Why Middlesbrough's quiet approach may well see them making a big noise come May

By Simon Bird

Published 17:13 07/09/09

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You may have heard of Middlesbough Football Club. They are a team in the North East of England who were relegated last season from the Premier League. They play in a red kit, at the Riverside Stadium.

You may have forgotten Middlesbrough Football Club existed.

Since their demise back in May, you may have expected Middlesbrough, never the most high profile club, but one with endearing qualities, to grab a headline of two.

The sort of headline usually associated with the pain of failure.

A managerial sacking perhaps? Or a chairman putting his club up for sale? Or a chief executive issuing warnings to players and coaches about what is required next season.

Or maybe players mouthing off about how they wanted a move here, or there. Anywhere but the Championship.

Only Middlesbrough’s way has been quite different.

Handling relegation and the £50million drop in revenue must be a terrifying experience, and one that could easily trigger panic decisions, demands for sweeping changes and a scapegoat.

Boro are doing it differently. And wouldn’t it be refreshing if patience, loyalty, and a vision of a local team packed with local talent, rising back to the Premier League, ended up as a template for other clubs to follow.

Gareth Southgate has been retained as manager, and shown steel in the face of a huge disappointment. The kind of bloke who learns from every experience, and knows how to do it better next time.

Steve Gibson hasn’t lost interest just because the going has got tough. Chief executive Keith Lamb has helped formulate a plan to get the finances balanced, without decimating the playing squad.

This has not led to Middlesbrough being very newsworthy so far this season.

It obviously would have been more fun for us journalists to have a new manager talking the big talk, a takeover saga to follow, and a host of “stars“ moaning on a daily basis. It is what we survive on.

But thankfully for Teesside’s faithful, they don’t appear to need such histrionics as they start the slow climb back to the top-flight.

Boro are arguably the best equipped club of those relegated last season to come back up. Their wage bill stood at £35million, less than half that of Newcastle’s back in May. That means only a few key assets have been sold with Stewart Downing, Tuncay and Robert Huth lightening the load and raising cash. And the not so key assets have gone, top of the list being Afonso Alves.

Boro have cover in most positions for those who have departed. Adam Johnson will be one of the stars of the Championship this season on the left wing and the mainstay of Boro’s promotion push. Rhys Williams is emerging as a key youngster anchoring midfield, as is teenager Jonathan Grounds.

David Wheater has stayed loyal and will enjoy rediscovering his form, and Leroy Lita has a fresh chance to impress as a goal scorer.

There is a core of local lads who will now get their chance, allied with experienced campaigners like Emanuel Pogatetz, Chris Riggott, Julio Arca and Gary O’Neil.

The Boro hierarchy have had to answer some difficult questions, and are still battling to win over some disgruntled fans who wanted more deals struck in the transfer window, specifically landing a physical target-man striker that Southgate wanted.

But sitting fourth in the league after five games gives hope that Middlesbrough may once again be noticed.

If there is one team for a neutral to follow this season it is Boro.

Patience, loyalty, sensible financial planning, home grown youngsters... not those poached from academies abroad.

The sort of values you’d doubt had a place in football. But values that will be the foundation of Middlesbrough’s fight-back.

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