David O’Leary’s youth policy at Leeds United is the example former Whites favourite and academy graduate Jonathan Woodgate will follow at Middlesbrough.
The former Elland Road favourite was appointed the Riverside Stadium outfit’s head coach this week, his first senior post on the frontline.
Naturally, questions at his first press conference revolved around his experiences as a player and how they influence his coaching style.
Woodgate’s longest, single stint with any club as a senior professional was between 1998 and 2003 with the Whites, largely under O’Leary’s mentorship.
The former Real Madrid defender sees the similarities between his current situation and that which faced O’Leary when he first took the reins at Elland Road.
O’Leary was not afraid of blooding young talent from the club’s academy and Woodgate has every intention of doing the same on Teesside.
"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,” he said.
"That's what'll happen at this club. I will 100 per cent put a young player in, if he is better than the senior player, it's as simple as that."
