Hellberg Calls for Riverside Roar Ahead of Norwich Clash
Kim Hellberg is counting down the hours to Saturday. Not to the opposition. Not to the tactics board. To the sound.
Back to the Riverside. Back to the noise.
After a gruelling run of five away trips in six games – including that Carabao Cup exit at Crystal Palace in midweek, their third match on the road in seven days – Middlesbrough finally return home to face a Norwich City side that has found its feet after a shaky start.
Hellberg wants the stands to do their part.
Hellberg calls for Riverside roar
The Swede has vivid memories of Norwich’s last visit to Teesside, when a Hayden Hackney strike sent Boro joint top of the Championship and the stadium into chaos.
“I remember that game last season, it was a brilliant atmosphere and I remember the last five minutes were absolutely crazy,” he told BBC Radio Tees.
Norwich arrive this time under Philippe Clement, and Hellberg is under no illusions about the scale of the task.
“Norwich are a very good side,” he said. “It will be a very tough game but the atmosphere in all our home games has been very good.
“After everything that happened last season, everyone has got stronger together. Everyone has raised their level – players, supporters, coaches – everyone together to go to a higher level.
“I think the atmosphere has been very good in every game we have played and I am looking forward to being back against a very good side.
“We need the supporters being on our side and doing everything they can to help get us over the line against a very good opposition.”
The message is clear: same fixture, same intensity, same noise.
Respect for Clement’s Norwich
Hellberg’s respect for Clement runs deep. Norwich were drifting towards real trouble when the Belgian arrived last season; he steadied them and then pushed them on.
“Philippe Clement has done a brilliant job, he's a very good coach, builds a strong and well-coached team,” Hellberg said.
“He turned the season around for Norwich last year - they were in danger when he arrived and have built through that. He's a top coach and will give us a lot of different and difficult challenges.
“I think it is going to be a very good football game, two good teams against each other, brilliant kick-off time on a Saturday and we are looking forward to it.”
A home crowd, a resurgent Norwich, two sides trying to push higher. It has the feel of a proper Championship occasion.
Lankshear sets the standard
Up front, one of Hellberg’s biggest early successes has been Will Lankshear. The 21-year-old missed out on the Championship Player of the Month award on Friday, but his numbers since arriving from Tottenham in the summer speak loudly enough: seven goals in eight games.
Hellberg could hardly be happier with his impact.
“I think he has done brilliantly, he's a good boy and has come into the team perfectly,” he said. “He works very hard on and off the pitch and that's the culture we are trying to create here.”
That culture, he insists, runs through the whole dressing room.
“I have seen a massive difference in the group, how they have progressed from the first day here to how we have gone forward and take care of each other in a very good way.
“I have so many good players here who compete in a brilliant way to try and help Middlesbrough win games and Will is one of them and it helps when you score a lot of goals.”
The away miles are banked. The foundations, Hellberg believes, are laid. Now comes the real test: can Middlesbrough, under the lights and noise of the Riverside, turn that togetherness into another statement against one of the division’s form sides?
