as a boro fan, im indeed happy with gibson's­ decision to sack southgate. i am worried about strachan­ though. an average manager in england, who had success­ in scotland, but purelt because there was no real­ chalange there. at that time, rangers were stuggling­ and all the rest are barely good enough for the­ championship. i like the idea of curbishly though. did­ good things with charlton, with little money and were a­ mid table prem team. being realistic, thats all i can­ expect from the boro. when stadiums are full boro rank­ around 14th in the prem league for revenue,supporters­ ect.....
boro for life

If it is to be Strachan have the Board factored in the­ cost of an interpreter ?

DaveD

It's the correct decision for the Boro.Gibson's­ reasoning is sensible. A new impetous will drive on the­ players.Southgate might like to try his trade at­ say,Sheffield Wednesday.A club where they have a stale­ donkey as the manager.

Although I'm not a Middlesboro' Fan, I think­ the Chairman Gibson has acted too hastily in the­ sacking of Gareth Southgate, he should have waited till­ at least halfway through the season before making his­ decision. Personally I think Gareth is an excellent­ manager, and I am sure he will do well at another club­ which respects him, and gives him a chance to do his­ job!

Although I understand why he was sacked, poor home­­ results and falling crowds etc it doesn’t make total­­ sense as who is waiting in the wings – Strachen,­­ Curbishley, Coppell, Turnent, Cotterill etc.

The club­­ needs to bring in a capable, proven Permier league­­ manager, but ask yourself who will come under the­­ current financial situation.

If they get back into­ the­ premiership, they won’t have enough money or­ players­ good enough to survive, unfortunately the Boro­ fans­ need to come to terms with the fact that it may­ be a­ long time before they are back in the premiership­ and a­ stable club again.

The white feather

Whilst I understand Steve Gibson's reasoning, I am­ immensely saddened by his decision! Gareth Southgate is­ a decent bloke, and I am quite sure was wholly­ committed to 'Boro! Their next manager may well­ have a track record superior to Southgate's but­ will he be as committed to the team, and the club? Say­ another McLaren?

Boro got relegated last season­ because of 2 things: players bought whose reputations­ exceeded their ability, (like Alves), and a team which­ overall failed to score goals, when it had made the­ opportunities to do so!

Southgate bought naively­ perhaps, but his was not the only opinion that counted,­ I am sure. He has been made the fall-guy for last­ season, not this one! Boro's record so far this­ season is not that bad- well-placed at 4th!

Still, it­ will be a learning curve for Southgate- better to know­ your enemy than trust your friends!

Mike

I think the supporters of other fans who are outside of­ the Middlesbrough\Teesside area really don’t know­ what the club and chairman very well.

Gibson is one­ of the loyalist chairman’s in the country and give­ Southgate 3 years to build a team and improve on the­ Uefa Cup final and it hasn’t happened, he could have­ sacked Southgate 2 seasons ago or at the end of last­ season but stuck with him, and he's had enough,­ hats off to him (Gibson that is), from what I’ve heard­ in a interview on the local BBC radio, he explained­ that his decision was made 2-3 ago and it wasn't­ spur of the moment, win, lose or draw last night­ Southgate would have gone no matter what.

Gibson is­ also not one of these chairman’s who sacks managers­ left, right or centre unlike teams like Newcastle (how­ many manager is how many years?), Gibson gives managers­ the chance to prove themselves as a manager but ever­ since 2 seasons ago the fans have lost faith in­ Southgate and Gibson has to think about the future of­ the club he owns and to take it forward, Southgate­ would of struggled even more than last season should­ Boro get promoted back to the Prem,

Also these­ people who are rating Southgate as a manager ,he was an­ average manager, his substitutions where made too late,­ he played players out of position and they struggled­ only to get dropped, he wouldn't drop players out­ of form (Downing last season???), his tactics where­ poor 95% of the time (even if Boro had won), and he was­ too much of a nice guy to really shout at the players­ on and of the field, end of the day he lost the players­ and fans and I think Southgate should have brought­ someone in to help him last season.

Shame to see Steve Gibson getting slagged off like­ this. Along with our Niall, he's probably one of­ the two most respected chairmen in the business.
I bet­ Gareth actually enjoys the break and comes back­ stronger than ever.
The squad could benefit from a bit­ of freshening up, both tactically and maybe - in­ January - one or two new faces. KK could be just the­ man to bring this about.
Personally I'd like to see­ both Boro and the Toon back with us next season and I­ wish them all the best.
Redwhiteandtrue

He's not a manager!

Is he a good manager?
Yes(thumbs up)
No(thumbs down)

Hasty decisions like the one above shall only get the­ club relegated, instead of gaining promotion. Sacking­ out of turn is a phenomenon very much akin to the­ Italians. The question is who he plans to fill the­ space with.

He bought some dubious foreigners - as like most­ managers and paid the price. Whats wrong is the fact­ too many clubs want to be in the premiership that­ simply are not good enough whether its the managers­ fault or the players - its a team game, look at­ Liverpool !!

I think its the right decision as­ Southgate needs a change a new challenge and this job­ wasnt right for him - who suffered Southgate not­ Middlesborough. Its football thats mad not those who­ manage as their hands are tied? It dont take a miracle­ to make a good team, defend well and score some goals­ and your half way there. if Liverpool cant do it right­ with the Millions they have spent what chance have­ others? Managers are overrated and often under perform­ as few are real managers there celebs and like so many­ destined to failure. Thats why people like Rednap will­ always succeed as there managers - what maneger has­ ever played it by the book who hasnt broken the odd­ rule and done a dubious deal - reality says there not a­ real manager if they haven't !!

I agree Capello­ should never have been appointed not Sven what an­ insult to English Football, what an insult to England­ as a whole. We have some of the best managers in the­ world, however few work in football, its about time we­ brought in some outside blood = one dont have to be a­ previous top footballer to be a good manager one only­ has to understand their job and those whom they manage­ to make a success.

problem is ofcourse managers are­ not chairmen and most of them got their money from­ being successful, how many managers are successful? erm­ not a right lot.

very bad decision your going nowhere but down!

He didn`t have the balls to kick some a-s-s

About time,