(but if they did...)
Middlesbrough, after failing to unveil their new caretaker manger prior to kick off as announced, quickly fell behind to the in-form Swans, who continued to pepper the goal of a floundering Boro and would have been unhappy to go into the break with only the one goal advantage.
The Teessiders were a side transformed after the break, however, after a half-time visit from their new caretaker boss who had been stuck in traffic on the M5 on his way up from Cornwall.
“I’m still mates with Steve, even though he sacked me, and when he said did I want to tek the lads for the last four games I thought: ‘Aye, why not’. Justice has been done, really, because I see this as my team.” (Plus, I’m on a million quid bonus if we go up, he might have added).
With a half-time rollicking from their ex-boss and a tactical tweak to a flat back four, the North-east outfit bagged two early second-half goals, adding a third in the final minutes courtesy of substitute Aaron Connolly.
With Boro’s confidence restored, they went on to comfortably win their two remaining home games and a draw in their final fixture at Preston saw them sneak into the sixth play-off spot as other results went their way. Meanwhile, after having seen his former side fail to score in his final four games, Boro’s ex-manager had apparently transported his bad fortune across the Pennines to his new charges, who also failed to score under his tutelage, losing their last four games to be relegated. Wilder was subsequently charged with ‘bring the game into disrepute’ after headbutting a Skysports reporter who had asked him ‘Do you wish you’d stayed at Middlesbrough, Chris?
The upturn in Middlesbrough’s form and confidence was apparent in the first leg of the play-off semi-final against in-form Huddersfield, with the home team reversing the 0-2 scoreline of a few weeks before. A 1-1 draw in the away leg meant a Wembley trip for Warnock’s team, something which had seemed highly improbable a month before. There they would meet hot favourites Nottingham Forest.
Prior to the ‘World’s richest game’ there was controversy, however, as Forest begged Middlesbrough to allow their on-loan wing back Djed Spence to face the ‘team who didn’t want him" in the words of Forest manager, Steve Cooper. “What are you scared of?’ screamed the headlines in the local paper, but Boro Chairman, Steve Gibson, remained unmoved. “Show me the money,” was his terse reply.
24 hours before their Wembley showdown, Gibson would have his wish as the clubs announced a £18 million pre-contract, agreeing a transfer fee for Spence should Forest be promoted, and enabling the England under-21 player to play. "I know it’s a gamble,” said Gibson, “but their taunts of ‘chicken’ got to me. Teessiders are never scared.”
Spence would play a central role in the outcome of the final when 14 minutes in, riled by Boro fans’ constant barracking, he committed a wild out-of-control tackle on Marcus Tavernier, which brought a straight red card. Taking control of the game against their ten-man opponents, Boro pressed and probed, but it was not until the 73rd minute that they got their noses in front, when local lad Dael Fry rose highest from a corner and planted a bullet header past the Forest keeper.
Super-sub Duncan Watmore and another local lad Josh Coburn would add late goals against the tiring Trees, and immediately after the game Boro announced that their new manager for their Premiership return was the highly-rated young German manager Klaus Hotzhot, who, unbeknownst to the team, had been watching from the Wembley stands.
Last word, however, belonged to Boro’s 73 year old caretaker, who only a couple of months before had announced his ‘final’ retirement from the game’.
“Folk didn’t believe me when I said at t' start a’t' season Ah’d one more promotion in me. But it just goes to show there’s life in’t' old dog yet!”
Boro’s day was complete when it was announced Djed Spence had been sold to Bayern Munich for £25 million.
Middlesbrough, after failing to unveil their new caretaker manger prior to kick off as announced, quickly fell behind to the in-form Swans, who continued to pepper the goal of a floundering Boro and would have been unhappy to go into the break with only the one goal advantage.
The Teessiders were a side transformed after the break, however, after a half-time visit from their new caretaker boss who had been stuck in traffic on the M5 on his way up from Cornwall.
“I’m still mates with Steve, even though he sacked me, and when he said did I want to tek the lads for the last four games I thought: ‘Aye, why not’. Justice has been done, really, because I see this as my team.” (Plus, I’m on a million quid bonus if we go up, he might have added).
With a half-time rollicking from their ex-boss and a tactical tweak to a flat back four, the North-east outfit bagged two early second-half goals, adding a third in the final minutes courtesy of substitute Aaron Connolly.
With Boro’s confidence restored, they went on to comfortably win their two remaining home games and a draw in their final fixture at Preston saw them sneak into the sixth play-off spot as other results went their way. Meanwhile, after having seen his former side fail to score in his final four games, Boro’s ex-manager had apparently transported his bad fortune across the Pennines to his new charges, who also failed to score under his tutelage, losing their last four games to be relegated. Wilder was subsequently charged with ‘bring the game into disrepute’ after headbutting a Skysports reporter who had asked him ‘Do you wish you’d stayed at Middlesbrough, Chris?
The upturn in Middlesbrough’s form and confidence was apparent in the first leg of the play-off semi-final against in-form Huddersfield, with the home team reversing the 0-2 scoreline of a few weeks before. A 1-1 draw in the away leg meant a Wembley trip for Warnock’s team, something which had seemed highly improbable a month before. There they would meet hot favourites Nottingham Forest.
Prior to the ‘World’s richest game’ there was controversy, however, as Forest begged Middlesbrough to allow their on-loan wing back Djed Spence to face the ‘team who didn’t want him" in the words of Forest manager, Steve Cooper. “What are you scared of?’ screamed the headlines in the local paper, but Boro Chairman, Steve Gibson, remained unmoved. “Show me the money,” was his terse reply.
24 hours before their Wembley showdown, Gibson would have his wish as the clubs announced a £18 million pre-contract, agreeing a transfer fee for Spence should Forest be promoted, and enabling the England under-21 player to play. "I know it’s a gamble,” said Gibson, “but their taunts of ‘chicken’ got to me. Teessiders are never scared.”
Spence would play a central role in the outcome of the final when 14 minutes in, riled by Boro fans’ constant barracking, he committed a wild out-of-control tackle on Marcus Tavernier, which brought a straight red card. Taking control of the game against their ten-man opponents, Boro pressed and probed, but it was not until the 73rd minute that they got their noses in front, when local lad Dael Fry rose highest from a corner and planted a bullet header past the Forest keeper.
Super-sub Duncan Watmore and another local lad Josh Coburn would add late goals against the tiring Trees, and immediately after the game Boro announced that their new manager for their Premiership return was the highly-rated young German manager Klaus Hotzhot, who, unbeknownst to the team, had been watching from the Wembley stands.
Last word, however, belonged to Boro’s 73 year old caretaker, who only a couple of months before had announced his ‘final’ retirement from the game’.
“Folk didn’t believe me when I said at t' start a’t' season Ah’d one more promotion in me. But it just goes to show there’s life in’t' old dog yet!”
Boro’s day was complete when it was announced Djed Spence had been sold to Bayern Munich for £25 million.
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