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Tavernier and the potential Garry Monk saw to hand him Boro debut
Garry Monk handed Marcus Tavernier a Middlesbrough debut three-and-a-half years ago and now the 21-year-old is excelling
www.gazettelive.co.uk
[Edited]
Tavernier and the potential Garry Monk saw to hand him Boro debut
Garry Monk handed Marcus Tavernier a Middlesbrough debut three-and-a-half years ago and now the 21-year-old is excelling
www.gazettelive.co.uk
Craig Johns
- 12:25, 18 JAN 2021
Marcus Tavernier and the potential Garry Monk saw to hand him his Middlesbrough debut
Garry Monk handed Marcus Tavernier a Middlesbrough debut three-and-a-half years ago and now the 21-year-old is excelling
Middlesbrough fans may not have many positive things to say about Garry Monk and his time at Middlesbrough, but one thing he can always lay claim to is being the manager who handed Marcus Tavernier his debut at the club.
Just 18 at the time, Tavernier started an EFL Cup game against Scunthorpe United after Monk spotted his potential and invited him to train with the first-team that summer.
He would set up an Ashley Fletcher goal in that cup win and went on to make seven more appearances under Monk - including five in the Championship and netting a winning goal in a 1-0 win over Sunderland.
Monk was sacked in December 2017 though, and replaced by Tony Pulis who sent the youngster on loan to MK Dons.
But since returning, Tavernier has continued to be around Boro's first-team becoming an increasingly important member of the squad, leading us to this term where he's been one of Neil Warnock's key men. Watching him this season has made it easy to forget that he is still just 21.
With 100 games for Middlesbrough recently coming up for the academy graduate, Monk at least deserves some credit for spotting Tavernier and setting him on a path towards the more experienced, finer-polished product we see before us now.
And when asked about the versatile forward ahead of Boro's clash with Birmingham - where Monk served as Sky Sports' analyst for the game - Monk spoke with pride at how Tavernier has developed.
"Marcus has done superbly," Monk said. "Marcus was one we took into first-team training. He was one in the academy you could see straight away that there was definitely ability there.
"Obviously, that needs nurturing over time, but you could tell even then that he was going to be a first-team player.
"He was a little young and immature at that time, but he's obviously matured and has great desire, great athleticism and he's got an excellent left-foot on him as well.
"The right attitude was there at the time too. There was just the odd time where the concentration wasn't there all of the time.
"But it's clear he's grown into it getting more experience, being around first-team players more and playing more games, he's got the experience now and he's having a fantastic season."
