Mark Yeates (£500k, Colchester United)
Danny Coyne (undisclosed, Tranmere Rovers)

After a ten year stay in the Premiership Middlesbrough were relegated last season with a bit of a whimper.

Gareth Southgate's side lost Mark Schwarzer in the summer and without him they struggled to keep the clean sheets that had seen them survive with plenty to spare in previous years.

They started last season well with a good win over Spurs at the Riverside and they were very unlucky to lose at Anfield with Liverpool scoring two late goals. They ended August in fifth place but it was all downhill from then on.

They lost all four games in September against Sunderland, Portsmouth, Man Utd and West Brom. A 5-0 defeat at home to Chelsea in October will have got alarm bells ringing but the received well from that win a four match unbeaten run which sent them into December in mid table.

The Christmas period was not kind to Southgate's side though as they lost four of the five games in December and the bad run continued as they failed to win in the Premiership for fifteen games, although they had a good FA Cup run reaching the quarter finals.

A shock 20-0 win over Liverpool gave them great hope of surviving but they were thrashed at Spurs three days later and a winless March saw them on the brink of relegation.

A win over Hull gave them hope they failed to win again all season with the 3-1 defeat at Newcastle a final killer blow for them.

A lack of goals was the main reason for their relegation, they scored just twenty eight all season.

Middlesbrough like all teams coming down from the Premiership are being tipped for an immediate return.

They have always been seen as a well run club with a fantastic owner, Steve Gibson is one of those men you really want to see do well in football but his patience and devotion to his local team hasn't been well rewarded in recent years.

He has stuck with Gareth Southgate though and will hope his faith in his manager will be repaid with a quick return to the Premiership.

Boro have lost Stuart Downing this summer but have a more than capable replacement in Adam Johnson who in my opinion is a better player than Downing anyway.

They have some very good young players at the club with Wheater, Mcmahon, Hoyte and Taylor all very promising defenders.

It was up front where they struggled last season and you'd imagine the likes of Tuncay, Aliadiere and Alves will shine at this level but of course if they do start scoring that will probably attract interest from Premiership sides.

Boro certainly have a good squad and with some exciting young players I think they'll do well in the Championship, I'm not convinced they have enough to win it but a playoff position should be attainable.

PREDICTION: 4th in the Championship

I asked Middlesbrough fans on an unofficial message board for their thoughts on the new season and here is what they had to say.

How do you think Middlesbrough will fare this season?

I'm not sure what to expect really, we have a good young squad but if we get off to a poor start we could struggle

Who are your players to watch out for?

Adam Johnson should step out of Downings shadow this year and be a big player for us

Is your Manager the right man for the job?

No, he should have fallen on his sword after last season

Which three teams will be promoted this season?

Impossible to say but I'll guess at Boro, West Brom and Sheffield United.

Which teams will be relegated?

I'll go with the smallest clubs, Blackpool, Scunthopre and Newcastle

How do you think QPR will fare this season?

I don't know enough about you to comment really, i'll guess at mid table

Rangers and Middlesbrough have not shared too many players over the years.

Mikkel Beck was a Danish International who scored goals for Middlesbrough when he joined in 1997 and helped them to win promotion back to the Premiership that season. He had a decent spell at Boro in the Premiership before being loaned out to QPR in 2000.

He made his QPR debut against Fulham and scored some key goals for us as we pushed for the playoffs. He got his first at Sheffield United before scoring a penalty at Manchester City as we won 3-1.

More goals followed in wins over Grimsby and Swindon before he returned to the North East. A permanent move to QPR fell through after Rangers failed to agree a fee.

Terry Venables played for and managed QPR with great success in the 70's and 80's.

He had a spell as manager of Middlesbrough taking over from Bryan Robson as he helped them stay in the Premiership.

Rangers last meeting with Middlesbrough came in the 1997/98 season when we met them four times.

I was a student living in Middlesbrough at the time so it was a tough time to try and cope with us struggling as they won promotion that year. The first meeting that season was an easy 3-0 win for Boro with Paul Merson and Emerson among the goal scorers.

We met them in the FA Cup in January and managed a 2-2 draw with Kevin Gallen scoring a late equaliser for Rangers. We lost the replay though on a cold January evening 2-0.

I had my moment in the sun in March though. I travelled down on the train on a Wednesday for the midweek game at Loftus Road reading the local Middlesbrough press claiming they would get all three points in the evening.

Rangers stormed into the lead though as Mark Kennedy ran rot. Kevin Gallen, Paul Bruce and Mike Sheron were among the scorers as we won 5-0 at Loftus Road and Andy Townsend was sent off.

A great night for me and for Ray Harford's side, it was the last game we won all season but gave me plenty of ammunition against my Boro supporting housemate.