Football Season Review

Middlesbrough players and supporters will look back on the 2012-13 Championship campaign thinking what might have been after a solid start. However, Boro found themselves at the bottom of the form table for much of the second half of the season, falling well off the pace and only finishing five points above the drop zone. Reds boss, Tony Mowbray was forced to place his faith in a number of their academy youth products with budgets slashed due to reductions in Premier League parachute payments. Nevertheless, many did step up to the plate to give Mowbray hope that he can mould a new-look team going into next season and beyond. An unreliable goal threat proved most problematic with Marvin Emnes experiencing personal problems off the field, while target man Lukas Jutkiewicz found himself injured on the sidelines for half the campaign. In midfield, Grant Leadbitter shone in his maiden season at the Riverside. The former Ipswich captain keeps things simple in the middle of the park and anchors the midfield to enable the likes of winger, Mustapha Carayol to advance and create. Next year could prove to be a transitional period for Boro, particularly with higher wage earners being off-loaded and replaced with younger, more inexperienced models.

Player of the Season: Grant Leadbitter