RELEGATION PUT LAST JOB ON BORO-D TIME
IT’S been 15 years since Gareth Southgate’s last stint in club management.
Southgate may have been England’s most successful manager since World Cup winner Sir Alf Ramsey, but he’s largely an unknown quantity at club level.
That hasn’t put off Manchester United chief Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who has identified the 53-year-old as his top target to replace Erik ten Hag this summer.
Southgate got the England job in 2016, having stepped up from the Under-21 role.
Before then, he had three years in charge of Middlesbrough, who were in the Premier League for most of his spell in the hot seat.
Boro had just lost Steve McClaren, who succeeded Sven Goran Eriksson as England boss following the 2006 World Cup.
Southgate, who had just retired as a player, was an influential figure in McClaren’s dressing room and was seen as a continuity choice.
Boro finished 12th in Southgate’s first season at the helm, eight points above the relegation zone.
The following campaign, 2007-08, was a disappointment, though.
While finishing just one place worse off, Middlesbrough accrued just 42 points and flirted with relegation.
However, it did end on a massive high as Southgate’s side walloped Manchester City 8-1 on the final day of the season.
The Teesside club went down the following season with just 32 points. Despite that, Southgate was retained by owner
Steve Gibson and given the chance to secure an immediate return to the top flight.
Boro made a reasonable start to the 2009-10 season and were in fourth place when Gibson pulled the trigger in October, claiming it was “hardest decision I’ve had to make in football”.
Gibson added: “Gareth has given Middlesbrough Football Club magnificent service as a skipper and, in very difficult circumstances, as manager.”
“I appointed Gareth in a situation that was greatly unfavourable to him.
“He deserves another opportunity once he has had the chance to rest and refresh himself.”
Southgate won 46 of his 151 games in charge. While there were no trophies, he did win the Premier League Manager of the Month Award in August 2008.