Sad end to Strachan’s time at Middlesbrough

Gordon Strachan is a fiery, single-minded and aggressive character. He was a fine footballer and has achieved some success as a manager, most notably with Celtic.

Loved

He has never been widely loved as a manager, even by the clubs he has managed. Even at Celtic, many of the fans felt he simply reaped the benefit of what Martin O’Neill had created and then gradually dismantled it.

To an outsider he is often good entertainment as his media interviews are always worth watching. Some examples of his interview style are;

Interviewer: In what areas do you think they were better than you today?
Strachan: Well, that big green one out there for a start.

Interviewer: You’ve won the game and gone top of the table. You must be very pleased.
Strachan: Wow, you can read me like a book.

Interviewer: Gordon, can I have a quick word?
Strachan: Yes. Velocity.

Interviewer: Do you think you’re the right man for the job?
Strachan: No, I’m rubbish. They should have gone for Graeme Souness.

It is all very entertaining, but fans of clubs want results, not laughs.

Relegation

When Strachan took the job of managing Middlesbrough in October 2009, they were one point behind the leaders in the Championship following relegation from the Premier League in the previous season. His task was as simple as it was difficult. Get the club back into the Premier League.

On his appointment, Strachan said,

“I don’t need to be here and I don’t have to be here. I’m here because I want to be here. When I left Celtic I told everyone close to me that it would be very difficult for me to retrace my steps in terms of the excitement there. I felt I had to do something different. I have a chance of something different here.”

Lowest

A year later, with the team sitting in twentieth place in the Championship, their lowest position for twenty years and with a record of just thirteen wins from forty-six games, Strachan has now resigned.

Middlesbrough Chairman Steve Gibson said.

“He offered his resignation but not only that, in doing so, he tore up his contract. He sought no compensation and walked away from the club with empty hands and it’s a measure of the man. Gordon would be the first to admit that things haven’t turned out as we’d have hoped. We’ve had some long, hard very honest discussions in the last month, and today Gordon met with me, we had a long discussion and during that debate he offered his resignation, and I accepted it. He’s a man of massive integrity, very hard-working, cared deeply for this football club. We asked him to do a huge job, I know he gave his best and sometimes circumstances happen where it just doesn’t work. I like him enormously, but it hasn’t worked and we had to face up to it.”

The final straw for Strachan and Gibson was Middlesbrough’s 2-1 defeat at home to Leeds at the weekend, their sixth defeat in the first eleven games this season.

Spine

Strachan’s tenure at Middlesbrough has not been a happy one. He added a Scottish spine to the team, bringing in Stephen McManus, Barry Robson, Willo Flood and Scott McDonald from former club Celtic, and Aberdeen forward Lee Miller. Results were not great however, in that first season, and they missed out on the play-offs.

In the Summer Strachan turned to Scotland again to bring in Kris Boyd and Kevin Thomson. Once again, results have been largely disappointing.

There has been a slightly pointless argument going on about whether the failure of the Scottish players means that the Championship is a better league than the SPL. It is pointless because a majority of the players Strachan has signed were struggling to establish a regular first team place at their clubs. Even Kris Boyd, despite his goals, was rarely played in the big games by successive managers of both Rangers and Scotland.

Disappointing

The disappointing results and performances, together with dwindling crowds, have led to calls for Strachan to leave. A recent poll in a local newspaper resulted in 80% of people saying that they wanted him to go.

In the end Gordon Strachan had no choice but to resign. He has had a torrid time at Middlesbrough but he still has a lot to offer. It would be a shame if this was the last we saw of him for a while.