We Are Middlesbrough

Image source, Rex Features

Former Middlesbrough full-back and BBC 72+ EFL pundit Tommy Smith has been named as Boro's new loans manager.

The 33-year-old, who also played for Huddersfield and Stoke over a 10-year playing career, retired earlier this year after sustaining a ruptured Achilles playing for Boro in October 2023.

His new role at the Riverside will see Smith maintain contact with players out on loan and their clubs to help their development.

"I'm absolutely delighted," he told the club website., external "It's a fantastic football club and I've really felt a part of it since I arrived as a player, so I'm over the moon to be carrying on, albeit in a slightly different role.

"I'm really grateful to the club for how they've been with me through the last two years. The support I've had through the injury and the retirement is something I'll be eternally grateful for.

"The role is all about getting the best out of the players who are out on loan. I'll be able to watch them train and play, be in regular contact and ultimately try to give them the best opportunity to come back and make a difference to Middlesbrough."

"I think first half that's as bad as I've seen us this season. In terms of intensity, all of those words we mentioned that Rob Edward's wants his team to have, they didn't have."

Listen to the post-match analysis from Matty Nixon, Neil Maddison and Dana Malt after Middlesbrough's 1-1 draw with Wrexham.

Hear the thoughts of boss Rob Edward's and defender Callum Brittain with Boro now three points behind leaders Coventry City.

Listen to the full episode and more on BBC Sounds.

Middlesbrough defender Callum Brittain says his team "must take the positives" despite dropping points at home to Wrexham on Saturday.

The 1-1 draw with the Red Dragons saw a three-point gap open up between Boro and leaders Coventry City after their 3-1 victory over Watford.

Brittain provided the assist for Hayden Hackney's equaliser but insisted the team made too many mistakes in the first half.

"I think we need to give ourselves credit for getting back into the game but we can't start games like that," he told BBC Radio Humberside.

"We were letting the opposition come onto us, we were making too many mistakes, but you have to take the positives from it, we're still unbeaten at home.

"We showed character second half, that's the main thing. We've got to make this place a fortress, we have to make it hard for other teams to come here.

"We definitely feed off the crowd, I though they were amazing today."

Boro travel to face Watford on Saturday (15:00 GMT).

Listen to the full interview and more on BBC Sounds.

Middlesbrough boss Rob Edwards said he has received an apology from PGMOL after referee Thomas Kirk did not award Tommy Conway a penalty kick during their 1-0 win against Sheffield Wednesday.

The forward was brought down following a heavy challenge from Owls goalkeeper Joe Lumley, however, Kirk waved away any penalty appeals.

"I've had a conversation with [the referee manager in the Championship] Kevin Friend on it, and it was a really good, open honest one, and they realised it should have been a penalty," Edwards told BBC Radio Tees.

"You can accept it now because no real harm was done. People are human beings, they can make mistakes, but I just felt like that was a clear one."

Boro meet Wrexham on Saturday (15:00 BST), with the potential to top the league should Coventry City falter in their lunchtime fixture against Watford.

The Red Dragons have enjoyed three successive promotions under current boss Phil Parkinson, and while the Welsh side have not yet emerged as contenders to make it a fourth, Edwards has plenty to admire about the club.

"What Phil has done, I'm not sure anyone has done that. It's incredible what he's done from a managerial point of view," Edwards said.

"It's pretty special what they've achieved there."

Listen to the full interview with Edwards and more Middlesbrough content on BBC Sounds.

Image source, PA Media

Middlesbrough head coach Rob Edwards says it was a case of "job done" after their narrow win at troubled Sheffield Wednesday.

Morgan Whittaker's sixth minute goal proved enough although only a series of saves from Owls debutant goalkeeper Joe Lumley prevented the visitors from finishing the game off.

Without that buffer, Edwards was just pleased that those missed chances did not prove costly.

"We got the job done in the end," he told BBC Radio Tees. "All that mattered was the three points, not really how we did it.

"We didn't get the second goal, which I think we deserved and that always kept them in it, always kept them believing they were one moment away from something.

"So I was really pleased to keep the clean sheet and the win in the end."

Image source, Getty Images

Head coach Rob Edwards loved watching his Middlesbrough side defeat Ipswich Town as they returned to the top of the Championship.

The 2-1 victory at the Riverside saw them leapfrog Coventry City into first place and ended a three-game spell without a win.

Boro had failed to score in two of those and it had raised a few questions after their excellent early season form.

So Edwards was delighted with how his players responded to beat the pre-season favourites for promotion.

"I loved us tonight," he told BBC Radio Tees.

"The energy, the intensity, the work-rate, the desire to win the ball back, the blocks. I loved that, that side of us was great. We carried a threat and we scored a magnificent second goal.

"I'm really proud of the lads and I feel privileged to be part of this because I think it was a really good game.

"We dropped a few points, one or two questions were asked and we've delivered and answered them. But what we've got to do is be consistent and keep that going."