Karanka Desperately Needed a No. 2 - Higgy is Boro's Man

Article by e-Middlesbrough Correspondent Stephen Davison

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When Aitor Karanka was appointed as Middlesbrough's Head Coach/Manager in Nov 13, it was met with mixed emotions. Karanka's playing career was exemplary. He played on the biggest stage in club football at one of the worlds biggest clubs. He was a rookie manager but had been the assistant of none other than Jose Mourinho at Real Madrid, and was talked about as a coach and manager for the future. Fans quite rightly got excited with his CV, and also the links that he has to Mourinho and Jorge Mendes, the European 'super agent', dreaming of more big signings and a return of the glory days.

The sadness of this appointment however was felt by most Boro fans, the fact that Karanka had been appointed meant that Tony Mowbray had failed. Mogga is quite rightly held in the highest regard on Teesside, he is a club legend, he has Boro in his veins and he will have felt his failure more than most, he is Mr Middlesbrough and it pleases me that now he is gone, he is still held in cult hero status, that is only right after all he has done for the club in his life. He was my hero as a child and having met him on numerous occasions, he is a true gentleman, always willing to take the time to sign autographs, pose for pictures or even just stop for a chat about football, which he did on each occasion I had the pleasure of meeting him. Football is a cut throat business and is driven by results, results which fell off towards the end of Mogga's tenure and after the humiliation of being 3-0 down at half time to then bottom of the table Barnsley, something had to give.

Once Karanka was installed, the whole behind the scenes set up was looked at. It is only natural for a new manager to want his own men to assist, but this was Karanka's first managerial appointment, so who were 'his' men? The club quickly stated that they were looking for a No 2 for Karanka, and initially said there would be an appointment within a week. A week turned into weeks and then into months, still with no assistant in place. Jamie Clapham stepped up from the development team to assist but it was not looked upon as a long term appointment, simply a stop gap for some club continuity until such time as Karanka's No 2 was identified and appointed.

Karanka quickly appointed Carlos Cachada as a Fitness Coach, Leo Percovich as the Goalkeeping Coach and Javier Egido as his Technical Analyst, but stated that he wanted a British assistant with knowledge of the English game and the Championship. This is the MO that Mourinho sticks by whenever he is appointed the manager of a new club and it seems that this tactic has rubbed off on Karanka.

Karanka's start was not instantly successful, but within a short period of time, you could see improvement, most notably in defence, however there were still last minute dips of concentration that cost the club many points. Karanka was quick to stress his opinion to the media and it seemed to be very harsh and to the point at times. Was this his style or was it just lost in translation?

He was ruthless in the January transfer window and got rid of the players who he didn't want in his squad. He culled lots of first team players and sent them out on loan. He publicly stated that he wanted a squad of 22/23 players to work with and not over 30, this was causing him headaches in training as he had too many bodies.

There was a point shortly after his appointment where there seemed to be a problem within the squad, with some first team regulars publicly criticised. Popular forward players were left out of the team and the first team squad, when questioned about this, Karanka said they needed to work harder and that the best players in training would be in the 18 on match days. This seemed to cause some upset in the dressing room, Muzzy Carayol come out publicly to fight his corner after coming in for criticism, and at one point it looked highly unlikely if he would ever wear a Boro shirt again. It appeared from the outside looking in that Karanka needed an assistant sooner rather than later. Was he suffering with the stress of his new job and being a No 1 for the first time or was he simply lost in translation when explaining himself and his methodology to the players.

Step forward Craig Hignett. Higgy is no stranger to Boro fans. He is an adopted Teessider and another club legend. A very popular player, he will forever be remembered as the first ever goal scorer at the Riverside Stadium. Higgy has been associated with Boro for many years; he was working as the expert summariser on match days alongside Ali Brownlee on BBC Tees. He was also involved in coaching within the academy.

When another club legend, Colin Cooper, was appointed as manager of local team Hartlepool United, he was quick to return to the Boro to prise Higgy away as his assistant. Higgy proved more than up to the task and was Coopers’ right hand man. It was not a surprise when Hignett was approached to be Aitor Karanka's assistant at Boro. He knew the club inside out; he knew the players and had the additional bonus of knowing the youth players and set up. He was the ideal fit. Higgy is a very likeable character, he is quick witted and funny yet is not shy in putting across his opinion, something some fans experienced first hand when he worked on local radio.

Hartlepool didn’t want to lose Hignett; he is a football man and was a very popular coach. For this reason, and the fact that he knew Boro inside out, he was seen as the ideal fit to be the new No 2 that Aitor Karanka had been searching for. Karanka has steadily improved the team over the last 7 or so months, but it is very easy to forget that this is his first year ever of being a manager. He was in desperate need of a No2 that he could entrust with helping him and moving the team forward. He is going to make mistakes along the way, he wouldn't be human if he didn't, but he needs to learn from these mistakes which will make him a better manager as time goes on.

Hignett is key to forging a bond between the team and the fans again, which is important to a club like Middlesbrough which is central to the community. Since Higgys arrival, there have been no more dressing room misunderstandings, no more training ground rumours, all appears to be calm and the squad has gelled more as a result. Seasoned pro’s have commented on how united the dressing room now is. Hignett is good cop to Karanka’s bad.

Things have improved on the pitch since Higgys arrival, and that is no coincidence. Such is the character of the man, he is presently on a Spanish course to learn the lingo, which tells all about the type of man that he is, always wanting to learn and improve for the benefit of others.

There is an air of anticipation on Teesside that with a small investment and a further culling of the squad by Karanka, next season could be a special one. In Aitor Karanka and Craig Hignett, fans can rest assured that they will work tirelessly to be a success and hopefully bring Premier League football back to the Riverside.....here’s hoping.

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