I'm not entirely sure why, maybe it's the lull of between seasons and the fact that the World Cup hasn't really caught my attention yet, but I decided to do a bit of an exercise where I looked at Boro players who played a minimum of 10 games last season, gave them my performance rating, then multiplied that by their availability % (i.e. what percentage of the league matches they were with us for, were they available to play). We saw from the back end of last season just how important it is to have a fit squad, so I think availability is a crucial factor.

It came out like this:

Pound for pound I guess that would make the team of the season this:

-------------Brynn---------------

Brittain Ayling Malanda Targett

--------Browne Morris----------

Whittaker Hackney Sarmiento

-------------Conway-------------

If that was our most performant XI overall, but with question marks against Brynn, Whittaker and Sarmiento plus Targett and Browne gone and Hackney very likely gone, there would be quite a bit of work to do I suppose. And likely delayed work because of the World Cup.

@gt 

According to reports they have to sell players so that they don't get a points deduction.

https://www.stokesentinel.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/hull-city-transfer-stoke-championship-11005385

According to a friend of mine, who sometimes gets his information correct 😂😂😂, Boro are in talks with the agent of Elijah Just, who scored both goals for New Zealand in their 2-2 draw with Iran early this morning. Also he reports the Boro are in talks for a season long loan for Latte Lath 🤔.

Come on BORO.

Thanks for that Andy, very thought provoking and also up for debate, given the stats, how they were applied and more so the average rating. Good work.

However for me, starting at the top, Conway 7.5, Brittain 7.5, Whittaker 14 goals, but not much else. 6.5

Sarmiento 4, Brynn 6, Fry 7.5, I could not rate him alongside Ayling and Malander, in fact I could not rate Malander equal to Ayling even from January.

I am not sure where the availability came from, unless you only considered appearances as on the a squad match day. Was Gilbert injured more the one or two matches?

Sarmiento in the eleven, as they say on Teesside, yer must be jokin.

Plenty for debate as I said. It will be interesting to hear the other member thoughts. But plenty of work for Scott and Co. 

@exmil    Not sure about Latte Lath. He has only scored in domestic games, 9 goals in 43 appearances to date. 2 / 14 appearances 2026. 

Was he like Akpom, a one season wonder, two players we got good money for and have not done much since they left.

As for affording his wages (public knowledge) he is on a guaranteed FOUR million dollars a season, plus a possible loan fee. Big gamble. A big NO. 

@johnny-canuck 

He is quite a talent with an amazing backstory, and only 20 years old. He made 22 starts for Watford last season and 18 off the bench. 4 goals and 4 assists along with 12 yellow cards, the most in the Championship, and 1 red card.

According to Hayters football website, Spurs want 20m for Will Lankspear, who scored 11 goals and 2 assists in 44 appearances for Oxford last season.

They have rejected multiple bids for the forward including one previously unknown bid of 15m in January from MFC. 

Some of the quoted prices for average players is obscene. And Everton had the cheek to offer 10m for Hackney. 

With Djed Spence coming on in Dallas does that mean we will get some more from Spurs as he has now played a competitive match for England, or does he have to play more? Also good to see the Middlesbrough flag prominent in the corner at the game.

From the Gazette

So far, the Spurs star has made one competitive start - that coming against Latvia in October. But having been unused from the bench in England’s final two World Cup qualifiers in November, Boro were made to wait for the bonus payment from the Premier League side.

It means Boro are now waiting to see if Spence makes this summer’s World Cup roster, at which point, the chances of receiving the bonus payment ahead of the summer transfer window would increase and offer a boost.

Tonight may trigger the final add on payment 

@pedro 

Looks like that answered my question. Thanks

@mw-in-darwin 
I'm wondering if Boro are due for a bonus payment since Morgan Rogers also played for England today?

More bad news for Alfie Jones

https://www.gazettelive.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/anxious-wait-middlesbroughs-alfie-jones-34142782

@mw-in-darwin.  Hope this is correct 

They await Spence’s second competitive England start too, which would trigger a clause in the sale agreement with Tottenham and see Boro earn around £2 million.

Talk is that last night’s Spence appearance has triggered the add on, the figure quoted is either £1.5m or £2m depending on which report you read, either very welcome.

Come on BORO.

Some interesting statistics here to mull over - we were 8th over the course of the second half of the season which, as we all know, ultimately cost us. Let's hope lessons can be learned going forward. UTB

Championship table 2025-26: Who won on expected points, home form and set-pieces? - BBC Sport

The NE confirm, Silvera and Gilbert WILL leave MFC when their contracts expire at the month end. 

I see Gilbert and Silvera , amongst others , are leaving. At best they were backup players who weren’t consistently good enough for the Championship.  They were not game changing substitutes .

I think they could be useful additions for Division 1 teams, probably for the locals here in Huddersfield.

Hopefully Boro can replace them with better players.

philip of Huddersfield 

ps overall a good performance by England although I have doubts about the quality of of the defence in eg having to maintain a clean sheet in grinding out a 1-0 victory. I’m amazes me that McGuire wasn’t chosen .

👍😁🤔

Boro’s players will report back for pre-season training on Thursday 2 July. And the transfer window has been open since last Monday.

When did we get the first new player signed in last summer? Any activity between the opening of the transfer window  and the start of the pre-season?

Up the Boro! 

@jarkko 

First first team transfer last season was Alfie Jones on July 25th, followed 4 days later by Abdoulaye Kante. The only other transfer before the season started was Callum Brittain 5 days before the first league game.

@mw-in-darwin Boy, it has been quiet. So a big thank you for the info.

Of course, last season we had the one month internal inquiry about the season before. And finally the sacking of the head coach. So not a normal close season.

So we should be better off to sign new player this summer. And early. But let's see. 

Up the Boro!

@mw-in-darwin 

Think it's speculation,they've just had a £15m bid for a French forward turned down 

@gt    And his name?

No minutes for Hansen this afternoon against Ecuador in their nil all draw.

Celtic v Boro July 18 in pre season friendly 

Posted by: @pedro

↑

Celtic v Boro July 18 in pre season friendly 

An interesting tie and many Boro fans will tarvel. I hope it will be streamed by Celtic if not by Boro.

Up the Boro!

Celtic and Espanyol will be Boro’s only public facing friendlies this summer, the first round of the Caraboa Cup will be used as a final rehearsal as the Cup is not a priority this season, there will be the odd “behind closed doors” matches also.

Come on BORO.

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2026/jun/22/arsenal-make-morgan-rogers-top-target-in-transfer-window?CMP=share_btn_url

Looks as if the Rogers transfer is gathering steam. I'm not sure if 

a) our 20% is on the profit tht Villa make or on the total fee

b) Man City are still due a share.

Either way, it should be a nice piece of change

UTB

@selwynoz.  In answer to a & b, that will depend upon the exact wording in the contract signed between the Boro and Villa; as you say, whichever, it should be a tidy sum. 😎

@eboracum

Thanks for that interesting BBC article giving alternative league tables. We all know how Boro’s form fell off a cliff with a quarter of the season still to play, but those statistics paint a devastating picture. 

We were second overall with 43 points at the halfway stage, but only gained 37 in the second half, while all of Ipswich, the Sinners, Millwall, Coventry and Wrexham won more. And, of course, it was home form that let us down massively late on, with the result we picked up just 53 % of all our points at home all season, which would have had us finishing 8th in that alternative table. The failure to sign a goalscorer clearly cost us, as has been said many times. 

One other fairly damning stat from the article is that we conceded 17 goals from set pieces, but only scored 15 ourselves, leaving us 13th in that table. I’ve been banging on for years about how few set-piece goals Boro score, and all of us on here have bemoaned our defending of set pieces far too often. Let’s hope KH addresses this particular weakness this season. Getting in a striker who can actually head the ball would be a start. 

Teesside live report we are due to receive £2m because of DJed start against Ghana, which will be a timely transfer boost. Come on Arsenal (other clubs are available) get your £100m bid in for Rogers 😂😂😂.

Come on BORO.

Hi Friends. 

if you find yourself at a loose end this summer as tumbleweed blows forlornly around in the dust caused by the lack of any meaningful Boro stories, or if you simply fancy re-immersing yourselves in Boro’s UEFA Cup adventures to compensate for missing out on promotion, then have a listen to this, which I’ve only just discovered: 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p0nrqbqt

This is ‘Middlesbrough - a small town in Europe,’ narrated by Mark Drury and including lots of fascinating interviews with McClaren, players, fans. It’s 8 half hour episodes, but I’m finding it excellent listening, a must for all Boro fans! 

My apologies if anybody has highlighted this previously. If so, I clearly missed it.