A new era begins at the Riverside Stadium as Rob Edwards takes over from Micheal Carrick with his first test being a visit from Swansea.

🔴 Edwards Aiming To Use His Promotion Experience

It’s a real surprise to me that Michael Carrick was never quite able to crack promotion with this side. The Championship is unforgiving and even the three seasons he did get with Boro is quite rare at this level. 

Carrick’s win percentage dropped down to 39% last season - the lowest it has been since he took over the hot seat at Boro, so it seems as though it was the right time for the two to go their separate ways.

Rob Edwards is an experienced manager at this level and has promotion experience with Luton, but the performances his side put out towards the end of Edwards’ time with the Hatters still raise questions as to if Edwards can deal with strong levels of adversity.

⚪ Can Swansea's New Signings Adapt?

Swansea’s experiment with Luke Williams was ultimately unsuccessful. It looked a good fit on paper, with Swansea traditionally being a side that wants to play in a certain style and Williams reflected that, but ultimately he wasn’t given the time nor the personnel to properly communicate his system.

Alan Sheehan has stepped back into the dugout having previously occupied an interim role at the club back in the 23/24 season. Swansea have been active in the transfer window with a host of new signings, but it’s yet to be seen how they adapt to the Championship and their new squad surroundings.

📊 Middlesbrough v Swansea H2H

Middlesbrough ran out 1-0 winners in the first meeting between the sides last season, before Swansea got their revenge in the return fixture by the exact same scoreline.

Notably, Middlesbrough have won five of the last six clashes between these teams.

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