Jonathan Woodgate makes Middlesbrough return under Michael Carrick, as Percovich takes new role
Woodgate #Woodgate
Jonathan Woodgate has made a surprise return to Middlesbrough, a little over two years after being sacked as manager.
Woodgate has been surprisingly named as Michael Carrick’s first-team coach after the Manchester United legend was appointed new Boro head coach following the sacking of Chris Wilder three weeks ago. Woodgate is the only coach so far announced, with the club’s statement of Carrick’s appointment confirming another coach is expected to arrive.
Carrick was linked to numerous coaches joining him at Boro, with finalising his backroom team the major delay on an appointment that has been in the works for over a week now. Carrick was close to being announced before last weekend’s clash with Blackburn Rovers before one of his initially intended backroom members pulled out for family reasons.
Follow: Live updates as Michael Carrick is confirmed as new Middlesbrough manager
Boro had to therefore get to work on finding a new team for the new head coach, with Woodgate the only confirmed appointment at this point. Alan Fettis is expected to continue in his role as goalkeeper coach after his arrival from Manchester United in the summer, meaning he will be a familiar face for Carrick already at the club.
Woodgate’s return is a surprise after his departure in June 2020. He was sacked with eight games remaining on the season, and just one game after the campaign resumed following a break because of the Covid-19 pandemic. A 3-0 defeat to Swansea City was his final game in charge and left the club outside the relegation zone on goal difference alone.
Woodgate retained support at the club, however, and rebounded from the disappointment at his boyhood club when he was appointed as a first-team coach at Bournemouth in February 2021, assisting Jason Tindall. However, when Tindall was sacked just two days later, Woodgate took caretaker charge of the south coast side and guided them to the play-offs.
Having left Bournemouth at the end of that campaign with the play-off campaign ultimately unsuccessful, Woodgate has since been working in punditry while plotting his return to coaching. That has surprisingly come back at Boro where he will assist Carrick.
Meanwhile, fresh from leading the side on a caretaker basis for the last five games, Leo Percovich has been handed a new role at the club too. Previously a first-team coach under the last three bosses, including Woodgate, Percovich has been named as head of player pathway and development.
Exactly what the role will entail is unclear at this stage, but the Uruguayan spoke passionately recently about the importance of a pathway between academy and first-team on Teesside after making Hayden Hackney a first-team regular under his lead.
Percovich said: “Especially at this club, we need to respect our academy. I recognise the hard work from when Dave Parnaby was here and now Craig Liddle, and how much investment the club put into this. So we need to look at the academy more for our players. We need to support them and give them the environment that they really need. The experienced guys need to look after them.
“And it’s no good them just coming in for one or two training sessions, they need to be there for a period of time to help their performance and to feel part of it. They need to firstly understand what’s going on in the first team, secondly to adapt to how we do things and how we train, the rhythm and the style. And then the third, give them time to perform because you can’t ask them to just perform if and when they come.
“So these are the three steps we believe at the club that we need to keep for the young players, and I hope this is another thing that we will bring into the club.”
READ NEXT: