NortonExile
Well-known member
He may be the messiah, and have helped saved us from bankruptcy and oblivion but sometimes Steve Gibson has been a very naughty boy.
Steve Gibson‘s reign can be split into almost two parts. The 20 years from 1986-2006, and the next 15 years up to present date. If Steve Gibson had gone away after the UEFA Cup final in 2006 then he would have a statue outside the stadium and be talked about on Teesside as the greatest Teessider that ever lived. But since then he has made many fans question his decisions and wonder if he is still the man to lead us. Many younger fans may also wonder what all the fuss is about as they will have grown up with us as a mid-table club. Older fans will acknowledge the great times but ultimately Boro begin Gibsons reign as a mid-table championship club with an average stadium and here we are years later with exactly the same scenario except with a top drawer training facility. Doom to Boom to Doom.
Here are some of Gibsons mistakes. What do you think has been his biggest and which has impacted the club the most?
1. Postponing the Blackburn game and having 3 points deducted.
In 1996 we were riding the crest of a wave. New stadium, top drawer players arriving, in the media spotlight, and weekly rumours of big name players coming in. Yet going into Christmas we are on a terrible run of form in the league and with a big game against another team near the bottom of the league in Blackburn Rovers coming up we are hit with a virus. Not ideal preparation for such a vital game. Can we get the fixture put off until we can put out a better team?
A recent thread discussed the full ins and outs of this but the fact remains Boro cancelled a game without speaking to the main decision makers, did not notify the other team and were subsequently deducted three points. This proves to be a costly error as come the final table, we are relegated due to the points deduction. Did heads roll? Were any Boro top brass punished? No, Gibson decided Keith Lamb took appropriate actions, blamed the FA and tried to contest the decision which at a huge cost was thrown out.
The effect is that we lost our three stars in Juninho, Ravanelli and Emerson within the next year. Rumours of players like Ince, Nadal, Roberto Carlos and Batistuta lined up to join had we stayed up will only ever remain guesswork.
2. Hiring Gareth Southgate
We had recently won a cup and completed our second successive year in Europe, culminating in reaching the UEFA Cup Final. Our profile at home and abroad had never been higher. Now was the time to attract a top drawer manager and begin a rebuild as our main stars Viduka, Hasselbaink, Southgate , Ehiogu, Mendieta etc were all almost 30+ and we needed to attract the new young stars. A huge job for even an experienced manager.
Steve Gibson decided to appoint an internal novice. He even had to fight to allow him to manage the club as Southgate had no coaching qualifications. Over time the other players who played alongside him and did not adjust to a team mate becoming their gaffer such as Parlour, Mendieta and Boateng all fell out with him and left. Poor recruitment of lightweight, half hearted individuals such as Didier Digard, Marvin Emnes, Justin Hoyte, Gary O’Neil, Julio Arca were recruited as well as the heavyweight Mido meant the squad got poorer and poorer in quality in each year of his reign. When we were relegated it was in extremely limp fashion with no battling or fight. And to top it off anyone who witnessed the Cardiff FA Cup debacle will remain angry. The day before Manchester Utd and Chelsea were put out meaning only Portsmouth remained from the Premier League. We could actually play at the new Wembley twice and win the FA Cup. WHAT AN OPPORTUNITY. Many of those who witnessed that performance would argue Southgate should have been sacked straight after the whistle and it remains the poorest performance, given the circumstances, I have ever seen from a Middlesbrough side.
3. January 2017 then hiring Steve Agnew
Eight years it took us to get back up. Where some clubs keep hold of their talent and try to return instantly we sold Downing, Tuncay, Hugh and Johnson by the end of Jan and seemed almost happy to return to a Lower level. After a couple of years stabilising the finances Boro hired Aitor Karanka and suddenly found cash down the back of the sofa for Downing, Nugent, Stuani and decided to give it a good go at getting up. To this point Aitor Karanka had stabled us and built a platform and ingrained his style in his first half season, reached the Play-Off Final in his first full season, gained promotion in his second and in the week before Christmas 2016 we beat Swansea City 3-0 at home and were 14th in the table. Going into Jan it was rumoured Aitor wanted the creativity of Bojan and Gerald Delafeau to help us improve our weakness of struggling to score goals. The recruitment team gave him Rudy Gestede, a Patrick Bamford who hadn’t played for two years, and Adlene Guedioura.
Aitor didn’t help himself with his reaction but it is no wonder he was miffed and his toys went out of the pram. The club had failed him in that transfer window and would pay the repercussions for a long time. When Aitor was sacked we needed an experienced head, someone who could motivate the team, someone like Terry Venables had done all those years ago. “We’re going with Agnew” is synonymous with our lack of fight going down. Gibson came on local radio and tried to defend his decision but it turned out exactly as most supporters expected. On what basis or notion did Gibson think Agnew would be the best person for the job?
4. The Teesside Tory
I don’t want to be political. Personally it doesn’t bother me but anyone can see why it would bother others. Middlesbrough, or Teesside in general is a Labour heartland and seen as area neglected by the Conservatives. For Steve Gibson to come out and use himself and the clubs fan base to win votes for the Tory party really felt like him turning his back on his background and becoming another rich man looking out for his own interests.
5. Stockton Mackems
I’m a Stockton lad myself. I went to school with almost everyone supporting Boro, bar a couple of the usual glory supporting Man Utd and Liverpool lads. There was one Mackey in my year. About three in the entire school. And after speaking with a lot of others my age it was similar in schools across Stockton and Billingham.
When discussing the supporter base and trying to promote that more local people supported the local club here more than anywhere else (a small minded view in my opinion), when it was pointed out that although Middlesbrough as a town is relatively small it does have a large catchment area from Hartlepool down to Thirsk. Gibson responded with “Most people in Stockton support Sunderland”. Middlesbrough FC is for Middlesbrough people. Not the best thing to say and a bit of a slap in the face for all those Stocktonians who have crossed the river for many years following the club.
6. Appointing Jonathan Woodgate
In April 2019 I, and many others, heard rumours Pulis was leaving and Woodgate would be the next manager. This was to the disgust of many as it felt like another cheap internal appointment. Again it was someone with no management experience. The guy did not have the best reputation with his conviction for racist assault in Leeds and his numerous sightings and attitude when out in Town over the years. He even had a reputation within the game with former players acknowledging he was thick as mince and the last person they expected to be manager. But surely with recent history on his side Gibson knew from past experience of Southgate and Agnew this appointment wouldn’t work. Even the clubs history of hiring legendary ex-players and having poor managers records (Murdoch, Maddren, Southgate, Mowbray) would count against him.
This is where many fans remain angry. A lot knew this was coming and expected it but were given hope when Steve Gibson said he would conduct a thorough worldwide search yet he came back from his exploring and still declared Woodgate to be the “outstanding candidate”. What possibly could this have been based on?
The result? Awful football, an embarrassing manager who made a fool out of the club in the media and post match interviews and who would almost certainly have taken the club into the third tier for the third time in our history had he remained in charge.
What are your opinions and do you have any more to add?
Steve Gibson‘s reign can be split into almost two parts. The 20 years from 1986-2006, and the next 15 years up to present date. If Steve Gibson had gone away after the UEFA Cup final in 2006 then he would have a statue outside the stadium and be talked about on Teesside as the greatest Teessider that ever lived. But since then he has made many fans question his decisions and wonder if he is still the man to lead us. Many younger fans may also wonder what all the fuss is about as they will have grown up with us as a mid-table club. Older fans will acknowledge the great times but ultimately Boro begin Gibsons reign as a mid-table championship club with an average stadium and here we are years later with exactly the same scenario except with a top drawer training facility. Doom to Boom to Doom.
Here are some of Gibsons mistakes. What do you think has been his biggest and which has impacted the club the most?
1. Postponing the Blackburn game and having 3 points deducted.
In 1996 we were riding the crest of a wave. New stadium, top drawer players arriving, in the media spotlight, and weekly rumours of big name players coming in. Yet going into Christmas we are on a terrible run of form in the league and with a big game against another team near the bottom of the league in Blackburn Rovers coming up we are hit with a virus. Not ideal preparation for such a vital game. Can we get the fixture put off until we can put out a better team?
A recent thread discussed the full ins and outs of this but the fact remains Boro cancelled a game without speaking to the main decision makers, did not notify the other team and were subsequently deducted three points. This proves to be a costly error as come the final table, we are relegated due to the points deduction. Did heads roll? Were any Boro top brass punished? No, Gibson decided Keith Lamb took appropriate actions, blamed the FA and tried to contest the decision which at a huge cost was thrown out.
The effect is that we lost our three stars in Juninho, Ravanelli and Emerson within the next year. Rumours of players like Ince, Nadal, Roberto Carlos and Batistuta lined up to join had we stayed up will only ever remain guesswork.
2. Hiring Gareth Southgate
We had recently won a cup and completed our second successive year in Europe, culminating in reaching the UEFA Cup Final. Our profile at home and abroad had never been higher. Now was the time to attract a top drawer manager and begin a rebuild as our main stars Viduka, Hasselbaink, Southgate , Ehiogu, Mendieta etc were all almost 30+ and we needed to attract the new young stars. A huge job for even an experienced manager.
Steve Gibson decided to appoint an internal novice. He even had to fight to allow him to manage the club as Southgate had no coaching qualifications. Over time the other players who played alongside him and did not adjust to a team mate becoming their gaffer such as Parlour, Mendieta and Boateng all fell out with him and left. Poor recruitment of lightweight, half hearted individuals such as Didier Digard, Marvin Emnes, Justin Hoyte, Gary O’Neil, Julio Arca were recruited as well as the heavyweight Mido meant the squad got poorer and poorer in quality in each year of his reign. When we were relegated it was in extremely limp fashion with no battling or fight. And to top it off anyone who witnessed the Cardiff FA Cup debacle will remain angry. The day before Manchester Utd and Chelsea were put out meaning only Portsmouth remained from the Premier League. We could actually play at the new Wembley twice and win the FA Cup. WHAT AN OPPORTUNITY. Many of those who witnessed that performance would argue Southgate should have been sacked straight after the whistle and it remains the poorest performance, given the circumstances, I have ever seen from a Middlesbrough side.
3. January 2017 then hiring Steve Agnew
Eight years it took us to get back up. Where some clubs keep hold of their talent and try to return instantly we sold Downing, Tuncay, Hugh and Johnson by the end of Jan and seemed almost happy to return to a Lower level. After a couple of years stabilising the finances Boro hired Aitor Karanka and suddenly found cash down the back of the sofa for Downing, Nugent, Stuani and decided to give it a good go at getting up. To this point Aitor Karanka had stabled us and built a platform and ingrained his style in his first half season, reached the Play-Off Final in his first full season, gained promotion in his second and in the week before Christmas 2016 we beat Swansea City 3-0 at home and were 14th in the table. Going into Jan it was rumoured Aitor wanted the creativity of Bojan and Gerald Delafeau to help us improve our weakness of struggling to score goals. The recruitment team gave him Rudy Gestede, a Patrick Bamford who hadn’t played for two years, and Adlene Guedioura.
Aitor didn’t help himself with his reaction but it is no wonder he was miffed and his toys went out of the pram. The club had failed him in that transfer window and would pay the repercussions for a long time. When Aitor was sacked we needed an experienced head, someone who could motivate the team, someone like Terry Venables had done all those years ago. “We’re going with Agnew” is synonymous with our lack of fight going down. Gibson came on local radio and tried to defend his decision but it turned out exactly as most supporters expected. On what basis or notion did Gibson think Agnew would be the best person for the job?
4. The Teesside Tory
I don’t want to be political. Personally it doesn’t bother me but anyone can see why it would bother others. Middlesbrough, or Teesside in general is a Labour heartland and seen as area neglected by the Conservatives. For Steve Gibson to come out and use himself and the clubs fan base to win votes for the Tory party really felt like him turning his back on his background and becoming another rich man looking out for his own interests.
5. Stockton Mackems
I’m a Stockton lad myself. I went to school with almost everyone supporting Boro, bar a couple of the usual glory supporting Man Utd and Liverpool lads. There was one Mackey in my year. About three in the entire school. And after speaking with a lot of others my age it was similar in schools across Stockton and Billingham.
When discussing the supporter base and trying to promote that more local people supported the local club here more than anywhere else (a small minded view in my opinion), when it was pointed out that although Middlesbrough as a town is relatively small it does have a large catchment area from Hartlepool down to Thirsk. Gibson responded with “Most people in Stockton support Sunderland”. Middlesbrough FC is for Middlesbrough people. Not the best thing to say and a bit of a slap in the face for all those Stocktonians who have crossed the river for many years following the club.
6. Appointing Jonathan Woodgate
In April 2019 I, and many others, heard rumours Pulis was leaving and Woodgate would be the next manager. This was to the disgust of many as it felt like another cheap internal appointment. Again it was someone with no management experience. The guy did not have the best reputation with his conviction for racist assault in Leeds and his numerous sightings and attitude when out in Town over the years. He even had a reputation within the game with former players acknowledging he was thick as mince and the last person they expected to be manager. But surely with recent history on his side Gibson knew from past experience of Southgate and Agnew this appointment wouldn’t work. Even the clubs history of hiring legendary ex-players and having poor managers records (Murdoch, Maddren, Southgate, Mowbray) would count against him.
This is where many fans remain angry. A lot knew this was coming and expected it but were given hope when Steve Gibson said he would conduct a thorough worldwide search yet he came back from his exploring and still declared Woodgate to be the “outstanding candidate”. What possibly could this have been based on?
The result? Awful football, an embarrassing manager who made a fool out of the club in the media and post match interviews and who would almost certainly have taken the club into the third tier for the third time in our history had he remained in charge.
What are your opinions and do you have any more to add?
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