Honestly, do you want to go up this season?

[Steve Bee]

I love this division and worry if we where to go up we'd just struggle and it would potentially ruin the great atmosphere at the club. Imagine 2 more Wilder windows and how much better equipped we'd be to mount a realistic attempt of staying in the Premiership.

Not at all. Much better we turn down the 100 and odd million

 

[viv_andersons_nana]

I also thought that side played better football than the one that was promoted. There was talent amongst the forward line that wasn't based on being dogged and wearing the opponent down. Bamford, Tomlin and Adomah could have handled the top flight better than those that we tried with, they had the skill. Adding (and using) Traore, Stuani and Negredo to those three would have given us a chance of staying up.

Another decent midfielder to play alongside de Roon and we may have had a chance of mid table.

We would have needed a different coach though. Karanka's head had gone by the time we were promoted.

Agree entirely with that. That was the best or most enjoyable Boro team since the McClaren years. It's only now we're getting back to that sort of football IMO. It's such a shame we did what we did in the summers of 2016 and 17.

 

[Corcaigh_the_Cat]

Are you deliberately obtuse. I was not comparring AK with Dyche as managers, read it again. I was suggesting Boro should have stuck with Karanka and given him the chance to get us back up the following season, like Burnley did with Dyche. I also praised Burnley and Dyche. However, some of our fanbase wanted the manager gone after the Charlton debacle the year before, they judged and had a chip on their shoulders, following which 4 senior players spoke out for AK to the chairman. Many fans without knowing what actually happened lost it then.

Many on here before a PL ball was kicked were arguing 17th would be a success. A lot of people lost sight of reality after Christmas 2016. AK did not help himself after the WHU home game i will agree. He was misguided, but it was his Basque temperament and frustration that spilled out as he was not getting in the types of players we needed. The players that were earlier signed, Fischer, Espinosa, Negredo, Valdes, were free or cheap due to serious previous injuries, Espinosa wasn’t fit when signed. Guzan and Traore were from a relegated club as was The Donkey in January. Fabio was signed on the cheap he too had been relegated the season before Villa were. There was a pattern, players who were cheapish who either signed cheaply through hope they’d get mojo’s back after previous serious injury or relegation quantity over quality. De Roon was the only potentially exciting signing, but he was often lost, Traore was a project.

The club seemingly had a cabinet style recruitment set up several people inputted, the manager did not always get his way, then there was Orta in the mix too. Orta was head of European recruitment and is on record as saying he learned from his recruitment mistakes at Middlesbrough the players from Spain were were his recommendation. Karanka was a head coach, not the manager. I respectfully suggest you learn the difference in roles. Karanka did not have overall control as fans believed he did.

Nothing obtuse about my comments. Karanka was spent, Dyche is still a manager. He should have gone in the summer after promotion, his head was shot. As we saw

 

[coluka]

Nothing obtuse about my comments. Karanka was spent, Dyche is still a manager. He should have gone in the summer after promotion, his head was shot. As we saw

You are clearly bigoted and blinkered in my view, hey ho

 

[viv_andersons_nana]

Nothing obtuse about my comments. Karanka was spent, Dyche is still a manager. He should have gone in the summer after promotion, his head was shot. As we saw

I don't think the players would've had Karanka for another season, even if Gibson was wanting to keep him on. Downing and Leadbitter have been open about their differences with him, Leadbitter's was more about changing too much too soon after promotion. We'd lost Nsue, Kalas and Adomah from the team that went up, he didn't want Rhodes or Nugent and all of the players signed in 2016 would've been moved on regardless of Karanka. We brought 15 players in in two windows, all of them bar Bamford and Traore would've been gone after less than a year at the club. I think it would've been too much of a rebuild for him TBH.

At Burnley, they have a continuity of personnel and staff and style. They've never done what Boro did in 2016 under Dyche. You'd have to be honest and say he's too sensible to do the sort of stuff we did.