How relegated Boro went from gritty charmer to forgettable fodder

In a footballing landscape where touristy half-and-half scarves are becoming irritatingly accepted and academy graduates are being shunted out of the picture by expensively acquired imports, it's easy to forget the community-conscious foundations of football clubs.

That's why the promotion of Middlesbrough, an outfit which saw its owners, players, and fans unite when the closure of the Redcar steelworks in October 2015 left many locals out of work, was such a welcome source of local pride in a reeling, industrial town. Now, after Monday's 3-0 defeat at Chelsea 12 months and one day after ascending from the Championship, the club has limped out the Premier League without the fight its downcast followers deserve.

The relief when Boro confirmed promotion last year against Brighton & Hove Albion was palpable. A 1-1 draw confirmed a route into the top flight at the visitor's expense and, after eight minutes of injury time, fans at the Riverside poured onto the pitch.

(Photo courtesy: Action Images)

It was easy to be happy for the club. Steve Gibson, Middlesbrough's long-term owner and loyal fan, had led the Teessiders to the Premier League after an eight-year absence but, most importantly, was at the forefront of the support base that was formed in the wake of the Redcar closure. He opened the stadium's doors for job fairs, and invited steelworkers to walk the pitch to raise awareness of their struggles and earn a rapturous, morale-boosting reception from the stands. Among many initiatives, the players made a calendar which raised money for those left redundant by the closure - a number which reached around 3,000, according to the Financial Times.

There were also the memories that Boro left behind when relegated under Gareth Southgate in 2009. This was a team that had given English football the beautiful technique of Juninho over three separate stints in the northeast, and even dared to partner him with Italian striker Fabrizio Ravanelli for a short time. Defensive security had been showcased on Teesside via goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer and the late Ugo Ehiogu, and striking hilarity from the likes of pricey flop Afonso Alves and the wonderfully named Massimo Maccarone. The latter briefly shone in a remarkable run littered with incomprehensible comebacks to reach the UEFA Cup final of 2006.

For a relatively small and unfashionable town on an outpost of North Yorkshire, Middlesbrough was a club with considerable top-tier pedigree.

But the cracks of the rising regime were already evident. In March 2016, manager Aitor Karanka stormed out of a training session following an alleged fallout with first-team players. He effectively left Middlesbrough unmanned with the club in the automatic promotion places ahead of a trip to relegation-threatened Charlton Athletic. Steve Agnew temporarily took the reins, and Boro lost 2-0.

With 10 matches of the season left, Karanka and his squad reconciled their differences and completed a successful mission. A Premier League return was assured, and the summer signings of Victor Valdes, Marten De Roon, and Alvaro Negredo gave legitimate hopes at upsetting some of the country's elite in 2016-17, and at least finishing above the bottom three.

Numerous promoted sides have been guilty of abandoning their attack-first ideals and approaching a survival bid with a nervy, defensive setup. Middlesbrough became an exaggerated parody of that.

The defending has admittedly been superbly disciplined. Calum Chambers' career is now revived after a season-long loan from Arsenal, and Ben Gibson (nephew of chairman Steve) deserves to stay in the Premier League through his ease in possession at the back and a refreshing refusal to dive into challenges. Before the Chelsea match, Boro had conceded only three more goals than Arsenal and Liverpool.

(Photo courtesy: Action Images)

It's a natural course of action to tighten up the defence before addressing the attack, but Karanka never got around to sorting out the latter. By the time Agnew took caretaker charge in March, Boro was sinking quick. The dearth in firepower meant one strike surrendered was often enough to signal defeat.

Middlesbrough has scored three times or more in a match on just one occasion, and has been held goalless in 17 matches. Throughout this timidness in front of goal, striker Jordan Rhodes was barely given a chance in the first team before being loaned out to Sheffield Wednesday in January, and the recruits brought in to address this shortcoming up top were Rudy Gestede and Patrick Bamford. Karanka would've been better tempting Juninho, 44, and Ravanelli, 48, out of retirement.

Negredo's bullishness - he'll never score a tap-in as he's one of those players that insists on pummelling the leather - has done well to fashion nine league goals, but for much of this season he's cut a lonely figure.

(Photo courtesy: @Teesside_Times)

Middlesbrough's limp fall is ultimately a trivial footnote in an area which has seen businesses unable to continue in a ripple effect from the Redcar steelworks' closure. A month after the plant shut its doors, there were significant job losses at the nearby Boulby potash mine, and Redcar's town centre has seen "To Let" signs pinned up outside various shops, including its department store Beales.

Right now, this northern town needs neighbourly comradeship to help it through a period of irrevocable decline, and some of that responsibility lies with the football team. Relegation wouldn't have been as disastrous if the club had entertained in front of a saddened fan base that was raised on Juninho & Co, but Karanka was fearful and, as a result, ruinously conservative.

The Spaniard must take the lion's share of the blame for Middlesbrough's inability to cheer up the natives.