Source: Northern_Echo
No new coach at Boro
GORDON Strachan will not be rushing to appoint a permanent successor to former Middlesbrough assistant Gary McAllister. McAllister left his position on Saturday morning when he agreed to become Gerard Houllier's right-hand man at Aston Villa. The Scot only joined Boro's backroom staff in May, but Strachan felt he could not stand in his former Leeds United team-mate's way when he was offered a position in the Premier League. With Colin Cooper, Martin Scott and Stephen Pears all having left the Teessiders at the start of the summer, the club's coaching options are limited. But with highly-rated conditioning coach Roger Spry set to step up his involvement on a part-time basis and Strachan prepared to increase his own coaching workload, there will be no frantic pursuit of an experienced replacement for McAllister. I'll see how it goes, said the Boro boss. I'm open minded about it. We are sorry to see Gary leave, but there are a lot of people multi-tasking here. I enjoy getting out there on the training field, so if I have the opportunity to get out a bit more, that's fine. In fact, I'm looking forward to doing more coaching. And in any case, we've got Roger Spry coming back to us so that's another body on the coaching staff. Strachan will oversee preparations for Saturday's Championship game at Watford, a match that will see Boro deprived of the services of full-back Justin Hoyte. Hoyte strained his hamstring in the latter stages of Saturday's 3-1 win over Reading and will be sidelined for six weeks. Matthew Bates, who was rested against the Royals, is expected to replace Hoyte at Vicarage Road, although a fit-again Tony McMahon is also hoping to be involved. Andrew Taylor helped Watford claim a surprise 6-1 win at Millwall on Saturday, but the full-back on a season-long loan from Boro, is ineligible for this weekend's game. Andy Halliday, Lee Miller, Luke Williams, Seb Hines and Marvin Emnes are all included in the Boro reserves squad to face Leeds at the Riverside tonight (ko 7pm). Admission is free to season card holders and Boro Pride members. Former Boro loanee Marlon King has made a controversial return to football by signing a season-long contract with Coventry. King's future in the game came under scrutiny when he was released from prison in July, having served half of an 18-month sentence for sexual assault and causing actual bodily harm.