Middlesbrough

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A number of EFL players have been selected in England's Under-21 squad for the European Championships in Slovakia this month.

Birmingham City's Jay Stansfield, who scored 19 goals in 37 League One games to help the Blues win the title and promotion to the second tier, is included.

Stansfield played three times during qualifying but this will be his first appearance at a tournament.

Middlesbrough midfielder Hayden Hackney, who netted five league goals and made three assists, is also named in Lee Carsley's 23-man squad, along with Samuel Iling-Junior, who spent time on loan at Boro and Bologna from Aston Villa during the 2024-25 season.

Two players are included from relegated Premier League clubs - Ipswich Town winger Omari Hutchinson and Southampton defender Ronnie Edwards - with the latter spending the second half of the campaign on loan at QPR.

Young Stoke City goalkeeper Tommy Simkin, who made 40 appearances on loan at Walsall in League Two and kept 14 clean sheets, has been picked.

Fellow goalkeepers Teddy Sharman-Lowe, who helped Doncaster Rovers win promotion to League One while on loan from Chelsea, and James Beadle, who spent the season at Sheffield Wednesday on loan from Brighton, will also be on the plane.

The U21 Euros will take place across eight host cities in Slovakia from 11-28 June with the Three Lions looking to retain the title they won in 2023.

England are in a group with Czech Republic, Slovenia and and the top two will progress to the quarter-final.

You can see the full England U21 squad for the Euros here.

Michael Carrick's sacking by Middlesbrough has split opinions.

The 43-year-old was heavily criticised for tactical inflexibility and failing to guide Boro into a play-off place in a low-scoring season, but also drew sympathy for losing key players such as Emmanuel Latte Lath and Ben Doak.

While arguments could be made either way, journalist Craig Johns says the lack of unity demonstrates why he feels the decision to sack Carrick was the right one.

"I can understand why there is division in the fan base and I think that in itself suggests it probably is the right decision," Gazette reporter Johns told BBC Radio Tees.

"What Boro need right now is everyone united, everyone together, everyone on the same front. Ultimately going into the new season with a bit of hope.

"If Michael Carrick was still in charge, you very much get the impression that while half of the fan base would have been happy with that, half wouldn't."

As for the timing of Carrick's departure, Johns does not believe it will affect Boro's work in the transfer window.

"We know Boro did have a plan going into the summer, they've already identified five positions they feel need to be strengthened and the targets they would be interested in," he added.

"I can't imagine that will change much with a different manager."

Listen to the full discussion and more on BBC Sounds.

Middlesbrough's failure to reach the Championship play-offs is what ultimately cost Michael Carrick his job.

That is the view of Boro's BBC Radio Tees commentator Mark Drury and former midfielder Neil Maddison.

"Since they got to the play-offs, it's a story of regression," Drury told BBC Radio Tees.

"Basically, that's it. Boro have been going backwards. This season in isolation was a massive failure.

"To not reach the play-offs this season with the squad that had been assembled last August, with the make-up of the Championship as it was - to not get there was a failure and it was a big one."

Maddison agreed and said the club have "gone backwards" since they lost 1-0 on aggregate to Coventry in the play-off semi-final in May 2023.

"There were so many factors leading up to why it hasn't been a successful season," Maddison said.

"There wasn't enough. For me this season, it's one of those where I haven't really enjoyed watching us in of the football, the results.

"Go back to his [Carrick's] first season, I've never seen anything like it. It's the best football I've seen at the Riverside in my opinion. It was so exciting.

"But since then, we have gone backwards. And if you don't push on, this is the outcome."

Listen to Mark Drury and Neil Maddison's full discussion with host Rob Law about Carrick's sacking on BBC Sounds.

Ben Ashton
BBC Sport England

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The 2024-25 Championship season might be over but there are many ways to analyse and reflect on the campaign that has gone before us.

Not every club can go up but if there are signs a team is moving in the right direction, it can still be considered good progress - or quite the opposite if things are on the slide.

Here is a look at how each of the 18 sides who were in the Championship for the past two seasons got on points wise compared to the 2023-24 campaign.

It perhaps comes as no surprise that Sunderland, who won promotion to the Premier League via the play-offs, recorded the most significant improvement after finishing 16th in 2023-24 and picked up 20 more points.

Despite a tumultuous season off the field, Blackburn were the second most improved side in the division, gaining 13 points on the previous campaign as they missed out on the play-offs by just two points.

Leeds racked up 90 points in 2023-24 but somehow still managed a 10-point improvement as they hit the 100 mark on their way to winning the title in their best-ever season in the second tier.

Millwall's seven-point improvement was enough to help them finish five places higher in eighth, but they fell short of the top six by two points.

Meanwhile, Bristol City were only six points better off but managed to climb five places and claim a play-off spot, recording their best Championship finishing position since 2007-08.

Coventry also only improved by five points but were able to jump from ninth to fifth, perhaps showing just how fine the margins can be in the Championship when it comes to securing a play-off berth.

At the bottom...

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You might want to look away now, Hull City fans.

The Tigers went backwards more than any other side compared to the previous season under Liam Rosenior, dropping from seventh place and three points outside the play-offs to only escaping relegation on goal difference on the final day.

Cardiff went from mid-table in 2023-24 to rock bottom and will drop down to League One for the first time in 22 years. It is pretty clear to see why as the Bluebirds picked up 18 fewer points compared to the previous season.

Norwich tumbled to 13th place after finishing in the play-offs a year before - an underperformance which ultimately cost Johannes Hoff Thorup his job as head coach.

Preston were 10 points off the play-off places in 2023-24 but picked up 13 fewer points under Paul Heckingbottom in what was their worst season since they were relegated from the Championship in 2010-11.

The Lilywhites' downturn was largely due to a major dip in form in the latter stages of the campaign, picking up only one win from their final 15 games (D7 L7) to avoid the drop by just one point.

West Bromwich Albion endured a disappointing season - for a club which always harbours ambitions of plying its trade in the top flight - with an 11-point drop off.

Albion's final points tally of 64 was their worst in the Championship since 1999-2000.

Plymouth may have only been five points worse off than they were in 2023-24 but having survived on the final day that season, there were to be no such heroics this time around and their two-year stint in the second tier is over.

And the rest...

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*All data based only on teams who were in the Championship in 2023-24 and 2024-25