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Steve Gibson insists that the Boro hot seat is one of the plum jobs in English football.

The chairman has hit out at suggestions that the club would struggle to attract a new boss because of their league position and the perception of cash problems.

“That’s a nonsense,” the chairman told the Gazette today.

“Boro are a vibrant, healthy club with excellent facilities and as much ambition as ever.

“Make no mistake, Boro remain a very attractive proposition for any manager worth his salt.

“Any manager that comes into Middlesbrough Football Club will be taking over a club that is superbly structured and geared up for success.

“We have a modern stadium, a state of the art training complex the envy of most Premier League clubs and the basis of a decent squad that we believe has every chance of pushing for promotion this season.

“We are debt-free, we are among the top six best resourced clubs in the Championship and as we saw on deadline day, there is money there to bring in the right players.”

Boro made a deadline day £4m bid for Belgian international Jelle Vossen and offered £2.5m for Leeds striker Ross McCormack but both fell through.

“I hear people saying Boro will struggle to attract a top quality boss because we are on the slide and have financial restriction. I don’t know where this impression comes from. We’re not. We don’t.

“We have had a difficult couple of years but we won’t be going any lower. I’m sure of that.

“In fact we are well structured, well financed and we believe we are only going one way and that is up,

“We have had a lot of interest in this job because believe me, this is a very attractive club with bags of potential.”

And the chairman insists that despite a couple of seasons in the second tier the flame of ambition still burns bright.

“The clear philosophy of this club remains. We are a flagship for this town and this community.

“We employ as many local people as possible, we do an incredible amount of work in the community behind the scenes. And we want to make sure we show a successful face to the rest of the world.”

And the chairman has appealed to the people of Teesside to rally round and show they share that ambition.

“We have a game on television tomorrow against Doncaster,” he said.

“Let’s show the viewers that we are a club that is united and a town that is united.

“Let’s really get behind the players and support the team. I’m sure we will see a response from the players.”