Middlesbrough fans were offered answers to questions that have been raised regarding the recent January transfer window and the club’s apparent failure to bring in a much-needed striker.
Appearing on The Twelfth Man podcast, a show hosted by local Boro fans, Middlesbrough’s Head of Football Kieran Scott answered a number of burning questions that have occupied the minds of fans on Teesside.
As you can imagine, a lot of the discussion was led by transfer business conducted by the club, and with Scott heavily involved in that process, he was perfectly placed to answer them, and he did so quite candidly.
Scott explains striker situation
In an honest exchange regarding the club’s inability to bring in a striker during the January window, Scott explained that it was ‘not through the want of trying’, and that the club would not just bring in a forward just to appease fans and sign someone who ‘makes everybody feel better’.
He also cited reasons such as players not being up to speed at this point in the season, and not perceived to be able to make a big enough difference at the football club as to why a striker was not brought in.
He also reminded fans that there are still four forwards for Michael Carrick to select from at the club in Emannuel Latte Lath, Josh Coburn, Sam Greenwood and Marcus Forss, (which probably does not make good reading for the forgotten about Matthew Hoppe).
No lack of ambition
In regard to the lack of a striker, Scott was asked if it indicated a lack of ambition on the club’s part, and the question of whether it is their intention to chase promotion. The response was clear from Kieran Scott, “Michael Carrick, with what he has done in his career, he has not come here to sit mid-table in the Championship, I certainly haven’t. I came from Norwich where we had gone up twice in three years.”
He added, “The ambition from everybody here, is to have a fight to go up.”
During the podcast, it was inevitable that the Morgan Rogers transfer was talked about. According to Scott, the expression of interest was a fairly spontaneous coming about. It almost certainly happened after the clash with Villa in the cup and not before, with Boro’s Head of Football suggesting that if Villa were interested in Rogers beforehand, they would have off-set that interest during negotiations in the Finn Azaz deal.
Details of Villa’s ‘aggressive’ approach
Scott also insisted that Villa adopted an ‘aggressive’ approach in pursuit of the former Manchester City man. Saying, “It caught us all by surprise how aggressive they actually were on the bidding process. They made an offer, we as a club decided it wasn’t for us, we rejected that and we thought that would be an end to it.
“They came back quite quickly and came back a few times, and in the end it was like, the boy’s head had been turned a little bit. Although, i must say he reacted brilliantly, professionally and maturely for a 21-year-old lad.”
Middlesbrough fans should be content with the transparency shown by the club, who did not need to allow their Head of Football to answer such probing questions. You only have to look at the disarray at other clubs such as Blackburn Rovers to see that not all clubs have that level of cohesive communication between a club and its supporters.
Middlesbrough could be in a strong position in terms of FFP come the summer after the sales of Chuba Akpom and Morgan Rogers this season. So you would have to say that jumping in for a striker just for the sake of getting someone would be ill-advised.