Middlesbrough have enjoyed a decent enough start to this season’s Premier League and their fans here in the Tavern are reasonably happy with how things are going!
Boro face extraordinary competition in the Premier League but as things stand, they’re far enough away from the relegation zone to not be too worried.
They’ve not been conceding too many goals and at times, they’ve been more than a match for some of the bigger sides in this division.
It’s always going to be tough for Boro, especially with their budget, but even the landlord in here, who has somewhat of a soft-spot for rivals Newcastle United, thinks the Teesiders will stay up come the end of the season.
But despite things going reasonably well, we think there are weaknesses in this Boro team that might need to be rectified going forward.
So with that in mind, here are THREE Boro players who might be facing the axe in the near future…
Jordan Rhodes
From the outside looking in, Jordan Rhodes seems far too underused considering his strike rate over the years, particularly in the Championship.
Still, it poses the question, exactly why is that the case?
Seemingly not trusted by either Aitor Karanka or Gordon Strachan, the Scotland international doesn’t look like edging out Alvaro Negredo at the Riverside and would be better suited moving on.
David Nugent
Arguably one of the best Football League strikers we’ve seen post-millennium, David Nugent is now at Middlesbrough and not having much joy at all.
With marquee summer signing Alvaro Negredo very much the key man up front, it’s left former Leicester City man David Nugent with little time actually on the pitch itself.
He’s got plenty of goals in him but at 31, it’s tough to see him breaking back into the Boro side and leading them to safety.
Tomas Mejias
Former Real Madrid keeper Tomas Mejias must really enjoy sitting on the bench.
With Brad Guzan, Victor Valdes and Dimi Konstantopoulos all in front of the Spaniard in the pecking order, it’s a little strange why he’s still at the club.
He’s not really necessary and it might be better to bring a youngster from the academy into the first-team fold instead.
