Middlesbrough fans Joel Young and James Boothby returns to LFW to give us some insight into the Aitor Karanka situation and Boro’s promotion push ahead of Friday’s meeting at Loftus Road.
Obvious question, what has gone on with Karanka? We want all the conspiracy theories and rumours you can muster…
JY: The Karanka business has been more than a little strange - talks of player protests, the homegrown lads apparently sharing some of the frustration that the fans have on occasions. This led to the famous "I don't want to manage you anymore" line from Aitor, but he remains popular with the fans.
I like Karanka a lot, but the way he sometimes refuses to change tactics can have you banging your head against the wall; he can be very like his pal Mourinho in that respect. The performance without him at Charlton was probably the worst performance since the Tony Mowbray days and nobody wants to return to that, and the Hull last minute win last time out was a big moment of "I was right, now you must trust me" for Karanka.
JB: The honest answer is no one is quite sure. The most 'popular' rumour appears to centre around Stewart Downing. After a good start to the season, his form has tailed off and was then dropped for a couple of games. This has led to rumours of a tension between them and of a Downing revolt. I can't see that being true and Downing has played more minutes than pretty much everyone else.
Other rumours include fall outs with Ayala, Nugent and the medical staff. My own feeling is the pressure maybe got too much. When we came off at half time v Rotherham at 0-0 (after dominating and missing a whole load of chances) he kicked off and players were not impressed. Karanka has looked a much happier, laid back man since he came back.
Form had tailed off quite severely before that, was that linked to the Karanka walk out or were there other reasons?
JY: If you look at where we were in January - seven points clear of Burnley with a game in hand - to where we are now, it's very disappointing. Injuries to key players never help, but we should have a big enough squad to cope with that. Some games have just been ridiculous - Bristol City away, Forest (lost both 1-0)....teams we should be beating but for whatever reason we have lost our way. Hopefully, the wheels are back on the bus now, and we can crack on and get promoted.
JB: Form had been very mixed and certainly not up to the standards we had set. Defence started to concede goals and the way we setup means if we concede first we struggle to break teams down. Daniel Ayala getting injured has been a big part of that and we have missed him although he is hopeful of being fit for our game. Some people also think we brought in too many players in January which maybe unsettled us a bit. They are all undoubtedly good players (especially Gaston Ramirez) but it maybe has affected the balance slightly.
Jordan Rhodes cost loads, has struggled to make an impact so far (I'm sure we can help with that), why is that?
JY: The Rhodes signing seems a funny one - he scores goals for fun when he has a proper strike partner with him, but Boro don't play a two up front system. My own suspicion is that the chairman perhaps wanted Rhodes to join his brothers in law and uncle (Downing, Woodgate and Steve Agnew) at the club, but that's just my thoughts.
JB: I think it's the first time he has really played the lone striker system we favour. His all round performance has been generally above expectations, sadly the goals have just not come yet. Has missed a good few chances so he is at least getting into the positions, once he gets one then hopefully they will start to flow.
After last season's poor showing at Wembley, do you fear the play-offs this time if that's where you end up?
JY: We could all live without the playoffs again. The general consensus is that we don't care about finishing first or second, we just want to go up. Having said that, I'm sure if we did the playoffs, we will have learnt from last year's disaster and, you know, get there on time.
JB: I think there is a bit of nervousness about, for sure. Especially as this year we have been top two consistently, it would be a huge blow to miss out on automatic. It is very much a different team this year though, so hopefully if play offs are needed there will be no hangover.
Stand out players and weak links this season?
JY: Stand out players - the love affair with George Friend goes on with everyone at the club, Emilio Nsue has really come into his own this term, and David Nugent has been in and out of the side, but he works hard upfront and is probably better suited to that role than Rhodes. Downing has been a slight disappointment this year, he hasn't produced quite what we thought he would. I think we, and he, thought he could be a Merson-esque talisman and drag us up and it hasn't really happened.
JB: Stand out for me would have to be Daniel Ayala. When he plays we just don't look like conceding. No coincidence that again our firm dropped when he got injured. Adam Clayton has pushed him close, with an honourable mention to Emilio Nsue. And if Albert Adomah has his game head on he can be unplayable. We do struggle to score still though and if we concede first we rarely get back into the game.
What will be the consequences of not going up this season? With the money spent, do you fear FFP next term?
JY: I think we'll be looking at Karanka if we don't go up this year. He's been backed by the chairman, and he will have had two pops at it. We haven't really thought about FFP, but it is a concern for the club. We've got faith though. UTB.
JB: The accounts for some of Steve Gibson's companies have just come out and they do state there are plans in place if we do miss out. We have been clever with the way we have structured a lot of the deals, but by the same token I feel we would see a good chunk of the side leave. Players like Ayala, Clayton, Adomah could all easily get PL moves. Hopefully we don't get to find out though..
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