Middlesbrough: Inconsistency saw Boro fall short in play-off race
Boro sat fifth with six games to go but a run of four points from their final half-dozen games saw them slide to finish 10th, four points short of the play-off places.
Smith, who retired in February due to an ankle injury, told the BBC's 72+ EFL podcast: "I think Middlesbrough have been one of the teams who have really struggled for that consistency.
"I've seen runs where we've gone unbeaten for a few games and runs where we haven't won for a few games.
"To finish 10th is obviously disappointing, it's a tough league but there are some big clubs who have languished in mid-table, you look at Norwich, Sheffield Wednesday, West Brom - it's a really difficult league to get out of and I think Middlesbrough are finding it tough.
"They've spent one season in the Premier League in the last 15 which just shows how tough the league is."
Smith feels the departure of his former teammate Emmanuel Latte Lath to MLS side Atlanta United in January was the key to Boro's season unravelling.
The Ivorian netted 11 in 29 league appearances, 20 of them starts, but Kelechi Iheanacho, brought in on loan from Sevilla, scored once in 15 appearances and Morgan Whittaker failed to scored in 16 games after his arrival from Plymouth, with the pair combining for only three assists.
Boro scored 38 goals in their first 23 games but only 23 in the second half of the campaign.
"I always find that January is a really tough window to bring people in and bed them in," Smith said.
"You need players to come in and hit the ground running. I don't blame them, I understand it's difficult for them to come in and hit the ground running.
"With Latte Lath the club received an offer that was too good to turn down. The timing of it was unfortunate, quite late in the window which didn't give the club a lot of time.
"The club have missed his goals – second half of the season they have scored nowhere near as many goals as they did in the first half."
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The Guardian
an hour ago
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Euro 2025: our writers hand out their awards from the tournament
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Ultimately it was a match that saw Germany doggedly progress despite playing 107 minutes of the game with 10 players. It was a remarkable knockout tie. Tom Garry Sweden 2-2 England. That game had just about everything. The prospect of an England comeback felt almost impossible approaching the 80th minute, but within a matter of seconds you just knew that they were going to do it. The drama! Emillia Hawkins Sweden 2-2 England. Everyone will remember the stirring England comeback and the dramatic penalty shootout but this is a game that also deserves to be remembered for Sweden's devastating opening burst, a standard of pulsating attacking football that stands with any produced at this tournament. Jonathan Liew France v Germany. This game had everything. A red card, a penalty, resolute German defending, THAT Ann-Katrin Berger save and a penalty shootout. The fact Germany were the first team at a women's Euros to progress after going down to 10 players showed just how hard they worked. Berger also put in some great saves during the shootout – goalkeeper of the tournament for me. Sarah Rendell It has to be the final doesn't it? England's rollercoaster ride of a tournament concluded in a thrilling showpiece between magical world champions Spain and the Euro holders. It was the final everyone wanted and it delivered. England were battlers, tactically astute and disciplined, Spain were Spain, master technicians on the ball. Suzanne Wrack Hannah Hampton was little known to the wider public a month ago and had replaced a national treasure in Mary Earps between the posts. She left Switzerland having earned the same status by producing exceptional performances of which multiple penalty saves were only part. Calm, composed on the ball and with cat-like reflexes, Hampton deserves every credit. NA Michelle Agyemang. What a player. The 19-year-old was given an opportunity and seized it with both hands. The way she impacted games caught the eye but equally the way she came on in high pressure situations and handled them without panic. Will surely be a star for England for years to come. SD Chloe Kelly made a gamechanging impact in all three of England's knockout ties and therefore has to win this, in my eyes, although the best technical footballer was Aitana Bonmatí. Kelly came up clutch in the big moments, whether it was with her two lethal crosses to create England's two quickfire goals in their comeback against Sweden, or her lively performance and late winner against Italy, or her assist for England's equaliser in the final followed by her nerveless, title-clinching penalty. TG Aitana Bonmatí. It's crazy to think that she was hospitalised with viral meningitis just days before Euro 2025 started. Another great tournament for the midfielder despite the penalty miss at the end. EH Patri Guijarro has been the standout player for Spain at this tournament, the one who makes everything work: absorbing pressure, providing an outlet in buildup, creating space, creating angles and snuffing out counterattacks. JL Honourable mentions must go to Klara Bühl and Iman Beney who were incredible but for me it has to be Lucy Bronze. The defender started every game and played 598 minutes for England in total and the performances, particularly her leadership and skill against Sweden, were crucial to the Lionesses retaining the trophy. The fact she did all that with a fractured tibia is unbelievable and she once again lived up to one of her middle names: 'Tough'. SR Aitana Bonmatí may have scooped player of the tournament but, for me, it was her midfield companion Patri Guijarro that deserves all the plaudits. She became the second player on record, since the 2011 World Cup, to have completed 100-plus passes and won possession more than 10 times in a knockout stage game at a major tournament – after the Denmark great Katrine Pedersen. SW We can quibble over Ann-Katrin Berger's positioning all we like, but for sheer did-she-really-try-that at such a knife-edge point in Spain's semi-final against Germany, the winner from Aitana Bonmatí stands above them all. NA Cristiana Girelli's wonder strike against Portugal. The 35-year-old always delivers for Italy and did so in spectacular fashion on this occasion. SD Clàudia Pina's curler into the top corner against Belgium takes this for me, although her near-identical finish against Switzerland in the quarter-final was almost equally worthy. We should also throw more praise at Vivianne Miedema's strike against Wales and Lauren James' superb first-half goal against the Netherlands. TG Lauren James v Netherlands. Not necessarily just because of the strike – which was great in itself – but also because of the buildup. That long pass from Hannah Hampton through to Alessia Russo in attack was absolutely exquisite. EH Vivianne Miedema v Wales. Not just the screaming finish into the top corner from distance, but the quick feet and clever body feints to create the space for herself. JL Clàudia Pina had a fine tournament and her goal against Belgium was an absolute stunner. It was similar to the rocket she scored against Chelsea in the Champions League semi-final. A sensational strike from outside the box. SR There may have been prettier goals this tournament but the context of Michelle Agyemang's equaliser against Italy made it all the more remarkable. At just 19 years old, with less than a minute left of added time and with England 1-0 down and facing an exit from the tournament, the coolness with which the Arsenal forward scored through the legs of both a defender and the keeper was stunning. The celebrations also birthed one of the photos of the tournament, Girls on the Ball's Rachel O'Sullivan's renaissance-painting-esque shot capturing the celebrations of the bench and players' families. SW I loved being present in Geneva, where the best and loudest atmospheres materialised, for Switzerland's dramatic draw with Finland. The roof blew off when Riola Xhemaili equalised, sending the hosts through to the last eight, and it felt like a genuinely transformational moment in the country's relationship with women's football. NA Obviously, England lifting the trophy but I feel incredibly lucky to get to work major tournaments with some of the best in the business. The way we all pulled together to help each other this last month is what it is all about. SD When Riola Xhemaili scored a 92nd-minute goal to send Switzerland into the knockout stages, I was watching the action on a screen that evidently had around a 10-second delay compared to other televisions, and therefore hearing the roar – before actually seeing the goal myself – of noise and cheers echoing all around the streets of Zurich, as an entire city was glued to the game and celebrating joyously, was a sound I'll never forget. That was the moment I fully appreciated how emotionally-invested the host nation had become into their women's football team, which was really heartening. TG Michelle Agyemang's goal v Italy. From the verge of heartbreak to absolute ecstasy. The fact a 19-year-old kept England's hopes alive on just her fourth appearance for the senior team, four years after she was a ball girl, is incredible. EH Getting recognised by Ellen White's husband at half-time during the final. Happy to report Ellen and Callum are both avid Guardian readers. JL Michelle Agyemang became a star overnight with her equaliser against Sweden but the fact she did it again against Italy was quite something. The roar when she was shown on the big screen getting ready to come on in the final shows what she already means to England fans. A special summer for a special player. SR The interaction with the players. Many of them know that some of us have been on this journey with them for a very long time. It's been an incredible privilege to tell their stories and this tournament had stories in abundance. The jokes, the looks, the interviews. They are a very likeable group. SW Resource and attention need to be concentrated on countries that risk being left behind. England, Germany, France and Spain – for all their specific local issues – are going to be just fine. It is time to make sure clubs and national teams outside the leading pack are equipped to develop in both sporting and economic terms: 'The head must not leave the body', as a number of top Uefa executives are fond of saying. NA Just more of everything. More investment, more coverage, more fans, more viewership. The sky is the limit at the moment. SD The next Euros in 2029 needs to feature larger stadiums to try to surpass a million spectators, and there are some strong contenders with Germany, Italy, Poland, Portugal and a joint Denmark-Sweden bid all in the running. In England, the challenge now has to be to improve the grassroots facilities for girls and women across the country and make sure the huge influx of young girls who have taken up the sport in the past few years can be retained within the sport into their teenage years and adult lives, for a long-lasting legacy. 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Russell Martin needs Rangers to keep the Euro flame burning as they step into a furnace in Athens
By the time Rangers leave the Olympic Stadium in Athens on Wednesday night, the only thing that will matter is ensuring they've kept the flame burning in this year's Champions League campaign. As their charter flight touched down in this ancient city yesterday evening, the mercury was still nudging 40 degrees. Without a breath of wind in the air, it felt even hotter. Many of those who'd arrived in advance from Scotland to support them would have found the heat uncomfortably oppressive. Professional athletes are trained to perform in such conditions, but they are only human. Make no mistake. Despite the evening kick-off, this will be a football match played in a furnace. Russell Martin is evidently not a man who likes to get his excuses in early. Doubtless aware of the danger in sowing a seed of doubt in the heads of his players, he bristled at the suggestion his players might melt in the heat. 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Had it not been for Jack Butland, they could have been three goals down by the time Findlay Curtis produced some heroics of his own at the other end. Reduced to 10-men after Giorgos Vagiannidis was sent packing, Panathinaikos conceded again when Djeidi Gassama scored and, by time up, were relieved the damage had been limited to two. While it turned out to be a tidy night's work for the home side, Martin would have needed no-one to tell him that it could easily have been a different story. 'When you have a clear idea and a clear vision of what you want the team to look like, and what you want the game to look like, it certainly makes analysing things easier,' he reflected. 'So, we learnt as much as we can from that. The same on Saturday (in a friendly against Middlesbrough) with the guys that haven't played so much and the guys that came on. That's the process. 'We have to analyse, we have to learn and we have to improve. And we have to practise properly, and they've certainly done that. 'I love the feeling of training this week and the stuff I've seen. So, they'll have to just take that into the game now. And, if they do, I really believe it will be enough.' What can be said with some certainty is that the Greeks will come out swinging. If they land an early blow, the entire psychology of the tie will change. Rangers will expect to suffer at times. 'They need to display courage, discipline, aggression in the right areas, intensity, all of it,' warned Russell. 'We have to be the team we want to be always.' While the stadium will be considerably short of its 75,000 capacity, the atmosphere is still expected to be electric. Martin has no doubts that players who have lately emerged from Olympiakos and Fenerbahce with positive results can do it again for Rangers on Wednesday. 'We have a lot of international players,' he added. 'We have to manage the game and take the crowd out of it as much as we possibly can, by doing it our way and trying to dominate in as many aspects as we can. 'I'm looking forward to the atmosphere. It'll be a really good experience for the guys, but we have a lot who have played in big games, big occasions and for this football club. I'm really confident the guys can handle that. 'Once the game starts, it's the same as any other game. The atmosphere (last week) was incredible. 'We have a chance to give the travelling fans a night to remember, and have a night to remember ourselves.' Gassama's intervention from the bench eight days ago ensured Martin's first night in the job went swimmingly. The winger looks set to be tasked with completing the job. Martin is aware it will be extremely hot but says his players are ready to cope with conditions 'I think he's ready to start,' added the manager. 'He had a big impact for us when he came on. 'You saw plenty of the reasons why we wanted to sign him. We had the luxury of working with him in pre-season behind closed doors, seeing him every day and understanding the talent and ability he has. 'And he felt this environment would be perfect for him to grow and continue improving. 'It's early, early days. But Gass is a player that really excites us and I think can make a big difference for us. And hopefully, he does the same again tomorrow night. ' Martin has been at pains to stress that the outcome of this tie won't define his first season in Glasgow. While that may well be the case, no one, surely would understate its importance.
