The North-East Summit || Middlesbrough F.C. news, reviews and comment

THE NORTH-EAST SUMMIT - WHO'S IN AND WHO'S OUT 11-1-08
Stuart Young

The transfer window is now open and all three north-east sides will be looking to add to their squads for the remainder of the season.

Boro are keen on a couple of Brazilians, Newcastle are keen on a new manager and Sunderland manager Roy Keane will just be happy with signing autographs after Robbie Savage said no to him.

Middlesbrough

The Boro fans are in need of cheering up after the festive period. The only good thing was the result away at Portsmouth.

The team seem to be applying themselves better when they are up against quality opposition - raising their game when a decent team comes along but sinking into the comfort zone when they face mediocre sides such as Birmingham and West Ham.

All Boro fans will agree that a goal scorer is needed at the club. This was evident since the sale of Yakubu to Everton and Viduka going up the road.

Southgate's answer was Mido and sure, if he had stayed fit for the later part of 2007, the team might be in a different position.

But as all good managers in the Premier league do, they build a squad not just a team. So the Boro squad is looking very light in strikers that know where the goal is.

A couple of Brazilians have been named as potential targets for Southgate.

Alfonso Alves is apparently at the top of Gareth's wish list and at the moment, club officials are tabling an offer to Heerenveen for around €16million, which if accepted would be a transfer record at Middlesbrough FC.

There is no doubt that this player knows where the goal is, just look at his stats: thirty-four goals last season and eleven so far this.

OK so it might just be the Dutch league but there are similarities between the two leagues and I'm sure he will adapt quickly.

Fingers crossed though, if he does sign, things will go well because he is known to throw the odd tantrum and go back to his homeland from time to time. We don't want another Emerson!

The other Brazilian is Fred, who is out of favour at Lyon and is keen on a transfer away from the French side. England is at the top of his list as a destination.

If Boro do pursue the signing of the Brazilian, the estimated price tag could be around £8million. Boro fans are urged not to get greedy, we can only afford one of these potential targets not both.

It's back to league action this weekend as Southgate's boys welcome Liverpool to the Riverside, which could see a rise in the attendance.

Gareth may have Mido back at his disposal after the Egyptian resumed training in the new year.

This is another crunch game at home which Boro need to win to avoid getting sucked back into the drop zone. Let's hope Gerard and Torres have an off day!

Newcastle

Farewell to Big Sam and welcome Big Nigel. It was on the cards for a while but now Newcastle have parted company with Sam Allardyce. "Parted company" is that a polite way of saying "you're sacked"?.

Minutes after the news had confirmed Allardyce's departure, the potential successors were being touted. The first one out of the hat was Alan Shearer and then Harry Redknapp but the funniest one of them all was Steve McClaren. I thought Mike Ashley didn't like McClaren.

You get the normal rumours of managers out of a job so there is no surprise that the likes of Martin Jol, Jose Mourinho and Jurgen Klinsmann have been tipped.

I have a funny feeling Mourinho might be looking at the situation very carefully. I'm sure billionaire owner Ashley has got him at the top of his wish list. We'll have to wait and see.

In the meantime ex-Boro legend Nigel Pearson will take charge of the team for their trip to Old Trafford on Saturday, which obviously isn't an easy task. But the players might be a little less pressurised and might even pull off a shock result.

They will also be playing for their places as so-called favourites of Big Sam may now be thrown out of the team. The Newcastle fans might even see a few of their stars perform on Saturday.

Sunderland

It's going to be a tough month for Sunderland and especially for Roy Keane. He has the job, with th assistance of Quinn, to find players which will keep them up this season. There is no doubt that the money is there for Keane to spend as Quinn has made that public a few times already in the past.

The difficulty lies in attracting players to a lowly Premier league side. I'm sure Keane will ask on favours of previous employers and even use his own personal contacts to find some good buys.

But already Keane has been dealt a blow in his dealings with midfield target Robbie Savage agreeing to join Derby County ahead of signing for Sunderland.

Savage spoke publicly about the transfer to Derby and was questioned why he turned down the offer from Sunderland. Savage thought that Sunderland were not so keen on him and didn't want to go to a club that wouldn't go the full hog to bring him there.

He also spoke about being a player that can keep a team in the Premier League. Unlucky Roy!

Keane turned his efforts on signing Stephen Hunt again this week after the initial bid of £2.5million was rejected last week. A new offer of £4.5million has been offered and this amount may well be accepted as Reading look to fund their own potential targets.

Sunderland welcome Portsmouth to the Stadium of Light on Sunday and will be looking for three points but Redknapp's men are no push overs on their travels and this game will be a tight affair.

We are now into the new year and the race for the north-east summit gets interesting. Manager-less Newcastle are still out in front with Boro closing in on them, whilst Sunderland are only three points behind the reds.

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