Sweet talking Strachan faces the axe as 'Boro fans turn

Gordon Strachan’s world closed in on him last night as Middlesbrough lost 2-1 at home to Leeds United and he delivered his wise cracking post-match interview while sucking unconvincingly on a yellow sweet.

Eating during an interview with the company that bankrolls your promotion bid via the parachute payments system is poor form but trivial in comparison to the problems that the former Celtic boss is facing on the park.

With a quarter of the season gone ‘Boro are third bottom of the division a year after Strachan was brought in to succeed second placed Gareth Southgate.

“Que sara, sara,” Strachan replied when asked about his own future. “Whatever will be will be. We are all going through a bad period at the moment and we have to deal with that.”

Writing for the Middlesbrough Gazette Anthony Vickers warned: “The “we want Strachan out” chants were impossible to ignore. They came from the North Stand, the diehards, they were spontaneous, they spread right round the Riverside with little resistance and they were heartfelt.

“It is not just isolated and unrepresentrative agitators or frustrated knee-jerking. That was a concrete declaration of a political position. Whole layers have now publicly come out against the manager and once once people cross the line in that fashion it is very hard to claw them back, if not impossible.”

Boro chairman Steve Gibson faces a live audience with supporters tomorrow for a local radio station and it’s not hard to guess what the only topic of conversation will be.

The club’s recent accounts revealed that it is essential to achieve promotion this season. Earlier in the season it was felt that the club couldn’t afford to sack Strachan after a summer of high spending and the manager’s own contractual position. Result by result it looks like they can’t afford not to sack him as crowds disappear from the Riverside Stadium.

The defeat from Leeds was like a flashback to the final months of Strachan’s Celtic reign.

A team low on confidence, looking disorganised and liable to concede a goal at any time.

Kris Boyd’s equaliser gave brief hope to the home supporters but once Leeds had regained the lead there was only going to be one winner.

As the home fans turned on their manager the Leeds supporters chanted Strachan’s name remembering his crucial role in helping the club win promotion back to the First Division then delivering the title alongside David Batty, Gary Speed and Gary McAllister from midfield.

“Things test you as a player, as a person, as a manager and as a coach, but what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger,” Strachan claimed.

“It’s worse for the people who pay and it’s worse for the guys who put some much effort in to get beat. We’re all going through a bad period and we have to deal with that.

“I won’t be changing, I’ve proved at other clubs that I can take rocky periods and survive and do well.

“Obviously I’m the focal point of the club so I have to deal with it one way or another.

“The fans have been great, they’ve been fantastic and when people are worried they act strange at times, and I can understand that.”

Strachan’s future, or lack of, will come under incredible scrutiny in the away games at Nottingham Forrest and Norwich City where he will be up against younger, hungrier streetwise Scottish managers.

The obvious choice as replacement, a local hero and Championship expert is currently lying low and out of work after leaving Celtic seven months ago.

But where would Tony Mowbray look on arrival back at Middlesbrough as he is introduced to a dressing room littered with players that he discarded in January?

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