West Bromwich Albion vs Middlesbrough. Sky Bet Championship.
The HawthornsAttendance22,596.
Report and highlights from the Sky Bet Championship clash between West Brom and Middlesbrough at The Hawthorns as manager Neil Warnock departed Boro following their battling draw on Saturday afternoon
Saturday 6 November 2021 20:16, UK
Neil Warnock left Middlesbrough by mutual consent moments after his side earned a 1-1 draw with West Brom at The Hawthorns.
Warnock earlier this week clocked up a record-breaking 1,602 games as a manager but has now departed the Championship club.
Former Sheffield United manager Chris Wilder has agreed to replace Warnock and an announcement from the club is expected in the coming days.
Wilder, who has been out of work since leaving the Blades towards the end of the 2020-21 season as they neared relegation from the Premier League, could take his first training session with Boro as early as Tuesday.
A Boro statement read: "Middlesbrough FC have parted company with manager Neil Warnock by mutual consent.
"The decision was reached after talks between the two parties and Neil leaves the club with the best wishes of all.
"Neil joined the club in June 2020 when he initially came in for our final eight games and secured our Sky Bet Championship status on the final day of the season.
"He also managed the club during the unprecedented and challenging season of 2020/21 when games were played behind closed doors.
"Neil's assistants Kevin Blackwell and Ronnie Jepson will also depart the club.
"The club would like to place on record its thanks to Neil and his staff for all their hard work during their time with us."
Josh Coburn had given the visitors, on the back of two defeats, the lead in a drab first half where both sides struggled to fashion openings.
But Grady Diangana scored a second-half equaliser to earn West Brom a share of the spoils.
In his pre-match programme notes, Albion manager Valerien Ismael had spoken about the challenges of breaking down sides at home and the need for patience having had to dig deep to see off Hull 1-0 in midweek.
He would have been hoping for a quick start but a first-minute stoppage following an injury to Matt Clarke - who was subbed after 19 minutes - disrupted early proceedings.
It set the tone for a poor first half with the home side, on the back of four successive home wins, failing to spark as an attacking force.
When the home side pressed, they were particularly wasteful with their set-pieces and, in a half of few chances, it was the visitors who had the better sight of goal.
Marcus Tavernier had a sniff of an opening for the visitors but the ball ricocheted to safety before the opener arrived after 38 minutes.
Duncan Watmore found Isaiah Jones inside the penalty area and he rolled the ball into the path of Coburn to lash home.
Coburn nearly caught the shell-shocked Baggies out again moments later as he sprang past sub Kyle Bartley to collect a long ball from Grant Hall but was unable to control and apply the finish.
For their part, Albion whipped in a couple dangerous balls but the Boro defence was relatively untroubled and went into the break with the advantage.
Albion needed a positive start to the second half and Robert Snodgrass curled an effort over while Darnell Furlong's long throw was flicked on by Bartley but well saved by Luke Daniels.
Diangana had claims for a penalty turned away as the home side stepped things up and they were level after 65 minutes.
The Boro defence failed to properly deal with a free-kick into the penalty area and Bartley headed into the path of ex-West Ham man Diangana, who struck a powerful shot into the top corner.
As the home side looked for the winner, Bartley was denied by Daniels as Furlong's long throws caused havoc again while Karlan Grant's left-foot strike was also saved.
Boro nearly nicked it in stoppage time but Andraz Sporar saw his header brilliantly kept out by Sam Johnstone before the news broke about Warnock's departure.
West Brom's Valerien Ismael: "It was a frustrating afternoon for us. Our quality in the last third wasn't good enough and our crosses were too wide, or too long or the last passes were too short. We needed more quality in the last third to win. I think it was a difficult one because our opponents played with a back six!
"A 6-2-2 formation was something new for me so we needed to be really clinical in the last third because there were a lot of bodies around. You need quality to get through that but we lacked quality in the final third. We need to work on it, we need to be more clinical with our last pass. Especially in the first half we were too sloppy."
Middlesbrough's Neil Warnock: "I am disappointed how it's ended up but nothing surprises me really. I found out this morning with a call to say they were going in a different direction. I felt I deserved a bit more than that. It's not to be and I wish them all the best because it's a great club, with super players. Whoever comes in will get a great set of lads and will get some support in the transfer window. I think the new man will be given what he wants to get three or four players in.
"They need those players and then I think they still have a good chance of going up. I will look from afar and see how well they do. I am proud of my managerial record and I can't see it being beaten in the modern day. I have had a really good time. It was hard coming into the club during the pandemic but to take the club through that and come out the other side, I am proud and the fans have been great."
