Middlesbrough season review after rollercoaster campaign

How about at Loftus Road.

After Boro swaggered to a 4-0 victory over Queens Park Rangers in early March, home boss Julien Stephan described Kim Hellberg's side as the best in the Championship.

"I can confirm this is the best team in the league," he said.

"I thought that before, now I can confirm it.

"They are very strong technically, able to keep the ball for a long time and find the spaces, strong counter press, they are a top, top team. I hope they finish in the top two positions because I think they deserve it with their qualities."

A top two finish looked not only possible but probable that stage. The thumping of QPR moved Boro four points clear of Millwall in third and five ahead of Ipswich.

And even though the Tractor Boys had a game in hand, Boro's next three games at that stage were against Charlton, Bristol City and Blackburn, glorious opportunities, it seemed, to strengthen the grip on second place and pile the pressure on the chasing pack.

One week and two points later, the gap had been cut and Boro's momentum had been lost. It would never be rediscovered.

It's possible, in analysis of a season like no other, to say Boro both exceeded expectations and missed a glorious opportunity. Boro have progressed this season.

Plenty of pundits had Boro down for a mid-table or even bottom half finish before a ball was kicked, which always felt like a misjudgement given Michael Carrick had ultimately been dismissed for under-achieving with a squad that had finished 10th.

The 2024/25 season ended with something of an apathetic sigh in the stands and Rob Edwards did a fine job of pulling everyone together again, first with his messaging during the summer and then with results in the early stage of the season.

But as soon as the 43-year-old refused to distance himself from the Wolves vacancy at the first possible opportunity, you could sense what was coming.

Regardless of Edwards' personal ties, his exit was hard to stomach for a couple of reasons: Boro had given him his opportunity when his stock was low after his Luton exit and the fact he'd spent most of his time in charge stressing the need for togetherness and talking about the club being a "family".

One of the reasons he left for Wolves was to be closer to his family but Edwards has to take his fair share of responsibility for his current club's horror show season and the pressure will very much be on at the start of next term.

But Edwards is in the past for Boro, whose focus is on the present and the future.

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Boro were swift and decisive in identifying appointing Edwards' replacement and Hellberg immediately got the players on board after blowing them away with his detailed knowledge of the squad, the side and the league in a lengthy meeting on his first day in charge.

When the Hull City game played out exactly as Hellberg had told his players it would back in December, Matt Targett labelled the head coach as a "genius".

The four-game stretch without a goal in December and January appeared to be a blip once Boro had bounced back in style with a thumping victory over Southampton, but that sequence was a first glimpse of the issues that would cost the side later in the campaign.

Boro were dominant in just about every game they played. They topped the Championship possession stats and their 1,455 touches in the opposition box was by far the highest in the division, 102 more than second placed Coventry.

Why wasn't that converted into goals? Was it a case of Boro over-playing or down to the fact Boro were a clinical striker short?

Strengthening up-front was the obvious priority in the January transfer window. Boro knew they were light in the attacking areas and made efforts to sign Adam Armstrong and Ransford-Yeboah Königsdörffer among others, but were either priced out of moves or told players weren't for sale.

As we saw 12 months earlier, January is a notoriously difficult window in which to operate - particularly in the striker market - and Boro weren't the only Championship club that faced frustration in their bid to sign a centre-forward.

But that frustration undoubtedly built as the second half of the season played out and, while there's no guarantee a new signing will make an immediate impact - even the Riverside's last prolific marksman Emmanuel Latte Lath took time to settle - there's no doubt Boro's top two hopes would have been aided by having another striker in their ranks.

Jeremy Sarmiento has obviously been a big disappointment.

Not signing a striker in January wasn't the only factor at play in the second half of the season, though.

Even without signing a striker, it was only the finest of margins that held Boro back: Bristol City's equaliser, Hayden Hackney's injury, Ipswich's penalty. Boro weren't far away and aren't far away.

Injuries cost Boro dear: Hackney's in the final two months of the season and Tommy Conway's in the final, in particular.

David Strelec didn't take off as Boro had hoped in his first season in the Championship, though, in the Slovakian's defence and as Hellberg pointed out on more than one occasion, it's worth remembering that he signed late in the summer window and had his rhythm halted by a couple of untimely injury setbacks.

He showed some promising signs in the second half of the season and was superb in the draw at Ipswich but extremely disappointing in the play-offs.

Boro's recruitment team identified the need for some nous and steel 12 months ago and Callum Brittain and Alfie Jones were both inspired signings. The latter was likely on his way to being named in the Championship's Team of the Season before his December injury that would prematurely end his campaign. Alan Browne and Matt Targett were shrewd loan signings and Adilson Malanda was well worth the wait and his ceiling is sky high.

Luke Ayling enjoyed a remarkable resurgence after his struggles in the 2024/25 campaign and deserved his new deal. Aidan Morris and Conway are hugely important figures on the pitch as well as off it, as is Dael Fry. Morgan Whittaker's goals and assists tally obviously merits applause and in parts he's obviously been as important as anyone, but he's also frustrated and disappointed as well. Boro needed more from him in the play-offs.

Hackney will now inevitably depart this summer but a full overhaul is not now required like it was the last time Boro came up short in the play-offs.

Hellberg will benefit and learn from his first half season in the Championship. Sontje Hansen pointed out the obvious in an interview with the Northern Echo after the Wembley heartbreak in saying Boro need to find a way to overcome sides that set out to stifle and frustrate.

With more depth and options, Hellberg will hopefully find other ways to try and negotiate those particular obstacles. He'll have to.

Some of the football Boro have played in the second half of the season has been a joy to watch but it has to be winning football as well. The only two wins from the 13 games after that QPR success came against the worst team in the division's history in Sheffield Wednesday and Watford, who finished the season bottom of the form table.

But even when wins weren't coming, some of the performances were still excellent. Boro should have been out of sight in the first half at Millwall, deserved to win at Ipswich and even cheating couldn't prepare Southampton for what was thrown at them in the first half of the first leg at the Riverside.

Hellberg joined a new team and a new league in mid-season - and after a full Swedish campaign - and has taken to his Riverside challenge with zest and admirable honesty. He got fans on board with the football his side were playing but also by being so open; by being himself.

This summer - unlike last - will bring continuity which should obviously benefit Boro.

Boro were flat at Wembley but you can understand why the players were physically and mentally frazzled after the events and twists of the previous fortnight. They were of course desperate to take their chance but after the devastation of the Southampton second leg it was always going to be so incredibly difficult to just switch it back on again after Saints were handed the punishment they deserved.

Hellberg - and all associated with Boro - handled that entire situation with complete class; Southampton couldn't have handled it much worse.

And while Wembley ended in defeat and devastation, with the heartbreak came pride at how Boro have dealt with the challenges thrown at them in a season like no other.

Next season will be calmer, hopefully: one manager, nobody in the bushes at Rockliffe and joy instead of pain next May.