Anthony "Paulista Park" McCarthy, one of the great contributors to Untypical Boro's comments section - joining such luminaries as Len Masterman, Werdermouth, Redcar Red and Nikeboro - made the cutting statement that "Karanka is Mourinho lite, Boro are a Diet Chelsea", before the season began.
It's a comment that may have been a little extreme, but it was effective in bluntly highlighting Boro's strengths and deficiencies in nine words.
Really, it seemed more a warning of what was to come if Boro didn't sharpen up over the course of 2015-16.
Now, having read Sunday Times journalist Jonathan Northcroft's match report and column on Manchester United's draw with Newcastle United, I ask myself another question: is Aitor Karanka, love him though we do, displaying elements of a Championship Van Gaal?
In analysing the United game, Northcroft concluded that United's class of 2015-16 have many positives: a solid defence, an organised midfield, and tactics and passing worthy of controlling games. But he also wrote that "teams who want to win titles, or finish in the top four even, need surer ways of turning the good things they do into goals."
The gist of his match report, and Newcastle's defensive showing, threw light on United's predictability and rigidity, hinting that United needed more pace and variation, or opponents would "get too used to them".
I got uncomfortable deja vu reading those words.
Northcroft may as well have been talking about Boro in the Championship: like United in the Premiership, we appear to have an enviable amount of attacking resources to go with a solid defence and organised midfield at this level. But, apart from the first half against Bolton: to what end?
We have only conceded two goals in four league games, but two very crucial goals they have turned out to be. Take them out of the equation, toss in one converted chance against Bristol City, and we may well have had 10 points from 12 instead of five. Fine margins indeed.
I wasn't actually alarmed at the last starting line-up, despite Tomas Kalas' unease at centre-back. He had Daniel Ayala alongside him, after all, and the same back four, with Emilio Nsue in to (allegedly) provide extra attacking threat, had worked against Bolton.
Even the presence of Yanic Wildschut at Albert Adomah's expense didn't appear to be too much of a problem - his pace, and Stewart Downing's deliveries from the left flank, would surely provide plenty of opportunities for the goal-hungry Christian Stuani and David Nugent.
Then I found that AK had pigeonholed them into his traditional 4-2-3-1 formation with Stuani on the right wing, Downing in the centre and Wildschut on the left. Ouch.
But there were still enough good players out there on the pitch to defeat a winless Bristol City. Surely.
Except the Robins have established a reputation as regular Riverside party-poopers.
Joe Bryan's early strike made it three wins and three draws from six visits.
Another chance for AK to prove that his Boro did not need to take the lead first or establish control to win a match passed him by, in a virtual replay of last year's home encounter against Leeds; huffing, puffing, chances, a man-of-the-match performance by the opposition goalkeeper, but no goals for the home side.
The burden of being promotion favourites is clearly weighing heavily on Boro.
And the fear, again, is that if opposition sides can weather the opening (as Bolton didn't do, and as Bristol City did) get stuck in and prevent Boro from establishing a pattern of control, they will have at least a point to take home with them.
It's worse for Boro if the opposition nick an early goal and derail their host's big plans, as Leeds, Reading and now Bristol City have done in the course of a year.
The home team's entire mentality is burdened by pressure and panic, especially if they don't equalise soon: what initially looks like a commanding walk in the park becomes all about damage reparation, a question of whether or not the team is strong enough to mentally and physically adapt.
It really is psychological, isn't it? And it's telling, I think, that none of our promotion rivals last season quite felt the pressure like Boro do now.
Bournemouth had never played in the Premiership, Watford had never established themselves in the Premiership, and Norwich had parachute payments, Premier League experience and the hot young manager of the moment.
Karanka may yet be "hot" again, but his ways are no longer "new". And the backdrop of recent prosperous history in the Premier League – more than a decade of cup finals, big names, European runs and a cup win – strongly lingers in the Boro psyche.
Furthermore, having believed that we had finally found a coach to break the Typical Boro curse, we find ourselves experiencing it all over again. It is upsetting.
To think that, when Boro were 1-0 up and seemingly on their way to victory at Derby, we were all singing about AK. A matter of footballing minutes later and there are mutterings about tactical cluelessness.
Please! I know what AK was doing against Bristol City didn't seem logical, but on the other hand, whoever said football was logical?
Big Jack Charlton fielded four centre backs, placed the legendary playmaker Ronnie Whelan at left full-back, and won 1-0 with Ireland at Hampden Park. Sometimes things work out, sometimes they don't.
Maybe there's logic to Karanka's rotation. Maybe he wants to keep opposing sides guessing, or take full advantage of squad depth.
That's all very well, except that rotation can create unsettling friction amongst our own players. And AK may also find, as he did last season, that too many gifted individuals want to play in similar areas.
While it's easy to say this in hindsight, playing Lee Tomlin and Patrick Bamford on the wing ultimately stifled Boro's class of 2014-15. No matter how well Jelle Vossen worked with Kike or Bamford, having all those centrally minded players on the pitch at once left Boro lacking in attacking width.
So how will AK approach our upcoming visit to Hillsborough? Bring back what worked well against Bolton? Perhaps. Obviously the cup win against Burton Albion will have given AK ideas; it will have been a learning experience, for better or worse.
It'll have to be. Because if we fail to achieve our end-of-season goals, it will not be because of recent dropped points. It will be because we didn't learn from our foibles, vices and mistakes while the chance was still there.
So let's get it right next time. Shall we?
Up The Boro!
(Originally published at GazetteLive on August 25, 2015. For my thoughts on the Albert Adomah situation, click here.)
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