During the 2013/14 campaign, Middlesbrough were once again underperforming in the Championship, as they bounced around in the bottom-half of the table with just three victories in their opening 16 matches of the campaign.
In those six games, Boro had managed to keep just two clean sheets: on the second day of the season in a 1-0 win at The Valley against Charlton Athletic, and a 4-0 hammering of Doncaster Rovers at the Riverside.
Tony Mowbray was sacked in mid-October, with Aitor Karanka being appointed a few weeks later, steadying Middlesbrough to a mid-table, but top-half, finish, before making the play-offs the year after, and then gaining automatic promotion to the Premier League in 2015/16.
The appointment of Karanka led to Middlesbrough becoming a consistent force in the Championship again for a couple of seasons, but it wasn’t just Karanka who contributed to their rise...
Shay Given gave Middlesbrough a solid platform in defence
Shay Given of Middlesbrough
One of the most stabilising factors of a side that was so dramatically underperforming was the signing of Newcastle United legend Shay Given, on an initial one-month loan deal in November 2013.
Given was signed due to first-choice goalkeeper Jason Steele facing a three-game ban, but the Republic of Ireland and Newcastle legend eventually saw his deal extended until the end of February, due to his excellent performances.
In his debut game, Given earned himself a clean sheet, and only the Smoggies’ third clean sheet of the campaign, as they defeated Bolton Wanderers by a goal to nil on Teesside in what was Karanka’s first home game in charge.
Given, who had joined just two days earlier, had an excellent debut for Boro, and it wouldn’t be a surprise if his presence is what made Jermaine Beckford blast a penalty over in the closing stages of that game to ensure Middlesbrough saw off the Trotters.
After going on to collect just a point from their next three matches, Boro then went on an excellent run of form whereby they collected 16 points from their following six games, keeping five clean sheets in the process with Given between the sticks.
Frustratingly for Middlesbrough, they would then fail to score in their next seven games, the first six of which saw Given remain in goal for the Teessiders.
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Despite the fact that Boro couldn’t score, they also weren’t conceding, with four goalless draws in that run, and Given ensuring his final game at the Riverside was a goalless stalemate with Leeds United.
Given had helped transform Middlesbrough's defence during his Boro spell
Shay Given of Middlesbrough
Karanka eventually did an excellent job with Boro, and the stability and defensive football he brought helped lay a platform for them to eventually grind their way to promotion a couple of years later.
He would have required buy in from the players to adapt to and adopt his methods and style of football, though, coming in to his first job as a head coach having been José Mourinho’s assistant coach at Real Madrid.
Middlesbrough head coach Aitor Karanka
Had it not been for the performances of Shay Given during his 16-game spell, whereby he kept an astonishing ten clean sheets for a side that were by no means dominant, then people may have been a lot more skeptical over the effectiveness of Karanka, and thus patience with the Spaniard may not have been granted and Premier League promotion possibly never achieved.
Given goes down as one of the better goalkeepers to have ever played in the top-flight with spells at Newcastle, as well as Manchester City and Aston Villa.
Middlesbrough's 2013/14 goalkeepers in the Championship - per Transfermarkt
Player
Shay Given
Jason Steele
Dimitrios Konstantopoulos
Jayson Leutwiler
Tomas Mejias
Even towards the end of his career, though, the Magpies legend was still putting in point-gaining performances, and becoming someone fondly thought of by supporters of one of Newcastle’s most fierce rivals, highlighting just how good he was at the Riverside.