Last season was another of mediocrity for Gareth Southgate’s men after they finished in 13th place with 42 points, some 6 clear of the drop zone, but 18 shy of Europe. Will Boro be condemned to another season of mid-table obscurity, or can they improve in 2008/09? 
A brisk start to the transfer window, when within 24 hours Gareth Southgate splashed over £7 million on two new signings, briefly raised hopes that Middlesbrough may embark on the sort of spending spree not seen since the arrival of Steve Gibson as Chairman. The money he pumped into the club 10 years ago catapulted Middlesbrough into the nouveau-riche of English football, when arrivals such as Juninho, Ravenelli and Emerson got the whole of the Premiership talking. Recent years have seen the club’s spending power dwindle, despite the £12.7 million splashed on Alfonso Alves 6 months ago, and those big transfer fees are increasingly becoming a thing of the past.
Now Middlesbrough’s transfer budget ranks as one of the smaller in the league. That makes the job that Gareth Southgate has done at the Riverside Stadium in his first two years as a manager quite impressive, as he steered Boro’ away from relegation with a 12th place finish in his first season in charge, and followed that up with a 13th place finish last season.
However, despite the achievement of keeping his side by and large away from the relegation dogfight last season, Southgate’s second season in charge was less impressive than his first. In 2006/07 they managed 12 wins and 46 points, finishing 12th in the process, whilst in 2007/08 the team recorded two fewer wins (10), and four fewer points (42), with the net result of finishing a place lower in 2007/08. Additionally Cup performances last season were mediocre; a 3rd round exit at the hands of eventual winners Spurs in the League Cup and an embarrassing exit to Cardiff City in the quarter finals of the FA Cup meant Middlesbrough weren’t able to excel in knock-out competition either.
Another incremental drop of approximately 10% in 2008/09 would see them finish roughly on 38 points, a total uncomfortably close to the drop zone if recent finishing positions are to be used as a guide.
With limited room for manoeuvre in the market, the squad won’t be dramatically changed in contrast to last season, so currently there aren’t grounds for hoping for a big improvement on the 2007/08 performance. With this trend in mind, simply avoiding relegation next season would be a job well done, and mid-table mediocrity would be even better.
Nevertheless Southgate and his management team have been busy in the summer months looking to improve the long-term outlook for the club focussing on three key areas:
Reduce the age-profileThe arrivals of Emnes and Digard, along with the departures of the like of Mendieta and Schwarzer have seen the age profile of the team substantially reduced. At just 20 Marvin Emnes certainly has a bright future ahead of him, and the quick forward showed his potential towards the end of last season, as his goals steered Sparta Rotterdam out of trouble. Meanwhile Digard has been referred to as the new Vieira, and his background with the French U21 team suggests a very promising player has been brought to Teesside.
Continue the success of the AcademyThe youth academy at Middlesbrough has been prolific in recent seasons, and arguably the most productive in the Premiership in terms of players brought through into the first team. Whilst not all have gone on to establish themselves in the first team at the Riverside, there are still plenty who have come through the youth ranks in the current first team, such as David Wheater, Adam Johnson, Seb Hines and Matthew Bates. All of these are expected to make strong impacts this season in the Premiership, and keeping this supply line going will ensure, that like Arsenal, Middlesbrough may not have to resort to spending huge sums on transfers if they can keep them coming from the youth team.
Balance the booksThe debt situation at the club has become well known recently, and the lack of available capital at the club is something that has potentially prevented Southgate from going for players that he otherwise would have. Nevertheless using the Academy to bring players through, means that the club can increase competition for places without having to resort to bringing in players at large cost.
This debt has been built up as the club invested in the future, but with a relatively new stadium in place, as well as state of the art training facilities, Middlesbrough have at least ensured that they have built up their infrastructure, as well as concentrating on building up the squad.
At the moment the financial situation hasn’t got so severe that the club have been forced to sell one of their main young stars such as Stuart Downing, who was thought to have aroused the interest of both Liverpool and Aston Villa recently. Therefore the financial situation can’t be too pressing. However, Southgate knows after the arrivals of Emnes and Digard that a new player can only be brought into the squad if one leaves, so keeping the accounts in the black is still a concern.
However, whilst all of these things are excellent for the overall health of the club, they aren’t terribly exciting things to be doing, and not the sort of activities that get the fans buzzing with optimism.
Nevertheless it isn’t all doom and gloom at the Riverside at the moment. The arrival of Emnes up front certainly gives the Middlesbrough front line a bit of much needed potency. The quick Dutch youngster could dovetail perfectly with the strong Alfonso Alves to form the sort of attacking partnership seldom seen in the Premiership these days.
In the midfield, Tuncay’s performance for Turkey during Euro 2008 suggests that Middlesbrough probably haven’t got the best out of the former Fenerbahce player yet, and a move into this department for his club side may suit him better. After the release of Fabio Rochembak, Tuncay may be able to fulfil the role of creative midfielder whilst offering better movement than the Brazilian, whose static play often infuriated the Boro’ fans.
Digard, replaces the ageing George Boateng in the holding midfield role. The former PSG midfielder is certainly a better passer of the ball than Boateng, who heads to newly promoted Hull City. Furthermore the Frenchman’s pace may add an extra dimension to the middle of the pitch.
However, whether the new arrivals will be enough to galvanise a Middlesbrough squad on statistically what appears to be a downward trend on the pitch remains to be seen. Of the four sides that finished below Boro’ last season, Sunderland have been the most active in the transfer market. Roy Keane’s men finished 3 points off their North-Eastern rivals, and if they can snare some of their transfer targets, the Black Cats could be odds on to leap frog their neighbours in the league.
Wigan, Bolton and Fulham all dragged themselves clear of relegation thanks to a strong end to the season, and all three will be intending to keep that good form going for the 2008/09 season. Whilst it would be unrealistic to expect all three to improve significantly over the course of the season and catch Middlesbrough at least one of these teams could, thus further demoting the Teessiders in the final table.
Of the three promoted teams West Bromwich Albion look the most likely to retain their Premiership status in 12 months time. The additions to their squad may well set the bar for avoiding relegation higher next season, especially if the Baggies manage to avoid the drop. So whilst the 2007/08 total of 42 points has been enough on all but one occasion to avoid the trapdoor in the Premiership, a total of 38-40, a conceivable points tally next season for Boro’ may not be.
With long term programmes in place to guarantee the future of Middlesbrough underway, although not terribly exciting, another season of consolidation, or slight improvement, e.g. back to the total of 46 points managed in 2006/07, may be the most realistic target for Gareth Southgate and Middlesbrough for next season. Whilst this might equal mediocrity in most people’s eyes, remaining comfortably in the Premiership, without falling into danger of relegation, (thereby guaranteeing themselves the substantial TV revenue and high crowd attendances) should be a more than satisfactory outcome, if achieved, for Middlesbrough
