Jonathan Woodgate wants to rebuild Middlesbrough using lessons learned from the “great managers and players” he has worked with.
Chairman Steve Gibson unveiled the former England defender as Boro's new head coach on Friday — a man on a mission to nurture their crop of talented kids and “get in the mix” for promotion from the Championship next season.
He is the latest managerial rookie to launch a coaching career at the Riverside Stadium, following Bryan Robson, Steve McClaren, Gareth Southgate and Aitor Karanka. And those all ended up doing rather well.
Local lad Woodgate set the tone for the “high standards” he will demand from his stars by pulling up his boss Gibson for not wearing a club tie, and admonishing journalists for arriving 30 seconds late.
All in good humour, of course.
The 39-year-old wants to join former team-mates Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard, Scott Parker and Lee Bowyer, all recently retired from playing, among a new generation of successful coaches.
He thought back to his Leeds days, when he chased the title and the Champions League as a teenager in a team David O’Leary called “my babies”.
Woodgate said: “O’Leary was in exactly the same position as I am now. A 40-year-old, he put young players in, and what did we do, sink or swim? We swam. That’s what’ll happen at this club. I will 100% put a young player in, if he is better than the senior player, it’s as simple as that.”
Recalling his time at Real Madrid, when he “became a man”, Woodgate insists his players will be “humble”, explaining: “Zidane, Ronaldo, Luis Figo, Raul, David Beckham. They were all humble guys, but they do things right, their standards were bang on and that’s what this club will get back to.”
But what kind of manager will he be?
“I will be a man-manager,” he said. “I was with Bobby Robson at Newcastle... man-management, every day. Terry Venables, man-manager. Harry Redknapp, man-manager. And if you look at the teams I’ve played in, they’ve all been quite attacking. That’s what fans want. A team to have a go and score goals.”
It was only when Woodgate started coaching, encouraged by Karanka, that he got his UEFA A and B licences, and a desire to go from Boro skipper to their manager was kindled.
He added: “I wanted to manage because I saw how organised Karanka was and his standards and structure to his game.
“I’ll have strong beliefs in keeping high standards. If you [the media] are late again, the press conference will start bang on at 12.30, simple as that. It’s the same with my players — if they’re late, the bus goes anyway.”
