Middlesbrough's mad week!
The latest Middlesbrough FC talking points by Bonkers For Boro
After more than a month of nothing, Middlesbrough’s summer burst into life with a frantic few days.
The worst-kept secret in football saw Rob Edwards named as Boro’s new head coach on Tuesday morning, a decision that was met with a decidedly mixed reaction from many supporters.
That said, Edwards won over plenty of fans by the end the day with a detailed first interview with Middlesbrough FC’s official YouTube channel.
Speaking with passion, enthusiasm and flashing the most charming smile that the Riverside has seen in years, Edwards spoke in depth about his career to date, life at Luton, the Tom Lockyer situation and most importantly his plans for Middlesbrough.
Fans can expect a high-energy, intense pressing game and a newfound “steel” added to the soft underbelly of Michael Carrick’s side.
It’s all about winning the ball back “double-quick” and then not having possession for possession’s sake and working with dynamism to get it into the final third.
Edwards also had an open and honest sit-down chat with the local media in a move that fans will hope is a sign of things to come as he looks to bring fans closer to the club and bring them on the journey with him and the team.
It was an impressive start to life at Boro for Edwards but as is always the case, his great first impression in the media will mean nothing if he doesn’t get off to a strong start to the new season.
A brutal start to the new season
Fixture release day saw Middlesbrough told that they’d face Swansea City at home on the opening day for the second season in a row, before a rough run of fixtures that includes Millwall away, Norwich City away and Sheffield United at home.
We’ll also be facing Doncaster Rovers at home in the Carabao Cup, meaning that the season will be starting with a home double-header - the perfect chance to things off to a flying start.
A major departure
Like Thursday’s fixture release day wasn’t dramatic enough, the day finished with news that Josh Coburn had completed a permanent move to Millwall for a fee worth around £5million.
When discussing how Edwards could set up his team at Middlesbrough, I mentioned that Coburn could be one of the players given a fresh chance to impress at the Riverside (what do I know?), but that wasn’t the case.
The 22-year-old has never truly established himself as a regular starter with Middlesbrough and a move to the Den looks to make perfect sense for everyone involved.
Millwall are happy given how well he performed last season, while Coburn will be delighted to go into the new campaign as the main man in a side that will play to his strengths as a powerful, old-school no.9.
For Middlesbrough, getting a fee in the region of £5m is significant too. The hope now is that this money can be used to bolster Edwards’ first team squad as we all know that there’s a bit of work to do on improving our squad before the big kick-off.
This week’s Bonkers For Boro highlights
Fresh from Edwards’ confirmation as the new Boro boss, I spoke to Teesside Live reporter Craig Johns for the inside track on the interview process and why the former Luton boss beat his rivals to the job.
That interview can be found HERE.
I also had the pleasure of speaking to cult hero and Greek God, Dimi Konstantopoulos, about all things Middlesbrough.
Including some pretty explosive revelations about working with Aitor Karanka and Victor Valdes, Dimi spoke with honesty about that promotion-winning side, Karanka’s walk-out at Charlton and what went wrong in the Premier League.
You can find Dimi’s interview HERE.
Thanks for reading, up the Boro!
Phil Spencer, Bonkers For Boro