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Paul is a lifelong Middlesbrough fan, who grew up in nearby Billingham and was “swept away” by the club as a nine-year-old when their team, that was largely made up of local young players, won promotion to the top flight in 1988.

Boro have not been in the Premier League since 2017, but Paul hopes Michael Carrick is given time to try to steer them back.

Carrick took charge of Boro in October 2022 and, after taking them from 21st in the table to a fourth-place finish in his first campaign, his side were always on the fringes of the play-off places last season and ended up eighth.

“After doing a great job in his first year and taking us into the play-offs, everyone was expecting us to kick on,” Smith told BBC Sport.

“Instead it was a real up and down season – luckily we ended it more on the up side, with one defeat in our last 12 games, which lifted everyone going into the summer.

“Even so, it is interesting to see the comparison between Carrick and Kieran McKenna, because whenever we played Ipswich it was framed as a meeting of the two young pretenders who have come through the Manchester United coaching system.

“So there was always a comparison of playing styles, and then obviously they went up last season and we missed out on the play-offs. I think in some ways that has reflected badly on Carrick, somehow, which is really unfair because there are so many factors behind getting promoted to the Premier League.

“For me, when you do have someone like Carrick who I perceive as a good young manager who is making their way, then you give them time. It is not as if we are going to get relegated, so we have to give him time to build something himself.

“I am not saying we are definitely going to do that, or that we have made the best start to the season [Boro are 12th after six games] and are going to fly up in the automatic promotion positions.

“But as a fan I see good things, and I feel like it is worth giving him time to find out what is right.”

Chris Sutton and Paul Smith were speaking to BBC Sport’s Chris Bevan.