Corroding Steele

Article by e-Middlesbrough correspondent Stephen Davison

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When Jason Steele first broke into the Middlesbrough first team it was more by default than performance. Brad Jones had been the No 1 after Mark Schwarzer left and Ross Turnbull turned down a new contract.

Jones was never seen as a reliable pair of hands by the fans after making many handling errors, which cost the club dear. Jason Steele was getting rave reviews playing for the U21's and was very much seen as 'one for the future'. When Liverpool put in a 2M+ bid for Jones it was seen as good business and he was sold.

The club was left with Jason Steele and the aging Danny Coyne to choose from. Many fans thought that the priority in the transfer window was to buy a solid keeper who had experience. The club decided that they would go with what they had.

Middlesbrough has long had a tradition of good, long serving fans favourite goalkeepers. Jim Platt was with the club from the 70's to the mid 80's and served the club superbly. Stephen Pears replaced Platt initially on loan from Man Utd before the deal was made permanent. 'Apples' was a true fans favourite and is very much a club legend. He served the club from '83 through to the mid 90's; the final game ever played at Ayresome Park was Pearsy's testimonial.

The Boro struggled to find another long term keeper for the next 2 seasons, Marlon Beresford, Ben Roberts and Alan Miller to name a few were given their chance, but never truly established themselves as a long term No 1 that could be trusted with the responsibility.

Mark Schwarzer was signed from Bradford in a reported 1M+ deal and he fitted in seamlessly. The big Aussie served the club through the clubs most successful period and was simply outstanding. He played for the Boro from '97 through to '08 when he was released after agreements to a new contract stalled. It was reported that he wanted a longer contract but the club was unwilling to give him this due to his advancing years.

Ironically, as Boro struggled to fill his gloves, Schwarzer played top flight football for another 5+ years and regularly topped the OPTA stats ratings for goalkeepers when playing for Fulham. Jason Steele had a successful loan spell with Northampton Town in '10 and returned to Boro ready to fight for the No1 jersey having had a taste for 1st team football. He had represented his country at U16, 17, 19 and U21 level. He was also selected and represented the Great Britain Olympic squad in '12.

Once Jones had departed for Liverpool in '11, Steele was installed as first choice between the sticks, even though he was still just 19 years old. He made an impressive start and was rewarded with a long term contract. It was rumoured that both Liverpool and Arsenal were weighing up bids to prise Steele away from the Riverside; such was the reputation he was building. He continued to perform with credit despite suffering numerous injuries over the next 3 seasons. Boro loaned keepers in to cover his absences and they performed very well for the club, but once Steele was back fit he regained his place straight away.

Tony Mowbray had the utmost confidence in Steele and stood by him despite murmurings from the terraces that Steele wasn't good enough. He made some routine mistakes from crosses and it looked like Steele's confidence had been affected towards the end of Mogga's tenure but he remained the No1 as there was not a great deal of competition for his place. Steele's confidence could have been affected by the back 4 in front of him, as the defence during this period was sloppy to say the least and it seemed to have an impact on Steele's confidence in them as a unit.

When Aitor Karanka was installed as the new Head Coach, he played Steele in goal for his first game away to Leeds. Steele was sent off for a challenge on a Leeds forward outside of the box - a challenge that he had to make due to a poor back pass header by Daniel Ayala. This was obviously not the way he wanted to introduce himself to the new boss! After that game, Steele was out for some time with an injury and Boro quickly loaned experienced shot stopper Shay Given from Aston Villa. It was hoped by many that a deal could be struck to keep Given at the Riverside but unfortunately it seemed beyond them due to finances. Given was outstanding during his time on loan and cemented himself as a fans favourite with some sublime saves. He also organised and orchestrated the back 4 with his experience.

Once Given returned to Villa, a decision had to be made on who would be the No1. The choices were Steele, regular No2 Jayson Leutwiller, an aging Dimitrios Konstantopolous or the young Connor Ripley. It seemed that Steele would come straight back into the squad as the No1 but Karanka instead loaned Tomas Mejias from Real Madrid and he was installed as the No1 for the next game. Was this because Steele was still rusty or was he not seen as a safe pair of hands by Karanka?

Mejias was injured after playing just one game so it now seemed certain that Steele would be installed back into the first team. It didn't happen and Karanka instead went with Dimi Konstantopolous who had hardly played for the club. Dimi was for a long time the 4th choice keeper and was signed by Mowbray as cover. Now he found himself in the first team as the No1. Dimi went on to have a solid end of season and was on the fringes of the Greece World Cup squad due to his impressive form. Whilst Dimi performed well between the posts, Steele had to sit it out on the bench and either impress in training or await his chance; it didn’t come.

Now that the dust has settled on last season, the rebuild has already started for the new campaign. Tomas Mejias has now been signed on a permanent basis and Dimi has signed a 1 year extension to his contract. It would appear with these signings that Karanka has made his mind up and he will go with what he had for the new season, leaving Jason Steele in limbo. Steele is still a young man and has a great career ahead of him but a decision will now need to be made as to whether he sits as the 2nd or 3rd choice at Boro or moves on. He needs to be playing regular football to continue his progress and it is highly unlikely that he will want to stay at the club if he is not seen as the clubs No1. If a bid is lodged for Steele’s services then he will in all likelihood be sold.

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