The Local Lowdown: Middlesbrough

Michael Carrick transformed Middlesbrough’s fortunes last season. What was the secret behind his initial impact?

He joined the club after a really tough start to the season and a group who, as a result, were looking really devoid of confidence.

As well as a natural aura, he arrived with a really calm and reassuring approach which just seemed to immediately lift the players.

There was a really clear and attractive style of football quickly established and some really inspired tactical decisions, most notably switching Chuba Akpom into the No 10 role where he went on an incredible goalscoring run and also proved such an influential player in terms of so much of what Boro did in games.

At one point, Boro looked on course to gate-crash the top two. Why did the promotion bid just fall short in the end?

There were numerous factors behind it, but I think in summarising, they just seemed to run out of steam, with some key injuries at the wrong times highlighting their lack of squad depth.

There was still some hope heading into the play-offs but, credit where it's due, Mark Robins and Coventry got their tactics spot on over the two legs, nullified Boro's attack and managed to get the goal to seal the tie.

Chuba Akpom (right) hit 28 Championship goals last season, but was kept out by Coventry in both legs of the play-off semi-final

After such an impressive second half of the season, what was expected of the team coming into the new campaign?

Initially, the hope was that the club would rebuild this summer, add strength to the squad and then build from the foundations of last season.

Unfortunately, six players from last season, four of whom were particularly important players, left at the end of the season and, as the summer transpired it was pretty clear they wouldn't return, while Boro were ultimately forced to sell star man Chuba Akpom because of his contract situation.

With the club then needing to replace that quality, but with limited finances to do so, the longer the summer transfer window went on, the less sure Boro fans in particular became about promotion credentials.

In-house, even now, the goal remains promotion, and certainly right up until the start of the season they were fancied by many experts and in betting markets. But I think closer to home there was a growing realisation that the quality they lost last season would be impactful.

Two draws and five defeats so far, what’s been behind another slow start?

The obvious answer is alluded to above in the fact that they lost so much talent at the end of last season. Between four players no longer here (Ryan Giles, Chuba Akpom, Aaron Ramsey and Cameron Archer) they contributed a massive 68 goals between them last season when factoring in goals and assists.

But ultimately, in looking just at the start of this season in isolation of anything that's come before it, what we've found from Boro this season is a side with 12 new players, a lot of whom are young and arriving from countries outside of England, still adapting to a new league and trying to gel with another but not quite clicking yet.

Defensively, Boro have conceded 14 goals in seven games and, continuing to play such an expansive style of play, often find themselves hit on the counter and quickly overran.

In attack, while they create plenty of chances and have had enough moments in games to have collected more points than they ultimately have, they have been wasteful at the other end of the pitch. 

Middlesbrough boss Michael Carrick enjoyed a flying start to his reign, but is still without a league win this season

How have the performances been, and how much faith do the fans still have in Carrick?

It has been a really mixed bag. There have been clear signs of a group of players still trying to mould together and grow connections and find their rhythm, and even more worrying in more recent games, there are signs of players losing confidence and starting to second-guess what they're doing when in possession.

But amongst that there have been moments in games where they have shown flashes of the potential they could have if it does eventually click.

In terms of faith in Carrick, I would say that by and large the majority of supporters are willing to give him more time to get this right.

He banked a lot of credit with some terrific performances and results last season, and on top of that I think there is an appreciation of much of the context behind the form as discussed above.

But within that, it's fair to say there is a growing amount of frustration, not just about results but around certain decisions he makes - the usual supporter gripes like substitutes he makes, the timing of his changes etc.

What do you expect from Saturday’s game, and who are the players Saints should watch out for?

I'm intrigued by the tactical battle to come on Saturday. Russell Martin has a very clear way that he likes his sides to play and similarly, Carrick likes to see Boro control possession in games.

That said, I recall Boro's win at Swansea City last season and Boro being happy to concede possession to their opponents and then hit them clinically on the counter.

The interesting aspect now, of course, is that Boro don't have the kind of attacking quality they had then, so the question will be whether they can make use of the ball when they have it to penetrate more than they have been so far this season.

Assuming Southampton come and play as we'd expect, it will be an interesting challenge for Boro defensively. Having often been vulnerable to a counter-attack this season, if they are more naturally deeper set in this one because of Southampton's natural dominance of the ball, will that allow them to be structurally better out of possession than we have seen, or will they still struggle? 

As for Boro players to look out for, Hayden Hackney is the rising star of the Boro side. A positive, forward-driving central midfielder, the England Under-21 international always wants the ball, always shows for the ball, and always wants to look forward and advance up the pitch when he does have the ball.