AnglianRed

I really hope thats what Tuchel was doing - using it as a chance to look at fringe players to get a better idea of the true capabilities of the squad. As we always say, you can't put a lot of stock in friendly results. England have beaten the likes of Spain in the past and come unstuck in tournaments soon after. Obviously not a good performance, but better to have it happen in a friendly. Agree our defence is a joke at the moment. No pace or physicality to cope with big, powerful forwards. Lets hope TT has seen enough and will ring the changes. Also agree that we shouldn't be "shocked" by these results. As you mentioned there are very few "easy" games now. Most countries have invested a lot of time and money into improving their leagues & national sides. Don't think we'd even muller San Marino 7-1 any more.

That UNICEF kit is alright! Would love to see Boro adopt something like that...with a white chest band of course. 😁

I think we need more Nobbys in football...its been too long since the era of Mr Stiles. 😁

Who's Roger Schmidt? Other than that, agree with your assessments (though you were quite kind to Nobby 😆)

Can't say any of the names being linked with us really excite me, so far. I think I'd probably be more intrigued by another unknown, provided they can bring a good backroom team with them. Bruce set me straight about money from player sales being ringfenced, but that still means we'll likely need to sell before we can bring more players in...hope one or two can attract interest from PL clubs and move on for decent fees. So I think we are still going to be dependent on the new manager being tactically astute & flexible, with a coaching staff that can actually improve our squad individually, as well as get them playing effectively as a team. In a nutshell. we'll do a decent amount of business, but won't be spending our way to success. I'd say Steve Cooper is the most capable name I've seen so far, but sure I remember reading he wasn't interested in a Championship job? Rohl's a maybe - but wouldn't we have to buy out his contract? The rest...meh...

Can't say I've heard of him. Sounds like a character from a 1970s TV police drama. But whatever floats your boat fella. 😁

Still a way short of £30-40m though isn't it? And like I said we tend to sign players for those kind of fees, rather than the £10m or more we sell our best players for. While its good for the club financially, its made for diminishing returns on the pitch.

So the club is only just now coming out of the financial black hole caused by splurges from previous seasons! Jesus - Garry Monk? So its taken around 8 years to undo the damage from our failed promotion bids back then? 😲 Does this mean we can finally expect the club to start making higher quality signings? Maybe attracting a higher calibre of manager? Although its interesting (possibly a bit depressing) to note that its money from players sales that is ring-fenced. Meaning Boro will likely still have to sell players to bring more in. Which is still kind of a handicap to building a really strong, promotion-challenging squad.

I can buy this. It seemed fairly obvious to me that there was some disharmony behind the scenes. Can't imagine Scott would have been happy at Carrick going over his head, bringing in Iheanacho & Giles. Also think we have to be honest and say whatever coaching was going on was abysmal and doing nothing to improve the players. If Carrick didn't agree, or was happy to follow them out the door, then we should probably look on that as a bullet dodged. I think the performances on the pitch for the last couple of seasons have shown all was definitely not well off it.

Hoping either Juninho or Ravanelli have finally made the shortlist. 😆

If thats the case, why do we never spend that kind of money on real quality players that actually improve the squad? Our signings tend to be for pretty modest fees or loans...when they're not "undisclosed". The sums aren't adding up somewhere. Though of course, you have to factor in actually being able to attract those players. Maybe the club's wage structure is an issue?

As I said to Lino, I'm fairly sure a good chunk of what we make on player sales goes towards keeping the club running...and Boro still run at a loss, albeit a relatively small one. One of the more financially-savvy posters like Rob will either back me up, or correct me! 😬 We sell our best players for £10m plus but tend to buy for a few million or less - aside from the odd "big ticket" buy. I imagine if all the money was available for transfers we'd be able to assemble a very good squad over a few seasons.

I'm pretty sure a decent percentage of what we get from transfers is used to keep the club running and financially sound. Otherwise we'd be able to spend a lot more than we do on players. Remember the club runs at a loss, albeit a manageable one. Sure @Rob could either confirm or deny this.

I suppose thats something to bear in mind. Any manager coming in to Boro will be restricted financially and may have to make do with some 2nd - even 3rd choice players. Think this makes it imperative that we bring in an experienced and flexible manager / HC who can work with whats available and have coaches that can improve players. Despite his awful brand of football I suppose Dyche could do that for us. Hasn't it already been reported that Cooper isn't interested?

Well I'm just happy the main culprits have gone. Now I can look forward to next season with some optimism of a fresh start and hopefully some improvement / progress. I'm guessing the club waited this long to make the announcement to get Carrick's replacement lined up...but as usual are making us sweat and will do a big reveal at some point?