NEWCASTLE'S UEFA Cup hopes could be dashed if Jan Aage Fjortoft get his way.
Former Boro record buy Fjortoft is now chief executive of Norwegian club Lillestrom who set to face the Geordies in the Intertoto Cup today and Jan Aage is hoping a bit of Teesside steel and an echo of his Riverside days can help the part-timers topple Glenn Roeder's outfit.
Because ambitious Fjortoft is using Boro's rise to glory as his blueprint for transforming Lillestrom, the club he now runs, into one of Norway's big boys and into future European contenders.
Articulate Fjortoft always stood out among Bryan Robson's team as an intellectual of the game so it is no surpise he is still in the game. He was a multi-lingual thinker who had a keen sense of the way the wind was blowing in the economics and culture of the game and was a perceptive observer of the dynamics of a club and a dressing room.
He was the author of one of my all time favourite football quotes when he showed excatly how integrated he was into the English mentality and into the Boro dressing room. Describing the collapse of Robbo's team into superstar import and pedestrian domestic factions he said: "It was split right down the middle between the foreign lads and the rest of us." Jan Fjortoft, one of us.
The deadline day record buy, a £1.3m signing from Swindon in March 1996, one has certaintly taken a little bit of Boro with him in his transition from player to administrator. As chief executive of the Nowegian minnows he is using the transformation he saw at Boro as his template to help Lillestrom punch above their weight.
"Lillestrom is a small club in Norway so, from a European point of view, it's never going to be in the top tier of teams," said Fjortoft. "When I took over a couple of years ago, I looked for a club that I could use as a template for development. That club was Middlesbrough.
"For me, the Middlesbrough story is one of the best in football. It is a small club, from a small town, but they have won trophies and been in the UEFA Cup final. If Lillestrom could even achieve even a small percentage of that I would be very, very happy."
"Ever since I left the club almost a decade ago, Middlesbrough have always been very, very good to me. When I took over at Lillestrom, I contacted Middlesbrough and asked if I could come over for a bit of advice.
"Since then, I have been back five or six times. I have met Steve Gibson and talked about how he likes to run a football club, and met Graham Fordy to talk about how we can maximise the commercial potential of Lillestrom.
"I have also been to some games just to remind myself of everything that is great about English football. I was at the second leg of the UEFA Cup semi-final earlier this year and I can honestly say that it was the best football match I have ever been to.
"It had absolutely everything and I remember closing my eyes and imagining a similar thing happening to Lillestrom. Some people will say it's impossible, but they were probably saying the same thing about Middlesbrough ten or 20 years ago."
Fjortoft scored 13 goals in his 50 games for Boro, including the second after Craig Hignett in the very first game at the Riverside. He was brilliant in Robson's first season in the Premiership and while the goals did not flow he formed a productive and often entertaining relationship on the pitch with with Boro's 'midget gems' Hignett and Nicky Barmby who played just behind him.
Arriving at crumbling Ayresome leaving the Riverside for Sheffield United in the middle of the crazy relegation/double Wembley heartache season Fjortfoft lived through what was a traumatic but progressive Great Leap Forward for Boro.
"When I arrived at Middlesbrough, there was great expectation but I don't think anybody really knew how far forward the club could go," said Fjortoft.
"In my first season, we won promotion to the Premiership and everybody's hopes got even higher. I remember driving to training every day and seeing the new stadium being built at the Riverside. It was an incredibly exciting time because you really felt a part of something that was just about to explode. It's strange looking back to see just how much it has exploded.
"I guess my transfer fee is proof of just how far Middlesbrough have come. I cost £1.3m and, at the time, I was the club's record signing. Now, Middlesbrough would probably laugh at players costing that price."
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