TWIST & SHOUT
Warnock rages from touchline for possibly last time
WELL surprise, surprise Neil Warnock didn’t go quietly in what could have been his last game as a manager with Chris Wilder set to be named as his successor.
He had woken up to headlines suggesting his time at Boro was about to come to an end and that was confirmed in a call from chairman Steve Gibson.
Warnock knows that football doesn’t do sentiment and the fact that he has just become a record breaker – no one has been in charge of more games in the pro game – doesn’t offer greater protection. He revealed: “I told the players before the game I was leaving. I just said I wanted a performance from them.
“I read the headlines myself and then got a telephone call that the club was going to go in a different direction. That’s why I really wanted to get a performance.
“Steve has been good but I’ve not really had much support behind the scenes. If he’d had been more hands-on like he used to be we would have been successful.” Asked whether at 72 he will now call time on his managerial career, Warnock said: “You never say never.”
His exit paves the way for former Sheffield United boss Wilder to return to management, little more than seven months after he was axed by the Blades.
Warnock signed off on the day he reached a record milestone of 1,602 games as a manager – but there was no chance of him leaving gracefully as he raged against decisions from the touchline, seemingly unbothered by the abuse raining down on him from Baggies fans.
The biggest surprise was that it took him until the 89th minute to receive an inevitable yellow card.
But Boro’s players battled their way to a deserved point, with new-kid-on-theblock Josh Coburn putting the visitors ahead from close range after Duncan Watmore had raced into the box, finding Isaiah Jones who set up the 18-year-old.
West Brom boss Valerien Ismael has yet to win the locals over despite enjoying the best home record in the Championship.
They were booed off at half-time but Grady
Diangana rescued a point in the 65th minute, smashing home after Kyle Bartley had nodded down a Robert Snodgrass free-kick.
Ismael said: “Some 10 good minutes then 10 sloppy ones. We didn’t show enough quality in the final third.”
WEST BROM: Johnstone 6; Kipre 6, Clarke 5 (Bartley 19, 8), Townsend 6; Furlong 7, Snodgrass 7, Molumby 7, Reach 6; Dingana 7, Grant 6; Robinson 6 (Hugill 46, 6).
Subs not used: Button, Ajayi, Phillips, Gardnerhickman, Ingram.
MIDDLESBROUGH: Daniels 7; Howson 7, Hall 6, Bamba 7; Jones 7, Mcnair 6, Tavernier 7, Payero 6 (Lea Siliki 71, 6), Peltier 6; Watmore 7 (Sporar 71, 6), Coburn 7 (Hernandez 89).
Subs not used: Lumley, Olusanya, Kokolo, Sivi.
MAN OF THE MATCH: Kyle Bartley. Came of the substitutes bench following an early injury to provide a commanding presence in both penalty areas.
REFEREE: Matt Donohue 7.