Criticism is easier to take now: Strachan

Dec 13 2009 by Stuart Rayner, Sunday Sun

THE longer Gordon Strachan has been a manager, the easier he has found it to block out the criticism which comes with his job.

Last week Boro made an important breakthrough, thrashing Queens Park Rangers 5-1 for their first win under the Scot.

But the good work was quickly undone in a 3-0 defeat at home to Blackpool on Tuesday.

Boro’s fans have not been shy to voice their dissatisfaction during a Championship campaign which has been far tougher than many of them expected. But Strachan has always defended the right of supporters to vent their anger, and insists he no longer takes it to heart.

“Every manager gets it, (Sir) Alex (Ferguson, Strachan’s old Aberdeen and Manchester United manager) had it, they’ve all had it, so you just deal with it,” said the man who started out in management with Coventry City 13 years ago. “I’m older, I deal with it.

“You get better in any job. The longer you stay in anything, the better you get at it.