The Middlesbrough Gazette
Market17 Aug 2026
Middlesbrough say no — this time
The offer from St. Pauli for Will Lankshear was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
A brace, and Will Lankshear takes the afternoon — 8.64
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Will Lankshear provided it, and the 8.64 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
Leo Castledine, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 7.79
A mark of 7.79 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Riley McGree in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Middlesbrough this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match15 Aug 2026
Will Lankshear among the goals in a wild afternoon
6 goals in one match, Will Lankshear on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Middlesbrough and Fulham.
Boardroom17 Aug 2026
5 academy players handed senior numbers at Middlesbrough
The morning the pathway stops being a brochure and becomes a team sheet. Most of them will not be here in three years; all of them have already done the hard part, which was getting to today.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Words at Middlesbrough training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Aidan Morris is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Market17 Aug 2026
A long bet from Middlesbrough on Charlie Crew
He is 20, and nobody at Middlesbrough signed him for this season. Deals like this are judged in four years, by people who may not still be in the building.
The terraces17 Aug 2026
The crowd has taken to Will Lankshear
At 21 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
In brief
- Market Middlesbrough promote Joseph Wilson from within
- Market David Hunter steps up from the Middlesbrough academy
- Squad No hiding place for Alfie Jones