Gibson (a wealthy entrepreneur and life-long supporter) became owner and chairman of Middlesborough in 1994 and the club left Ayresome Park in 1995 for the Riverside Stadium, a brand new all-seater stadium. Player-manager Bryan Robson, from Manchester United, took charge in 1994 and - following promotion to the Premier League – Steve Gibson financed high-profile purchases such as the Brazilian international, Juninho, and the previous season's Champions League final goalscorer and Italian international, Fabrizio Ravanelli, Gareth Southgate replaced Steve McClaren as manager in 2006 (the ‘wally with a brolly’ who left to manage the England team) after Middlesborough reached the 2006 UEFA Cup Final. Southgate needed special dispensation from the Premier League because he did not have the necessary coaching qualifications. Middlesborough enjoyed moderate success under Southgate, but were relegated to the Championship in 2009 and he was dismissed in October 2009 with Middlesborough in 4th place in the Championship. The club has played only one season in the Premier League since relegation in 2009 (when they were promoted in 2016 under Aitor Karanka, their first foreign manager), but were relegated back to the Championship after just one season. This game marks the return of ‘call me Rob’ to Watford with Middlesborough. Rob Edwards had been dismissed after only 10 games at Watford (who were in 10th place in the table) in September 2022 and many supporters thought that he should have been given more time. Edwards made the decision look even worse by leading Watford’s archrivals, Luton, to promotion via the play-offs, although the foundations for success had been laid by Nathan Jones before Jones left to join Southampton in the Premier League. The next season Luton were relegated from the Premier League and many of their best players were sold. Edwards left by mutual agreement in January 2025 when Luton were in 20th place in the Championship and in danger of relegation to Division 1. Watford won 2-1 at home to Middlesborough and 1-0 away last season when Michael Carrick was in charge. Edwards joined Middlesborough in June 2025 after the dismissal of Michael Carrick and they made an impressive start to the season. Some very good players such as Finn Azaz, Rav van der Berg and Josh Coburn were sold in the summer. Signings such as David Strelec (striker), Adilson Malanda (central defender), Sontje Hansen (right winger), Abdoulaye Kanté (defensive midfielder) and Mamadou Kaly Sene (striker) were brought in. The owner, Steve Gibson, usually backs his managers, but Middlesborough made a profit of £5.65 million on transfer dealing in the summer. Middlesborough results have faltered recently, but they are still in 2nd place in the Championship despite drawing at home with Wrexham in their last game. Tommy Conway, Morgan Whittaker and Mamadou Kaly Sene have each scored 2 goals, but there has not been one prolific scorer. Hayden Hackney is a highly rated midfielder, who has come out of their youth academy. Javi Gracia will enjoy a full week to prepare the team. Hopefully he will not continue starting Sissoko and Kayembe together in the team (assuming that there is no outside interference in team selection). Abankwah will be suspended, but Pollock played well when he came on as a substitute against Coventry. Keben has looked out-of-form in recent games so perhaps he will be replaced by Alleyne (who has been the most impressive of the central defenders this season) or by Formose Mendy. Will Petris or Wiley be selected at fullback? Will Nampalys Mendy or Dwomoh be considered as well as Kryprianou to play alongside Louza in midfield? There are a wealth of forward options from which to choose, but I suspect that Gracia will want to avoid making too many team changes and will prefer to have some continuity.
