142-game ex-Leeds United favourite leaves Championship job after manager sacked

Former Leeds United defender Jonathan Woodgate has left his role as Middlesbrough assistant coach following the decision to sack manager Michael Carrick.

Boro narrowly missed out on the Championship play-offs for the second consecutive season under Carrick, eventually finishing 10th, four points short of Bristol City in sixth, following their 2-0 final-day defeat at Coventry City. That result spelled the end of a disappointing promotion race in which the Teessiders took just four points from their final six games.

Carrick’s side were regularly tipped as favourites for the play-offs and even emerged as dark horses for an automatic promotion place before falling away, with Riverside Stadium chiefs deciding to make a change ahead of the summer. And with it, club icon and former Leeds man Woodgate has also left.

A statement published on Wednesday afternoon read: “Middlesbrough Football Club has today parted company with head coach Michael Carrick. Michael's assistants Jonathan Woodgate and Graeme Carrick have also departed the club.

“We'd like to thank Michael, Jonathan, and Graeme for all their hard work and unwavering commitment. We wish them all the very best for the future. The club will be making no further comment at this stage.”

Carrick guided Boro to the play-offs in his first campaign as manager, having been appointed in October 2022, before they were beaten by Coventry City in the semi-finals. An eighth-placed finish in the 2023/24 season saw them miss out and they fell a further two places - albeit in an incredibly tight top-six race - in the campaign just gone.

Boro looked set to be one of Leeds’ genuine automatic promotion rivals after blowing them away with a 3-0 Carabao Cup win at Elland Road in August, but they lost both league games against the Whites. Their return to LS11 in December ended in a 3-1 defeat while Daniel Farke’s side battled their way to a massive 1-0 win at the Riverside Stadium in April.

What next for Middlesbrough after Michael Carrick sacked?

Woodgate returned to Boro as a first-team coach alongside Carrick almost three years ago, having briefly been head coach in 2019. This was his fourth stint at the Riverside, either in a playing or managerial capacity.

The former defender came through Boro’s academy before joining Leeds aged 16, where he continued to develop before enjoying a first-team breakthrough in 1998. The centre-back played 142 times for the Whites between then and 2003, featuring alongside the likes of Lucas Radebe, Rio Ferdinand and Dominic Matteo.

Newcastle United signed Woodgate for £9million in 2003 and just one year later he secured a huge move to Real Madrid, where he unfortunately struggled with injury. Spells at Boro, Tottenham Hotspur, Stoke City and back at Boro followed before his retirement in 2016.

Woodgate’s move into coaching took him back to boyhood club Boro, where he switched between first-team and academy before taking the manager’s job in 2019. He was sacked the following year and spent less than five months as part of Bournemouth’s coaching staff, taking a year out before joining Carrick at Boro.

Among the favourites to replace Carrick at Boro is Steve Cooper, whose most recent job saw him sacked by eventually relegated Premier League side Leicester City last season.

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