Football League World
·17 December 2024
Football League World
·17 December 2024
It's been a life-changing move for the Scottish international.
Tommy Conway has admitted that he is loving life in Middlesbrough after joining the club in the summer from Bristol City.
One thing that is often overlooked by supporters when looking at what players teams could recruit is location. England is not the biggest country, but if you've been settled in one area for most of your life, it's a big decision to suddenly up sticks and head somewhere you have never lived before.
Those decisions are always risky ones, but Boro were the club that Conway saw himself with, despite the cross-country move it would require to make it happen.
The Scottish international was based in the southwest of England for all of his life up until this summer. It quickly became apparent, after he turned down a new contract offer from the Robins and was sent to train with the club's under-21s, that the 22-year-old would end up somewhere else.
Boro had to battle with Burnley and Hull City to get him, but they eventually landed the striker in a £4.5 million deal.
He settled in quickly, scoring in his second appearance for Michael Carrick's side. He has since netted seven more times in the Championship for Boro, leaving him just two shy of his overall tally from last term.
"I’ve loved it here so far, and my family have loved it every time they’ve come up as well," Conway declared, via the Northern Echo. "I’ve settled in really well with the group and it feels like I’ve been here a long, long time.
"I love coming into training every day and spending time with the boys, and I’m settled home-wise too. It just feels like a really great place for me to be at this stage of my career.
"I’m focusing on one thing and that’s my football, and I think that shows on the pitch. I’m not going to get carried away, I know I need to keep my feet firmly on the ground, but hopefully we can keep going and achieve a lot this season."
The striker believes that he may not have got off to such a good start at the Riverside had he not quickly taken to living in the area and training with his new teammates. It's not like he'd not done this sort of transition before, but it's on another scale in comparison to much else he has had to experience in his short footballing career.
"Settling in the area definitely has a big impact (on form on the pitch). I left home when I was 15 to move up to the Bristol City academy, and I’ve essentially lived away from home ever since then. But that was about an hour away from home, which made it easy to pop home.
"Now, it’s a long, long way, so that’s been different, but I feel like I’ve got used to that and took to the area really well. I’m enjoying my football here and it’s quickly become home, so I’m happy."
The ultimate aim for Carrick and his players is to make it back to the top flight. We're closing to verging on a decade since Boro were last in the Premier League. With the talent in their squad, it certainly should be considered as an attainable achievement.
As well as the attacking midfield talents in the team, Boro's striker rotation of Conway and Emmanuel Latte Lath has been deadly. Carrick is able to rotate them in and out of his team with seeming ease, causing defenders problems for the full 90 minutes.
Latte Lath could be on the move in January, though, with Ipswich Town and West Ham United among the teams who are interested, as per Tutto Mercato.
Boro's campaign, as he has shown already.