Tees

Mark Drury
BBC Radio Tees commentator

Image source, Rex Features

February is here, the snowdrops are coming up and the first faint promise of spring is in the air, but for Middlesbrough fans thoughts of a sunny May afternoon at Wembley seem a distant prospect right now.

Monday's 3-2 defeat at home to Sunderland in the Tees-Wear derby left Michael Carrick's Boro seventh in the Championship, outside the play-off places on goal difference.

It was a 90 minutes that encapsulated their season to date with early attacking verve and promise being undermined by an inability to keep the ball out of the net.

Following that defeat, the head coach told the press he wasn't concerned about Boro's form. That's not a sentiment shared by the club's supporters.

A run of four defeats in the last five in all competitions has taken all the impetus out of their season.

Look further back and it's now three wins from 10 in the league. That's 13 points from the last 30. Put simply that isn't going to get the job done.

It was a busy January on the transfer front with Morgan Whitaker and George Edmundson arriving on permanent deals while Mark Travers, Kelechi Iheanacho, Ryan Giles and Samuel Iling-Junior signed loan agreements.

Heading out of The Riverside were Isaiah Jones, Micah Hamilton, Matt Clarke, Alex Gilbert, Lukas Engel, Sammy Silvera, Mathew Hoppe and for a club record fee of £22.5 million, top scorer Emmanuel Latte Lath.

So are the club in a stronger position going in to the final 16 games of the season?

Concerns revolve around questions at both ends of the pitch.

Can Iheanacho weigh in with enough goals to justify the decision to let Latte Lath go to Atlanta United and, if not, will Tommy Conway be able to put a sustained run of starts together after his recent injury problems?

Whittaker and Finn Azaz showed signs against Sunderland that the relationship they developed at Plymouth can be rekindled, but behind them is Boro's failure to bring in another central midfielder asking too much of Aidan Morris?

The suspicion remains that Carrick's team lacks the kind of midfield bite and mongrel Championship sides need if they aren't to be bullied out of games they might otherwise win.

Then there's the defence. Boro's attack is the second best in the division but their defence is mid-table. The 39 goals they've conceded leaves them below not just the promotion chasers Leeds United, Burnley, Sunderland and Sheffield United but also Millwall, Bristol City and Stoke City, among others.

Image source, Rex Features

Giles should add an attacking threat at left-back but Luke Ayling has struggled on the right and was left badly exposed at times against the Black Cats.

Clarke's departure for Derby leaves Boro with three senior centre-backs in Rav van den Berg, Dael Fry and Edmundson but that's a position which has been dogged by injury problems all season.

It's not beyond the realms of possibility we'll see Jonny Howson or Ayling drafted into the middle of the defence if the injury curse strikes again.

The expectation in August was this was a squad capable of pushing the top two for promotion. Six months of wildly inconsistent results have tested fans' belief to the extent a growing number now fear the play-offs are going to slip out of reach.

If that were to happen the season could only be viewed as a complete failure.

On Monday evening, Carrick told me it was up to his players to write their own story.

By May, we'll know if he's presided over a thrilling adventure or something from the horror section.

Image source, Rex Features

On Tuesday we asked what you made of Middlesbrough's business in the transfer window.

Boro made six notable additions to their squad with forwards Morgan Whittaker and Kelechi Iheanacho joining from Plymouth and Sevilla respectively.

Winger Samuel Iling-Junior came in from Aston Villa while Hull City defender Ryan Giles and Bournemouth goalkeeper Mark Travers also arrived on loan.

Middlesbrough were also able to complete a permanent deal for defender George Edmundson from Ipswich after his temporary spell over the first half of the season.

Leading scorer Emmanuel Latte Lath has, however, joined Atlanta United for an MLS-record £22.5m while Alex Gilbert has gone on loan to Charlton, defender Matt Clarke to Derby and forward Isaiah Jones to Luton.

Here are some of your responses:

Kevin: Sad to see Latte Lath go, players like that make you believe you can go up! As for the January replacements, it takes time for new signings to settle in, fit into Carrick's system and make an impact, so we can't expect too much from the new recruits straight away.

This season feels like a bit of a disappointment in so much as some of our defending has been comical at times. We are losing games in such a frustrating manner that I just can't see us going up through the play-offs. As for the economic model we are pursuing, it may well see us gain promotion in the long run, but how many players will Boro sell before that happens? The wealth of the Premier League has left a lot of clubs with a mountain to climb.

John: Happy with all signings apart from Giles. He has played little football since he left us, and has been very poor for Luton and Hull. Fans demanded his return... it makes no sense. Even less sense that Carrick picked him for the derby.

Paul: We shouldn't have let Matt Clarke go, he is a good defender. Jones going to Luton shows he is desperate to get games. Probably in League One next season.

Geoff: Unfortunately it's far too late. Boro still a very poor side with little or no proper finishers. We're unable to turn goal scoring positions into goals time after time. Couple that with a defence that looks like school kids playing in the school yard, all running around chasing the ball, falling over, bumping into each other - it's comical. A good defence coach is urgently required and Woodgate is not it.

Still a few more to move on, I'm afraid.

Lem: Good players. Wrong positions. Clear to most Boro fans that defenders (centre-halves) and a strong centre midfielder are required.

Also a defensive coach, to stop us trying to play like Barcelona from the back…..

Neil: Decent window. With Latte Lath leaving, bringing in Kelechi was a good move.

Not totally sold on Giles returning but we'll see. I love the Illing Jr loan... liked the look of him for a while and with Doak out for a few weeks it could be a masterstroke.

Declan: A poor transfer window, none of the signings are better than anyone we have already got. Our team is now much weaker than pre-transfer window as yesterday's match proved immediately.

James: Losing Latte Lath is a big blow and I'm not convinced by Iheanacho. But I'm hopeful Conway can step up. Otherwise I believe we have strengthened the attacking options we have. However, we have big problems with our defence and I'm not sure Giles is better than what we had and I don't rate the signing of Edmundson one bit. Losing Matt Clark and not replacing him is a mistake that may come back to bite us. As is not securing another central midfielder and right-back.

David: We have brought in more attacking players when the problem we have is in defence and a couple of flaky midfielders, a problem that is recognised by 20-odd thousand people who sit in the stands. Unfortunately it is a problem by the head coach and his side-kick. If the defence remains so benevolent to the opposition, if Boro do manage the play-offs there is every likelihood that mistakes will cost us. We need to be scouting defensive targets for next season's Championship.

Glenn: Players we have signed I'm impressed with. It's what we didn't sign is more worrying. Not tried to fix the defensive side to our game or the midfield.