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Successfully holding on to their star men will give shell-shocked Middlesbrough their best chance of launching a major revival next season. The likes of Hayden Hackney, Rav van den Berg, the

revitalised Neto Borges, Finn Azaz and Tommy Conway are among the men who Boro need to build a new-look side around. Yet the task of keeping all of their best players will be a tough one,

especially as moneybags clubs will probably come crawling around with huge big cash offers. It might be particularly difficult to hang on to Hackney and van den Berg, and possibly Conway, if

the bids are massive and the players want to move on. For the fans, it will add more frustration after a season which promised so much ended up a damp squib and saw the departure of goal

ace Emmanuel Latte Lath in January. The loss of two or even three of Boro’s main men will make it even more difficult for the club to put together a side capable of making amends following

this term’s frustrations. True, there will be money to spend if there are sales. But buying players can be a minefield and after some of the mistakes of the recent past there are no

guarantees. In addition, we must wait to see whether Michael Carrick is given the green light to lead this attempted resurrection. A manager’s face can become a little too familiar in some

dressing rooms and as a result he fails to maintain the same level of impact on the squad. Clearly it can be argued that Boro have taken a slight step backwards in each of Boro’s last two

seasons. We don’t know what goes on behind the scenes but clearly Boro have lacked individual motivation at times this term in addition to being forced to adhere to a rigid playing system.

If a new manager is at the helm for the new campaign then, more than ever, massive changes are unavoidable during the closing months of the summer. There are a lot of men who will be seen as

surplus to requirements by a new man in the hot seat. However, trying to move these players on is another matter. Carrick probably wouldn’t want to instigate any many changes as a new head

coach but quite a big turn-around is unavoidable. Certainly starting to rebuild at the back makes sense. I’d love to see van den Berg stay, but in any case there’s a strong argument for yet

another central defender being brought in. Hopefully one who can avoid picking up injuries. Hackney’s loss will be a bodyblow if he goes. He is the key man in the engine room and can only

get better next season. Aidan Morris has done brilliantly to adapt to English football so quickly after being thrown in at the deep end. But he needs to step another rung up the ladder next

season. Quite where Boro go to try to get their attack back into gear remains to be seen. If Conway was to depart they would be completely and utterly back to square one. Another goalscoring

striker must be signed but a close look must be made at the creative side of the team’s attacking unit. Carrick always maintains that he retains faith in his players and so he would

probably stick with quite a few of them. But I would imagine that a new manager would want to make massive changes to the attack. Overall, it’s going to be an interesting summer for the

fans, if nothing else. However, another step backwards is completely unacceptable.