"I have no doubt" - Middlesbrough told to sanction loan deal for first-teamer this summer | OneFootball

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

Middlesbrough's season has been largely frustrating, having failed to make progress on such a fantastic first year under Michael Carrick.

Boro have performed well and are set for a strong end to the season, but they ultimately look likely to miss out on the chance for promotion to the Premier League through the play-offs, with a difficult fixture away to Leeds United this coming Monday.

Away from results and table standings, however, frustrations also lie within the utilisation of the squad by Carrick.

The former Manchester United midfielder has had a plethora of injuries to contend with and therefore has had to sparingly use players that some fans believe should have been given spells out on loan to help further player development.

One such player has been striker Josh Coburn, who, despite having a good record for Boro at youth level, has never kicked on in the first-team fully, and has only been afforded one loan spell away from the Riverside so far to help him progress.

Middlesbrough fan pundit discusses potential Josh Coburn 2024-25 exit

Despite having the aforementioned impressive record at youth level, where the now 21-year-old striker scored 11 goals in 15 games at under-18's level as recently as 2020/21, the feeling among many is that he hasn't found his feet yet in the first team and needs more time away.

After a good loan spell away at Bristol Rovers in 2022/23, where he scored 10 goals in 40 games across all competitions, he has been used by Carrick in 21 games, starting only 11, so far in the Championship, and FLW fan pundit Dana Malt believes he should have departed on loan last summer to avoid being used this sparingly.

"I've always maintained the opinion that Josh Coburn should have been loaned out this season, I feel that would've been the most beneficial thing for him," Dana told Football League World.

"He has been carrying an injury throughout the season and that has to factor into how you view him and his development, but I have no doubt he has potential, and he can be a really decent option for us.

"He was all set to join Plymouth Argyle at Home Park, but certain things didn't materialise in terms of us not getting a striker to help fill the void while he was gone, and that domino effect led to us pulling the plug on the deal.

"With Boro likely to bring in another striker this summer, I maintain my stance that he should be loaned out because he's going to fall down the pecking order.

"His spell with Bristol Rovers was a really valuable experience and is the basis for my case as to why he should be loaned out next year.

"It'll ultimately be down to whether Carrick and Boro want him to play as third-choice striker for the season or whether they want him out on loan and gaining experience elsewhere, but if it were me, I'd be choosing the latter."

A loan exit may be best for Middlesbrough's Josh Coburn this summer

Coburn showed some impressive signs in League One last season for Bristol Rovers, but he's not been able to kick on in the Championship for multiple reasons.

Having not featured in the squad for around five matches after his move, he was then afforded starts and didn't look back.

The majority of the 10 goals he scored last season while on loan at the Gas were scored in the period between October 2022 and January 2023, before form fell away.

There is a possibility then that Carrick may have feared that this could be repeated while on loan with Plymouth this season, in a higher division, and so, to make sure Coburn learned under his tutilege, he kept him around, in hopes that he could potentially become a big part of the group and begin to mold himself into Boro's main man up top.

Carrick even spoke in the early part of the season about how pleased he was of the decision to keep Coburn around.

Speaking to the Northern Echo after Coburn's first start at the Riverside, he said, "I thought his all-round performance was fantastic.

"It was what we’ve been seeing, and why we kept him. He had his injury in pre-season, but he’s grown into it, and he's a big part of the group now.

"I’m sure that will do him the world of good.”

However, that is all in the past now and the facts are that Coburn has unfortunately not kicked on in the months that followed. Whether that is down to injury or down to being down the pecking order, there should now be a lot of thought about what is best for the player and club regarding the future.

It is clear that Carrick wants him around and with the fans always likely to get behind a local-born player, Boro know they have a potential star that could become crucial in all that they do in the coming years, both on and off the field.

So it is therefore fair to say, Dana may be spot on in her opinion that the Bedale-born man should leave the club next season and forge himself into a star player, so that he can then come back and cement himself firmly into Carrick's plans for seasons in the near future, and beyond.