Wilder snapping at their heels with a worse record.Not the worst but right up Strachan's behind in second place in my lifetime.
One of our best manager in recent years.. many didn’t realise it at the time and still can’t understand!That said, I LOVE Gareth Southgate and I'm immensely proud of the connection he had/has with our club.
Net spend of £2m there Newy. So no money brought in. Wages probably lower though.Selling Cattermole £3.5m & Morrison £1.5m and replacing with Digard £4m & Aliadiere £2m
Selling Young £6m and replacing with Hoyte £3m
Selling Yakubu £11.5m replacing with Alves £12.5m
Replacing Mark Viduka (free) with Tuncay Sanli (free)
Replacing George Boateng £1m with Gary O’Neil £4m
They were all done to bring money in and to reduce costs!
Wages were WAY down plus there’s loads of other bits and bobs like the Gary O’Neil £1m to Portsmouth after 100 games which we didn’t pay and transfer deals being disclosed over transfer fees.. ie wages, bonuses etc being included along with the fees.Net spend of £2m there Newy. So no money brought in. Wages probably lower though.
(If my mental arithmetic is up to scratch).
Why was he playing fullbacks as midfielders? Because we didn’t have enough midfielder.. we couldn’t buy any! We sold lots of players, let players go at the end of their contracts.. all with a view to bringing more money. Everything was done to bring more money in!
Selling Cattermole & Morrison and replacing with Digard & Aliadiere
Selling Young and replacing with Hoyte
Selling Yakubu replacing with Alves
Shwartzer gone replaced with Turnbull/Jones
We just didn’t have the money to sustain the UEFA cup challenging team.. not enough fans turned up either. All that stuff about the fans getting the team they deserve or whatever was said was about that.
The banks pulled the rug from under us on a numbers of occasions. We couldn’t sell Downing to Spurs because they wouldn’t let us spend money on players. We missed out on Matic and Watson.. because the money wasn’t there.
3 points separated us from relegation and survival. I honestly thing if we’d been able to get a midfielder in January.. that would have been the difference.
Southgate was ahead of his time with a lot of things.. but unfortunately our recruitment was not there with him and the financial climate certainly wasn’t there to support him
In other words players move on you strapped for cash and instead of smart buys you spunk it on dross. Not in a million years would an experienced manager like allaerdyce redknapp dyche or warnock would have bought the dross we did given the same budget. There are no excuses for Southgate he was fúcking terribleCattermole was an utter todd and we decided to cash in on Morrison to go for players with more potential.
Boateng was on decent wages and we clawed £1m back
Was he injury prone befor Cattermole knacked him?
Alves should have been able to score without Rochenback tbf Downing was in the top five of prem assists. We were restricted in midfielder as we couldn’t buy any players in January!
He wasn’t that bad
Money
Again this was down to money. We missed out on the Liverpool keeper in the summer too.
Money, circumstance
Even with the benefit of hindsight you wouldn’t do any better (I’ve tried tbh)
Our hands we tied by the banks.. remember the worldwide financial crash?
Cattermole was fighting in local pubs and being a complete knob.. Mido was a high maintenance footballer
Highly rated.. how many games did visual play on £50k a week?
Monk and Pulis are right behind for me.. Wilder snapping at their heels with a worse record.
One of our best manager in recent years.. many didn’t realise it at the time and still can’t understand!
In other words players move on you strapped for cash and instead of smart buys you spunk it on dross. Not in a million years would an experienced manager like allaerdyce redknapp dyche or warnock would have bought the dross we did given the same budget. There are no excuses for Southgate he was fúcking terrible