Source: Northern_Echo
Middlesbrough 2 Doncaster Rovers 0
Deal or no deal for Boro
IT might only be August, but it is no exaggeration to claim that the next eight days will determine whether or not Middlesbrough are challenging for promotion come the start of next May.
Unbeaten at the top of the Championship table, and having equalled their best ever defensive start to a league season, these are halcyon times for the Teessiders.
Yet amid all the celebration that accompanied Saturdays comfortable win over Doncaster, there remained a nagging doubt.
The transfer window does not close until 5pm on Tuesday, September 1, and until it has slammed shut, Middlesbrough will remain a club in a conundrum. Deal or no deal
At some stage this week, the telephone will ring and an offer will be made.
Theres nothing to report on the transfer front, but there are things going on in the background, said Boro boss Gareth Southgate, after goals from Tuncay Sanli and Leroy Lita made it ten points from four matches this season.
Im sure in the next week or so there will be a lot of activity.
Things are warming up with a couple of our players and I would expect things to happen in the next five or six days.
Tuncay is all but certain to leave the Riverside this month, and if Saturdays performance was to be his last in a Middlesbrough shirt, he definitely went out with a bang.
Having replaced the injured Marvin Emnes early on the Dutchman left the field on a stretcher after a sickening collision with goalkeeper Neil Sullivan, but suffered only mild concussion Tuncay needed less than a minute to break the deadlock.
Lita flicked on Mark Yeates long throw, and Tuncay displayed commendable composure to slot a clinical finish past Sullivan.
The Turkey international is clearly too good for this level, and with Aston Villa, Wolves, Sunderland, Stuttgart and Cologne all having expressed an interest in his services this month, it is inconceivable to imagine he will still be a Boro player at the start of September.
As Ive said before, I dont really think were going to be able to keep hold of him, conceded Southgate, who confirmed that Gary ONeil will have a hernia operation tomorrow.
Hes scored three goals in ten days for club and country, and he made this one look like a very easy finish.
We know what hes about and we certainly dont need to put an advert in the paper for him.
Afonso Alves will also leave Teesside this month, even though Boro will have to accept a massive reduction on the £12.7m they ill-advisedly splashed out on him 18 months ago, but the key decision will relate to the clubs inform centre-halves.
David Wheater and Robert Huth recorded their fourth clean sheet in a row at the weekend, equalling the record start made by Bryan Robsons side at the beginning of the 1994-95 season.
Southgate is reluctant to sell either, but the decision could yet be taken out of his hands if chairman Steve Gibson and chief executive Keith Lamb receive an offer they feel they cannot decline.
Everton scouts were at the Riverside on Saturday, and Toffees boss David Moyes is poised to move for both Wheater and Newcastle centre- half Steven Taylor once Joleon Lescott completes a £22m move to Manchester City at the start of this week.
Huth has been linked with a move to Fulham this month, and even though that switch is dependent on the future of Brede Hangeland, the Germany international has attracted rave reviews in the opening two weeks of the season.
We accept that there is interest (in Wheater and Huth), said Southgate.
Weve started the season well and I would expect other clubs to be wanting to take some of our players.
But were in no rush to let people go, especially people who are a big part of what we are wanting to do. The four clean sheets have been the bedrock of our start, and all of the defenders have been important in that.
Wheater and Huth impressed again at the weekend, although their cause was undoubtedly aided by Doncasters chronic lack of a cutting edge. Boros opponents enjoyed plenty of possession, and passed the ball around nicely at the base of midfield.
Once they were anywhere near the final third, however, they failed to make any kind of impact on the hosts welldrilled defence.
Consequently, the result was never in doubt from the moment Tuncay broke the deadlock.
The substitute had another strike rightly ruled out for offside shortly before half-time, but Boro eventually doubled their lead when Lita scored his first goal since a summer move from Reading in the 71st minute.
Having controlled Tony McMahons right-wing cross, the improving striker lashed home a fierce half-volley.
It was a day when we just did enough, said Southgate.
I felt we could have really grabbed the initiative if we had put our foot on the gas a bit more, but in the end I thought we ground it out.
Match facts Goals:
1-0: Tuncay (17, slotted home precise finish after Lita flicked on Yeates long throw)
2-0: Lita (71, neat control and half-volley following McMahons right-wing cross)
Bookings: Sullivan (foul, 11), Arca (foul, 61), Lita (ungentlemanly conduct, 72)
Referee: Graham Salisbury (Preston) - Might have shown Sullivan a red card, but generally held things together after that 5
Attendance: 22,041
Entertainment:
MIDDLESBROUGH (4-4-2):
6 Coyne: Hardly had a save to make as he recorded his fourth clean sheet in succession
7 McMahon: Rock solid in defence and delivered the pinpoint cross for Litas goal
8 Huth: Another commanding display - but will he still be here next month
8 Wheater: Totally unruffled and will have impressed the on-looking Everton scout
6 Grounds: Continues to impress, but might have pushed forward to help Johnson more
6 Yeates: Typically energetic, even if some of his more adventurous balls failed to come off
7 Williams: Held things together nicely in central midfield and made a number of important interceptions
6 Arca: Will get an extended run in the side with ONeil going under the knife tomorrow
7 Johnson: The quality of his first touch makes him stand out a mile at this level
7 Lita: Contributed to Tuncays goal and opened his Boro account with a fine strike
5 Emnes: Stretchered off early on after a sickening challenge from Sullivan
Subs:
TUNCAY (for Emnes, 16): He would score every week if he was to remain beyond the end of the month 8
Aliadiere (for Yeates, 72) Taylor (for Lita, 85) (not used): Steele, Hoyte, Hines, Bennett.
DONCASTER (4-4-2): Sullivan 4, Chambers 5, Shackell 6, Lockwood 5, Roberts 5, Wilson 6 (Spicer 79), Oster 5 (Fortune 79), STOCK 6, Sheils 5 (Heffernan 63, 5), Coppinger 4, Hayter 4. Subs (not used): Smith, Guy, Hird, Dumbuya.
MAN OF THE MATCH
TUNCAY Sanli if this was to be the Turks final appearance as a Boro player, he ensured it was a winning one.
