Gordon Strachan will have a new face to work with next season in the shape of Matthew Bates who is on the verge of returning to full fitness after suffering an agonising knee ligament injury last summer, which kept him on the sidelines for the whole of last season.

The 23-year-old had a brilliant season two years ago and was amongst only a handful of star performers in Boro's Premier League relegation team in 2008/09 with 17 appearances in the league.

Middlesbrough are reported to be lining up a move for Scunthorpe United striker Gary Hooper as Gordon Strachan looks to add goals to his assault on the Coca-Cola Championship next season.

A recent price-tag of £2.5million was placed on the 22-year-old's head with the likes of Wolverhampton Wanderers, Wigan Athletic and Scottich giants Celtic interested in The Iron's front man.

Or will the Middlesbrough defender join ex team-mate Robert Huth at Stoke City next season?

It wasn't long ago that Fabio Capello was scheduling in Middlesbrough games to watch, a then, 21-year-old David Wheater who impressed the Italian during his first few months in charge of the England team.

It is being strongly rumoured that Celtic's Scottish International defender Gary Caldwell is about to join Wigan, despite agreeing terms with Middlesbrough.

Caldwell underwent a medical on Monday and had agreed a three-and-half-year deal to join Boro, however, the former Newcastle defender now looks set to have opted for a move to Wigan instead.

So the missing Egyptian midfielder Mohammed Shawky resurfaced just long enough to put to paper on a transfer to Turkish side Kayserispor. Shawky had not made a single appearance for Boro this season, under either manager, sitting on the bench for the FA Cup defeat to Man City was the closest he came.

Mark Yeates could soon be heading through the Middlesbrough exit door on his way to Sheffield as he enters talks with Sheff Utd over a proposed move, rumoured to be worth around £500,000.

Yeates who arrived at Boro in the pre-season for an undisclosed fee from Colchester has struggled to cement a place in the Boro first team and, since Strachan arrived, has seemingly fallen completely out of favour.

Middlesbrough have had three players included in The Football League's team of the week following the 1-1 draw with Swansea at the Riverside.

Obviously you have to take into account the reduced Football League programme due to the FA Cup, a point strengthened when you see that 6 of the 11 players included were involved in the Boro v Swansea game.

Scotland international defender Stephen McManus goes straight into Boro's squad to play Bristol City today after the Celtic defender agreed on a loan move to the end of June.

Boro Manager Gordon Strachan said:

We're delighted to have Stephen join us. He has achieved a lot in his career, winning trophies, playing in the Champions League and captaining club and country.

The arrival of the transfer deadline has led to a whole range of rumours springing up all over the internet, TV and Radio, some with more substance than others.

Shunsuke Nakamura

The major story doing the rounds concerns Adam Johnson and a proposed move to Premier League big spenders Manchester City.

Nathan Porritt, once considered one of the brightest young players in the country, has had his contract cancelled by Boro. Porritt shot into the limelight in 2006 in a BBC Panorama documentary in which it was alleged that several other teams (Liverpool, Chelsea and Newcastle) had attempted to "tap up" the Boro youngster in an attempt to lure him away from The Riverside.

Thanks to Marc in the comments of another article for pointing out that Porritt has gone off to Portugal in an attempt to find a new club.

After reading Marc's comment I did a little digging and found a few reports, in Portuguese, that confirm that Porritt has indeed been training with the Portuguese club.

Two lucky Boro fans will be jetting out to La Manga next week to spend a couple of days watching Gordon Strachan and the Middlesbrough players take part in training sessions designed to keep the players ticking over during the close-season.

The official Boro site is running the competition with the winning prize being selected by random from correct answers to a question.

Now then, I'm not talking about David Wheater's favourite pre-match meal or Mel Gibson's character in the Lethal Weapon films. I am in fact brining the latest news from the Riverside as Gordon Strachan finally teams up with Gary McAllister, Stephen McManus links up with the Boro squad ahead of the trip to La Manga and Chris Riggott is about to leave Teesside for pastures new.

It has been a whirlwind last six months for Adam Johnson. Middlesbrough's top-scorer at the beginning of the year before being snapped up by Manchester City and, following a number of great performances for Roberto Mancini's side, he was called up to England's provisional squad by Fabio Capello but today it has been confirmed that the 22-year-old will not have a role in England's plans this summer at the World Cup.

Out of contract defender and former Boro captain Emanuel Pogatetz is on the verge of signing for Bundesliga club Hannover 96 according to reports leaking through the web.

Having played a bit part in Middlesbrough's Championship campaign last season due to injury and coming to the end of his current contract at the Riverside he is reportedly being linked with a move to Hannover 96.

Steve Bernard

The World Cup is almost upon us and there aren't many genuine football fans left who aren't looking forward to the tournament more and more everyday. The World Cup is the most special of all competitions. We can all remember where we were watching Zinedine Zidane headbutt Marco Materazzi in 2006, or David Beckham's penalty against Argentina in 2002, and of course David Beckham's red card against the same opposition in St Etienne in 1998.

Nick Bailey is set to sign for Middlesbrough this week, pending a medical, after he agreed personal terms with Boro. In a recent interview with the SkySports he thanked Charlton Athletic and their fans for the two year experience with the London club which saw him score 26 times in 93 appearances resulting in Gordon Strachan seeking the midfielder's signature.

Former Rangers striker Kris Boyd is on the verge of sealing a two-year contract at the Riverside pending a medical today. The 26-year-old has a phenomenal goal to game ratio for the Scottish giants netting just over a century of goals in 143 appearances.

Gordon Strachan has been tracking Boyd since January when he had talks with the highest goalscorer in SPL history but was unable to lure him to Teesside mid-season.

Two years ago Middlesbrough were weighing up an offer for a 20-year-old Belgium international called Steven Defour but were put off by a £5million asking price. Forward two years and Boro are just about to enter their second year in the Championship after being relegated from the Premier League in the 2008/09 season.

Boro Brick Road Chief Reporter Anthony Ward will bring you the latest match reports from Middlesbrough's npower Championship fixtures this season. Here is his reaction from Saturday's defeat at home to Ipswich Town.

Middlesbrough 1 Ipswich Town 3

Middlesbrough's long awaited first game of the 2010/11 season ended in a disappointing defeat at the hands of a composed Ipswich Town team.

Former Middlesbrough player Jeremie Aliadiere has pitched up at Upton Park to try and land a deal with the Premier League club after he failed to extend his stay on Teesside. The luxury player, who is a free agent, scored 12 goals in 78 appearances for us in a three-year spell in the North-East and is now trying to grab a contract with West Ham United.

Middlesbrough number 1, Brad Jones is likely to complete a move to Premier League giants Liverpool in the next 24 hours after the two clubs agreed a fee in the region of £2.5million. A previous offer of £2million from the Merseyside outfit was rebuffed by us but it is believed that Roy Hodgson has been given permission to increase the offer for the Australian number 2.

Gordon Strachan will have reflected on a bad day at the office in Boro's opening day defeat to Ipswich Town last Saturday. WGS will be hoping his team can cut-out the sloppy defending which allowed Roy Keane's men to score three past Danny Coyne to inflict the first loss of the season.

Leicester v Boro

This fixture last season saw Strachan's men lose 2-0 at the Walkers Stadium with goals coming from Yann Kermorgant and Richie Wellens.

Boro Brick Road Chief Reporter Anthony Ward reflects on Boro's second game of the new npower Championship season as Strachan's side get their first point on the board.

Leicester City 0 Middlesbrough 0

Jason Steele produced a man of the match performance for Boro as they earned a hard-fought point at the Walkers Stadium.

Gordon Strachan will have cash to splash once the sale of Brad Jones goes through this week. The Australian goalkeeper had a medical at the Premier League club yesterday indicating that personal terms have been agreed. According to reports in the weekend press the £2million-plus transfer fee from his sale is already in place to be used to try and land Cardiff City midfielder Peter Whittingham.

The Boro fans playing keep-ball from the Watford stewards was the highlight of our visit on Saturday as we witnessed a 20-minute spell of the worst defending which handed the Hornets three goals on a plate.

As we walked away from Vicarage Road at the full-time whistle, I couldn't help but smile when one particular home fan thought that his team had completely outplayed Boro and that the only time we had the ball was when the away end kept the match-ball for five minutes.

After 10 games Middlesbrough sit in 18th place in the npower Championship and, going on results and performances in those games, look set to stay there for much of the season unless something drastically changes within the team or management.

A lack of fight and team spirit from a Gordon Strachan managed side is unheard of surely?

Another defeat, this time at home, leaves Middlesbrough sitting agonisingly close to the bottom of the npower Championship this weekend something that Boro fans can't really understand. The 2-1 defeat yesterday, to rivals Leeds United, has placed even more pressure on Gordon Strachan as the chorus of boos at the the final whistle rained down on WGS.

Gordon Strachan walked away from Middlesbrough this afternoon knowing that he had made the right choice. The 53-year-old will look back on his year-long spell at the Riverside as a failed attempt at constructing a team good enough to get out of the Championship.

WGS endured a tough time from the ever passionate Boro faithful during his 12 months in charge on Teesside and never gained the respect from the supporters, but he might have just gained a small piece of respect as he knew it was time for a change and that he had taken the team as far as he could.