Gary O'Neil feels both Gareth Southgate and Steve Gibson have been repaid by Middlesbrough's shock win over Arsenal at the weekend.
Midfielder delight with win
Gary O'Neil feels both Gareth Southgate and Steve Gibson have been repaid by Middlesbrough's shock win over Arsenal at the weekend.
Boro brought an 11-match winless streak to an end on Sunday with victory against Arsenal and that helped lift the pressure on under-fire boss Southgate.
O'Neil was delighted to have finally seen Southgate's plans bear fruit.
"The manager has stuck by his tactics and stood by the way he has wanted to play the game," said O'Neil.
"He has also stood by us during the difficult times when there have been some bad results.
"He has kept telling us to hang on in there. We are all desperate to turn it around for the manager.
Pleased
"The manager is a great bloke. He has brought a lot of lads here and he has been with us through hard times, we all want to do well for him. At the end of the day it is his job which we are all fighting for."
O'Neil also had time to praise his chairman Gibson - who has stayed loyal to Southgate.
"The chairman here is also fantastic. He gives a lot of managers a lot of time. Other chairmen could have panicked before now, quite easily," he continued.
"We want to make sure the gaffer does well in this job. We are all together in training and we are all desperate to make sure it happens."
