This interview first appeared in Shoot Monthly in April 2007.
Branded ‘naïve’, ‘paranoid’ and ‘a disgrace’ by fellow Premiership Managers, it’s been an eventful first year in the job for new Boro boss Gareth Southgate. Shoot Monthly joined Southgate for a nice cup of tea down by the Riverside…
Former Premiership Referee Jeff Winter once described Gareth Southgate as ‘too nice to be a professional footballer’. Whether you believe Winter or not, today is a day when you could understand Southgate being a little snappy. Cristiano Ronaldo, the man who’s emerged as Southgate and Middlesbrough’s FA Cup and Premiership nemesis this season, was named PFA Player of the Year last night. Southgate however, is able to separate the Portuguese midfielder’s outstanding ability from some of his darker arts: “I would have voted for him. The incidents with us have been blown up so much, and understandably because they were high profile games, but as far as I’m concerned the matter is closed.”
Closed was often a sign that hung over Middlesbrough’s goal while Southgate the player and captain marshalled his club’s back four. When Steve McClaren left for England the names of Martin O’Neill and Alan Curbishley were mentioned but it was Southgate who landed the role.
At first, some fans were a little downbeat over the appointment of a man with no managerial, let alone Premiership, experience though even more (UEFA Cup Final or no UEFA Cup Final) were just glad to see the back of Steve McClaren’s defence-first approach.
Southgate hopes his move from first team shirt to collar and tie doesn’t upset the special relationship he earned with Teesside supporters: “I hope I haven’t been distanced from the fans. I hope they realise I very much have the club’s interests at heart. They were brilliant for me as a player, probably because I played quite well for them (laughs). I don’t want to mess that relationship up by making a botch of this job so I’m driven to make this club successful. In the first year the fans have been incredibly supportive though there have, of course, been lots of doubters, and I’m sure there still are, who say ‘we’ve done, okay but let’s see where we get to next year’.”
At the time of writing, Boro look set for a bottom half finish. Established in the top tier they may be but FA, League and UEFA Cup runs have largely masked Middlesbrough’s lack of progress up the Premiership ladder. They have spent a continuous decade in the belly of the English top flight.
So, where does Southgate think Boro can realistically compete? “Europe has to be our long-term aim. We’ve reduced the average age of the squad significantly and had six or seven players leave (including Hasselbaink, Parlour, Ehiogu, Queudrue, Maccarone and himself). We’ve got to try and regenerate the squad again but you don’t want to change too much too quickly. You might have long term plans but you’ve got to balance that against short-term results. It’s no use having one fantastic season and then plummeting dramatically after that. Having been in the UEFA Cup last year we all want it again but we have to accept that that might never be repeated because getting to Cup finals, especially the UEFA Cup Final, as Newcastle, Spurs and Blackburn have found, is extremely difficult. However, there’s no reason why Middlesbrough can’t get back into Europe because you look at the teams in those positions at the moment and I believe that, given time, there’s no reason why we can’t be challenging those clubs.”
If a team is built in a manager’s image – Mourinho’s no-nonsense approach, Allardyce’s up-and-at ‘em, McClaren’s defensiveness – then what of Middlesbrough? Southgate’s admirable commitment to integrity is all very commendable but will it make Boro just, well, too nice?
Southgate continued: “I think it’s important to have discipline, something we’ve lost a few times this season, most publicly in the FA Cup replay at Old Trafford. I do think it’s important how we conduct ourselves both on the bench and on the field but then I was a player, and am a manager, who wants to win. It was never win at all costs for me but I was prepared to go the extra yard, put my foot in and do what was needed to win. I want my team to be aggressive but have discipline, like we were on Saturday at Old Trafford (when Boro drew 1-1 in the Premiership). We picked up five bookings but that was the quality of the opposition. I was glad that we kept our heads in the game.” Especially after what had gone on before.
Indeed, the fall-out from Woodgate’s foul/Ronaldo’s dive (delete as allegiance) in the FA Cup Semi-Final replay put Southgate in Alex Ferguson’s firing line. Ferguson called him ‘paranoid’ about Ronaldo after the 1-0 penalty defeat at Old Trafford. In the run up to the game, Neil Warnock described Southgate ‘a disgrace’ when picking an under-strength side to face Manchester City, Sheff. Utd’s then relegation rivals, just two days before the semi-final trip to Old Trafford.
Ferguson’s attack was the third of the season. The Manchester United boss had already branded Southgate ‘naïve’ at the Riverside in December when Ronaldo once again ‘earned’ a spot kick in the 2-1 reverse and even further back opposed Southgate’s appointment on the grounds that he didn’t have the necessary coaching qualifications.
Those attacks prompt the question: is it all worth the hassle for a man who, after 16 years playing at the top level, is surely not absent of a bob or two? Southgate replied: “To be honest, becoming a Manager was something I planned to do in two or three year’s time. I intended to play this season, carry on my coaching badges, maybe go and watch other people work, at home and abroad. However, when I was given the opportunity to become Manager of Middlesbrough, I simply had to decide whether I wanted to finish playing, which I was comfortable with because last season I found it physically tough. My main feeling, however, was that I didn’t want to be left with a ‘what if’. To have so many good young players coming through at a club that I have a great affinity for and the backing of a Chairman, in Steve Gibson, who is realistic and incredibly supportive. I think it was an opportunity I just couldn’t turn down. It’s been an incredible year having to learn absolutely everything because I had no idea. Silly things like I’ve never worked in an office before. I’ve never had to give a team talk, I’ve never been involved in coaching, planning daily, weekly and monthly schedules, the buying and selling of players etc. but it’s been an incredible experience. It hasn’t been enjoyable all the way through. What no-one told me was that losing is even worse as a Manager than it was as a player. Even though as a player, I found losing very difficult to take, as a Manager you’re responsible for everything. That, and leaving players out of a team, I’ve found very, very difficult. It’s not a great feeling leaving 17 squad players out of a starting 11 on a matchday.”
There HAS been highs for Southgate the season: the 2-1 home win against Chelsea, his first as a Manager, credible draws at Old Trafford and The Emirates Stadium, beating Bolton 5-1 at home and the aforementioned FA Cup run. Southgate suggests however that the highs don’t last very long: ‘a few hours’ before more problems occur.
One problem he’s going to face is keeping hold of his better players, starting with out-of-contract Mark Viduka and on-loan Jonathan Woodgate.
Shoot Monthly thinks he suggested one of the dynamic duo could leave: “We hope they both stay but some players move on and you’ve got to say thank you and wish them well. We make them an offer and create an environment they want to work in but if that’s not enough then just the way it is.”
Boro have offered the right environment for a host of international players over last decade. In the nineties, Ravanelli, Juninho and Boksic visited Teesside, but over the last five years the club have began to reap the rewards of local talent and it’s Downing, Cattermole and Taylor that are grabbing headlines. So, which way under Southgate? Foreign stars? Or is this a local club, for local people? He added: “Bringing players through the academy is crucial because that gives the club a heartbeat; they are players who have a special affinity for the club. I think it’s important that we’re more active in the English market in the lower divisions than we have been and try to bring players in early and develop them. We want hungry players, player for whom coming to Middlesbrough is a challenge. Yes, you need experienced players but they have to be coming to the club for the right reasons. I don’t want this to be a place where ageing players come to see out the last few years of their contract. We need energy, we need pace and a bit of experience, but that hunger is the biggest thing.”
Hunger is never something Southgate lacked a player. Joining Crystal Palace as teenager, transferred to Aston Villa as a 25-year old and Boro as a 31-year old, he’s given everything for club, and country. It’s a philosophy that stands him in good stead for the challenges ahead: “Nobody in football is going to help you. I learnt that throughout my career from my teens right through. It’s a very competitive game. Other managers will do anything they can to upset you and your club and put themselves into a better position. It’s a cut-throat business. I’ve not had great public support but then why would I? There’s nothing in it for them to help me, I’ve just got to use it as motivation. As a player, I had to prove myself, fight and scrap for everything to get to the place I eventually got to and I know it’s going to be the same as a Manager. I have to serve my apprenticeship, take all the flak coming. There’s nothing to be gained from getting into a public slanging match.”
While there’s nothing better than a slanging match for those on the sidelines, you can’t help feeling Southgate would lose more than he would gain from getting into a war of words with the Premiership’s more talkative bosses. However, just like the player, Southgate’ quiet efficiency hides a desire to win every bit as burning as more outspoken Premiership Managers. The time may come when Southgate has to show his nasty side, but for now he’ll manage very nicely, if it’s all the same to you.