It was a matter of time.
That Middlesbrough have sacked manager Aitor Karanka after three and a half years at the club should not come as a surprise. With only 11 games of the season remaining, Boro are winless in their last 10 Premier League matches and currently sit in the relegation zone, three points from safety.
But it seems that Manchester United supporters are more devastated than anyone at Thursday morning’s news – more so even than resigned Middlesbrough fans or Karanka himself. That’s because United visit the currently manager-less and struggling side for the lunchtime game on Sunday.
Although it could be seen as a strong advantage to playing a rudderless team in disarray, straight after they’ve severed their own head, Mancunians of a red persuasion fear the ‘Leicester effect’ that did for Liverpool as soon as Claudio Ranieri was booted out.
Namely that regular phenomenon of players upping their game once a manager has departed. Certainly this lot are convinced that they’ll suffer a Boro backlash…
https://twitter.com/PeoplesPerson_/status/842328018194444289
— James Booth (@MUFCBoothy) March 16, 2017
https://twitter.com/egyption305/status/842327330144063488
https://twitter.com/bashy88mc/status/842328868522463232
That's us losing 2-1 on Sunday. https://t.co/MxgrmvDWSw
— Dan (@mufc_dan87) March 16, 2017
https://twitter.com/ChichasFinish/status/842332468933988352
https://twitter.com/MLAW29/status/842330717266825216
Ofcourse Karanka leaves middlesbrough and initiate a leicester city effect to watch them batter us or hold a 0-0. Just our luck
— Woah, there (@AWDerp) March 16, 2017
