Warnock throwing down the gauntlet to Howson and Friend
FOR July 2, 2020, read April 5, 2017.
Then, as now, Middlesbrough travelled down to the coast for a late-season fixture of seismic importance towards the bottom end of the table at Hull City.
That time, the stage was in the Premier League and not the Championship, with a crazy encounter featuring five goals in the first half ending in a 4-2 defeat for Boro, as Hull climbed out of the relegation zone and the Teessiders contemplated a return to the second tier.
For their latest high-stakes meeting, Boro have an self-styled ‘Red Adair’ of management and renowned relegation escapologist in their corner in Neil Warnock and when it comes to this sort of end-ofseason pressure situation, the
Sheffielder has been here many times before.
Knowing nods to Warnock’s acumen in this situation arrived across the Championship on Saturday when he presided over a 2-0 win over another struggling side in Stoke City in his maiden outing in charge at Boro.
Never one to miss a psychological trick, the Yorkshireman was glad for the victory and praised his players’ application, but his comments arrived with a caveat.
He admitted that his initial impressions were that the squad did not possess any natural leaders. It was classic Warnock.
The Boro chief commented: “Are there any natural leaders here? Not that I have seen so far.
“We all like one or two nasty people, don’t we? Well, I do.
“It is important. I think Jonny (Howson) and George (Friend) would tell you they are good pros, but whether they are those dominant leaders we are talking about, I am not so sure.
“But they have got to be. Whether they like it or not, they have to be the vocal part because they are the experienced pros in the team.”