‘No-brainer’ – Middlesbrough cast their eyes over former Premier League player: The verdict | OneFootball

This article is part of Football League World’s ‘The Verdict’ series, which provides personal opinions from the FLW writers regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more

Middlesbrough are setting their sights on free agent Robbie Brady, as we exclusively revealed on Football League World this morning.

Boro have endured a difficult start to the new Championship season, picking up just nine points from their opening eight games, which leaves them in 16th place.

Neil Warnock’s side were unable to follow up an impressive 2-0 win at Nottingham Forest during the week with any points at home to Blackpool, with the Riverside emerging as one of the more difficult venues to visit in the Championship in recent years.

Brady, who was released by Burnley in the summer, featured 19 times for The Clarets last time out, starting 12 of those matches.

Are these 22 Middlesbrough stats real or fake?

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Middlesbrough’s first league win at the Riverside Stadium came against Chelsea – True or false?

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Playing 81 Premier League matches for Burnley in his five seasons with the club, Brady also played top-flight football for Norwich City and Hull City.

Here, we take a look at what three of our writers here at FLW think in regard to this potential deal…

Marcus Ally

A fit Robbie Brady would be a force in the Championship, his versatility and dead ball ability would make him a valuable player for Middlesbrough to pick up.

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Neil Warnock has a good record with free agents and would be confident of getting Brady’s career back on an upward trajectory. The Irishman’s versatility would enable him to fit into a variety of systems under Warnock and his dead ball ability could be pivotal with Boro very dangerous in the air.

Still only 29 years old, Brady has the experience in the top two tiers of English football to hit the ground running and in feeding the likes of Andraz Sporar, Matt Crooks and Uche Ikpeazu he could be a very effective creative player. Boro are in need of a fresh face in the squad with Warnock’s methods proving less productive this season so far.

Chris Gallagher

This would be a decent addition for Boro.

In truth, it’s a surprise that Brady remains without a club because he is only 29-years-old and he has proven himself at a high level over the years. He would bring experience and ability to Warnock’s squad and his versatility would also be a welcome boost for the manager.

Brady is capable of playing in different roles down the left flank, in the middle and even as a right winger if needed. Clearly, that makes him a very useful option over the course of what is a demanding Championship season.

Of course, this would need to make sense financially but if suitable terms can be agreed it seems a no-brainer from a football sense.

Adam Jones

If you can get him on a free transfer, then why not if they have the funds to afford it?

Brady’s versatility means he can play both on the wing and at left-back, a problematic area they have been needing to address for some time following Hayden Coulson’s loan departure to Ipswich Town.

At 29, the Irishman still has plenty to give and with a wealth of international experience under his belt, he’s at the right age and has the sufficient amount of experience to be a real force for Neil Warnock’s side.

He would also bring a winning mentality to the Riverside Stadium after his departure from Burnley, because he sure needed it to keep Sean Dyche’s side afloat in the Premier League despite the gulf in resources between them and some of the other teams in the top flight.

The winger hasn’t been the most prolific player throughout his career though, so he would probably be more useful at left-back.

Whether the two parties can negotiate a sensible wage package will determine whether this is a good deal or not though, because the 29-year-old may only be a squad player for now.