Source: Telegraph
Middlesbrough manager Gareth Southgate may have to change his philosophy
Southgate saw Boro lose their top-flight status for the first time in 11 years last season after he pinned his faith on the likes of Afonso Alves and Tuncay Sanli. Now he wants more of a physical presence to cope with the rigours of the Championship. He is looking to move on Alves and Tuncay in favour of the likes of Sheffield United targetman Rob Hulse, whose club, Southgate said, will give a taste of things to come when they travel to the Riverside on Friday night as the Football League season gets under way. Related ArticlesShearer poised for returnKeane's Ipswich planLeicester aiming for play-offsBoro chase Reo-CokerVilla seal Downing dealSport on television"The Championship is the toughest of all the divisions and the prize on offer the biggest," Southgate said. "The balance of the squad is pretty good now. As and when people leave we'll have holes that need filling. If we lose Tuncay and Afonso we'll not necessarily replace them with the same type of forward. I do think physical presence is something we need. "Sheffield United will be a good barometer for us. They are a very good side who were unlucky to miss out last season. They've got a mixture of physical presence and brightness in their play and will be a big team. "But we've had players out on loan at Championship clubs and Julio Arca's played at this level. I don't think anyone will be surprised at the physical nature of the division there's lots of physical teams in the Premier League. The top Premier League teams mix both. "We won't get away with running any less as the stats tell us you've got to run more in the Championship than the Premier League. But to win the Championship you've got to earn the right to play and let your quality shine through. We've got to keep our quality but make sure we are tough and dig in as well."Southgate is refusing to be distracted by the lack of transfer activity as he prepares for the new campaign. "We'd like to have turned this squad round more but we haven't been able to do that yet," the former England defender continued. "I've spent the summer making people redundant, but I won't be put off course by anything. I'm not begging players to stay or begging players to come. I want them to be at this football club for the right reasons."Alves could move to Qatar in the near future and Tuncay is also set to say farewell to English football. "There's a good chance a deal for Alves could be done in the next few days. A club from Qatar has put a bid in and we're not that far apart, but if that goes through we don't know if we can bring players in yet," Southgate continued. "On Tuncay we've had several calls, no written offers yet. He's gone down with tonsillitis, he won't play against Sheffield United. I'm amazed he's still with us. He'd like to stay in England but I think he's now realising he'll probably have to go to Europe."As for the promotion race, Southgate said: "As well as Sheffield United, Ipswich will also have a real go, so will QPR, Forest are spending a lot of money, Cardiff will be in there, Derby too. "There's a lot of teams wanting to play good football and a good mix of young and experienced managers. It will be very, very competitive. It's wide open."