Surprising performances, relegation fears and a remarkable turnaround: The five biggest talking points of 2020 at Middlesbrough

Youth coming through

Things didn’t work out for former Boro boss Jonathan Woodgate at the Riverside, yet his time in charge did see several young players establish themselves in the first-team.

Djed Spence, Hayden Coulson, Marcus Tavernier and Aynsley Pears, who was later sold to Blackburn, all became regulars at the Riverside under Woodgate, while Nathan Wood made his league debut.

The future certainly looks bright for Boro with more youngsters coming through the club’s highly-rated academy.

“It’s got to be the best academy I’ve ever seen,” said new manager Neil Warnock.

Season suspended and Woodgate sacked

After a promising start to 2020, Boro’s form dropped at an alarming time.

Back-to-back defeats against relegation rivals Luton and Barnsley dragged the Teessiders right back into the mire after two of the worst performances all season.

Boro were just starting to build some momentum again in March after a 2-2 draw with Nottingham Forest, which they should have won, and a huge win at Charlton.

At that stage it looked like the Teessiders would just have enough to stay up, yet the coronavirus pandemic brought a sudden halt to proceedings.

When the season restarted, Boro looked well off the pace during a 3-0 defeat by Swansea at the Riverside.

Under the inexperienced Woodgate, the Teessiders were in serious danger of going down. A change had to be made.

Warnock’s impact

There wasn’t much time for Warnock to prepare for his first game in charge at Stoke, with a trip to the Bet365 coming just four days after his appointment.

Boro looked like a different side against the Potters, as Warnock engineered a 2-0 win courtesy of goals from Ashley Fletcher and Tavernier.

After moving Jonny Howson back into a central midfield role, Warnock built his team around the experienced midfielder, while George Saville also became a first-team regular.

There were bumps along the way, yet Boro won four of their final eight matches under Warnock last season. It was enough to beat the drop.

Dijksteel and Bola transformed

One of the most impressive changes since Warnock took charge is the way he has improved players.

Anfernee Dijksteel and Marc Bola are the obvious names which spring to mind, especially as the pair were struggling to make the step up from League One to the Championship last term.

Since Warnock has taken charge, Dael Fry has also looked back to his best while George Saville has taken his game to another level.

At a time when it is difficult to sign new players, Warnock has found a way to get the best out of what he has.

Relegation candidates to promotion contenders

Even after Warnock kept the Teessiders up at the end of last season, few expected Boro to challenge for a play-off place this campaign.

The squad has looked unbalanced for some time and many predicted a season of stability under the experienced new boss.

Yet Warnock’s Boro have shown they can match anybody in the Championship, with December’s forgettable defeat at Preston the only time they have lost by more than one goal in the league this term.

After 20 league games, the Teessiders find themselves in a lofty position of sixth. It’s been some turnaround.

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