Ex-Tees star urges signings of new players
FORMER Middlesbrough midfielder Ray Parlour has urged Middlesbrough’s owner Steve Gibson to ‘invest in new players’ this summer to win promotion from the Championship.
Boro missed out on promotion when they were narrowly beaten 1-0 on aggregate by Coventry City in the play-offs last month - but Parlour believes the Teessiders stand in good stead to go again.
He said: “If Middlesbrough are to bounce back and secure promotion next season then they will need to keep hold of their best players this summer and keep hold of Michael Carrick as well.
“They’ll need some investment in new players too.
“I’m sure Michael will be looking around and seeing who’s available, particularly some players on loan.”
Key players such as Cameron Archer and Aaron Ramsey, both on loan from Aston Villa, will be returning to their parent clubs, leaving Boro in need of adding some numbers within their first XI.
Middlesbrough’s use of the loan market was key to their success last season, so they may need to go back there for the coming season too.
However, for Parlour it is also the task of retaining manager Carrick, who has impressed since taking over at the Riverside, which will determine the outcome of Middlesbrough’s promotion campaign.
He added: “Michael Carrick is certainly the man for the job though it’s massively important that they keep hold of him.
“Middlesbrough just need to go again next year.”
There is no denying Boro had a poor end to the season, going without a win in the crucial month of May, but Parlour says Carrick’s side can hit form again when the new campaign starts in August.
He said: “The Championship is a tough league, we all know that, so they need to spend some money and try and do it next season so they don’t run out of steam like they’ve done this month.”
Carrick has been given a strong platform to push on next season, showing his appointment to be a success, despite the disappointing end to the season.
The former Manchester United midfielder has won 18 of his 33 games in charge, something which Parlour has given the Boro boss credit for.
He added: “Michael has done extremely well since he’s been there.
“They’ve just fallen a little bit short at the end of the season and had couple of results in the league that didn’t go their way.”
MIDDLESBROUGH’S season highlighted how the loan market can be used effectively in the Championship with positive displays from the majority of their six loanees.
Many Boro fans are lukewarm over loan transfers because they are not a longterm solution to a problem.
Nevertheless, this season highlights, particularly when clubs are not able to splash huge amounts of cash due to financial fair play rules, that the loan market can be used to sign a better calibre of player for less.
While Boro would ideally not need as many loan players in the upcoming season, this term was proof they should not be ruled out completely.
Though they say you should never fall in love with a loanee, that was difficult this season given their high standards. With that in mind, we assess Boro’s chances of re-signing each of the six they had this season.
Steffen made a big impact on Teesside and while he did not unanimously convince the Boro fanbase it is fair to say he was so important to Michael Carrick. He was the only Boro player to play single minute of all of his 33 games in charge this season.
The USA international now returns to Manchester City but was previously up front in his desire to leave the Etihad this summer in search of regular gametime.
With City likely to demand a high transfer fee and with Steffen on an astronomical weekly wage which Boro only contributed a percentage to this season, however, a Riverside return seems unlikely.
Steffen has also just undergone surgery on his knee, with reports in his native USA suggesting it could keep him out until the end of September.
If that is the case then City might struggle to sell and may do something similar to Boro with Josh Coburn where they loaned him out late in the window - but the young striker did not join Bristol Rovers until a month or so later.
Even in such a scenario, right now it seems unlikely Boro would be in the market for him.
Sol Brynn will return from a positive loan spell this summer and it remains to be seen whether he gets a chance or whether they sign a new shotstopper
Either way, with the season starting at the beginning of August, they will hope to have that sorted long before Steffen will be available again.
Another important player under Carrick, Giles will leave a big gap in the Boro squad as he returns to Wolves this summer - but Boro would love to sign the 23-year-old permanently after his excellent season on Teesside.
Right now it is uncertain what his future at Molineux holds with two years remaining on his contract there.
Boss Julen Lopetegui said such decisions would be decided at the end of the season when asked last month, while also saying they were targeting a high calibre of player this summer.
He also said Wolves had an issue with financial fair play rules which could mean they are open to selling Giles this summer.
Boro will certainly ask the question but will not be held to ransom.
They will have identified plenty of alternative options if Wolves’ asking price is deemed too much.