Albert Adomah was red hot as he came back in from the cold on a night marked by a classy brace, a public embrace and Boro in second place.
The recently “wantaway†winger bounced back from the naughty step with a bang as he claimed an assist and a goal in a rousing Riverside return and it was hugs all round as Albert and Aitor kissed and made up.
Credit to Albert for seizing the moment, being the game changer, slamming home his goal and his very public display of affection as he rushed to the touchline to embrace the boss and show the world the rift had been healed amid cheers from an adoring Riverside crowd.
And credit to Aitor too for his perfect timing.
He introduced Albert at a crucial moment when the pressure was on and invited him to complete his rehabilitation in the spotlight and prove his point. And it came off. He can claim to be a shrewd psychologist making a shrewd substitution with a player fired up and focused and swinging the game. Everyone’s a winner.
The winger has had his nose to the grindstone in training to work his way back into Airor Karanka’s plans after a dressing room bust-up and a subsequent written transfer request. There were no offers on deadline day, although to be fair Boro never invited any. They left him to stew while insisting he was still in their plans and still an important player.
He has had a difficult two weeks, said Aitor. He had been left out of the squad for three games – that Boro won – had been training alone for a spell and then was gradually reintegrated. Then after a fortnight of frustration and fidgeting he finally got his chance – and boy, did he take it.
The fans’ favourite flanker came in from the cold as a substitute on the hour to loud cheering and singing. His name had already been hailed as it was read out before the game and had a warm reception as warmed up on the touchline in the first half and his inclusion was a risk.
Had things gone horribly wrong and Boro struggled and gone behind the symbolic calls for the flanker would have grown and been a coded criticism of the boss.
But it went well. It was sticky for a spell as the comfort of a commanding first half and one goal interval lead was wiped away as Brentford made a match of it and levelled soon after the break after Dimi’s second assist for them in successive games.
Enter Albert. He soon had the Riverside roaring as he teed up a goal within minutes, wriggling down the right and chipping to the far post for goal machine Cristhian Stuani to bundle in his second.
Then soon after he burst through onto a David Nugent ball to slam home Boro’s third and take a massive step towards rehabilitation and first be mobbed by his team-mates then leap into the arms of the boss.
He is certainly a crowd pleaser. And he is also smart. He has jumped through the hoops and jumped back into the bosses’ arms. Albert has knuckled down, shown contrition and then made a game-changing contribution return. You can’t ask for more than that.
But the former first team fixture may not find it so easy to regain what had been an automatic slot on the team-sheet. Things have changed.
While he has been left kicking his heels on the fringes, Boro have been playing well and won three games in a row.
That has eased political pressure on the boss to play him. As we know there is an iron law of inverse ability and players get better by the week when they are sidelined and the team are losing. But the Bristol banana skin and the air of unease and sporadic sniping feels a long time ago now.
Albert had not featured in the matchday party for three games and Boro won them all and looked balanced, patient in possession and potent.
In those three games Boro have scored seven goals and felt their way towards a shape and group that looks to have real potential.
Albert’s spell in internal exile has reinforced Karanka’s authority while results have undermined any notion that the Albert is indispensable.
That leaves him with a lot of work to do. Not only have the team played well in his absence but a distinct rival for his position has emerged.
Some critics had already decided that Cristhian Stuani “can’t play on the right†after a stodgy first start in the defeat to Bristol - but he has played there for Uruguay and in La Liga and Aitor clearly rates him in that position.
When he first arrived Boro were mesmerised by Jordan Rhodes hypnotic pricetag and the Uruguayan’s arrival by instalments left people underwhelmed.
But with another two goal haul – that’s seven for the season already and five in four – and an another impressive display of industrious and assertive flankmanship he is starting to make the pre-emptive snipers look silly. Patrick Bamford got 19 last season. Stuani has got over a third of that haul already and can get better.
He looks clinical and comes alive in the box. If Aitor wants him on the right then Albert will have to really produce week in, week out if he wants to win that berth back.
Meanwhile Stewart Downing has had electric sporadic spells on that flank too and for Diego Fabbrini can do the job too - and we haven’t seen Carlos de Pena yet.
We don’t know how the arrival of left-sided deadline day signing will change the dynamics and the front end line-up.
There is no guaranteed shirt for Albert now as there was last year, there is no nailed on place for anyone, and he will need regular rousing displays to make him a fixture.
But then, we know that Aitor nurtures competition for every shirt and constantly raises the bar.
Meanwhile de Pena has had to wait. The new Uruguayan winger was on what looked an awesome bench that included not just Adomah but also top league scorer Kike and Adam Forshaw who must wonder what he has to do to get a start.
And talking of benches… what a difference in the Brentford side.
For this visit they had no Alex Pritchard, probably their best player last season, and no goal-getter Andre Gray, who made a £9m move to Burnley.
And as a radical stat-based shake-up (and injury crisis) takes hold at Griffin Park, Brentford named just six subs – and two of them were goal-keepers.
But then, Jim Platt once scored a hat-trick for Boro reserves and Stuart Pearce tried to out-fox us by putting David James up front. And maybe they have good striking stats in training. Analytics eh?
Brentford’s new model is based on individual performance data and matchday modelling with selection and tactics heavily influenced by laptops in the dug-out. It is the appliance of science.
I quite like stats too: Boro beat rivals Brentford four times last season, 4-0 and 1-0 in the regular fixtures then again in the play-off semi-final double header, 2-1 away and 3-0 at the Riverside.
Boro have now won eight in a row against them. In league games they have won 10 and drawn one of the last 12 games against the Bees going back to before the war. That’s good stats.
And beyond Brentford I’m starting to like the look of the numbers at the Riverside.
For all the nervous talk of struggling at home to bus-parkers and teams digging tactical trenches, the record on Teesside turf is incredible: Boro have won 10 of the last 12 with a total of 23 goals scored and just four conceded.
The Bristol flop was only the second defeat at the Riverside in 2015.
The previous was the carbon-copy cock-up of Leeds in February when the visitors netted early on then somehow held out against an onslaught. Before that Boro’s last defeat was back in August 2014. That’s good numbers.
Run that through your lap-top.
Credit: Gazettelive