12 2GG Monday June 29 2020 | the timesthegame
Performance of the week Luton Town.
There were big wins for relegation
rivals Middlesbrough, Wigan and
Charlton but Luton’s 1-0 victory
away to Swansea City lifted
them off the bottom, to
within three points of
safety, and offered real
hope of survival.
Player of the week
Simon Sluga (Luton).
The 27-year-old Croatian
goalkeeper was inspired
in keeping Swansea at bay.
Despite their obvious
problems, Luton are unbeaten in
five and Sluga has conceded only
three times in that run.
Goal of the week Marcus Tavernier
(Middlesbrough). Neil Warnock’s first
game in charge brought a key 2-0 win
away to Stoke City and an inspired
substitution as Tavernier, on the field
for only one minute, set himself up for
a superb 20-yard finish for the
decisive second goal.Rising star Dan
Crowley (Birmingham
City). A second
league goal for the
former Arsenal
trainee helped his
side fight back in the
3-3 draw with Hull City.
After two-and-a-half
years in Holland, the 22-
year-old midfielder is making
his mark in his home country.Villain of the week
Fulham’s Aleksandr Mitrovic is likely to
be suspended following his side’s
defeat by Leeds after catching BenWhite with an elbow, left. The incident
was missed by referee Tony Harrington
but TV pictures appeared damning.Stat of the week A much-needed
derby win for Wigan Athletic over
Blackburn Rovers means Paul Cook’s
in-form side have won five of their past
six games, in an eight-match unbeaten
run. They had won five of their
previous 26.Quote of the week “We had a drinks
break after a downpour. It’s absolutely
unnecessary but we have to have it
anyway. And then all the substitutions
make it so difficult to create
momentum. But you have to make the
best of it.” Gary Rowett, the Millwall
manager, bemoans how drink breaks
have broken up the game’s flow, after a
goalless draw at Barnsley damaged his
team’s play-off hopes.CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND-UPGregor Robertson
visits ???????????????THE
JOURNEYMAN
Gregor Robertson watches Middlesbrough
It did not take long for Neil Warnock
to start trending on social media
last week thanks to an inspired
marriage with the Michael Jordan
documentary The Last Dance.
Warnock, who took on his 18th job
of a remarkable 40-year managerial
career at relegation-threatened
Middlesbrough on Tuesday, has had
more than a few final hurrahs, of
course, but the sight of the
Yorkshireman, thanks to some savvy
editing, telling Jordan and his
slightly perplexed Chicago Bulls
team-mates that they’ve “gotta
f***ing die to get three points” still
managed to garner, at last count,
1.6 million views.
Love him or loathe him, the
71-year-old is one of the game’s great
characters and, while he is
increasingly painted as some kind of
relic from a bygone age, Saturday’s
2-0 win against Stoke City showed
that he has still got fire in his bellyand, more importantly, the ability to
stoke the flame within his players.
“I love trying to make players
better than what they are, have that
belief in themselves,” he said
afterwards. “And I’ve missed that
banter around the dressing room —
that’s the best part of the job really.
I’m sure the lads have enjoyed it; it
will have been a little bit different for
them. But that’s how I am. I’m not
going to change now.”
It is not hard to see why Steve
Gibson, the owner, called Warnock
after last Saturday’s 3-0 defeat by
Swansea City left Middlesbrough
above the relegation zone on goal
difference only and the impression
that, under Jonathan Woodgate, the
Teessiders were sleepwalking
towards a first relegation to the third
tier in 33 years. It is a little less clear,
however, why Warnock, who left
Cardiff City in November, cannot
seem to settle into the contented‘Relic’ Warnock shows his
game plan is still effective