Boro ready to emulate 90s glory days

Barnaby Read 16:41 01/04/2015
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  • The Riverside Revolution saw a number of star players move to Middlesbrough under Bryan Robson's leadership.

    Twenty years ago it wasn’t the money of a Russian oligarch at Chelsea or the finances of an Abu Dhabi Sheikh at Manchester City making waves in the English Premier League, rather a Yorkshireman with his heart set on making his boyhood club the biggest in the world.

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    With Steve Gibson’s deep pockets and the draw of playing for former Manchester United and England captain Bryan Robson in the shiny new Riverside Stadium, Middlesbrough were able to attract the likes of Fabrizio Ravanelli, Juninho and Emerson to the Riverside Revolution.

    The arrival of Ravanelli, a Champions League winner the previous season with Juventus, in particular highlighted the pulling power of the club.

    Among the stellar Italians, Brazilians, Danes and Colombians were a smattering of less exotic British players. For every Marco Branca you had a Robbie Mustoe.

    One of those Englishmen who enjoyed the sight of such renowned international stars playing alongside him was a 24-year-old Craig Hignett.

    “All the people we bought, the club couldn’t physically afford that now. It would be like buying Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo. It just couldn’t happen anymore, I think those times have gone,” Hignett recalls to Sport360.

    “It was fairytale stuff. You didn’t know who was going to walk through the door next. Bryan Robson had a massive part to play in that. He was able to attract that kind of player in their prime.”

    Chances are that Craig didn't take this free-kick.

    “As a player you want to play with the best and it did improve me. When you see someone like that play and train and the way they look after themselves, it definitely had a positive effect on me. I raised my game, which was fantastic for me, but just to play with those players was a joy and it was a really exciting time.

    “At the time, Boro were probably the most exciting club in England with what we were trying to do. Ravanelli came in on £40,000 a week and he was the highest paid player in the Premier League. That was the sort of ambition we had and it was fantastic while it lasted.

    “If you go through them all; Christian Karembeu, Alen Boksic… it was just an unbelievable time to be at the club. Even the players like Paul Gascoigne, Paul Merson and Andy Townsend were all legends of the game who had fantastic careers. To play with them and be part of that team was just a dream come true for a young player who had always wanted to play football.”

    The boys from Boro looked to have suffered from their ambition when they were relegated two years after their promotion but with Robson at the helm, they bounced back to English football’s top flight at the first attempt.

    Hignett and his teammates appeared in both domestic cup finals the year they lost their place in the Premier League – losing to Leicester and Chelsea – but the midfielder left the club soon after.

    Robson’s side had already captured the imagination of the general public by then and their spending, matched with their desire to play expansive, attacking football made them many neutrals’ favourite team.

    Two decades on and Middlesbrough are among the favourites for promotion to the Premier League this season, once again playing entertaining football under an ex-player with a fine pedigree. Aitor Karanka, former Real Madrid defender and later assistant manager for Los Blancos, is the man now at the helm. 

    Hignett, too, has played a role in Boro’s resurgence. His strong association with the club led to him working in a coaching capacity on two occasions following his retirement from playing. The most recent of those, however, did not end in happy circumstances.

    The 45-year-old was coaching under Karanka up until December when the pair clashed. Hignett left the club, explaining that despite the early positivity in the working relationship, his position became untenable after the fall-out.

    “If I’m honest I had a falling out with the head coach. Me and Aitor had a disagreement and unfortunately it couldn’t be rectified and I left. We obviously couldn’t work together and that was disappointing. Boro is my club. I spent almost 20 years at the club in one capacity or another.

    “It was just a clash of personalities if you like. I’d worked with Aitor and got on well with him at the start but things deteriorated towards the end.

    “Myself and Aitor weren’t compatible with each other. I couldn’t put up with some of the things that were happening there and he probably couldn’t put up with some of the things I wanted or could see happening. Unfortunately these things happen in football sometimes and you learn to get on with it.

    “While it was disappointing, Steve Gibson is still a fantastic friend and he’ll speak to me every week.”

    Gibson’s presence in the boardroom remains, a longevity underpinned by his long list of achievements, relationship with the fans and the trust he places in his staff.

    And under Gibson and Karanka’s guidance, Hignett believes Boro will gain automatic promotion this year and be in a position to remain in the Premier League for some time.

    “I think, with Steve Gibson, they have the best chairman in football and I’m sure he will again put his hand in his pocket and make sure Middlesbrough have a good chance of survival should they get up.

    “I think they’re in a better position this time around but they’ll obviously need for or five quality players to come in.”

    From L-R: Robson, Venables and Gibson pose for press while Robson unveils Ravanelli to mass delight on Teeside (r).

    Hignett will more than likely return to the club he adores in some capacity in the future but not before Karanka has departed.  Far from resenting the Spaniard’s role in his exit, though, Hignett insists he is grateful for spending time with such a forward-thinking manager.

    “[Karanka] has been fantastic, I’ve learned an awful lot,” Hignett said. “He’s a clone of Mourinho so for me to be involved for the best part of 12 months, see how it all works and put the coaching sessions on, I’ll take that away with me.

    “The lads will tell you they loved every session he put on. They were different, they were intense, they were organised and they were structured. The job he’s done, coupled with the chairman who has chucked a few quid at it this year, is fantastic.”

    Currently looking for another opportunity, Hignett harbours ambitions to become a manager in his own right and was in Dubai to sound out possible opportunities within the AGL.

    “I’m hoping to manage and to coach, that’s my aim. I left Middlesbrough back in December and had a couple of interviews back home which I’m waiting to hear about and I’ll probably end up pre-season time have something happening.

    Hignett (r) was sad to leave Boro.

    “It’s just another possibility [to work in the UAE] and I wanted to come out and have a look because Dubai is a place which I’ve always been interested in and I’ve loved it. It’s always interesting to have a look as it’s developed a lot since I was last here in 2002.

    “Then I was with Blackburn Rovers when Graeme Souness was manager but it’s massively different now. It’s been a real eye opener to see how it’s been developed. I know a little bit about [the AGL], not too much but I know what it’s all about and I have some good friends who live here.

    “No [I’ve not had discussions with AGL clubs], not yet. I just wanted to come over and see what it’s like.”

    A man who has played and worked with such illustrious names will surely not be short of options going into the new season. Hignett may have to temper any hopes of working with a chairman such as Gibson, however, especially if he’s eyeing up a move to the UAE. 

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