Daniel Wales dissects how Middlesbrough must act fast to avoid becoming the forgotten club in the North East.
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00:00Now for Middlesbrough, it's obviously a difficult situation in the North East because of Sunderland joining Newcastle in the top fly and that derby being back on the screens in top flight to English football for the first time in a fairly long time.
00:16But obviously in that period, you do have to look at Middlesbrough and, you know, that Sunderland have been down to League One.
00:21They've really struggled down there and they're back in the Premier League before Middlesbrough could get back up as well.
00:26So really disappointing from Middlesbrough, you know, just shows the golf in differences in class between them.
00:33And, you know, then you look at Newcastle obviously going on to winning the EFL Cup and returning that and obviously getting to the final a couple of years ago as well.
00:42So they're on the rise. They're back in the Champions League, you know, for Sunderland, a real test, yes, to remain in the Premier League.
00:49But they are back into English's top flight, which is incredible for them as a club.
00:54Their rise has been fantastic. And Middlesbrough just sort of languish.
00:58They're just sort of stagnating in the Championship, being that club that can't get out.
01:03You know, there's been a few over the last few years, West Brom, Norwich City.
01:06There's been a few of just really, you know, not really gone anywhere and it's really proven difficult for them.
01:13They've missed out on a few times. Dan, our North East correspondent, Dan Wales, is going to look at their situation.
01:19Dan, how are Middlesbrough feeling? Because this golfing class between them and Sunderland and Newcastle is just getting bigger by the season, it seems.
01:27And, you know, what's the sort of things they need to put into place to bridge that gap?
01:33Because, you know, they've got a short time to do it and they really don't want to be languishing behind in the North East in terms of the football scene for too long.
01:40Well, Charles, I think it's been a deeply frustrating couple of weeks, well, a couple of months actually, for Middlesbrough, if you take into account Newcastle also winning the Carabao Cup back in March.
01:51Meaning that Middlesbrough are no longer the last North East team to have won a major trophy because, of course, they've won the League Cup in the mid-noughties as well.
02:00So, deeply frustrating the fact that Newcastle are soaring, they're in the Champions League, they've won the Carabao Cup and Sunderland, of course, getting promoted to the Premier League after many years away.
02:11Last being in the Premier League in 2017, which, of course, was the last time Middlesbrough were also in the Premier League.
02:16But in that time, in those eight years, Sunderland have also spent four of them in League One.
02:23Gone down there, spent four years in League One, come up and then still got to the Premier League again more recently than Middlesbrough.
02:30And, of course, at the same time, you've had Newcastle with their takeover developing and eventually pushing on, as I say, to the Champions League and winning major trophies as well.
02:38So, from a Middlesbrough point of view, it's really, really frustrating the fact that their two North East neighbours are soaring and flying high in there.
02:48If anything, stagnating.
02:50That's the real deep frustration because they have come close in recent years to getting in amongst the promotion mix.
02:58Of course, they got into the playoffs a couple of years ago.
03:00They were dumped out in the semi-final stage by Coventry.
03:04Of course, they were then beaten by Luton Town, who went up eventually at Wembley.
03:08But since then, the next season, not brilliant.
03:12They had a late charge towards them, but never really quite got there because of their bad start to the season not helping.
03:18Then this year, yes, they were in contention on the final day of the season, but ultimately, in that last game against Coventry, they just didn't look ever like scoring, to be honest.
03:27And so, Coventry got into the playoffs, of course.
03:29Sunderland it was who went up in the end, but still.
03:32And it's a real frustration because, of course, Middlesbrough had to sell their best player, their best striker in January, and Emmanuel Latte Lath.
03:37That really didn't help in terms of their playoff bids this season.
03:41Probably knocked them for six a little bit.
03:44Obviously, you worry about the future of Michael Carrick as well because how frustrated will he get?
03:48How much more can he do with Middlesbrough going forward?
03:53Because if they're losing players of that ilk, then what else can he do?
03:57Of course, the season he got them into the playoffs, they had such a good forward line.
04:01Then, you know, suddenly they were gone.
04:03And then the next season they had Morgan Rodgers as well, who's gone into great things at Aston Villa.
04:07So, it's a real frustration.
04:09Obviously, you could argue that Carrick perhaps could have done better with some of the players he then brought in in the January to replace.
04:16Latte Lath, the likes of Morgan Whittaker and Kelechi Ianacho, but it didn't quite work out for either, to be honest.
04:22And so, from a Middlesbrough point of view, how do they find their way back?
04:25And how do they not end up being the sort of forgotten relative in the North East for too much longer?
04:30I think the season to come is a huge run for Middlesbrough.
04:33They've got to get the recruitment right in the summer and they've got to get things right on the pitch.
04:36Because if Sunderland are to survive, it seems unlikely, yes.
04:40But if that happens and you guys will keep going as well as they're going, it will be another frustrating year.