Middlesbrough’s Calum Kavanagh lit up a dreary night in South London with an impressive four goal haul as the Under 21 side brushed aside Crystal Palace, winning 4-0 in the Premier League Cup clash.
A scintillating first half hat-trick during a 21 minute spell did the damage and he added a fourth in the second period to prompt a barrage of social media posts, clamouring for him to be included in the first team set up.
Kavanagh, son of former Middlesbrough midfielder Graham, now tops the scoring charts in the Cup competition with 7 goals. He is also performing well in the Premier League 2 format having scored 5 goals in 7 appearances after returning this summer following a loan spell at Newport County.
Kav continues to impress
Boro fans have been following the 20-year-old’s progress closely for a while now, with his development continuing to impress. His four goals against Crystal Palace showed just how diverse a threat he can be. The diminutive forward proved he can score all different types of goals; netting one from a corner, a penalty, an improvised hook shot from behind him in the box and a close range poacher’s finish.
Boro fans who are keen to see more goals up front, were quick to show their appreciation for the Irish striker and pose a few questions to Michael Carrick. One Tweet from a fan read, ‘How has he not made the bench recently?’
Another social media user who felt he should be utilised more asked, ‘What will it take to call this lad up?’ and it was backed up by a tweet that acknowledged Carrick’s tendency to give young players opportunities, saying, ‘I’d like to think Carrick will very soon be giving him his debut.’
Striker’s form could save the club money
It is fair to say that Middlesbrough could be in the market for a striker in January having allegedly had a late move for Tom Cannon in the summer gazumped by Leicester City. The only centre-forward through the door during the summer was Emannuel Latte Lath, and he is still adapting to the requirements of a Michael Carrick way of playing. The only option up top is Josh Coburn, who is performing well but Carrick has gone to great lengths to explain that the club must take care of his development and not be over expectant with him.
If Kavanagh’s progression continues, he could save the club a lot of money and follow in the footsteps of the likes of Hayden Hackney who is now an integral part of the way Boro operate on the pitch. He was introduced by interim coach Leo Percovich after the departure of Chris Wilder and has never looked back.
Carrick likes to give youngsters an opportunity
Loan moves to Harrogate Town and Newport County have stood Calum Kavanagh in good stead. Some will focus on the stats and insist that he did not have a prolific return in terms of goals, but he did not start every game and his all round game was enough to impress the Newport County boss, Graham Coughlan, who was sad to see him leave the club and return to the Boro set-up. In an interview with Teesside Live, Coughlan admitted he ‘wouldn’t say no’ to taking Kav on loan again in the future.
Michael Carrick has blooded youngsters like Sonny Finch, Finlay Cartwright and Law McCabe and works closely with Mark Tinkler who runs the Under 21 side, so you can be sure that the development and the hot form of Kav won’t have gone unnoticed. It is surely a matter of time before he is handed some first team experience.