Make no mistake - has been a failure

PROMISE AND HOPE COLLAPSED INTO AN UNENJOYABLE TERM OF UNDERACHIEVEMENT

- By CRAIG JOHNS [e-mail] @craig_johns

THAT was all she wrote on Middlesbrough's 2024-25 season. One that promised so much hope, ultimately delivered so little.

As the inevitable post-mortem begins, there will be a lot of lessons to be learned from a campaign which, in the main, was unenjoyable.

Asked a few weeks ago, Michael Carrick talked his way around calling the season a failure if, as proved the case, a top-six finish was missed. 'Perspective' was his buzzword. For jubilant opposite number Frank Lampard, 'context' was his warning, as defeat at Coventry City for Boro condemned them to another season in the second tier.

In many ways, both are right. There is context and perspective to acknowledge once the immediate intense emotion of missing out on the final day is concerned. But make no mistake, even with the context in mind, this season should be viewed as a failure with Boro ultimately finishing 10th in the division, with their second-lowest Championship points tally of the last decade.

Going in convinced after more heavy investment in the squad, and with the division expected to be weaker this term than last, that there was a genuine opportunity for Boro, expectation was high.

Automatic promotion was a hope rather than an expectation which, considering that both Leeds United and Burnley achieved 100 points apiece, would have ultimately been unrealistic. Their achievements this season are a sobering reminder of the financial imbalance Boro are battling against.

But beyond that, top-six should have been a given, based on the squad that Boro started the season with. That Sunderland finished the season with five straight defeats but still finished 12 points above Boro is the biggest indictment of Boro's massive underachievement.

On paper, at the start of the season, with Sunderland entering the campaign with an unknown manager well down their initial list of options, most outsiders were backing Boro over their Wearside neighbours.