Football Season Guide

The 2012/13 Championship season was ultimately a damp squib for Tony Mowbray's Middlesbrough, who started the season with so much promise but once again fell away from promotion contention. In fact, such was their dire form in the final stages of the year that Boro finished as close to the bottom three as they were to the top six. Mowbray has been forced to rid the squad of its higher wage earners this summer, with striker Scott McDonald finally released to join Championship rivals Millwall. The likes of Andre Bikey and Nicky Bailey have also moved on with Mowbray keen to bring the average age of the Riverside squad down. Midfield stability and creativity has been the crux of Mowbray's summer recruitment drive with Hungarian wide man Josef Varga and hardened defensive midfielder, Dean Whitehead agreeing terms. Playoffs may be ambitious given the squad's lack of depth and their problems with injuries over the last couple of seasons.