Tony Mowbray promised Middlesbrough "excitement" from Bristol City deal, and they got it | OneFootball

Mowbray's predictions for what Albert Adomah was going to offer Middlesbrough came true, as Boro snagged a crucial player for years to come.

Middlesbrough manager Tony Mowbray proclaimed that Albert Adomah's signing from Bristol City in 2013 would add "excitement, thrust and forward speed" to Boro's team, and he was absolutely right.

The Ghanaian international was signed from the Robins for a fee of £1m, as Mowbray looked to continue in his quest to bring Middlesbrough out of the dark that the Gordon Strachan era had cast the club into, and towards a brighter future.

Boro were searching for their long-term answer on the right flank, as Barry Robson's departure in 2012 had seen Mowbray lose his starting right-winger, and it was Adomah who the Middlesbrough boss would place his faith in to solve that problem.

Over the next three seasons, Adomah would make that role in the Boro side his own. Goals, assists, flair, and a fantastic character on and off the pitch; it's fair to say that Mowbray's prediction for what he would bring to the Riverside Stadium was spot on.

Mowbray made no secret of what Adomah was going to offer

Not all signings work out, and not every prediction made by a manager about what a player will bring to their team comes true. That wasn't the case with Mowbray when describing what Adomah was going to do in a Middlesbrough shirt.

Speaking in a 2013 interview with the club website via Teesside Live shortly after the signing was announced, Mowbray proclaimed: "Albert is a creative wide player who can go up and down the right wing and cause teams problems with his speed and his trickery.

"He can create chances and he can also drop his shoulder and smash it in the net. He'll be a welcome addition for us. We're looking to strengthen other positions as well and we also need a player who can stick it in the net.

"He can add a little bit of excitement, thrust and forward speed to our team. Let's hope he can have a decent time with us."

Adomah would become essential to Middlesbrough

A decent time is perhaps an understatement of the career he would go on to have with Middlesbrough, despite seeing the manager who brought him to the North East leave the club just months into the 2013/14 season.

Mowbray left his boyhood club in October 2013, after his side endured a poor start to the campaign, registering just two wins from their opening 12 fixtures.

He was to be replaced by the club's first ever foreign manager, and indeed a coach who would be taking up his first managerial role in club football, Aitor Karanka.

Little was known about the Spaniard, but it quickly became evident that after working as José Mourinho's assistant at Real Madrid for a number of years, he would be putting an emphasis on being defensively sound at the Riverside.

That's exactly what he did, as his Boro side became one of the best defensive teams in the Championship, but that didn't come at the cost of sacrificing any and all attacking qualities. Far from it.

Adomah thrived in Karanka's system, forming excellent partnerships with forwards such as Kike, David Nugent and Cristhian Stuani, as well as being given the freedom to express himself on the pitch from an individual perspective.

Everything that Mowbray had predicted he would bring to the table was on full display every time he wore the shirt. Away from establishing himself as one of the best wingers in the division during his time on Teesside, it was his personality and character that made him just as big of a hit with Middlesbrough supporters.

Whether it was dancing on the pitch with cheerleaders at Yeovil Town, jumping in the crowd and posing for some iconic photographs on the afternoon Boro won promotion to the Premier League vs Brighton, or his creative goal celebrations, Adomah weaved his name into Middlesbrough folklore for a variety of reasons.

Without his six goals and five assists in 2015/16, Boro would simply not have scored enough goals to win promotion to the Premier League, as their 63 goals scored were the lowest of any top-six side that year, and they only secured promotion on the final day thanks to having a two-goal greater goal difference than Brighton.

A superb player on the pitch, and an unforgettable character to boot. Mowbray was hit the nail on the head when he outlined what Adomah was going to bring to Middlesbrough.