Middlesbrough have had a tough start to their Championship campaign, but that hasn’t stopped them received praise in some quarters

 

Middlesbrough’s tough start to the season as set some alarm bells ringing on Teesside as Michael Carrick’s side have felt the after-effects of last season’s play-off blow and a roller-coaster transfer window.

With a new-look squad, it could inevitable that it was going to take time for the new players to bed in, but results have been well below expectation. That said, we’re only five games into what is a long Championship season, and there is no sense of panic at Rockliffe yet.

And when it comes to the opposition managers, there is still plenty of respect for Boro and their manager. Here’s what they have said about the Teessiders so far.

Gary Rowett, Millwall

Millwall surprised many with an opening-day win at the Riverside, but manager Gary Rowett was keen to push his side’s promotion credentials:

“If you look at this division, it’s always easy to pick the big-name teams or the teams that have come down from the Premier League, and I understand that. Nine times out of 10, those teams bounce back up because they have the quality and the resources.

“I’d expect a club like Middlesbrough to be ahead of us in people’s thoughts of what’s going to happen at the end of the season, but that doesn’t stop us from being what we are.

“People label Millwall a certain way, but if you look at today, yes we defended diligently, yes we transitioned well, but we actually played some really good football as well and we’ve got some talented players.”

Neil Warnock, Huddersfield Town

If anyone knows the challenges at Middlesbrough, it’s former Boro boss Neil Warnock – and he had plenty of praise for Carrick:

“I think Michael’s done an excellent job,” said the Huddersfield boss. “He got Chuba (Akpom) playing like I never did – we’d seen him do it on videos. He has to take enormous credit, and to get the sort of fee they got it’s a fabulous job he has done and they’ve invested in in some good players.

“If I’m honest, I’m sure people at the club won’t be too disappointed he’s (Akpom) gone when they’ve got that sort of money. Michael got a good year out of him and I’m not sure he’d have been able to do that again. It’s a good move for him as well, it’s a great move he’s got, but I think people think he’s a striker and I’m not so sure myself.”

Mark Robins, Coventry City

When asked about similarities between both Boro and Coventry in the transfer market this summer, Robins said: “There’s a pecking order and above that, for us as a club, that is until you get to that level. Look at Brighton’s evolution – they’ve been incredible and they’re still losing the players but that’s their model and what you choose to be.

“The necessitates dictate how you have to operate but also, there are these premises that are going to take your better players. It’s just the way of the world but If we’re doing that we’ve got to make sure we’re more like Brighton and less like others.

“It really effects them, but everybody tries to do it the right way. It’s really difficult to replace people that’ve been star players for that season. That’s the trick but it’s really important that you’ve got a really good collective and a real broad understanding of what you’re going to do and how you’re going to go about it.”

Carlos Corberan, West Bromwich Albion

West Brom boss Corberan saw his side hold off a spirited response from 10-men Boro to win 4-2 last month:

“I am very pleased, first of all with the result that we have achieved. I am pleased with the performance too, especially in the first half when I thought we were very dominant. We only really made one mistake in the first half. When we scored our second goal we had one player less because Jayson Molumby was off the pitch and they made it 2-1.

“Instead of trying to protect our goal even more, we tried to be aggressive and they scored. It was a goal which had the ability to create some doubt.

Ian Evatt, Bolton Wanderers

Bolton knew all about Boro’s predigree ahead of their Carabao Cup tie:

“I think they are a really good team. They have obviously had a rough start and I think Michael Carrick, will be desperate to get a win. They have got a really good squad of players and it is a free hit for us to try and win the game.”