Time machine time - You can change 1 Boro moment ...

[Marvanelli]

Has to be the Blackburn fixture. Has to be.

We were rumoured to have so many top deals lined up if we stayed up. It was a huge game changer.

We also would have went into the FA Cup final much more confident.

 

[coluka]

Mine would have been when Jack Charlton refused to pay an extra £10K to Coventry for David Cross. We would have been League Champions without doubt.

The only other would have been to send a team to Blackburn

 

[NZBoro1]

Paul Mariner?

 

[parmoboy]

Appointing Monk and allowing him to spend a fortune rebuilding the squad.

That squad didn't need a rebuild. We already pretty much had a squad capable of gaining promotion. Just needed to make one or two quality signings and appoint a manager who had a better pedigree than Monk and we would have actually smashed the league.

 

[WilliamMunny]

Definitely Heskey. If we don’t concede, not only are we on a high having lifted a trophy, but we don’t have to play Leicester again over another 120 minutes. We most likely see off Chesterfield at the first attempt as well, saving us another energy sapping replay. That means we don’t have to play Tuesday/Thursday one week and Sat/Mon/Thur/Sun in the last week of the season. Ravanelli doesn’t pull his hamstring, we stay up and then go on to beat Chelsea in the FA Cup. Somewhere in a parallel universe all of that happened and we went on to play in the Champions League a couple of seasons later.

 

[Quicksilvera]

A few good ones mentioned above so I’ll pick a different one, when Adam Johnson put Afonso through on goal vs pompey in our relegation season and he hit it straight at David James. I believe that win would have spurred us but it was a massive kick in the proverbial nuts.

 

[Nano]

Also going to add appointing Southgate. Gibson had got all his managerial appointments right but this was one step too far. We were at our peak as a club and we hired someone that was completely unsuitable for the job when there must have been good candidates available. It was the start of our demise into a championship team. From UEFA cup final and looking upwards to championship also rans in such a short space of time. Utter disaster.

 

[TheHolgate]

Another shout for Heskey.

It changed everything that season and for the next decade. Also, we missed out on watching a Boro captain go up the steps and lift a trophy at the old Wembley. It was something I had dreamed of seeing and we were 3 minutes away.

 

[The_Tiler]

Replacing Ben Roberts in the 1997 FA Cup final with a keeper who was 3 inches taller. That way he saves Di Matteo's shot after 44 seconds and we have a chance.

 

[Centralscrutinizer]

26th of October 1996. Middlesbrough v Wimbledon, Phil Stamp unleashes a powerful long range shot which instead of rebounding off the woodwork goes in. Boro win 1-0 instead of drawing and stay up on goal difference. After that, the rest is history, or something like that

 

[exeterboro]

I've referred to it another thread today, but it has to be Mikkel Beck poking in the last minute chance at Leeds to stay up and not have our team broken up, obviously sending a team to Blackburn might have kept us up but I like to think of thevButterfly effect and who know what would have happened after that, while an MB goal most likely has us winning 2-1 at Leeds then who knows what would have happened a week later in the FA cup.

 

[atypical_boro]

Over the decades I've spent hours and hours deliberating about 1997. In truth, it was not a well run ship. It was a young chairman with cash on the hip and a CEO who didn't really know how to deal with international footballers (based on many, many hours of footage I've listened to from players of the era). I sort of feel like had we stayed up, it might have just been more of the same the season after ie total chaos. Would we have really signed Romario and those kind of superstars etc? Seems unlikely, but I'm sure we'd have brought in a few more primadonnas from abroad who thought they were better than they were and stupidly overpaid.

Winning the League Cup in 97 would have been amazing but I don't feel sad that the likes of Emo and Rav didn't stay (for long). Juninho is different, of course, and he may have never got that injury.

So for that reason I'm going for Cardiff 2008. Had we got past them we'd have truly believed we could win the FA Cup and if we had, we'd have maybe not come down in 2009 and had to endure the last 14 years of mostly uneventful nothingness (Brighton and a few cup matches aside).

 

[t4tomo]

What would have biggest effect on our future?

1997 staying up then would have potentially changed our course significantly, as although, we jumped straight back up, we were rebuilding again. That said it led onto the Mcclaren era..which was our most successful era

Eindhoven, yes it would have been great to say we won a European trophy, but in truth even if we get the penna (as they went straight down the other end from that shout to make it 2-0 I think and kill the game) we would have still had to find a winner, which looked unlikely as we were very much 2nd best. Also no great effect on our future.

I think appointed Strahan was the moment to be avoided. That was damaging, he left us with a rotten squad that has taken a long time to turn around, not help by Gary Monk spunking £ms on dross too.

16/17 - there isnt really a key moment - we needed to turn 6 of 13 draws into Wins to have stayed up, but staying up in first season after promotion is key for any club, as it gives a decent chance of getting re established in top flight, but in truth by that point Gibson didnt have the £££s to compete at the top of the prem, the money needed has gone to a crazy level.

Maybe the key moment to avoid was whatever caused Karanka and Gibson to fall out / lose trust. had those two stayed on good terms we might have stayed up, their rift became a massive distration.

 

[Jedi boro]

I've taken a bit of inspiration from the “most gutted” thread (apologies!), but If you had the chance to alter 1 moment for the Boro what would you pick?

Not a full result/ game, but just a single action or situation during a game, or alternatively off the pitch?

One of mine would have to be the Viduka ‘penalty’ that never was in Eindhoven – who’s to say it would have made a massive difference on the overall result or not as that Seville team had some serious talent in it, But at 0-0 if we get that pen and converted it…. Who knows! (probably 4-1 )

Another, off pitch, appointing Monk – if we had just went down a different route, and spent the money a different way – who knows (see also Strachan appointment!)

Robbo get those subs on now

 

[Jedi boro]

One of mine would have to be the Viduka ‘penalty’ that never was in Eindhoven – who’s to say it would have made a massive difference on the overall result or not as that Seville team had some serious talent in it, But at 0-0 if we get that pen and converted it…. Who knows! (probably 4-1 )

As I said on the other thread I was right behind this and I can still see it now it was a blatant push in the back.

 

[ThePrisoner]

The only answer to this is 'Turn up at Blackburn'.

 

[Muttley]

Torn between preventing the Heskey equaliser and turning up at Blackburn. Both should/might have the same affect (not getting relegated) However seeing as stopping Heskey also gives us a pot, I'd go with that. And also I've always said I would take a cup win with relegation over survival in the top league any day.

So deffo that.

 

[UTB70]

That bill shankly joined boro after we interviwed him.

 

[Anton_Berg]

Definitely the Heskey equaliser. Was the start of the domino effect that made the last few weeks of that season so chaotic and difficult.

I know the three points technically sent us down, but off the back of winning that cup I think we'd have been OK in the league. We were in pretty good form in the league at the time, but that goal started a sequence of massive games twice a week that we just couldn't cope with physically or mentally. Seemed to spend all my time up and down the A1/M62/East Coast mainline heading to Hillsborough, Old Trafford and Wembley and it was hard to keep on top of. I just feel we'd have been so much more composed and successful without that goal happening.

Would probably have stayed up and beaten Chelsea in the FA Cup if we'd held on vs Leicester. And then who the hell knows what after that...

Alternatively, if we'd lost to Leicester in normal time, that would also have avoided the domino effect. Eventually we won the LC, but the FAC has got further and further out of reach over the years.

 

[Chutney]

Alternatively, if we'd lost to Leicester in normal time, that would also have avoided the domino effect. Eventually we won the LC, but the FAC has got further and further out of reach over the years.

True. We may have rapidly faded in the FAC as well and been able to focus on staying up. But if we're creating fantasy alternate histories, I prefer mine.