Law McCabe: The view from Boro -"Still huge excitement about how good he can be"

The England U-20 international started just seven games for Argyle, with his last one coming at Northampton Town in November.

What was McCabe's standing at Boro at the time of the loan?

He hadn’t played an awful lot for Boro. He made his debut the season before last in the final game and it was against Tom Cleverley’s Watford and that is what prompted the interest and he has monitored Law’s progress ever since that game.

But while he may not have played too much, he has been on the edge of the Boro first team ever since. He is very, very young. Boro have a lot a of quality and experienced heads ahead of him in the pecking order and for his age, he is competent and confident ball-playing midfielder.

Was the plan always to loan him out?

It was an interesting one initially. The plan was to keep him around and it looked as if he would play an important role this season.

He played in a friendly at Rangers in July and was brilliant. Rob Edwards, head coach at the time, said that he was a big part of our plans and that we wouldn’t be loaning him out. At that moment, he was the main back-up to the midfield pair of Hayden Hackney and Aidan Morris. We then signed another midfielder, Abdoulaye Kante from France, who had just turned 20.

The big turning point in regards to the loan was a 4-0 Carabao Cup defeat against Doncaster Rovers in August. Edwards started McCabe and Kante in the middle and they were overrun and overpowered. It was not just the midfield as there were other issues and a lot of young players but it was just a bad night for Boro. I think that night showed Edwards that if anything happened to the main midfielders then we would be in trouble in the Championship.

Then, we talked to Sunderland and got Alan Browne, an experienced midfielder, on loan. So then the thinking was that if McCabe was not going to play at Boro then it could be good for him to play regularly somewhere else. 

Was Tom Cleverley a factor in choosing Plymouth Argyle?

One hundred percent. There were a few interested clubs and Boro picked Plymouth as they were aware of how Cleverley had tried to play possession football at Watford and had been a fan of the player. Boro felt that sending him to Argyle under a young coach who would help him develop.

What is the feeling at Boro on his lack of game time?

The club understands that this is a results-driven business and you do what you need to do to get results. The onus is on the player to show what he can do and make himself undroppable but that obviously did not happen. If he is not playing at Plymouth then it is best for him now to be at Boro.

Of course, they wanted him to play as often as he could but now they can’t loan him out anywhere else and he will be here for the rest of the season. 

Could he play?

Now he will definitely be given a chance. The new coach Kim Hellberg has proven already that if you impress him in training then he will offer opportunities. Law is available to play against Fulham [in the FA Cup third round this weekend] and it wouldn’t surprise me at all if he gets a chance in that game. The league is the priority and there are some difficult matches coming up.

Another big factor is that Boro have a massive injury crisis at the moment, more so in defence but Browne has been playing there and Hackney has pretty much played every minute of every game. If McCabe shows something in training this week then Hellberg may give him a chance.

He is definitely a technically gifted player and the way the championship is different to League One and Boro are a possession-based team so it may mean he is better suited here.

Is McCabe still highly-rated on Teesside?

There is still a lot of excitement about Law and his potential. He is an England youth international which is always a good sign. There are a lot of things that need to fall into place and a lot of things that need to be avoided, such as injuries, but there is huge excitement about how good he can be.

Hayden Hackney was in a similar situation three or four years ago then went on loan top Scunthorpe in League Two. He played regularly, took his chance and never looked back. Law needs that moment and it is about picking the right moment, it is about getting the timing right and that is massive for a young player.