Middlesbrough: Aitor Karanka models himself on Jose Mourinho - so his Riverside reign was always going to end this way

Like Mourinho at so many of his former clubs, Karanka has made too many internal enemies to carry on. Like his managerial mentor, the refusal to give an inch that was once such as asset is now the character flaw that has brought him down. And just as the ‘Special One’ has found his antagonistic style of management often leads to a downturn in results after a spectacular start, so it is hardly a surprise that Karanka’s Middlesbrough reign has ended with his team in the relegation zone.

“If I could do anything that resembles what Jose has done, I will be happy,” said Karanka, when he arrived on Teesside. Well, the explosive manner of his exit is certainly befitting of the man he seeks to emulate.

Let’s get one thing straight from the outset. Karanka hasn’t left Teesside just because Middlesbrough have dropped into the bottom three for the first time this season. That is undoubtedly a factor, and having watched a number of his club’s relegation rivals enjoy an upturn in fortunes after dismissing their boss, Steve Gibson will be hoping for a similarly positive reaction as Boro prepare to head into the final 11 games of a season that could yet go one of two ways.

Karanka’s tactical inflexibility – some would describe it as stubbornness – has been a key factor in Boro’s struggles this season, and a change of manager, with a related change of approach, might spark an improvement. Despite his side only scoring three goals in their last ten games, Karanka was unwilling to adapt his conservative approach. A new boss, even if it is just current caretaker Steve Agnew, might be keener to loosen the shackles.

Yet for all that Boro’s results have flat-lined since Christmas, Karanka might still be in a job had his on-pitch struggles not been accompanied by a series of off-field problems. The series of meltdowns that led to Karanka clashing with a number of his players in the last few weeks are the product of traits that were apparent throughout his three-and-a-half year reign as head coach.

Karanka hasn’t been dismissed because he lost a few games he shouldn’t have. This is about one man’s need for power, dominance and complete control, the effect it has had on the club at which he has been in charge, and the way in which things have unravelled once the pressure began to increase. That this season’s meltdown has followed exactly the same pattern as last year, when Karanka flounced out of the training ground and was prevented from taking charge of a game at Charlton Athletic, merely confirms his inability to cope when the chips are down.

Compile a list of players Karanka has fallen out with, and it quickly becomes clear it might be easier to jot down the names of those he has not belittled. The ‘rule by fear’ policy was apparent from the earliest days of his reign. Jason Steele might have been dropped for his dismissal in Karanka’s first game, but it was the temerity of him questioning why he was not given a chance to reclaim his place that saw him ostracised from the senior squad.

Since then, further clashes have ensued. Lee Tomlin and Albert Adomah were black-listed during Boro’s time in the Championship, along with former skipper Jonathan Woodgate who became a persona non grata when he tried to play peacemaker and defuse the tensions that were building 12 months ago.

This season, there has been a series of run-ins with Gaston Ramirez, who tried to force his way out of the Riverside in January, a running commentary on Daniel Ayala’s fitness problems, and most recently an explosive accusation that both Stewart Downing and Patrick Bamford were not pulling in the same direction as everyone else.

This week’s revelations about Downing’s unhappiness at Karanka’s treatment of him hastened the Spaniard’s exit, with further tales emerging about players being deeply unhappy at the head coach’s divisive man-management.

Some fans will bemoan the growth of player power and claim Karanka was right to challenge his squad head on, but why was he so quick to criticise in public, and why was he so inflexible when it came to admitting he might have got things wrong? His persistent refusal to play Jordan Rhodes, even when Boro were crying out for a goalscorer, felt like he was cutting off his nose to spite his face.

It wasn’t just players who learned that to cross him once was to create a sense of distrust that lingered. Craig Hignett is widely regarded as one of the most likeable people in football, yet Karanka was suspicious of his popularity. The Spaniard was also determined to ensure that he alone continued to micro-manage every element of the football club, so Hignett, who was keen to increase his coaching work, went. It might be apocryphal, but there is even a story, widely told amongst club sources, that Karanka once admonished his former assistant for “smiling too much”.

Karanka fell out with the fans, never a good idea at any club, accusing them of being “desperate for long-ball football” and creating a “bad atmosphere”. Just as damagingly, he also took on Gibson and the rest of the Boro board when his preferred targets failed to arrive in January. His comment that “we are only signing players who couldn’t get a game in the Championship” was especially badly received.

And all the while, the former Real Madrid assistant was embarking on an ill-advised PR drive that saw him appoint a London-based PR company to further his own interests, even if they were not always compatible with the wider interests of the club. Hence the invitations that went out to London-based journalists to spend a day in his company for a positive piece on his managerial methods. The promotion of ‘brand Karanka’ has been one of the less palatable aspects of Boro’s return to the top-flight.

Perhaps the 43-year-old will learn from his mistakes and go on to be a hugely successful boss. Those who know him reasonably intimately suggest that, in the long term, he harbours ambitions of leading one of La Liga’s biggest sides, preferably Real Madrid, and there have been elements of his stewardship at Boro that have been hugely impressive. No one should forget that he achieved what Gordan Strachan and Tony Mowbray found impossible before him, namely the restoration of Boro to the top-flight.

Ultimately though, the desire to live up to Mourinho, who he was describing as “the best manager in the world” as recently as last Thursday, has seen him make many of the same mistakes that have made the current Manchester United boss such a divisive figure. Like Mourinho, Karanka burned brightly and achieved some instant transformations. Like Mourinho at so many of his former clubs, he leaves a damaged dressing room in need of some careful restoration in his wake.