And we're off! The preparations have started, so what's in store this month?

THE summer officially starts as May turned to June over the weekend, which also signals the end of the 2024-25 season and the start of preparations for next season.

- By CRAIG JOHNS

At Middlesbrough, that planning has already begun in earnest, with club officials continuing to conduct a review into last season and the changes that need to be made to ensure there is no repeat of Boro’s highly disappointing campaign. Michael Carrick’s side finished the campaign in tenth.

With ambitions as ever to make marked improvements to go on and compete for promotion next season, June is always the month where planning and preparation really starts. After a rather barren May following the conclusion of the season, there will be plenty to keep your eyes peeled for during the month of June.

THE REVIEW

At the end of a disappointing season in which Boro failed to achieve their target of a top-six finish, a thorough review was promised as the club looked to take a deep dive into all departments to ensure everything was running effectively. With promotion an ever-harder target for clubs not in receipt of parachute payments, they need everything working smoothly to have a chance.

As yet, three weeks after it was revealed that the review would be taking place, there is not yet an outcome. While that is causing some frustration among supporters due to the lack of clarity, ultimately, it was always promised this would not be rushed.

Given that pre-season doesn’t begin until the end of June, Boro always felt they could afford to take their time with this in order to leave no stone unturned.

But, as we are now in June, we should expect some clarity at some point within the next month.

With the major news line of the review ultimately being whether head coach Michael Carrick continues in his role next season, at the very least we'll know that answer by the end of June because he either will or won't be involved in the first day of pre-season. While that remains uncertain for now, the growing expectation is that he will be given at least one more season to get things right on Teesside.