Is Karanka the right man to take us forward?

Management in the Championship is sometimes as much about who you know as what you know and luckily for the Boro boss, he knows a fair few lofty names in football. Front and centre of that bunch is Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho, who Karanka worked under at Real Madrid and who has sent a couple of his young stars in Karanka’s direction.

Patrick Bamford has obviously been the best of those and is a huge factor behind their success this season – and that is partly down to Karanka’s relationship with Mourinho, who he also gets advice from.

In terms of what he knows, Karanka is doing a decent job taking the team forward and is learning on the job – and making a very impressive go of it at that.