Soccer-Karanka future in doubt at Middlesbrough
March 12 (Reuters) - Aitor Karanka's future as Middlesbrough head coach was thrown into serious doubt on Saturday after the club announced the Spaniard would not be in charge of the team for Sunday's Championship game at Charlton Athletic. The highly-regarded 42-year-old former assistant of Jose Mourinho at Real Madrid has been a big success at the second-tier English club who are pushing for a Premier League place. Yet after British media reported that Karanka had been involved in a row during a team meeting on Friday and had left the training ground unexpectedly, Middlesbrough announced that he had also not taken training on Saturday morning. A statement on the club's website said: "Middlesbrough Football Club can confirm that Aitor Karanka did not take training on Saturday morning. "Assistant Head Coach Steve Agnew will take charge of the team for Sunday's fixture at Charlton Athletic. "We appreciate supporters will want to know further details, but at this time the club cannot make any further comment and is solely focused on Sunday's game." Middlesbrough currently lie second in the Championship, four points behind leaders Burnley and with a game in hand, but they have won only three of their past 10 games. (Reporting by Ian Chadband; editing by Martyn Herman)
