KEITH Lamb, the Middlesbrough chief executive, has insisted that the club is equipped to challenge for promotion this season in spite of the “painful” financial restructuring which followed their relegation from the Barclays Premier League.
“Let me leave anyone who is in any doubt about this that we remain steadfastly ambitious,” said Lamb. “Our ambition remains to get back in the Premier League as soon as possible, hopefully this season.”
Middlesbrough have brought in around £22m this summer from the sales of Stewart Downing, Robert Huth and Tuncay Sanli and more will be recouped if Afonso Alves completes his transfer to Al Saad before the Qatari transfer deadline later this month. To date, they have signed only Mark Yeates, Danny Coyne and Leroy Lita, although Lamb stated that others, either on free transfers or loans, will arrive.
“It was frustrating that we weren’t able to deliver on some of the manager’s targets, mainly due to the reluctance of other clubs to release their prize assets,” he said “We were very close to doing a number of permanent deals but we simply ran out of time before the transfer window closed.
“It would be wrong of me to name names because those players remain with other clubs, but we made significant attempts to clinch deals that just didn’t come off. The transfer window may be closed now, but our recruitment process will continue.
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“The manager is rightly keen to strengthen the squad further and he and his scouting team are continuing their search to bring in new additions. The one advantage we do have in the Championship is that we are able to utilise the loan system after the transfer window has closed.
“We’ll be looking to do that because we are keen to add depth to the squad in key areas, particularly in terms of a striker and a defender. With a couple of the right additions, we believe this squad is definitely capable of winning promotion.”
Lamb reiterated that Middlesbrough had little alternative other that to downsize following the trauma of demotion. “The financial consequence of losing our place in the Premier League is the loss of something in excess of £20m a season, mainly through the loss of TV revenue and other commercial income,” he said.
“With that in mind, the club’s finances have had to be restructured, a process that we’ve carried out over the summer months. It’s been a painful but necessary process and, as a result of it, the club remains in a healthy state.
“We’ve had to sell players as part of that restructuring but no player has left the club who wanted to stay. In fact, we rejected a number of unwelcome approaches for our players. We only need and want players who are committed to the cause, who want to play for Middlesbrough and are determined to help us win promotion this season.
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“That’s what we now have in the squad of players who remain. We’ve suffered plenty of pain as a consequence of relegation but the club now has a firm, sound financial base to move forward. We now feel we’re better placed to launch a serious challenge for promotion.
“Everyone at the club - me, Steve Gibson, Gareth Southgate, the staff and players - has that same ambition and aim. That’s what the supporters want and it’s what we want too - and we believe we can do that this season. We understand the frustration the supporters feel but we would assure them that the changes were for the good of the club.”