Middlesbrough must be wary of a Championship rival as they prepare to make a new addition to their ranks for the 2024/25 season.
Middlesbrough are aiming to secure promotion from the Championship at the third time of asking under Michael Carrick.
The former Manchester United midfielder took the reigns at the Riverside in October 2022 after Boro had won just two of their first 11 league games.
The Teessiders went on to finish fourth in the division that term, losing out to Coventry City in the play-off semi-finals.
Middlesbrough’s 2023/24 season was not quite as prolific, however, due to a large overturn of players in the summer of 2023 and persistent injury issues.
Boro finished eighth in the league and four points outside of the top six.
However, with limited outgoings and Luke Ayling, Aidan Morris, and Delano Burgzorg already signed this summer, expectations are high in the North East heading into 2024/25.
Burnley set to appoint Scott Parker as manager
Standing in Middlesbrough’s way of a return to the Premier League are several top sides, including the three who were relegated in the previous campaign.
Burnley, Luton Town, and Sheffield United are all expected to be in the promotion picture come May, boosted by the parachute payments and their Premier League-quality players.
There was some hope that the former of that trio may not perform as well as expected in 2024/25 after losing manager Vincent Kompany to Bayern Munich.
Kompany’s Clarets dominated the Championship in 2022/23, securing first place with an impressive 101 points.
Now though, Burnley are set to appoint another experienced manager to replace the Belgian in the form of Scott Parker.
Parker appointment is bad news for Middlesbrough promotion hopes
There is always a certain amount of uncertainty when bringing in a new manager, but Burnley have made an excellent decision in appointing Parker.
The 43-year-old has vast experience in England’s second tier with AFC Bournemouth and Fulham.
The Cherries finished second in the Championship under Parker in 2021/22, while the ex-Fulham boss won the play-offs with the Cottagers in 2019/20.
Parker has also previously earned high praise from Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola, who dubbed him an ‘incredibly good’ manager, as per ManCity.com.
Had Burnley made a poor managerial appointment, there was a chance they could have underperformed this season and failed to win promotion back to the top flight.
However, given Parker has excelled in the division several times before, he is expected to follow in the footsteps of Leicester City and Southampton by taking Burnley straight back up.
This is bad news for Middlesbrough, as one of the three promotion places is now very likely to go to Burnley.
Leeds United, Sheffield United, and Luton should all be battling it out for one of the other two automatic promotion places as well.
In turn, Boro’s only real chance of promotion in 2024/25 will come via finishing in the top six and hoping they can get the better of two of those sides over 180 and 90 minutes.
A top-two finish for Carrick’s team in the coming campaign was always something of a dream, but it is even less likely now Parker is set to join Burnley.