The key to getting Boro back on track
THE weight of responsibility within the Boro squad has arguably switched from the front to the back. If Boro are not going to score too many goals this season, as looks likely, they need to be strong at the back and keep plenty of clean sheets.
With Darragh Lenihan having been joined in the squad by fellow new boy Matt Clarke, and taking into account regulars such as Dael Fry, Paddy Mcnair and Anfernee Dijksteel, Boro have the potential to be powerful in defence.
So far it’s been a bit up and down for the back three. However Boro’s new boss should be happy with the options he has got at the back, particularly when all the men are fit and pushing for regulars spots.
Certainly the key is the impact new boys Lenihan and Clarke can make.
They follow in the footsteps of several centre-halves who picked up the reins from the onset when transferred to Boro.
The most obvious example is Gareth Southgate, who must go down as one of the best Boro signings of all time.
When you look back, it’s hard to believe that his previous club Aston Villa were willing to sell Southgate and for what nowadays seems to be a giveaway price of £6.5m.
Southgate was a seasoned English international who had enjoyed top success throughout his career. It would have been easy to imagine him regarding the switch to Boro as something as a step down, though he was keen to get away from Villa Park.
Southgate had handed in a transfer request 12 months before joining Boro. He said he needed to get away for the sake of his career.
He did win further England caps for another three years while with Boro, became the club’s one and only captain to lift a domestic trophy aloft when Boro won the Carling Cup, and also enjoyed two years of European competition with the club.
Even these successes may not have been the ones he originally imagined when demanding to leave Villa, but his attitude throughout with Boro was magnificent. In fact Southgate took up the cudgels from the start. He became a great inspiration to his new team – mates both in and out of the dressing room.
His first game in a Boro shirt was a disaster both for him and new manager Steve Mcclaren because Boro were thrashed 4-0 at the Riverside by Arsenal.
Boro went on to lose their next three games, too, including a 4-1 hammering at home at the hands of Northeast rivals Newcastle United. It would have been easy for Southgate and Mcclaren to develop negative thoughts but both men stuck to their guns and Boro went on to enjoy a decent season, including reaching the semi-finals of the FA Cup.
Southgate went on to make more than 200 appearances for Boro in all competitions, culminating in the UEFA Cup Final against Sevilla in Eindhoven. He may well have continued playing for at least another season had he not been handed the managerial hot seat, which reflected the respect and belief that was held in him by chairman Steve Gibson.
When Southgate originally signed for Boro, he linked up again with fellow England international Ugo Ehiogu to reform a centre-back partnership that had been so effective at Villa.
Ehiogu joined Boro the previous November for a club record fee of £8m after making more than 300 appearances for Villa. He was seen as a crucial signing at the time because Bryan Robson’s Boro had got off to a dreadful start in the Premier League and needed shoring up at the back. Ehiogu’s experience proved key to the cause, especially once Terry Venables was brought in as head coach.
Yet Ugo’s Boro switch did not get off to the best of starts when he limped off with a calf injury just five minutes into his debut at Charlton Athletic. Injuries blighted Ehiogu during his six years with Boro and the club never got their full rewards from the almost telepathic Southgate-ehiogu pairing. But he made 151 appearances for the club in all competitions before being released to join Rangers in January, 2007.
Nigel Pearson is the other obvious centre-back who made such a dramatic impact when joining Boro. Pearson was one of Robson’s first signings when Boro paid Sheffield Wednesday £750,000 to sign him in the summer of 1994. The signing appeared to be a major gamble on Boro’s part because Pearson had just recovered from the second of two broken legs while with Wednesday.
Yet it was obvious from the first time he stepped on to the pitch that Boro had been missing a player of his stature for a long time. Pearson was a great leader on the pitch with a great command of his penalty area.
Despite the later addition of such greats as Juninho, Emerson and Fabrizio Ravanelli, Pearson was the bedrock on which Robson built his teams over the next four years.
In doing so Nigel led Boro to three domestic cup finals in addition to two promotions. He made 139 appearances in all competitions for Boro before hanging up his boots in 1998.
Pearson, Southgate and Ehiogu played most of their Boro games in the Premier League of course, though Boro have brought in centre-backs in recent years who have made a similar impression at the second level.
An obvious one is Daniel Ayala, who had been struggling to make an impact in the British game before he was identified by Tony Mowbray at Norwich City. His transfer was later completed by Aitor Karanka.
Ayala was born in Spain and made the decision as a teenager to turn down the offer of a contract with Sevilla
to join Liverpool. He did not manage to break through with the Reds and as a 20-year-old was sold to Norwich for £800,000.
Ayala went on to make just seven league appearances for the Canaries though he did pick up injuries during his time at Carrow Road.
The Spaniard eventually ended up on Teesside on a three-months emergency loan, which was later made permanent by Karanka for a fee of £350,000. Ayala wasted no time in making a big impact. He proved himself a powerhouse at both ends of the pitch, scoring on his debut in a 4-0 rout of Doncaster Rovers.
Two games later Ayala scored again, an injury-time leveller to earn a 2-2 draw at Watford. Dani went on to make 229 appearances for Boro in all competitions, netting 26 goals, not a bad scoring record for a centre-back.
Similarly Mcnair has proved to be an excellent signing since he was snapped up from Sunderland by Tony Pulis for a fee that could eventually reach £5m with add-ons. Maybe Mcnair was slow to make an impact, though he was used regularly at rightback and it is only in the past couple of years that it has become obvious that he is a natural centre-back.
Yet Mcnair still finds himself in midfield on occasions, which proves what a versatile all-round player he is. Like Mcnair, Lenihan and Clarke have arrived at Boro in difficult circumstances during a period of change within the team. But the door is wide open for them to prove a big hit.