Credit due to dynamic duo
BORO might not be sitting so comfortably in the Championship table but for the superb performances of two men who have both been handed a career lifeline.
The emergence of Paddy McNair as a midfielder of some quality has been as dramatic as it has been unexpected.
And Marvin Johnson has accepted the opportunity to resurrect himself at the Riverside with both feet.
The superb contribution of these two players has given the fans’ reason to hold greater optimism and will not be lost on the rest of the squad either.
Taking the season as a whole, McNair and Johnson are by far the best of Jonathan Woodgate’s “summer signings”.
Northern
Irish
international McNair had come from a gruelling Euro qualifier against Germany in which, by all accounts, he never stopped working and running.
Yet he was Boro’s shining light from the kick off against Reading and was still going as strong as ever in the second half.
In my opinion, McNair has not played better for Boro.
Considering that the former Sunderland man is still feeling his way into his new role, it’s fair to assume that he will get even better.
It’s a vast comparison to last season when McNair couldn’t win a place for love nor money. It makes you wonder how his talents were not picked up on the training ground.
Like McNair, Johnson was the nearly man following his arrival on Teesside from Oxford United.
He started off in the team but then was dropped to the bench, and even struggled to win a place went sent out on loan to Sheffield United.
Now Johnson is proving himself to be the winger that we all wanted desperately to see Boro sign during the summer.
Johnson is clearly brimming with confidence again, plays the wing role very well, works the flank too and can even slot in at wing-back when necessary.
The big challenge for both of these men, and the rest of their teammates, is to keep going and strive for further improvement.
This Boro squad has been run down this season, the incoming signings have been few and the squad as a whole is not over-filled with quality.
The way in which Boro are going to repeat wins like the one against Reading is by continuing to play for Woodgate and his coaches with non-stop endeavour.
Boro beat the Royals despite the fact that not everybody was operating on full throttle, which is an achievement in itself.
The new expansive system still worked because of the visitors’ overelaboration on the ball.
The win would further boost morale in the dressing room which is pretty useful considering that Boro need all 11 men fully focused at Cardiff, just as they were at Bristol City.
It means that bigger contributions are needed up front from Britt Assombalonga and Ashley Fletcher, neither of whom caused the Reading defenders too much concern.
The strikers cannot complain about their service now that Boro are playing an expansive style of football.
In addition we are still waiting for Lewis Wing to prove himself to be the player we all thought he was going to be at the end of last season.
Wing has a key role to play in this team and may benefit further if he is allowed even more freedom.
Hopefully the re-born duo McNair and Johnson can continue to lead the way and spark something special at the Cardiff City Stadium.