‘Unprecedented’ is a word that can be thrown about a bit too easily in football.
But the build-up to this Championship play-off final? There isn’t really any other way of expressing how mad it has all been.
Up until two days before the semi-finals began, it felt like exciting clashes between two attacking sides in Middlesbrough and Southampton would be played out. Then, everything changed.
The home and away legs were played out under the dark clouds of the ‘Spygate’ saga. And Boro’s players were crestfallen when after 116 gruelling minutes of their second leg, Shea Charles’ cross evaded everyone to find the back of the net, sealing a 2-1 Southampton win to seemingly take them to Wembley.
A week later, however, the Saints were expelled and Middlesbrough’s Premier League dream was back on. Then 24 hours later an appeal was dismissed – the Championship play-off final finally confirmed to be between Boro and Hull City.
From dejection, to limbo, and now just a couple of days to prepare for the biggest game of most of their lives.
Unprecedented.
Saturday 23rd May 2:30pm
Kick off 3:30pm
Hellberg’s reset: ‘I went back to Sweden with my son, had a beer and shouted at the referee from the stands’
For Middlesbrough boss Kim Hellberg it has been a roller coaster, to say the least.
Defiance before the semi-finals in the face of the initial allegations, to sheer dejection after their initial exit following the second leg.
A trip back to Sweden with his son over the weekend certainly helped him reset and gain a sense of perspective.
“I had to do something because we were waiting for [the verdict] and trying to put belief into people,” he said in his pre-match press conference on Thursday. “You couldn’t go in to try to prepare for a game.
“I took my son to Sweden; that was very nice for me. Drinking beer, watching a game, shouting at the referee from the stands.
“It gives you perspective of it and some time with my son and thinking about something different. From that moment to coming home, it’s been a lot of information about what may happen, what could happen.
“There have been a lot of emotions. It’s been a crazy time, back and forth with a lot of emotions from losing the game to being involved, trying to keep your head in the game for what may happen. I’m very happy to be here.”
In terms of preparation, at least until midweek it was limited at best.
“We haven’t trained [properly] since the last Southampton game,” Hellberg added on Thursday. “We have been in one day, but if that was our training, we would have big problems.
“But it was important to try and stand up for these things and try to make it possible, and everyone around the club has done absolutely brilliant.
“It’s been a weird time. I’m doing everything I can to prepare my team for the game.”
Ayling: I was giving my son a bath when I found out we were back in the final
Luke Ayling is 34 and probably would have felt like he had been through it all in football. At least until this week.
There is always time for new territory to be explored in your career.
“We were a bit in the dark as players,” the Middlesbrough defender tells Sky Sports. “But the club was more upbeat about it because we didn’t know what was going on behind the scenes and what evidence they had on the spying stuff.
“The club was very confident and tried to drill it into us that there might be a chance we were playing, so we had to stay as focused as we could.
“It was hard because you lose a game and think the chance is gone, then suddenly you have to switch back on in case you’re going to get another opportunity.
“Over the weekend it started to become a bit more apparent that we might have a chance. We came in on Monday and trained, then we got the good news on Tuesday.
“It’s only just starting to become real. It was all a bit of a shock at the time. I was doing bath time with my little man on Tuesday night and then the message came through that we were going to Wembley.”
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Gary Weaver tells the Sky Sports Essential EFL podcast what he thinks Southampton could have learned from Middlesbrough’s training ahead of the play-off semi-finals.
Ayling also admits that while it has been a challenge having so little time to prepare, he also has sympathy for Hull being left in the dark about who they would be facing.
“It’s been tough because we’re now building up to the biggest game of our lives with probably only three proper training days,” he added. “But we’ve had a few tougher sessions over the last few days to get our legs going and the boys will be ready.
“I do feel sorry for Hull as well because they were preparing for Southampton, so you do feel for them on that basis. But at the same time, they’ve at least been training knowing there’s a game on Saturday.
“It’s been hard, but we’re so grateful for the opportunity. We know it’s a massive chance that’s been given back to us, and we believe rightly so. We’re really happy and can’t wait to get going.”
Can Boro rally mentally after a ‘bizarre week’?
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Sky Sports’ Keith Downie explains how the Southampton staff member was caught trying to observe a Middlesbrough training session.
Sky Sports News’ Keith Downie:
It has been a bizarre week here in the North East, around these parts at the training ground where I have been stationed for the best part of the last two weeks.
When Middlesbrough arrived back from Southampton a day after their play-off semi-final defeat, it felt like that was it for them. The players looked emotionally and physically drained.
The ‘Spygate’ scandal was still hanging over things, but you wondered if they would even have another game in them. At that stage, I thought if they had to play in a final it would be really difficult for them.
Before the verdict was announced on Tuesday, they were only able to train once on Monday.
Hellberg said that if the players perform at Wembley on Saturday the way they trained that day, when the whole club was still in limbo, then they’ve got no chance.
What they’ve had since the semi-final defeat is a lot of rest. Physically, they will be fresh, but really it’s about where they are mentally.
They thought they were out of the competition, then suddenly back in it, and still unsure where things go from here.
Whereas Hull went down to London on Thursday, Middlesbrough will only be going on Friday. They aren’t allowed to train on the pitch at Wembley, but Hellberg plans to take the players on a tour of the stadium the day before the game just to let them take in their surroundings.
I think it’s all part of trying to get their heads around this incredible situation.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: skynews.com
