Championship - Countdown: Middlesbrough

Eurosport - Thu, 06 Aug 09:41:00 2009

Eurosport-Yahoo! continues its countdown to the Championship season with a look at Middlesbrough.

FOOTBALL 2008-09 Premier League Middlesbrough Adam Johnson - 0

Manager: Gareth Southgate

Last 10 Seasons in Championship :(1999/00 to 2008/09): None - all in Premier League

POSSIBLE STARTING XI:

Brad Jones

Justin Hoyte - David Wheater - Emanuel Pogatetz - Andrew Taylor

Gary O'Neil - Adam Johnson - Didier Digard - Julio Arca

Tuncay Sanli - Jeremie Aliadiere

BACK-UPS FROM: Jason Steele, Chris Riggott, Robert Huth, Matthew Bates, Tony McMahon, Joe Bennett, John Johnson, Seb Hines, Jonathan Grounds, Mohamed Shawky, Nathan Porritt, Josh Walker, Marvin Emnes, Afonso Alves, Jonathan Franks, Leroy Lita

TRANSFERS:

In - Leroy Lita (free), Danny Coyne (Tranmere, free), Mark Yeates (Colchester, undisclosed)

Out - Stewart Downing (Aston Villa, £12m), Ross Turnbull (Chelsea, free), Graeme Owens (Kilmarnock, free), Mido (Zamalek, loan)

POSITIVES: Steve Gibson is one of football's most patient and loyal chairmen, and he will surely continue to back Gareth Southgate. Good young prospects such as David Wheater and Adam Johnson should prosper in this division if they can keep hold of them. Also with an extra £12m to spend following Stewart Downing's departure to Aston Villa, Boro will hope to strengthen.

NEGATIVES: While Boro have abundant quality in their squad, will players with World Cup aspirations like Tuncay Sanli and Afonso Alves really be happy to play in the second tier of English football? Southgate has a job on his hands maintaining dressing room harmony and keeping his big-name players motivated.

VERDICT: Boro are renowned for their stability thanks to Gibson, and they look well set to make a quick return to the Premier League with a combination of youth and experience, and bags of quality. They should be in the mix for automatic promotion. 2nd.

Mario Hajiloizis / Eurosport

Comment 1 - 13 of 13

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  1. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    U have to be a complete @#$% if u ever wanted to play­ for @#$% hole Boro lol

    From Rich S, on Fri 7 Aug 8:44AM
  2. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    Boro are not important enough to even make the news,­ well I guess this is sh**tty yahoo news after all.

    From Rich S, on Fri 7 Aug 8:44AM

  3. Losing a place in Premier League is like love of your­ life breaking up with ya. When you lose it that is when­ alarm bells start ringing. You realise what you have­ lost. What next? You get a new determination and new­ passion that drives you through to the next level. This­ is what Boro's gonna do. Be determined, persistent­ and believe in themselves that yes they CAN TURN it­ around and be back in PL. Good Luck Boro.

    From jarikamal, on Thu 6 Aug 7:57PM

  4. Boro have what other teams and managers dream of­ stabillity and a great chairman. The Boro while losing­ some good players and having suffered a bad season will­ bounce back, this is a real chance for Southgate to­ prove himself as a manager, what would be the point os­ sacking him and bring in someone else who does not know­ the team. Boro have some bad debt so the £12mill they­ got for Downing will be used to pay of loans and not to­ mention the stupid amount they paid for Alves of which­ they will not get back, however Boro will come good and­ be in top 2 come the end of season.

    From carllea81, on Thu 6 Aug 7:14PM

  5. The boro should be ok, defo a play-off spot at least!

    From cameron w, on Thu 6 Aug 7:11PM

  6. rich s u @#$%

    From itsboro46, on Thu 6 Aug 6:19PM

  7. Mr Rich S, I get the impression that you are a very­ small man with a distinct lack of grey matter. that­ means "Brains" To you, Oxygen Thief x

    From mich.g, on Thu 6 Aug 4:35PM
  8. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    Shut the hell up - no one cares about Boro.

    From Rich S, on Thu 6 Aug 4:03PM

  9. As long as you thrash the whingeing blunts on­ friday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    From a proper honest person, on Thu 6 Aug 3:37PM

  10. It is always hard to turn around a losing mentality so­ quickly and it normally means that a club that has been­ used to losing week in in week out takes about half the­ season to get going back to where they should be­ playing at. Middlesbough are a good team on paper but­ teams need a run of good wins to turn around a club.­ Verdict a resonable 4th place

    From pushstartautos, on Thu 6 Aug 12:54PM
  11. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    I really hope Boro get relegated to League 1, they are­ such a gay team - no one cares about Boro.

    From Rich S, on Thu 6 Aug 11:44AM
  12. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    I really hope Boro get relegated to League 1, they are­ such a gay team - no one cares about Boro.

    From Rich S, on Thu 6 Aug 11:43AM

  13. Totally agree

    From jarikamal, on Thu 6 Aug 11:15AM
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