Credit to ‘Boro

[blades_95]

I was curious to see how long Hellberg had been at Boro & was really surprised to see that it’s only been just over 2 months.

I know they were in a good position when he took over from Edwards, but to develop those patterns of play in such a short space of time with a big schedule of games is really impressive.

I know Selles was a disaster but at some point in the near future we need to start succession planning for Wilder & what kind of club we want to be, what style we want to play, what profile of player we want to recruit. It’s massively disappointing in what now seems to be a transition season, that we aren’t putting these foundations in place.

Also for what it’s worth, Hellberg is a 38 year old coach who’d only managed in Sweden, so had less experience than Selles. It just goes to show there are good coaches out there, even if we haven’t heard of them before or if they haven’t managed in the Championship before. As a club we need to broaden our approach & modernise, as without the parachute money we really do risk becoming an average Championship club again.

 

[Sportbilly /Detroit Blade]

You'd have to ask Sportbilly /Detroit Blade if he's willing to share

If you really want a video of a Rory McGrath lookalike pumping porridge into an Ann Robinson lookalike, you need to be on the sex offenders register!

 

[Brian Deane]

If you really want a video of a Rory McGrath lookalike pumping porridge into an Ann Robinson lookalike, you need to be on the sex offenders register!

Were they under age at the time

 

[Boroblade1889]

I was curious to see how long Hellberg had been at Boro & was really surprised to see that it’s only been just over 2 months.

I know they were in a good position when he took over from Edwards, but to develop those patterns of play in such a short space of time with a big schedule of games is really impressive.

I know Selles was a disaster but at some point in the near future we need to start succession planning for Wilder & what kind of club we want to be, what style we want to play, what profile of player we want to recruit. It’s massively disappointing in what now seems to be a transition season, that we aren’t putting these foundations in place.

Also for what it’s worth, Hellberg is a 38 year old coach who’d only managed in Sweden, so had less experience than Selles. It just goes to show there are good coaches out there, even if we haven’t heard of them before or if they haven’t managed in the Championship before. As a club we need to broaden our approach & modernise, as without the parachute money we really do risk becoming an average Championship club again.

Hellberg was lined up for Swansea before Boro nipped in and got him. I hope our succession planning decision makers focus on up and coming first team coaches/Managers who are “in demand”, hopefully several clubs’ due diligence can’t be wrong and we avoid another Selles situation.

 

[Davalon]

They were good but saying we didn't create clear cut chances is just rubbish. Bamford, Hamer and Peck all had great chances in the first half.

I was talking about the first 15 mins

 

[Lane Ender]

It was an excellent game to watch even for the neutrals after a loss I always come away deflated and down Monday I didnt

 

[diplomat]

I said promoted teams can look totally different in the Prem, which is just a fact. I'm obviously aware it requires loads of money, and I never implied that would happen at Boro.

Do we all not remember every fucker saying it about us when we went up both times recently? It's just something fans say when they're hurting after a loss; Boro are clearly good and are loving what would be an incredible season and promotion, so we say "who cares anyway, they'll be down next season".

When we were charging to promotion and spanking teams left and right, I wasn't giving a second thought to how we'd perform in the PL.

How much of a fun sponge does someone have to be to go ‘yeah they might win the league but they’ll get spanked next year’ ? Inmean really? Why even bother going if that’s honestly your attitude? (Not you, the mythical Debbie Downer I’m referring to)

 

[forte]

Happy to see the comments on Kim.

There’s a lot of quality in the Swedish league - both when it comes to coaches and players. Key is due diligence - understanding what you’re bringing, why, how you’ll utilize that PERSON - will he fit with your approach? Middlesbrough did well here. It looks like copy paste but its not….

Gimli - what’s your thoughts on Hellberg? You had some very clear and well analyzed ideas on the quality of the league so it would be great to hear your thoughts on this!

 

[Gimli]

Happy to see the comments on Kim.

There’s a lot of quality in the Swedish league - both when it comes to coaches and players. Key is due diligence - understanding what you’re bringing, why, how you’ll utilize that PERSON - will he fit with your approach? Middlesbrough did well here. It looks like copy paste but its not….

Gimli - what’s your thoughts on Hellberg? You had some very clear and well analyzed ideas on the quality of the league so it would be great to hear your thoughts on this!

Yes my well analysed thoughts were that Brewster would score 50 goals in the Allsvenskan.

I guess we’ll never find out. Shame.

 

[forte]

To build on my earlier point: I’m convinced that if Kim had been recruited by us this past summer, things would have unfolded a bit differently. People would have gone mental if we hired a Swedish coach with zero titles and just a couple of seasons in the top league/no prior experience abroad. His largest accomplishment (1st place) was when he won the Swedish 4th Division (translates to League 2) with IF Sylva in 2018. I can see the threads and comments in front of me

I doubt he would have been given the space required to fully implement his leadership philosophy and as a club, I don’t think we’re ready for a coach with his approach. With Selles, we made an attempt in that direction, but in his case other factors ultimately determined his fate.

The decision itself may not have been wrong, but the fact that Wilder was appointed — even though he has done an excellent job since arriving (I love CW!) — says a lot about where we are as a club. If we had genuinely believed in the long‑term project the club claimed to be pursuing, we would naturally have brought in a coach with a similar profile to Selles instead of abandoning that idea. For me, that signals uncertainty and a lack of clarity about the direction the club wants to take.

Even if we were to hire a coach more accomplished than Hellberg on paper, I suspect it would fly — simply because there is no coherent structure above him to support him in that appointment - similarly to I felt things went for Selles (no other comparisons but you get the idea). As for Kim himself, he is an exceptionally talented coach who also carry the supporter’s perspective, which I really appreciate.

The root of the issue is that we aren’t grounded in a clear idea on where we want to go — it feels like we’re caught somewhere between our traditional identity and a desire to adapt to what’s happening around us. What we need is to establish a long‑term strategy, make sure the entire club is aligned behind it, and then stick to it. We dont deviate even if short term results are bad… It’s not easy, but it would pay off ultimately - we’re a massive club, but without a coherent long‑term plan we will never reach our potential. Without a clear plan we won’t progress much unless the club is properly structured.

If we maximize the potential of our academy players, combine it with smart, data‑driven European scouting, and supplement it with targeted domestic recruitment, we would stop bouncing between the top leagues. We would quite quickly be able to establish ourselves in the Premier League and if we were managed properly by the competent people, challenge for Europe.


Fun fact: he has a tattoo that he got around 15 years ago that reads “Peking SM-guld XXXX” — long before he became a top‑level coach. Even though I’m no fan of IFK Norrköping (nicknamed “Peking”), I love the dedication behind it. It reflects his dream of one day winning the Swedish championship with the club he grew up supporting. The year is intentionally left blank — he has said it will be filled in when it happens.