English clubs on alert as "luckiest coach in world" eyes special relationship

18 November 2023 , 02:00

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Karanka was assistant to Jose Mourinho for three years at Real Madrid (Image: Philip Coburn)

Former Middlesbrough boss Aitor Karanka began his managerial career ten years ago and is “hungry” for a new challenge.

‌But Karanka, 50, who led Boro to promotion to the Premier League, says that his manager-owner relationship with chairman Steve Gibson is unique and gave him the perfect platform to succeed.

Ex-Birmingham and Nottingham Forest manager Karanka, who has also had spells at Granada and Maccabi Tel Aviv, is keen for another job in England because of the sheer passion for the game. Karanka said: “I always said that, as a coach, to go to Middlesbrough that I could feel I was the luckiest coach in the world to have someone like Steve Gibson but also the unluckiest because it would be impossible to have another relationship like it.

‌“As soon as we met each other, we created that relationship. I remember coming back from the meeting, I opened the door and my wife said: ‘You want to go to Middlesbrough.’ She could see it in my face.

‌“I remember after my fifth game, we had only won once and I was at the Riverside and I got the call… ‘Aitor…’ I’m thinking: ‘wow - five games, but ciao, go home…’

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Karanka would like to return to English football

‌“But it was Steve saying: ‘don’t worry, stay calm.’ We were three points off relegation and I said: ‘maybe you have to sack me.’ He looked at me and said: ‘Are you crazy?! Don’t worry, let’s go together.’

‌“Then when I was leaving, he asked me where I was going and he said to join them all for dinner. It’s amazing and he’s a proper gentleman. For me, England is the best place to be. It’s everything. The crowds, the passion, the relationship with the coaches, the respect and the way that everybody understands football and the big picture is amazing.

‌“Its important to live those experiences. It’s been my life and I’m really pleased to have been through it, enjoy it with my family and I want to be a coach again because it’s my life and I want to be with the players and the best feeling I have in my life is when I’m next to the ball.

‌“It’s something I am missing and I want to share it again with people at the club, people at the training ground and I miss it. You can be working in an office, you can be travelling but at the end of the day, you want to be coaching and working with players.”

John Cross