Now the gaffer embarks on the laborious task of scouring the loan markets. The one or two strikers he had hoped to bring in will have to be those whelps, wonders and journeymen left off official 25 man rosters for the top two divisions. Nothing too expensive, unless the loan club is willing to subsidise a substantial portion safe in the knowledge their commodities will enjoy some flourishing, free-flowing football, for up to 93 days anyway. Below are 10 possible targets, rated on varying levels of probability…

Realistic

Luca Scapuzzi – Manchester City – striker – Italian – 20 –  eight years in the Milan youth set-up  - featured in the Dublin Super Cup, scoring against a League of Ireland XI and making bench in the City 0-3 against Inter

Oumare Tounkara – Sunderland – striker – French – 21 –  back from a decent spell at Oldham last season, scoring 7 goals in 44 appearances – offers exceptional size with some of the continetal flair Tony Mowbray has been known to appreciate

Casey Thomas – Swansea – striker – Welsh youth international at U17/U19/U21 – 20 – only 1 senior appearance, against us in our Champo bow back in August 2009 – lower league loans at Newport County and Port Talbot haven’t been too enriching for player or parent club – on the surface he may not be ready for semi-regular action at this level

Rob Hulse – QPR – striker/quintessential target man – English – 31 – previous rumoured target under Southgate and Strachan – work ethic and goal scoring is somewhat questionable – he’s an older Kris Boyd, and frankly superfluous in Boro’s preferred system

Roman Bednar – West Brom – striker/brute – Czech Republic – 28 – surprisingly named to the Premier League 25 man squad – he’s a handful on and off the pitch – cautioned for a minor drugs offence and suspended by the Baggies in May 2009 – back after spending the last 6 months in Turkey w/ Ankaragucu, which was the direct result of his nullifying an agreed move to Bristol City last January

Saido Berahino – West Brom – striker – Burundi born, now represents England at U20 level – 18 – scored a goal at the U20 world Cup in Colombia against the Aussies – he was dead chuffed over it

Ambitious

Harry Kane – Spurs – striker – English – 18 – good spell at Leyton Orient in the second half of 2010-11 – made his senior debut in Europa League reverse fixture against Hearts – won a penna, and failed to convert it – perhaps he’s not ready to leave the safe womb of London just yet

Callum McManaman – Wigan – striker – Scouse – 20 – kid is highly regarded by Roberto Martinez – offers versatility up front or out wide – distant relative of former Liverpool and Real Madrid favourite Steve McManaman, meaning he has post-career punditry deep in his DNA

Too Ambitious?

Simeon Jackson – Norwich City – striker – Canadian – 24 – a decent career goal scroring record: 93 in 237 at Rushden & Diamonds, Gillingham and the might Shopmates of Raunds Town – seemingly fourth choice behind Grant Holt, Steve Morison, and James Vaughan for Paul Lambert now – imagine him and Marvin Emnes abusing the stationary and limited centre backs that litter this division; a Dutchie and a Jamaican (by birth) blazing the grass beneath them

Adam Hammill – Wolves – winger – Scouse – 23 – creative left-sided player who can push forward to support up top – hot commodity in the January transfer window – Mick McCarthy got him for a pittance – first team opportunities could continue to dwindle with livewire Matt Jarvis and the ever-divisive Stephen Hunt ahead of him in the midfield pecking order

Top Two

Eleven goals scored – two conceded – QPR are off to a flyer – less-heralded summer transfer Jamie Mackie from Plymouth is setting the goal pace with three – maintained an unbeaten start after surreal comeback at Derby – 2 goals in 2nd half stoppage time to rescue a point

Cardiff have won 3 on the bounce after a dull season opening draw v Sheffield United…2 away wins @ Derby and Portsmouth – is the Bellamy capture massive enough to tip the scales and spur a serious promotion push?

Playoff Occupiers

Ipswich are level on points w/ the top two, their goal difference not quite as robust as the table-toppers – fine away form with wins secured at Boro and Crystal Palace – imposingly natty striker Jason Scotland returns to the league with a view to setting it alight once more, at least until Connor Wickham returns…

Millwall are annihilating opponents through sheer goal power – the meteoric rise for Steve Morison continues: blazing a goal trail from non-league to the Championship, earning a call up from Wales, and becoming the subject of rampant transfer speculation… Burnley find life after the drop different, as in they’re picking up regular points, unlike the long, hard slog that was life in the Prem – Chris Iwelumo and Ross Wallace continue to bed in, creating the potential for an extremely potent attack trio when combined with Martin Paterson

Leeds seem perfectly suited to grinding results, just like they did at Vicarage Road last time out – that’s a critical trait to possess at this level – our pre-season picks are generally in peril, but we stand united behind this lot blagging sixth spot in the end

Upper Mid Table

Norwich are acclimating to the higher reaches of the Championship as they lurk outside in seventh…Doncaster and Scunthorpe continue punching above their respective weights…Reading hopes to assuage the Gylfi Sigurdsson departure with a helping of freshly-omitted-from-Wolves-25-man-roster menace Michael Kightly

Lower Mid Table

Boro languish in 16^th, among the detritus consisting of expectant contenders Sheffield United, Hull, and The Trees, those useless trees…believe this: Billy Davies is gonna walk, even Daniel Taylor angularly suggests it…Crystal Palace and Preston hover above the all-to-early-to-speculate-unless-it’s-Pompey drop zone

Bottom 3

Bristol City search for the scorching form they  experienced under Keith Millen atthe end of last term…injuries and overall personnel adjustments conspire to create a huge obstacle, but hey, Jamo is still around…Paulo Sousa is flummoxed that Leicester aren’t embracing the sexy ideals that comprise his smouldering brand of football…and yeah Portsmouth! fleeced Stoke for the erudite Dave Kitson and loveable Irish scamp Liam Lawrence, for just one efficient Marc Wilson…of the course the transaction comes with customary challenges as the paperwork for Lawrence wasn’t completed in time before the transfer deadline…the loan is being processed as we type, with a view to a permanent deal come January…a similar snag occurred with Tommy Smith’s move to QPR…Spurs get all bleeding night to finalise the van der Vaart swoop, and Pompey get held to the stopwatch…pathetic

It was a good ole Clashing on the live blog. A return to fitness by the enigmatic Mosso Cloudfiles stimulated a celebration of some of the best, relevant bite-size prose culled from the catalogues of the only band that matters. Ali Brownlee and Gary Gill provided support from a remote control – here’s what our smuggled-in-our-budgie-smugglers recording device captured:

Coyne; Naughton, Wheater, McManus, Pogatetz; Flood, O’Neil, Robson, Aliadiere; Lita, Killen

• No Scott McDonald – residual pain from the previous groin niggle he tried playing through – Lita/Killen up front
• Congratulations Emanuel Pogatetz- recalled to Austrian national side…Boro will have 4 on international duty this week: Killen/Robson/Naughton join Pogi
• Mark Drury captivated by the ‘dead-eyest’ look of consternation from Mick Harford
• Kaspars Gorkss using a volleyball motion on the pitch – a sure hand ball that goes unpunished…the sheepish looks from the QPR bench confirms his complicity in the infraction
• QPR very organized in the midfield w/ a bank of five – sound in their positions, influencing the match – Leigertwood especially
• JA still not inspiring any confidence – continues to get chances…sweet eff all results…
• Until now! Fouled by Peter Ramage in the box – questionable maybe, but who cares? Barry Robson wrests the ball the LL and powers the pen down the middle…Boro 1-0 QPR!! 39 mins
• And again! Leroy is clotheslined by Kaspars Gorkss in the box deep into stoppage time – Robson again – YES!!!! Boro 2-0 QPR
• HT – Boro 2-0 QPR…from Mark Drury – Mick Harford hoping to have a quite word w/ referee Andy Woolmer…phrases like ‘look of thunder’ and ‘glowering’ certainly sound menacing…
• 2^nd half – QPR revert to a 4-4-2…Simpson and Antonio German join together up front
• Bright start to the half – Pogi joining the attack from the left flank and serving up a delightful ball that causes some bother in the Rangers box
• Gordo imploring JA to take on his marker(s) – classic French insouciance as a reply…
• ‘Barry Robson…stand still!’ is the sanitised version of the command barked from the gaffer
• Adel Taarabt joins the action and immediately tests Danny Coyne w/ a dipping, swerving effort from 25 yards – save
• Marcus Bent almost further validates the dynamic of former players scoring against the Boro by sticking the ball in the back of the net – fortunately he’s offside
• Carl Ikeme stands tall for his loan club – the Wolves keeper does well to repel both LL and GON late in the match to preserve the tame scoreline
• GG MOM – Stephen McManus – Mick and Wheats are forming quite the defensive pairing
• FT – Boro 2-0 QPR

We hold on, results go our way, and next week in Cardiff becomes absolutely massive…

Residual impact from the Carlisle friendly results in another prolonged absence for Matthew Bates…a staggering fourth knee injury sustained by the emerging defender/midfielder combo

Gareth Southgate + Ali Brownlee + supporters questions = manufactured puff or a subtle mea culpa?

2009-10 squad numbers revealed…

Nickname: The Sky Blues

Ground: Ricoh Arena – another corporate brothel in use since 2005 when the club vacated Highfield Road

From Boro: 175 miles south, between Leicester and Birmingham

Kit: the home strip shall forever be sky blue – Sightsee MFC goes for something similar while also on the pitch

Why Coventry Will Always Be Special: this…and this, though the reticent legend professes his support for Manchester Utd

Club Highlights: won their only major trophy, the 1987 FA Cup, over Spurs in reportedly one of the most entertaining finals in history at the old Wembley; celebrated their 125^th anniversary by narrowly averting relegation to League One on the final day of the 2007-08 season, even with a spectacularly bad 4-1 loss to Charlton

Boro were torn to shreds by an on fire Aaron Lennon – Robbie Keane participated in all 4 goals – the visitors became the panacea for a Tottenham side deflated by Carling Cup final defeat. It looked easy early and often – now Spurs have gone 5 points clear…Stoke got a massive result v Bolton…Hull arrested their slide at Craven Cottage. At least fucking Newcastle lost…

Getting 3 points out of this recent mini-program is perfectly acceptable. 4 or 6 would’ve been better, given the shock of the Liverpool result. But this is it…10 matches left, and a string of 6 pointers coming up: Portsmouth, @ Stoke, @ Bolton, Hull, Fulham. Unless the Boro brass has visions of being this season’s great escape, this is the stretch that will stamp their immediate future fate.