By Anthony Crewdson
A wet and blustery Wednesday evening at Middlesbrough’s Riverside Stadium saw two of the Championship’s relegation threatened sides face off against each other. The game was settled in the 54th minute with a goal by Boro’s Ashley Fletcher and left Barnsley rooted to the foot of the division. The result gave the Teesider’s their first win in 11 matches and only their third in 18. Boro now sit in twentieth place in the 23 team division.
The win was watched by just over 18,000 spectators, in a barely half-full stadium, and a far cry from the hostile atmosphere which will greet Boro when they play their near neighbours Leeds United at Elland Road over the weekend. The game will see the return to Leeds of Boro’s manager, Jonathan Woodgate.
The Teesider represented the whites on more than 100 occasions between 1998-2003. A commanding, and graceful, centre-back, Woodgate was part of a young crop of players to come through Leeds’ much feited academy including Harry Kewell, Paul Robinson, Ian Harte and Gary Kelly. He was part of the side which reached the 2001 Champions League Semi-Final before the club imploded off the pitch, financially, and was relegated to the Championship at the end of the 2003/04 season. But only after Woodgate was sold to Newcastle for £9 million in January 2003 in an effort to stave off ever mounting debts accrued by Leeds’ then chairman, Peter Ridsdale, who notoriously chased the dream before reality bit hard.
Woodgate’s career at Leeds was not only hampered by injury but also blighted by his involvement in an attack on a student in Leeds City Centre in January 2000. Woodgate was found guilty of affray and sentenced to 100 hours of community service. His return to Elland Road and the scene of so many wonderful European nights will, no doubt, bring back a lot of memories but Woodgate’s sole concern right now is with taking his hometown team up the table. The rookie manager, appointed at the start of the season, has struggled to impose himself on a talented squad of players and rumblings of discontent have begun to accompany their patchy form.
So what has gone wrong? Boro have struggled to score goals and only four other teams have scored fewer than Boro’s 17 league goals. In addition, Woodgate took over a squad that lost several important players, Martin Braithwaite, Stewart Downing, Aden Flint and John Obi Mikel, while loan duo Jordan Hugill and Mo Besic returned to their clubs. The players to come in over the summer were signed for relatively modest fees, with the exception of Dutch full-back Anfernee Dijksteel, signed for a fee in excess of £2m from newly promoted Division 1 side Charlton Athletic, and mainly from Football League clubs in lower Divisions. But to lose four forward players without an adequate replacement seemed short-sighted and is proving costly. Britt Curtis Assombalonga remains, however, and the Congolese striker, signed from Nottingham Forest for £15m in July 2017, will be hoping to add to his tally of 6 goals for the season.
Woodgate has certainly had to work with a limited budget, that much is clear. All a far cry from the £66m spent attempting to win immediate promotion following relegation to the Championship in 2017. The club’s gamble failed and they were subsequently beaten in the play-off semi-finals. Despite this, the manager was still able to retain a number of key figures with no little quality, however; ex-Leeds midfielders Johnny Howson and Adam Clayton, experienced defenders in Daniel Ayala and George Friend as well as Ireland international goalkeeper, Darren Rudolph. The general perception is of a team which has underperformed to a large extent. Confidence and morale are evidently low and several players are out of contract at the end of the season.
Woodgate, Middlesbrough born and bred and the former Boro academy coach, retains the good will of the Riverside faithful but some have questioned his decision to bring in assistant head coach Robbie Keane, a former teammate at Leeds, in his first senior coaching role at club level and first team coach Leo Percovich, more akin to coaching goalkeepers. Woodgate has rejected this notion and alluded to speaking to his many contacts within the game, where necessary, in an effort to canvass opinion and seek advice.
Woodgate cut his teeth as a player at Leeds under a similarly young manager in David O’Leary and as he returns to the club which nurtured his talents he will be hoping his Boro side give a good account of themselves. It would be nice if his team were able to present Woodgate in a good light and take something from a difficult fixture. It will be interesting to see if Woodgate can turn Boro’s season around but first he must pit his wits against Marcelo Bielsa, an incongruous pairing indeed.
