Gibson: Southgate will be a “top manager”

Aug 31 2008 by Steve Brown, Sunday Sun

STEVE GIBSON has tipped Gareth Southgate to become a “top football manager”.

In a wide-ranging interview, the Middlesbrough chairman also:

:: backed UEFA president Michel Platini’s plans to scrap the January transfer window . . .

:: described his club as a “David” among the Premier League’s “Goliaths” — adding an ominous warning that “David sometimes wins”. . .

:: and insisted Boro have a “reasonable chance” against Manchester United in the Carling Cup.

Gibson said: “Gareth’s got everything to become a top coach and a top football manager. What he hasn’t got is experience and the only way he’s going to get that is by learning from the decisions and mistakes he makes.

“Perhaps in football we’re a bit short-sighted in life but we’re not here. I don’t want to put too high an expectation on Gareth and the team but we’re pleased with the way it’s gone so far.

“We’re realistic, we’re a small-town club with a population of around 120,000. We get about a quarter of them to every game, which is incredible. We live within our means. We’re David rather than Goliath but David sometimes wins.

“At our football club we assess things every year, we like to think we can take it forward every year. It’s cyclical. We take the knocks and we don’t look for scapegoats.

“We’ve had 11 consistent years in the Premier League, we think this squad of players Gareth has put together, enhanced by the players throughout our Academy, gives us an opportunity to improve on what we’ve done in the previous two years.

“It’s a long season, it’s not a huge squad so we could be damaged by injuries. I don’t want to predict and put pressure on our players and manager.

“We’ve gone through a lot of change in the last few seasons, since we appointed Gareth and I think now we have a settled and stable squad. So unless anything extraordinary happens, where we are is where we are.”

On being drawn away to Manchester United in yesterday’s Carling Cup draw, Gibson said: “It’s great, we’re quite pleased about that. They’re very busy at the moment and we know the Carling Cup is not their priority. Our players and manager will look forward to it and we think we’ll have a reasonable chance, or as good a chance as you’ll ever get at Old Trafford.”

Reflecting on the transfer window, he added: “It has advantages and disadvantages. I know (UEFA president) Michel Platini has talked about closing the window in the winter and to be honest, I would be all for that.

“It takes the uncertainty away. Every time it opens we have a problem with certain players. Stewart Downing in particular is consistently speculated about and it’s quite unsettling.”