How Terry Venables saved Middlesbrough F.C. from relegation

Hammering Coventry City away from home in the first game of the season, topping the Premiership table following a 1-1 draw with Spurs, and a Middlesbrough team with Alen Boksic and Christian Karembeu amongst its ranks seems an unlikely starting point for a season that would bring a dramatic relegation battle. Yet, a cruel spate of injuries and warning signs of tactical naivety – including an incredible sacrifice of a 3-0 lead at Derby’s Pride Park – set alarm bells ringing. Boro were also very unlucky. The £8m record signing of Ugo Ehiogu to strengthen the defence was followed by the new signing hobbling off five minutes into his debut with an injury, whilst Boksic was a frequent absentee.

Boro crashed out of the League Cup and failed to win a Premiership match throughout October and November as they dropped into the relegation zone on a run that brought a solitary point from a possible 27 – and that came from a late equaliser at home against lowly Bradford City approaching the end of November. The spell was part of a run of just two wins from seventeen matches and a record-breaking losing streak in a troubled early campaign.

Rumours of Venables joining Boro to help out manager Bryan Robson, who had served as El Tel’s assistant at Euro 96, had already been circulating before that comeback, with the back page of the Daily Express in early November leading with the headline ‘ROBSON’S SOS CALL TO TEL’. It was not until early December, however, that Steve Gibson and the Boro hierarchy managed to get a deal over the line to pursue an unorthodox rescue strategy which meant Robbo would step aside to again assist Terry Venables who would take over as Head Coach.

Venables’ arrival brought undoubted top managerial pedigree to Teesside that offered new hope, with Robson later reflecting on the change in Robbo: My Autobiography:

We’d worked so hard to build up the club and get it established in the Premiership. I couldn’t let it slip away. I had to do something about it. Another voice, someone with a fresh eye on things, just might give us a few new ideas and perk us up…My main concern was to get through that season, although I did have it in my mind that if it worked out well for Terry and me, as it had done for us with England, we might take our partnership forward at the club.

Ultimately, Venables’ business and TV interests saw him commit to a deal only until the end of the season but there was hope that if things worked out, he might be pursued to continue with the club in some capacity.

Venables was on the touchline with Robbo for a defeat at Sunderland, and with Boro rock-bottom set about transforming their fortunes. The impact of the former England manager was almost instantaneous as Boro went on a ten-match unbeaten run which included several notable victories. Venables home debut against his former side Chelsea brought a shock 1-0 win for the Teessiders courtesy of a Dean Gordon strike, before El Tel returned to White Hart Lane and came away with a respectable point. A home win against Liverpool stunned as Karembeu capitalised on a Westerveld mistake and helped Boro hold on for a 1-0 win.

Venables addressed Boro’s defensive frailties and sparked new life into an otherwise absent Alen Boksic who had missed games with minor knocks. In fact, writing two decades on, Boro sports writing supremo Eric Paylor underlined the significance of Venables ‘getting Boksic under control’. The Croatian scored in consecutive draws against Coventry City and Leeds United and bagged a brace in a 4-0 hammering of Derby County at the Riverside with the fans now back onside in the fight against relegation. Credible draws at Anfield, Goodison Park and Villa Park and a home draw with Man City followed before the unbeaten run was ended by a home loss to Southampton. A draw with Charlton was followed by a splendid Boksic brace-inspired 2-1 win at Newcastle despite the visitors playing the entirety of the second half with ten men after Stamp’s dismissal. The success on Tyneside underlined the new resilience and astute tactical prowess of Venables that had transformed a team destined for relegation to one not only capable of holding their own against top sides but crucially turning that potential into reality with Boksic benefiting from the hard-line approach adopted by the Head Coach!

A loss at Chelsea followed before a home draw with Sunderland put another point on the board before arguably the most remarkable result of Venables’ reign – and no doubt one of the most satisfying for the ex-Spurs man – as Boro stunned Highbury. Not only did Venables’ side keep the like of Thierry Henry, Kanu, Robert Pires et al. at bay but secured the most bizarre and stunning of wins! Incredibly, the visitors led 2-0 at half-time with both goals coming from Arsenal players - Brazilians Edu and Sylvinho - who helplessly put through their own net. In the second half Hamilton Ricard added a third to secure a priceless three points that not only helped push Boro closer to safety but also handed the title to Manchester United.

Losses to Ipswich and Manchester United were interspersed by a 3-0 success at Filbert Street before headed for a nervy trip to Valley Parade. Despite falling behind at relegated Bradford City, Karembeu’s late equaliser coupled with results elsewhere meant Boro were safe by the time the final match of the season as the turnaround was completed with a 2-1 win over West Ham.

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Venables’ incredible intervention had transformed a team facing the trapdoor to one that finished eight points clear of relegation in 14th place. There was an inevitably about Robson’s time coming to an end and the rapturous greeting ‘Teesside Tel’ received by the Riverside faithful indicated they knew who they wanted at the helm the following season. However, it was not to be with Venables sticking to his word by putting pen to paper on a five-year-deal with ITV.

We will never know what might have been if ‘El Tel’ had stayed on at the Riverside but there is little doubt that if he had not arrived in December 2000, the history makers and record breakers of the ensuing seasons under Steve McClaren almost certainly would have been a dream rather than a reality. It is unlikely Boro would have survived in the top-flight and it is almost certain Steve McClaren, Alex Ferguson’s highly-regarded Manchester United Assistant Manager, would have been tempted by the offer of the managerial vacancy at West Ham United’s Upton Park rather than the prospect of managing second-tier Middlesbrough. In helping Robson keep Boro

in the top-flight or stepping in where Robson failed (depending on your stance), Venables helped lay the foundations for Boro’s history makers and the most successful period in the club’s history.