Middlesbrough Football Club

• Nickname:Boro
• Founded:1876
• Manager:Tony Mowbray

• Ground:Riverside Stadium
• Capacity:35049

Cooper handed Boro role

15 Dec 2006 - 16:21:28

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Middlesbrough have named former defender Colin Cooper as Steve Round's replacement at the Riverside Stadium.

Round left his first-team coach role at Boro by mutual consent on Friday morning and Cooper, who had been working with the reserves, has stepped in the replace him.

Boro boss Gareth Southgate confirmed to the club's official website: "Colin Cooper will have a greater involvement with the first team. That's very important to me.

"He's a very solid guy and someone I'm looking forward to having alongside me on a match-day.

"We all move forward together. It's important that everyone at the club is pulling in the same direction. I've been here six months now and had the opportunity to assess lots of different things.

"I feel there's the need for change. Myself and Steve had a discussion about it. We had differing views about how I want to work.

"We've come to an amicable decision to go our separate ways. I thank Steve for his contribution, not just since I've been in charge, but over the last five years.

"I think it's important to make my mark on things and have things operating in the way I want. Steve and myself had a chat about things and I felt the time was right for some change."