Matthew Bates urges Middlesbrough fans to be patient
Defender Matthew Bates has urged Middlesbrough fans to be patient while manager Tony Mowbray brands his style over the club.
Middlesbrough started Mowbray's regime with back-to-back wins but the club has also suffered back-to-back defeats, which leaves Middlesbrough in 22nd place on the Championship table.
"We knew his [Mowbray's] philosophy before he came in and we know the teams he has managed before.
I spoke to people at West Brom and we all know the type of football he wants to bring in," Bates told the Middlesbrough official website.
Bates admits there is pressure on players in the modern game to start playing beautiful football as soon as any new boss walks through the door. He also admits that Middlesbrough
fans get frustrated quickly because of the club's Premier League history.
"We all agree it's the right type of football and the type of football we all want to play, but he's made it clear it's going to
take longer than people think. It's not nice to go off the field to boos and to go home and look at the table and see yourselves third bottom," he added.
Bates says that everyone in the dressing room is suffering at the moment because defeats never leave a nice feeling around the club. However, he insists it's the job of
the players to turn things around as much as it's the job of the manager.
He says the manager cannot be blamed for the individual failures of players out on the pitch. Only the players can form the team's reputation.
"It's your own personal pride that's dented as well as how you feel for the fans and the club.
But we have only got ourselves to blame and we have to pick ourselves up," he said.
Betting advice
Middlesbrough has far too much quality and experience through management to be relegated into League One. The club should start slowly climbing the table in the near future.
The club could also be worth a small bet to make a play-off position by the end of the season.
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