wilkos_perm
Well-known member
i can imagine Gibson/Scott are keeping an eye on the Forest situation.
I don't think its Edwards
- Thread starter atypical_boro
- Start date
Ironops
Well-known member
Everybody loves Leo, he is a great character, full of passion and commitment and he has become one of our own. He kisses the badge and gets us all pumped up, he riles the opposition dugout and I really hope he spends the rest of his career with us. But as a long term manager? No.
Leo's in the seat just now, and the better he performs the harder it will be to get him back out.
From article, 2020;
The Northern Echo
Leo Percovich on his love affair with Middlesbrough
25th January 2020
By Scott Wilson
scottwilsonecho
Chief Sports Writer
Leo Percovich is a cult hero at Middlesbrough, but the first-team coach’s chest-beating image hides a much more complex personality. Chief Sports Writer Scott Wilson sat down with the Uruguayan to discuss triumph, tragedy and the deep-rooted love that bonds him to the Middlesbrough fans.
THERE are plenty of words to describe Leo Percovich, Middlesbrough’s irrepressible bundle of energy doubling as a first-team coach. Proud perhaps. Or passionate. In the wake of Tuesday’s touchline explosion at the Riverside, maybe provocative would also do the trick. Ask the man himself though, and you’d be surprised with what he comes up with to describe his own character.
Former Middlesbrough goalkeeper coach Leo Percovich acknowledges the fans before the Sky Bet Championship Playoff match at the Riverside Stadium, Middlesbrough
“There is something people do not know about me,” said Percovich, reclining in his chair at Boro’s Rockliffe Park training ground, less than 48 hours after he had helped spark the footballing equivalent of World War Three in the dying seconds of Boro’s 1-1 draw with Birmingham City. “I am actually quite shy.
“People see me going over to the fans at the end of the game, beating my chest, but I’m not sure that is really me. I am much shyer than that. Honestly. I don’t want that attention, I think, ‘Give all this to the team’. I would be happy with that. But at the same time, I see they are waiting for me now.
“I go over, and all of a sudden, there is something exploding in me that I want to share. When I go, it is like a powerful attraction, like a magnet. I feel their power and I explode myself. It is a real connection, but it is almost like it is happening outside my body. We are all together, and that is the big thing. If we are not together, we are not Middlesbrough. From the moment we start to divide, we are a different club. But this is a big family, and it is my family. Shy or not, you cannot know what that means.”
My family. For all that football fans can be fiercely parochial, they tend to be sceptical of forming strong, emotional bonds with those involved at their club. It can take a lifetime for outsiders to be accepted, let alone championed as ‘one of the fans’ own’, so the esteem in which Percovich is held among the Riverside faithful is genuinely remarkable.
Watch the 51-year-old Uruguayan salute the hardcore support, especially after an away game, and you are witnessing mutual love and respect at its rawest. The fist pumps on the pitch are reciprocated in the stands. When Percovich points to the Middlesbrough badge on his jacket and kisses it, it is more than mere posturing; when the fans break into a chant of ‘Leo, Leo, Leo’, it is more than a simple acknowledgment of a coach giving his thanks.
How did such a deep-rooted relationship develop? It was apparent during Percovich’s first spell at the club, when he was a goalkeeping coach working under Aitor Karanka but was generally regarded as the Spaniard’s de facto number two, but would almost certainly have disappeared had he remained in his native South America after leaving Teesside when Garry Monk was appointed in the summer of 2017. Instead, two things happened that changed Percovich’s life, and his standing in the eyes of the Middlesbrough supporters, entirely.
The first was utterly tragic. In December 2017, Percovich was driving his wife, Juliana, and their children, Valentina, Pietro and Antonella, on a 300-mile trip from Rio de Janeiro to Belo Horizonte to spend Christmas with Juliana’s family.
Despite being driven at well below the 60kmph speed limit, Percovich’s car careered out of control, tumbling from a 25m bridge onto the concrete below. His youngest daughter, Antonella, then five, died before she reached hospital. A week later, on Christmas Eve, his eldest child, Valentina, also passed away.
Leo Percovich was Middlesbrough's goalkeeping coach under Aitor Karanka
His son, Pietro, eight at the time, was left in a coma for three weeks, while his wife fractured her pelvis and he was left with broken ribs. Unsurprisingly, the incident caused Percovich and the remaining members of his family irreparable damage.
For months on end, he tended to his son in hospital, and it was at this time that his second life-changing event took place. He realised how much Middlesbrough had come to mean to him. He was back in South America, but he did not feel at home. Pietro was in pain, confined to a wheelchair, but all he wanted to talk about was his schoolfriends back in Croft-on-Tees. It was as dark a time as it was possible to imagine, yet in Middlesbrough, and his memories of his life before, there was a sliver of light.
“I always say that life is about moments in time,” said Percovich. “Your life is enriched by how many moments you share, good ones and bad. I had left Middlesbrough and I prepared myself for a different chapter in my life. It was a challenge to go to Brazil, to learn as a manager and to prepare to be the next manager of Fluminense.
“My life was heading in a different direction, but then three months later, I had the accident, the fatal accident when everything happened. And straight away, Middlesbrough was there and I had their support. That meant so much to me.
“I remember the time when Pietro was in a wheelchair. We were desperately trying to check he was okay, and all he wanted to do was talk about Middlesbrough. I remember a day not long after the accident, we should have been doing things in the hospital, but we spent all day trying to get an internet connection so Pietro could watch the Middlesbrough game.
“I remember him sitting in the wheelchair watching. Everyone else there was talking about Brazilian football, but his team was Middlesbrough. He didn’t care about Brazil, he cared about Middlesbrough. I was with him and we would follow every game online, and that gave him hope. It meant he could dream.
“At that time, Grant Leadbitter was the team captain, and he sent a shirt to Pietro from every single player. He sent 25 shirts. That’s a big box! Can you imagine that? Every shirt was signed by the players with an individual message to the family. You cannot buy that. I don’t think you will find that anywhere else. It has to be a special team for that, a real family. Some teams might send one shirt with everyone signing it, but that was proof of the extra love.”
Further proof arrived the following summer when Percovich travelled back to England for the first time since the accident, attending the first leg of Middlesbrough’s play-off semi-final with Aston Villa.
It was an emotionally-charged occasion, with Pietro accompanying him onto the pitch, waving a huge red-and-white flag, as the Teesside faithful reaffirmed their solidarity.
“That day was unforgettable,” said Percovich. “The club invited us over for a couple of days, to show their support and the love of the people. When we went to the stadium, I said I would like to go to the dressing room to give a hug to the players. They said, ‘No, you will go to the pitch’. I said, ‘No, I cannot go onto the field’. But they said, ‘The people want to say hello to you, they are expecting it’.
“I felt ashamed. I said, ‘What am I going to say?’ I thought they wouldn’t want to know. But when I walked out and saw everyone standing there, supporting us as a family, that connection was incredible. That was one of the biggest moments in my life.
“It was a whole mixture of emotions. I walked in there to receive the support because I lost my girls, but I was completely knocked over by the way we were received. It was one of the few moments when I thought I might break down, but I had to keep walking because my boy was there next to me. I thought I would have to stop, I couldn’t keep walking, but I saw him so happy, feeling all this love, so I walked next him, staying strong, and that was an amazing moment.
“It was so powerful. You cannot fake that or make it up. It will stay with me the rest of my life, and also for Pietro. It was massive for him to get all the love and respect, and he still has the picture of him walking onto the field with the flag. He had only been two times before, once as a mascot with his sisters and then when he came to celebrate with me after promotion. This was the third time, and it will stay with him forever. He will feel the loss of his sisters all his life, but that showed him he is not alone. He felt the love of the crowd that night, and it has stayed with him.”
With his bond to Teesside reconnected, Percovich jumped at the chance to re-join Middlesbrough earlier this summer when Jonathan Woodgate approached him to offer the role of first-team coach in his new backroom set-up.
Speak to Woodgate about their relationship, and it is clear the fist-pumping, rabble-rousing image Percovich has cultivated in the last few years barely scratches the surface of his talents or influence.
Prior to the accident that turned his life upside-down, Percovich was being groomed as Fluminense’s next head coach. That doesn’t happen if all you can do is beat your chest. He is respected within Rockliffe Park as an astute and innovative coach, leading sessions, generating ideas and playing a pivotal role in Woodgate’s evolution into a successful manager.
“I will tell you something about me,” said Percovich. “I love to read. I don’t just read the newspapers or WhatsApp, I read books, I am a study man. People sometimes don’t see this because maybe my passion and energy can hide this. But if you go to my house, the best present you can give me is a book. I will read all kinds of books. Anything I get from those books, I take it and bring it to the club to share. It can be tactics, psychology, mentality – anything you can take something from.”
Eventually, Percovich wants to strike out for himself in management, and his long-term dream is to one day manage Middlesbrough.
From article, 2020;
The Northern Echo
Leo Percovich on his love affair with Middlesbrough
25th January 2020
By Scott Wilson
scottwilsonecho
Chief Sports Writer
Leo Percovich is a cult hero at Middlesbrough, but the first-team coach’s chest-beating image hides a much more complex personality. Chief Sports Writer Scott Wilson sat down with the Uruguayan to discuss triumph, tragedy and the deep-rooted love that bonds him to the Middlesbrough fans.
THERE are plenty of words to describe Leo Percovich, Middlesbrough’s irrepressible bundle of energy doubling as a first-team coach. Proud perhaps. Or passionate. In the wake of Tuesday’s touchline explosion at the Riverside, maybe provocative would also do the trick. Ask the man himself though, and you’d be surprised with what he comes up with to describe his own character.
Former Middlesbrough goalkeeper coach Leo Percovich acknowledges the fans before the Sky Bet Championship Playoff match at the Riverside Stadium, Middlesbrough
“There is something people do not know about me,” said Percovich, reclining in his chair at Boro’s Rockliffe Park training ground, less than 48 hours after he had helped spark the footballing equivalent of World War Three in the dying seconds of Boro’s 1-1 draw with Birmingham City. “I am actually quite shy.
“People see me going over to the fans at the end of the game, beating my chest, but I’m not sure that is really me. I am much shyer than that. Honestly. I don’t want that attention, I think, ‘Give all this to the team’. I would be happy with that. But at the same time, I see they are waiting for me now.
“I go over, and all of a sudden, there is something exploding in me that I want to share. When I go, it is like a powerful attraction, like a magnet. I feel their power and I explode myself. It is a real connection, but it is almost like it is happening outside my body. We are all together, and that is the big thing. If we are not together, we are not Middlesbrough. From the moment we start to divide, we are a different club. But this is a big family, and it is my family. Shy or not, you cannot know what that means.”
My family. For all that football fans can be fiercely parochial, they tend to be sceptical of forming strong, emotional bonds with those involved at their club. It can take a lifetime for outsiders to be accepted, let alone championed as ‘one of the fans’ own’, so the esteem in which Percovich is held among the Riverside faithful is genuinely remarkable.
Watch the 51-year-old Uruguayan salute the hardcore support, especially after an away game, and you are witnessing mutual love and respect at its rawest. The fist pumps on the pitch are reciprocated in the stands. When Percovich points to the Middlesbrough badge on his jacket and kisses it, it is more than mere posturing; when the fans break into a chant of ‘Leo, Leo, Leo’, it is more than a simple acknowledgment of a coach giving his thanks.
How did such a deep-rooted relationship develop? It was apparent during Percovich’s first spell at the club, when he was a goalkeeping coach working under Aitor Karanka but was generally regarded as the Spaniard’s de facto number two, but would almost certainly have disappeared had he remained in his native South America after leaving Teesside when Garry Monk was appointed in the summer of 2017. Instead, two things happened that changed Percovich’s life, and his standing in the eyes of the Middlesbrough supporters, entirely.
The first was utterly tragic. In December 2017, Percovich was driving his wife, Juliana, and their children, Valentina, Pietro and Antonella, on a 300-mile trip from Rio de Janeiro to Belo Horizonte to spend Christmas with Juliana’s family.
Despite being driven at well below the 60kmph speed limit, Percovich’s car careered out of control, tumbling from a 25m bridge onto the concrete below. His youngest daughter, Antonella, then five, died before she reached hospital. A week later, on Christmas Eve, his eldest child, Valentina, also passed away.
Leo Percovich was Middlesbrough's goalkeeping coach under Aitor Karanka
His son, Pietro, eight at the time, was left in a coma for three weeks, while his wife fractured her pelvis and he was left with broken ribs. Unsurprisingly, the incident caused Percovich and the remaining members of his family irreparable damage.
For months on end, he tended to his son in hospital, and it was at this time that his second life-changing event took place. He realised how much Middlesbrough had come to mean to him. He was back in South America, but he did not feel at home. Pietro was in pain, confined to a wheelchair, but all he wanted to talk about was his schoolfriends back in Croft-on-Tees. It was as dark a time as it was possible to imagine, yet in Middlesbrough, and his memories of his life before, there was a sliver of light.
“I always say that life is about moments in time,” said Percovich. “Your life is enriched by how many moments you share, good ones and bad. I had left Middlesbrough and I prepared myself for a different chapter in my life. It was a challenge to go to Brazil, to learn as a manager and to prepare to be the next manager of Fluminense.
“My life was heading in a different direction, but then three months later, I had the accident, the fatal accident when everything happened. And straight away, Middlesbrough was there and I had their support. That meant so much to me.
“I remember the time when Pietro was in a wheelchair. We were desperately trying to check he was okay, and all he wanted to do was talk about Middlesbrough. I remember a day not long after the accident, we should have been doing things in the hospital, but we spent all day trying to get an internet connection so Pietro could watch the Middlesbrough game.
“I remember him sitting in the wheelchair watching. Everyone else there was talking about Brazilian football, but his team was Middlesbrough. He didn’t care about Brazil, he cared about Middlesbrough. I was with him and we would follow every game online, and that gave him hope. It meant he could dream.
“At that time, Grant Leadbitter was the team captain, and he sent a shirt to Pietro from every single player. He sent 25 shirts. That’s a big box! Can you imagine that? Every shirt was signed by the players with an individual message to the family. You cannot buy that. I don’t think you will find that anywhere else. It has to be a special team for that, a real family. Some teams might send one shirt with everyone signing it, but that was proof of the extra love.”
Further proof arrived the following summer when Percovich travelled back to England for the first time since the accident, attending the first leg of Middlesbrough’s play-off semi-final with Aston Villa.
It was an emotionally-charged occasion, with Pietro accompanying him onto the pitch, waving a huge red-and-white flag, as the Teesside faithful reaffirmed their solidarity.
“That day was unforgettable,” said Percovich. “The club invited us over for a couple of days, to show their support and the love of the people. When we went to the stadium, I said I would like to go to the dressing room to give a hug to the players. They said, ‘No, you will go to the pitch’. I said, ‘No, I cannot go onto the field’. But they said, ‘The people want to say hello to you, they are expecting it’.
“I felt ashamed. I said, ‘What am I going to say?’ I thought they wouldn’t want to know. But when I walked out and saw everyone standing there, supporting us as a family, that connection was incredible. That was one of the biggest moments in my life.
“It was a whole mixture of emotions. I walked in there to receive the support because I lost my girls, but I was completely knocked over by the way we were received. It was one of the few moments when I thought I might break down, but I had to keep walking because my boy was there next to me. I thought I would have to stop, I couldn’t keep walking, but I saw him so happy, feeling all this love, so I walked next him, staying strong, and that was an amazing moment.
“It was so powerful. You cannot fake that or make it up. It will stay with me the rest of my life, and also for Pietro. It was massive for him to get all the love and respect, and he still has the picture of him walking onto the field with the flag. He had only been two times before, once as a mascot with his sisters and then when he came to celebrate with me after promotion. This was the third time, and it will stay with him forever. He will feel the loss of his sisters all his life, but that showed him he is not alone. He felt the love of the crowd that night, and it has stayed with him.”
With his bond to Teesside reconnected, Percovich jumped at the chance to re-join Middlesbrough earlier this summer when Jonathan Woodgate approached him to offer the role of first-team coach in his new backroom set-up.
Speak to Woodgate about their relationship, and it is clear the fist-pumping, rabble-rousing image Percovich has cultivated in the last few years barely scratches the surface of his talents or influence.
Prior to the accident that turned his life upside-down, Percovich was being groomed as Fluminense’s next head coach. That doesn’t happen if all you can do is beat your chest. He is respected within Rockliffe Park as an astute and innovative coach, leading sessions, generating ideas and playing a pivotal role in Woodgate’s evolution into a successful manager.
“I will tell you something about me,” said Percovich. “I love to read. I don’t just read the newspapers or WhatsApp, I read books, I am a study man. People sometimes don’t see this because maybe my passion and energy can hide this. But if you go to my house, the best present you can give me is a book. I will read all kinds of books. Anything I get from those books, I take it and bring it to the club to share. It can be tactics, psychology, mentality – anything you can take something from.”
Eventually, Percovich wants to strike out for himself in management, and his long-term dream is to one day manage Middlesbrough.
S7DiscoDown
Well-known member
I imagine Edwards is on 'gardering' leave and full pay until he gets a new job.
So I imagine you'd still need to do a bit of paper work despite him being available.
So I imagine you'd still need to do a bit of paper work despite him being available.
SmogonOuseburn
Well-known member
Well I thought that the team selection, and decisions on substitutes were spot on. I would be quite happy to give Leo the job in the short term, maybe the rest of the season. He has had close contact with quite a few managers, and may well have learned quite a few lessons in that time.
atypical_boro
Well-known member
I suppose we do need to try and think 'coach' now rather than 'manager'.
Being a manager is way more than picking the team and making substitutes. The game has moved on massively in the last 20 years. That might have been what managers used to do but now they have to understand a lot more. There is a tonne of data to give them insight about your team and the opposition and having someone that doesn't understand any of that isn't going to cut it anymore. Footballers aren't known for being the brightest and most people involved are ex-pros so it's slim pickings in the (genuine) intelligence area. Someone with a little bit of intelligence can be given data and use it to make all their decisions without any other knowledge if they trust it (and it can work for a while) but someone with actual understanding of what the data means can use it properly.
If anyone has watched any of the documentaries with people like Pep and Mourinho then you can see they really understand the game. It isn't just picking a team. There's way more to it than that. Compare it to the documentaries in the 90s with Warnock where it is basically just shouting at everyone with very little tactical work and the difference is astronomical.
We need to modernise. Stop hiring people based on outdated criteria and bring in someone that is capable of understanding everything they need to.
Pear-Drops
Well-known member
Did Leo actually make any 'on field' decisions during the game ?
Everytime I looked across at the 'white box' Craig Liddle was there explaining the various tactics to Leo, who then appeared to be passing them on to the players.
This is not meant as a slur on Leo, just that I'm sure Lidds is actually the bossman
Everytime I looked across at the 'white box' Craig Liddle was there explaining the various tactics to Leo, who then appeared to be passing them on to the players.
This is not meant as a slur on Leo, just that I'm sure Lidds is actually the bossman
CarrickBall
Well-known member
I think it would have been announced by now if it was, it looked almost like we'd sacked Wilder to get Edwards, but not now.
My guess is the club haven't yet made a decision, another win at the weekend and Leo's odds will tumble.
Edwards odds were 1/5 at one point, now 8/13 and no sign of movement for quite a while. Maybe we stick with Leo til the World Cup and just see how it goes?
PS. Edwards will probably be announced this afternoon now I've said this.
I'd be disappointed if Leo was given another 5/6 weeks.
With all due respect, and I love the bloke for his passion for our club and town.. he's a goalkeeper coach.
The season still has a long way to go.. plenty of time for our designated, chosen man to come in and get his teeth into this season, start coaching the team into his medium to long term plans.
Carrying on with Leo will be relying on heart and spirit and togetherness.. which you need, but it can't only be that.
Borobuddah
Well-known member
Of course the main management churn may come with the break for the World Cup. Meanwhile we have the chance to look at who is available right now. If no one currently available suits us, we may well wait until the break
GazBoro
Well-known member
I'm not sure why Edwards is getting linked to be honest.
He's managed Telford United and Forest Green, and nearly made a pigs ear of the Forest Green promotion. Their 2nd half of that season was poor and they won one of their last 8 to limp over the line. He then takes Watford and wins 3 in 11 with the ex-Premiership team he inherited. Poor.
Leo has coached at some big big clubs, Stuttgart, Cruzeiro, Valencia, Real Madrid, as well as time served with the national teams of Brazil, France and Uruguay. He's got more overall experience than Rob Edwards imo.
I'm not saying Leo should get the gig, but surely if we're serious about Edwards and he's the calibre we're aiming for, then why not Leo?
He's managed Telford United and Forest Green, and nearly made a pigs ear of the Forest Green promotion. Their 2nd half of that season was poor and they won one of their last 8 to limp over the line. He then takes Watford and wins 3 in 11 with the ex-Premiership team he inherited. Poor.
Leo has coached at some big big clubs, Stuttgart, Cruzeiro, Valencia, Real Madrid, as well as time served with the national teams of Brazil, France and Uruguay. He's got more overall experience than Rob Edwards imo.
I'm not saying Leo should get the gig, but surely if we're serious about Edwards and he's the calibre we're aiming for, then why not Leo?
weemoby
Well-known member
I hope it's him as our next manager, he was awesome in Dr Strangelove!
Zoophonic
Well-known member
To be honest I thought Slim was better in Beyond the Poseidon Adventure
atypical_boro
Well-known member
The difference between the Warnock and Peter Reid documentaries compared to now though is partly down to the larger amount of creative/editorial control clubs contractually now ask for. There are also way too many of them, such that I find them really boring and sanitised nowadays personally.
Jedi boro
Well-known member
Too right compare them to this classic
John Sitton
Warning he isn’t happy NSFW AT ALL
atypical_boro
Well-known member
Yeah its a classic. I actually think all this stuff still goes on, just not in front of the camera.
Cardiffdaffs
Well-known member
I actually enjoyed the three All or Nothings. I agree the Leeds one was so sanitised it was in effect a club promo but the Sunderland, City, Spurs and Arsenal ones have been very entertaining and didn’t hide issues.
wilkos_perm
Well-known member
how would you know what they were discussing though? most managers do take on comments from their assistant, it doesn't mean they're in charge though
atypical_boro
Well-known member
I got really bored of the City one. Enjoyed the Spurs one. Started the Arsenal one and wasn't very gripped to be honest.
Sunderland one was good but mostly cos they were in disarray.