Former Celtic manager Gordon Strachan said he didn’t need to be the boss of Middlesbrough, he wanted to be, after being named as the new manager of the English Championship side.
Strachan replaced Gareth Southgate, sacked last week following Boro’s relegation from the English Premier League last season.
“I don’t need to be here, I don’t have to be here. I’m here because I want to be here,” Strachan told a news conference at Middlesbrough’s Riverside ground.
The 52-year-old Scot, a former player at Aberdeen, Manchester United and Leeds United, has been linked with various jobs since he resigned as Celtic manager after the end of last season.
Asked why he’d chosen Middlesbrough, Strachan said: “When I left Celtic I told everyone close to me that it would be very difficult for me to retrace my steps in terms of the excitement there. I felt I had to do something different. I have a chance of something different here.”
His arrival at the club on a four-year contract saw Strachan return to English soccer having started his managerial career at Coventry before moving on to Southampton, which he led to the FA Cup final in 2003.
Strachan became Celtic’s manager in 2005 and led the Glasgow giants to three consecutive Scottish Premier League titles before being pipped by arch-rivals Rangers last term after which he stepped down.
Southgate’s dismissal came as a shock to those outside Middlesbrough, coming as it did just hours after last Tuesday’s 2-0 win over Derby County left them just a point behind leaders West Brom.
However, he could not prevent the club sliding out of the Premier League last season, and Middlesbrough chairman Steve Gibson revealed it was his fear the side would not bounce back at the first attempt which led him to sack Southgate, previously the club’s captain and a former England defender.
Clearly there is an expectation that Boro will go straight back up but talk of “pressure” was relative for Strachan.
“If you have been Celtic manager for four years you can be prime minister of Great Britain,” he said.
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