Striking lack of quality up front is contrast to previous Boro teams
IT’S refreshing to hear Neil Warnock say that the ideal scenario this summer will be to bring in not two, but three, new strikers.
Clearly there’s no doubt that the Boro attack needs a complete overhaul.
It’s easier said than done of course. We already know that Warnock is under huge pressure to find the players of the calibre he needs.
And it’s not just about Warnock identifying the men who can transform his attack.
The availability of hard cash and the struggle to bring the best players available all the way to Teesside, will produce one or two headaches for the Boro boss.
Hopefully, Warnock will get there in the end and turn things around next season.
It’s not that Boro haven’t managed to attract top strikers to the Riverside in the past.
Bryan Robson brought in Fabrizio Ravanelli, Paul Merson and Alen Boksic at different times, while Juninho might be described as a modern day No.10.
Perhaps the Boro’s biggest achievement as far as forwards were concerned came during the time of Steve Mcclaren, when Boro boasted three world-class international strikers on their books at the same time.
Mcclaren could select from star trio Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, Mark Viduka and Yakubu, and occasionally even have all three together on the pitch.
In he needed any forward back-up, Mcclaren could call upon the likes of Massimo Maccarone, Szilard Nemeth,
Joseph Job and Malcolm Christie. All of these “fringe” players would walk into Warnock’s team if some enterprising Boro fan could manufacture a Time Machine this summer.
Hasselbaink and Viduka were the first to arrive on Teesside, in the summer of 2004, at the end of the season in which Boro won the Carling Cup.
Mcclaren needed a bigger, stronger squad to cope with European football for the first time and these two fellows fitted the bill perfectly.
Hasselbaink was the first through the door by a matter of weeks, signing on a free transfer from Premier League giants Chelsea.
The Dutch striker had been a prolific goalscorer throughout his career at leading clubs Leeds, Atletico Madrid and Chelsea.
He averaged a goal every two games, or better, at all three clubs and was top scorer in the Premier League both at Leeds and Chelsea.
In his last season at Stamford Bridge Hasselbaink finished top scorer with 17 goals in all competitions, having helped Chelsea to the runnersup spot in the league and the semifinals of the Champions League.
Boro had to beat off attention from Fulham, Celtic and Rangers for his signature.
Hasselbaink was 32 at the time of joining Boro, though the Teesside faithful were to find that there was plenty of life in the old dog yet.
While Boro had done well to fight off opposition for Hasselbaink’s signature, they arguably did even better in convincing Aussie striker Viduka to come to Teesside.
Viduka had also been a prolific goalscorer with Leeds, scoring at almost one goal every two games, and finishing top scorer with 22 goals on two occasions.
Arriving on Teesside at the age of 28, Viduka was arguably at the peak of his career. The only reason Leeds agreed to sell was that they had just been relegated and faced financial difficulties.
Injuries occasionally sidelined Mark for spells while with Boro, but when he was on the pitch his height and strength, not to mention uncanny finishing skills, made him a nightmare to deal with for opposition defenders.
Clearly Boro now had a strikeforce to be feared. In the duo’s first season on Teesside, they helped Boro reach seventh position in the Premier League and qualify for the UEFA Cup for the second season in succession.
Hasselbaink comfortably top scored with 16 goals in all competitions, though Viduka’s opening season was wrecked by injuries and he had to settle for seven goals.
During the summer of 2005, Mcclaren greatly increased his options up front by signing Portsmouth’s 22-year-old prolific goalscorer Yakubu for £7.5m.
It was no surprise that Mcclaren was interested in Yakubu. He had watched from the dug-out as the Nigerian scored four goals against Boro in the final match of the previous season.
Overall Yakubu scored 36 goals in 78 Premier League appearances for Pompey.
In 2005-06, Hasselbaink, Viduka and Yakubu scored 53 goals between them for the Boro, including making a massive contribution towards the club reaching the UEFA Cup Final.
Hasselbaink and Viduka were chosen to start the final in Eindhoven, though Yakubu later came off the bench and at one stage all three were on the pitch at the same time.
In all competitions, Yakubu top scored with 19 goals, while Hasselbaink grabbed 18 and Viduka 16.
At the end of that season Mcclaren moved on to the England job and Boro’s trio of top strikers became two when Hasselbaink departed on a free transfer.
Looking back today, it seems strange that Boro did not offer the 18-goal Hasselbaink a one-year extension even bearing in mind that the Dutchman had reached his 34th birthday.
They did get by without him, however, in Gareth Southgate’s first season at the helm, largely because Viduka enjoyed his best season yet in a Boro shirt.
The Aussie was outstanding up front, scoring 19 goals in 37 appearances. Yakubu gave valuable support with 16 goals in 45 appearances.
However, Boro then lost the second of their big-name forwards in further unusual circumstances.
This time Boro stressed that they want to keep the player, but Viduka was apparently not officially present
What would we give to see three strikers of this calibre again wearing Boro’s vaunted red
shirt?
ed with a deal by January, at which time he was legally allowed to talk to prospective employers for the next season.
By the time that Boro rolled out the carpet to try to keep Viduka, it was too late. The Aussie was already committed to signing for Newcastle United on a free transfer. Boro did try to make one last ditch attempt to keep Viduka at the end of the 2006-07 campaign but he was already set on the move to the Magpies.
In the event Boro did not pay too high a price for losing Viduka. He suffered injury problems in his first season on Tyneside, scoring seven times
in 28 appearances.the injuries were even more of a problem in his second season at Newcastle, which saw him fail to score in 12 outings.
Boro were still a top striker light at the start of 2007-08 and things became even worse for Southgate when he lost Yakubu after the season was already underway.
Yakubu had started the campaign in the Boro line-up but it emerged on the evening of the second game, a night match at Wigan, that the Nigerian wanted to leave.
Everton had expressed interest and Yakubu left no doubts that he wanted to go to Goodison.
This left a bad atmosphere in the dressing room and, as often happens in these situations, Boro felt that they had little choice but to sell before the transfer window closed.
It was of only minor consolation
that Boro did very well on the negotiating table and secured a fee of £11.25m, which was a club record for the Toffees.
Boro would have preferred to have kept the player rather than have the money.
So that was the end of the Big Three. Southgate signed Mido as a replacement for Yakubu, having already snapped up fellow forwards Jeremie Aliadiere and Tuncay.
Unfortunately the Boro attack was never the same again, even despite Boro forking out a club record £12m for Afonso Alves midway through the campaign.
What would we give to see three strikers of this calibre again wearing Boro’s vaunted red shirt?
If Warnock can find three men half as good this summer then we will have no cause for complaint.