Reliable reporter gives update on Middlesbrough links to Steve Cooper

With Michael Carrick feeling the heat as Middlesbrough manager, reliable journalist Scott Wilson has dropped an important update on a potential move for Steve Cooper.

Carrick under pressure at Middlesbrough

Boro suffered a damaging 1-0 defeat at home to Watford on Saturday afternoon, cranking up the pressure on Carrick in the process. The loss leaves them sitting 11th in the Championship table, with the Hornets overtaking them, and they are now four points adrift of the playoff places, but the manager was still bullish after the game.

“I fully believe we can get out of this. There’s a big different between a confidence hit in a tough moment and then the belief of what you’re capable of, and that it can turn. We’ve all seen it.

“Things can turn, but when you’re in it, you’re really in it. At the moment, we are in it, and there is no getting away from that. We’ve got to accept that.”

It’s now four league defeats in a row for Carrick’s side, and five in their last six in the competition, perhaps understandably leading to more dissenting voices emerging among the fanbase.

Next up for Boro is a trip to Bristol City in the Championship on Friday evening, which assuming the former Manchester United and England midfielder is still in charge at that point, is a massive game for him. Now, a new claim has dropped over his future at the Riverside Stadium.

Journalist drops Cooper to Middlesbrough update

According to a new claim from The Northern Echo‘s Wilson, links surrounding Middlesbrough replacing Carrick with Cooper are “understood to be incorrect”. The same also applies to former Luton Town boss Rob Edwards, who had also been linked as an option, with the club happy with the current manager.

The report also states that owner Steve Gibson “remains fully supportive of Carrick’s efforts and continues to regard the 43-year-old as the right man” to take them towards promotion.

Opinion is likely to be split when it comes to this latest update, with some no doubt feeling that Carrick has taken Boro as far as he can, but others of the persuasion that he deserves more time.

There certainly isn’t anywhere near the same level of patience with managers in the modern game as there used to be – Carrick’s legendary boss at United, Sir Alex Ferguson, was famously given years in the job before he won a trophy at Old Trafford – so it is refreshing to see Gibson sticking by the 43-year-old.

That said, results have to improve very quickly now or Boro will be at risk of completely falling away in the playoff mix, so if there isn’t a fast improvement, a decision will need to be made.