How many still believe in a happy ending for Boro’s story?

by Powmill-Naemore, posted in Uncategorized

It’s January and Hollywood is celebrating its own. “La La Land” is already dancing down Sunset Boulevard clutching seven Golden Globes and is hotly tipped to be singing out at the Oscars after similar success. The best musical since “Singing in the Rain” some proclaim, while others wonder what this throwback to 1950s, MGM self-indulgence is doing on the contemporary film circuit, let alone in winning awards.

I spent the other Saturday afternoon with my family cosseted in our local picture house here in Scotland, thoroughly enjoying the colourful and highly entertaining spectacle that is “La La Land”. The story involves a wannabe movie actress who [literally] bumps into an idealistic jazz musician and how they learn from each other that if you want to realise your dream, quitting is not an option, but being pragmatic about how you use your talent will help you to get there. Anyway, after the show was over I came back out into the real world only to find that the Boro had predictably ground out a 0-0 draw at Watford. I got to wondering: are we living in La La Land on Tees? And then, if we are, who are the characters that inhabit this Tinseltown of the North?

First of all I thought of the idealists, the jazz enthusiasts out there – the ones that recall the acclaim that came to the Boro teams of yesteryear, that played with pure artistry in their hearts and that embraced the precocious talents of the golden haired one, or perhaps even the Samba Pa Ti of the little one. That is what we should be seeing now: the magic that a ten second burst of improvisation brings to the otherwise tedious cacophony of unfathomable formations. No matter that we do not have that maestro now, and have not, as of yet, been able to attract him; we should be playing as if he was here now. Far better to go down in glorious failure than to endure the monotonous repetition of the metronome as it passes from side to side, to side, to side…

Next I considered the wannabes, you know, the ones who believe they have all that it takes to succeed as a manager or coach; who believe heart and soul in the [best] advice that they are giving to Aitor Karanka and Steve Gibson – as well as to anyone else that should be listening. These managers by proxy, with experience garnered from decades of adorning the terraces, watching in the parks, scouring the back pages, being informed by MoTD and ultimately confirmed on Sky Sports. Yes, with experience they are eager to share so readily, sometimes even on these pages. They are the ones that know who should be at the auditions. They know who deserves to be called back and who will make the final cut in the transfer window. Yes, these are the ones that know best who can razzle dazzle ‘em on the park. But nobody is listening, at least not in the directors’ chairs that matter. No, the trouble is that those that actually do decide have their own view of how the match-play is scripted and what is the shape of the face that is going to fit so effortlessly into the mould fastidiously prepared for it.  Therein lies the problem. The decision maker is often just too blooming obstinate to listen.

Then came to mind the quitters, the self-doubters, always lacking in self-belief. It is not working for us. We have tried and tried. We have shouted ourselves hoarse from the sidelines hoping to make a difference and all to no avail. However well the team performs, it’s always not good enough. Why should we keep on trying? We are never going to be successful. Clearly, we do not have what it takes and never will have. What is the point? We really do not belong at the top table. Who were we kidding? Better all run off home now before we embarrass ourselves any further. Get back into our comfort zone, where we belong – back into the Championship. We are never going to win anything so why bother? Why don’t we all just give up now?

There are always the pragmatists of course, living in the here and now. They know what it is going to take to survive. They are not overly concerned in the manner of how you get it [success] even if it means you have to compromise any sporting ethic you may cherish. There is a formula that can bring success now, success on the terms by which every newcomer to the elite is judged – the criterion that is survival. What point are dreams if you will not survive to realise them. So stick to the formula. Grind out that result. Grin and bear it – even try to enjoy it. OK, so what if the purists walk away, we will still be up there in the EPL, even if the ones that still come don’t really enjoy watching any more.

In this, our own Hollywood to where the Diasboro are drawn, following the men by the steel river and yearning for the glory they will bring, that is the dreamland. But the dream has a heart and a truth and there is no reason why the dream should not also have a reality if you are patient enough to wait until the final credits.

For sure the purist might appear to sell his soul, apparently turning his back on the beautiful game so as to carve out survival in the only way most newcomers can – by being unbearably hard to beat. Of course there are those in the media who will not accept you and will continually overlook you. You just must keep on believing. Stick in there. Consolidate what you learn and what you earn until you have some security [of tenure in the EPL] so you can go invest in your dream. You will have earned the right to do so, you will have the wherewithal to achieve it and you will have gained the respect of your contemporaries – some of whom might just want to come and play with you in your club, join in your struggle and help you to discover the best talent in the next generation.

Fairy tales do not happen: you truly are in La La Land if you think otherwise …or maybe they do. Ask the nearest Leicester City supporter. Only remember, they did have to hang on in there before they had the opportunity to live their dream.

Post Script: A few days after submitting this, I read in the Daily Record that following their 4-0 trashing at Everton, Pep Guardiola took his Manchester City squad to a private viewing of La La Land. So maybe some of us, or all of us, or even the management itself might be able to learn something from Hollywood after all… just sayin’ like.  

196 thoughts on “How many still believe in a happy ending for Boro’s story?”

  1. Lovely piece, Powmill and beautifully written.

    No problem in matching the categories to the regulars.

    Another triumph for the talent that the blog is unleashing.

    Many thanks.

    1. Thank you Len, and others, for the kind comments. However, got to say thanks are really due to Werdermouth not only for giving us Diasboro, but for all the work he does in the background encouraging, editing, suggesting and guiding the novice writer till you end up with something that works. Not forgetting to mention the graphic he created to put at the top of the post.

      🔴 Cheers Powmill but I think the plaudits belong to you for producing great imaginative and stylish piece – I’m always happy to assist and play a small part in helping the creative process over the line. I hope your article inspires others to also put some of their ideas into words too as we have a lot of very good original writers on this blog – Werdermouth

    1. I should have expected that question, but didn’t.

      I like to think I am in the pragmatist category, but beginning to get paranoic excursions into wannabe country as I struggle to see any logic in some of the team selections and setups ( especially in defence).

  3. Absolutely excellent post Powmill. Don’t know where I stand really. I feel euphoric, I wander around after reading “stuff’, I bounce off the walls then I feel dizzy and think I understand. Then the dizziness goes and I don’t understand anything. It all makes more sense when I go back to the Sports Gazette days and a sort of reality.

    But. then a sort of reality is, I suppose, supporting the Boro. You know, people in white coats shaking their heads and saying we’ll never make sense of this. They are not wrong. Are they?

    Great blog, over the last couple of weeks it has provided a brilliant release from family problems. Keep it up bloggers and it’s good to see Spartak back, even if it isn’t a full moon.

    As always UTB.

    John

    1. No BP. I’ll play the diplomatic card on that one and leave everyone to volunteer for themselves where they think they fit or into which categories I didn’t dream up !

  5. Excellent read Powmill. I just want to give a shout out here and now to this blog. To Werder for plucking the white hot views from the furnace of broken dreams, and to all of the contributors so far.

    Simon, Ian, Redcar, Powmill and Werder have all written some excellent pieces encouraging lively discussion. I also love the article headers – great work.

    As for La La Land, I see your parable as highly relatable to our current modus operandi. Survive to dream? Never give up? Compromise on how you get somewhere, just bloody we’ll get there. I have to say, i agree with you. I’ve never been one who thought that more goals = a better game. I’d rather see victories and success. The beauty of points over the beauty of a valiant and beautiful defeat. Survive first, then dream

    1. Well that’s what Stoke and WBA did solid dour footie then bought more flair players as they became more established

      It is a good framework for Boro to follow

      Take each step as it comes and don’t rush headlong into oblivion again

  6. ‘The best musical since “Singing in the Rain” some proclaim, while others wonder what this throwback to 1950s, MGM self-indulgence is doing on the contemporary film circuit, let alone in winning awards.’

    You can put me in the latter category, Powmill. The Artist did everything La La Land attempted to do, and better. Much better.

    Here’s my review of the film:

    http://www.thebiglist.co.uk/reviews_content.asp?edContent=1.734

    Great piece, by the way. Loved the analogies.

    2. Thanks Simon. I might agree The Artist is a better film, but 1) it is a silent movie, and silence on the terraces just doesn’t workand 2) it isn’t a musical so you are not really comparing like for like.
      As for the claims about it being the best musical since ‘Singing in the Rain’, I know that is just marketing hyperbole that is utter bunkem anyway. There have been many good musical films since then and for my taste better than this one, but I did enjoy it all the same!

      1. I thought watching Boro at some games this season it was Les Miserables. A real Rocky Horror Show.
        When it was reported Roberto Mancini was coming I thought Mama Mia that’s let the Cats out of the bag.

        The West side story was the crowd chanting attack attack attack! But it was friendly just like Mary Poppins.

        We have our own Jesus Christ Superstar to lead us to Fame. Mind he was no Wizard of Oz at the press conference and he did have a Funny Face!

        Although some days later he was really Mary Poppins it was like Beauty and the Beast.

        I said to my mate Oliver Gigi whizz we have to win some games! Even when we’re Singing in the rain and the grass has Grease we want to have an Easter Parade and go On the Town.

        Stevie Gibson could have jumped on the Bandwagon and been The happiest Millionaire and really Enchanted. I think the Chinese could have worked with the King and I and we might have seen if not a Tokyo Rose perhaps a Miss Saigon.

        On the transfer front we might get Aladdin or two and Rhodes might go as Gentlemen prefer blondes.
        But we have Adama Traore and a star is born.

        Perhaps we need a Lion King on the pitch or at the end of the season it could be the Brig of doom!

        Anyway got to go and do the housework (lying really) it’s all Bednobs and Broomsticks!

        Tarra Bob

    3. Simon
      Was that the one without words?
      Hmmm! Not so sure it quite fitted my specification of a film, apart from, obviously, about nineteen thirty’ish.
      Still, there must always be room for artistic impression.

  8. Transfer front seems to have gone quiet……………….

    Is it the calm before the storm?

    Will miss the game on Saturday and possibly Tuesday due to another bloxxy chest infection !

    Gutted wanted to see some of our second string have a go.

    1. OFB ( your reply above, at january 25, 2017 at 10:05 am )

      great reply, you are the man.

      I hope your bloxxy chest infection doesn’t develop into a Saturday Night Fever

      Get well soon.

  9. Karanka should take the lads to watch” Rudy” an inpiring movie based on a true story of an undersized ,too slow, no hope of making the team kid who never gave up.

  13. Fantastic piece indeed Powmill. Food for thought and so true.
    Not sure I could write a piece so well crafted.

    I too have been on lala land for 50 years and whilst I have had my years in the wilderness where my active support warned, I never gave up the faith and dreams.

    I am probably a pragmatist, although I suspect all of us have bits of every thing in our DNA, we follow the Boro! Having seen us in a Eurpoean Final (never expected that and my Dad didn’t live to see that) then anything is possible but Rome wasn’t built in a day so we watch and wait.

    This year is survival whatever that takes an ad I will be delighted to sing “staying up, staying up, the mighty Boro and we’re staying up” at the last home game!

  15. There’s a discussion in La La Land of the compromise which must be reached between art and commerce. They are seen as competing in a trade off, a reduction in the merits of both are necessary to achieve an aim, almost a zero sum game – if one gains, the other must lose.
    However, putting these art and commerce in opposition is a false dichotomy.

    The most monumental achievements of humankind, for example the pyramids of Giza or the Golden Gate Bridge are realised when art and commerce work together. They are beautiful, enduring works of beauty and imagination – and hugely expensive to construct.

    Also, the great artists of the twentieth century knew their worth. Picasso and Dali never knowingly undersold their work.

    As an aside, Dali’s work inspired one of the backdrops in Singin’ In The Rain. Which is incidentally, the greatest film ever made.

    In football, art is analogous to entertainment, and commerce is organisation. There is no reason why these two cannot exist in the same side. Ferguson’s first own built side of Sharp and Kanchelskis were the art supported by the commerce of Bruce, Keane and Pallister. Art and commerce combining in irresistible harmony.

    AK seems to believe in the dichotomy. Commerce, that is organisation, must be the priority. Art is afforded only when the needs of commerce have been fulfilled. If at all. For the romantics, surrealists and Dadaists among us, this is deeply unsatisfying.

    Back to Singin’ In The Rain. As a piece of art, it’s construction was only possible due to the financial muscle of the MGM machine, which was organised as a factory with regimented division of labour. Just because a process is efficient, it does not automatically exclude beauty, grace or inspiration, or any of the other components which make football engrossing. Sadly I don’t imagine AK to be the romantic musical type. I imagine his tastes are perhaps more Wagnerian.
    Or, lord help us, Coldplay.

      1. Or maybe this song suits Boro better

        Side to Side” is a song recorded by American singer Ariana Grande, released on August 30, 2016 as the third single for her studio album

  17. OFB

    I think the relative quiet on the transfer front is just people drawing breath before the big push.

    The intriguing part is having fixtures on deadline day, selections and mysterious injuries will lead to an explosion of conspiracy theories across the country. Of course we have the cup games before that so yet more opportunities for reading the runes.

  18. Great article Powmill, thank you the time and care that must have taken…………Well I see myself as a pragmatist, but others on here may see me differently and maybe they are right.

    For the vast majority of football fans, even more so these days, it is all about dreams of what your team may achieve. As we all know, Leicester aside, only the very small few are going to be successful in terms of winning things.

    But to dream of being in the EPL or getting promotion to League 2 from the Conference, we all have to have dreams. Some will be pie in the sky, others, with a little luck.

    Also agree about “Singing in the Rain” being possibly the greatest film made. Mind you I think Donald O´Conner was far better than Fred.

  20. Oh forgot to add to my last post .

    They are apparently going to make a musical about a guy who champions his views and leads a team of slaves into a better life. Mind he does swear a lot in the film apparently.

    It going to be called

    Spartak Cuss

  21. So, a Snodgrassian Tug of War begins with spendthrifts extraordinaire Burnley throwing down £10M and saying “gimme”.

    With West Ham also interested Snodgrass need only look at the table to see that, on paper, we are the worst of the three options available. That being said, there are of course other factors.

    Does he want to move daarn Sarf? Perhaps he fancies a trip up’t Burnley way, where everything is sepia and Sean Dyche roams the streets with a collection tin asking “anyone have change to finance a Belgian schemer?”. There he can meet up with footballs own Arseholestotle, Joey Barton.

    Alternatively he can move to Teesside, the closest place to his native homeland. We have many fellow Scots at the club, for example: Jordan Rho.. erm, perhaps leave that one there…

    He may employ a Savagian understanding of geography and move to London to be closer to his Scottish family, who knows.

    I only hope that he can be persuaded north to Boro, because by jiggery we need him.

  22. Great posts from OFB and Chris.

    My best movies- Vigo’s Zero de Conduit, Keaton’s The General, Chaplin’s Modern Times, Welles’ Citizen Kane and Loach’s Kes. Most important – The War Game.

  23. Smoggy

    I worked for a company that had Factories around Britain, head office was in Reigate and the company had two production directors one for the north and the other for the south.

    There was a factory near Belfast and one near Stirling and both were in southern region because it was easy to fly from Gatwick than drive from the midlands – that was before the UK was so well connected with flights.

    So flying north from Stansted or Luton does make sense.

    On the other hand, one of Burnley or Boro may suit where he lives now.

    The fact is that once Hull have accepted bids he will choose the club that suits him and his family.

  24. Saw The Maltese Falcon for the first time last week. Like AKBoro, I suppose, patience is required, but its brilliance ultimately pays off. The script is simply remarkable – they don’t write ’em like Sam Spade anymore.

  25. Transfers hotting up

    Hull Manager doesn’t want to sell Snodgrass to us as we are a relegation rival

    Bojangles doesn’t want to come permanently but Stoke do as Bojangles is worried. We might get R!!

    Carlos will only come on loan as he thinks it’s a step down

    Yet we are talking about letting Gaston to Leicester another one of our R rivals

    As the song goes

    “What a difference a day makes 24 little hours”

  27. Brilliant posts from Powmill and Chris and great commentary from OFB!

    On the several transfer sagas its becoming more like a soap than anything but that is what January always has been. Perhaps there is a strong argument for only one window in the summer thus avoiding all the disruption and blatant unsettling of players by agents and opponents.

    Snodgrass at £10m seems a bit steep to me unless you want someone who is experienced and can chip in with the odd goal and good at set pieces, where are you going to get one of them from for under £10m?

    Bojan worries me, he is another who has failed to come anywhere remotely close to his perceived potential but there again Gaston also fitted that same description before arriving here so who knows. The Jese link is interesting but seems a gamble for the Premiership run in on a player that hasn’t delivered despite early promise.

    We will have to wait and see what happens over the next week but so far I think Bamford is the only one that I feel may make a significant difference and yet when you look at his recent history it doesn’t look convincing either. One thing which is worth pointing out is that despite the mood shifting a little in regards to AK he is not the person doing all the chasing and highlighting of incoming talent. There again if he is then that opens another can of worms.

  28. I’m not sure where I fit on the La La Land character profiles but I always believe if there’s a better way to do things then it should be explored as the preferred option – whether that makes me an idealist or a wannabe I can’t say.

    Though when it comes to being served dull uninspiring football as a means to an end, it’s grudgingly accepted as an interim solution only – and not as a blueprint of what is required for a club our size to compete at the top level.

    OK, we may be just a small ‘Tinsel Town’ in Europe but the area needs a blockbuster of a season every now and then to inspire us and keep the dream alive.

    1. Werder

      As long as the fans keep quiet and don’t make a song and dance about it.

      Would you call a manager who uses subs and changes players

      “lord of the rings”

  29. It seems to me that there is another aspect to the transfer system and that is, do not sell to your competitors, because a lot of that is creeping into the haggling going on at the present moment. We will not discuss fake bids being made to help the seller get their price, because that would be fraudulent I think.

  30. Well if you’re going to sell a player then it appears the best way of maximizing the transfer fee is sell him in the January window. It’s a seller’s market as clubs look to fix a problem by levering an identified ready-to-go solution from another club.

    If Hull are going to cash in then they need to sell early enough to bank the cash and be able to spend it – problem for them is that from the outside they are heading out of the league and that will subsequently limit who they can attract.

    It seems Boro may be in a similar situation after picking up only two points from the last five games – when players wanting to stay in the PL have a choice they’ll minimize the risk unless the rewards of the contract make it more lucrative. They will also look at their chances of getting game time too – which may make destination Boro less appealing for forwards if there are fewer slots available.

    So far our incoming transfers have not been hotly contested by other clubs – I wonder where the likes of Snodgrass and Bojan place us in their list of preferences? We may be looking at higher risk options instead of proven capability at this moment in time.

    Six points more on the board and we could have been an attractive option – though six points more and we’d have probably not been looking for someone special until summer when there’s more value around.

  33. Paul

    I did say they make him look a bargain, not that he is a bargain, it is all relative.

    When Corporal Jones went to Liverpool I got an email from a scouser asking whether he was a good buy at over £2m, I replied I thought we would have had to pay Liverpool a lot more to take him.

  34. Just read that Hull have reportedly accepted a bid from Boro for Snodgrass and the player is keen to travel to the Riverside for talks – though claims that Hull would be reluctant to let him join a relegation rival sound odd as they surely wouldn’t then accept a bid.

    Though it sounds like if Snodgrass arrives it would signal the departure of Gaston – which to me doesn’t necessarily mean an overall improvement in the starting XI. I’ve been contemplating whether Boro would allow Rhodes to go in the opposite direction – but perhaps the risk of Jordan finding his shooting boots given a run in the team may prevent that happening – but if it was needed to secure the deal then maybe our non-playing player is best utilised in bringing in a starter for us.

    Also Snodgrass looks like the kind of player that is good for the dressing room – which could be vital in a relegation scrap as what does a sulking want-away player add in that department?

  36. Werder

    From everything that has been said in the other place, and indeed the views from many on here, the prevailing wisdom is that we needed another creative player not one in and one out.

    I for one would be amused at both Gaston and Snodgrass in the same team. It would be worth the ticket price just to watch them fighting over the free kick 20 yards. HBO might put it on pay per view worldwide.

    Latin volatility meets CU stubborn. Brilliant, watching Gaston’s goatee twitch and Snodgrass’s bristles bristling might get us off last spot on MOTD

  37. Brilliant piece Powmill, i’m definitely a pragmatist…..I think.

    But for certain I definitely live in la la land, just ask my missus.

    Snodgrass will go to the club that pays him the most won’t he?

    OFB – Souness value today? The very best team in the world would want him in their team, £75m?

  38. OFB, Souness would be worth more than Gestede, Bamford and Snodgrass put together and multiplied by at least 2. I’ll never forget a stupendous performance he put in for the Boro at Craven Cottage years and years ago when we won by a lot. He capped it with a fantastic goal from about 30 yards and I can picture it clearly while I write. What a player!

  40. One thought on Snodgrass is that if he goes to the Riverside to talk would he then go to little house in the Pennines to see what gruel is on offer there?

    You would imagine the package at the Riverside would be better than Turf Moor but none of these players are poorly paid, it will come down to personal issues.

  41. Newsnow have an article by NITC that the Guardian report that Snodgrass is more likely to choose Boro or West Ham because of wages that could be offered.

    Boro are likely to be favoured for geographical reasons.

    Lets wait and see.

  42. OFB

    Once bids are accepted it is probably difficult for the club to stop him but on Sky after the EFL cup match they say he was off to Burnley but West Ham are now favourites.

    Who knows?

  43. Now sky are saying bids accepted from Burnley and West Ham, bid from Middlesbrough.

    So why is he travelling to Rockcliffe? Or not.

    Gaston puts in a transfer request.

    Lets see what happens.

  44. Len,
    I’ve no idea how to choose between your list of magnificent films. I do love The General.

    Simon,
    If you haven’t seen it then watch Billy Wilder’s Double Indemnity. Written by Raymond Chandler and starring Barbers Stanwyck, Fred McMurrar & Edward G. Robinson. It’s on a par with The General.

  45. I think Snobgrass will choose Middlesbrough over London. The town is such a lovely place. Also my favourite place for a holiday.

    Just saying, like. Up the Boro, the Boro is staying up.

    1. Jarkko

      That is why we like your posts so much because you are so positive!!

      The only problem is that apparently West Ham have matched the price but structured the payments for more money up front.

      Coupled with that is Hull would prefer him to go to West Ham as we are considered a main rival in the battle for R! I’m not going to say the word!!!

      Apparently it’s not considered that Burnley would match wAges for the player that we could offer.

      On a more positive note I am informed that his Agent is a Boro fan?

      Other news this morning which is not a surprise is Rhodes can go to a new club officially

      Rumours locally that Ramirez wants to leave the area for personal reasons but I’m not going to repeat those

      1. I think Ramirez just seems to be one of those “travelling” footballers. If it’s not one thing or the other something seems to stir up. I suspect the Ramirez we see on the pitch is not unlike the Ramirez in life generally, a precocious talent that just seems to get himself into situations that are unnecessary and head shaking. Loveable one minute and annoying the next in equal measure. Whilst developments are disappointing it is for those reasons like as not he was here in the first place instead of at a top 4 Champions League club.

        He played a huge part in getting us promoted but even during the summer there was a shroud of mystery and confusion over had he signed a contract with his South American club or not and if he had why when he and his agent knew Boro wanted him. Things certainly seem less than straightforward in Gaston’s life, no doubt if he goes to Leicester within 12 to 18 months maximum there will be another “situation” of some sort. He has never really settled down anywhere and established himself in his career, the proverbial rolling stone!

        There is probably something in the being “played out of position” frustration and managerial disagreements (and it does give us something to hit AK over the head with) but if it wasn’t AK and wasn’t Boro it would be another manager at another club as no doubt it will be again and again. And that is before any personal reasons are considered if indeed they are with credible merit which I very much doubt.

  46. Not often that a player prefers Boro geographical reasons. …

    Strange that Gaston link. I would imagine he is happy to be playing again after awful (!) time at Southampton, Hull etc. And we have a few Uruguayan players and a coach, too.

    When I first heard about rumours concerning Gaston, I thought he perhaps wanted to return to Uruguay as he had a pre-contract to there last summer. But Leicester who are just a point above Boro?

    Let’s see. There are more rumours than ever. I believe when I see and wait for the window to close before say anything more. We all must learn more to read the “info” on internet.

    Up the Boro!

    1. Jarkko
      I think that the pre contract story was a favourite tactic used in south American football when a decent footballer is totally free of all obligations to any club whatsoever.
      The thinking goes something like this. A club(southamerican) says to player,’ listen Pedro, no wealthy European club should be able to sign you for nothing, and we certainly cannot afford you, so why don’t you tell them that, in a moment of absolute madness you have signed forms for us, then they will have to pay us for your signature, and we collect several million pounds, simple’s. And they won’t miss a few million so it’s a victimless crime.
      I think that was about the size of it.

  47. I looks like as the deadline approaches the deal-makers will start to apply the pressure to try and get the momentum moving. Burnley have made Hull blink with their offer and now other interested clubs know what they will need to offer.

    If Boro want Snodgrass then they should probably consider keeping him at Rockcliffe as long as they can so that he puts Boro as his preferred destination.

    So it also looks like Gaston has upped the ante by handing in a transfer request – OK we’ve seen that happen before with the likes of Adomah and then they’ve stayed put – but you get the feeling the Uruguayan wants out.

    I wonder if Downing decided to stay based on his knowledge of the Gaston situation – his main rival for a starting place soon to be out of the equation.

    As for Bojan – well does he have the right attitude – apparently he’s unhappy at not getting enough starts – will that situation radically change if he come to Boro? If not will he be sulking around and upsetting team spirit.

    So will we buy the best player from a relegation rival only to subsequently sell arguably our best player to another? Definitely high risk stakes in the January game of poker.

  49. Now the window action is heating up!

    Looks as though a lot of clubs are trying to get their business concluded before the Tuesday, wary of the evening fixtures that will distract players and club bosses alike. It’s a bizarre situation to have Tuesday night games on the same day as the window closes, first 11 and bench picks will be heavily scrutinised to see if someone is missing. Although it appears that de rigeur nowadays is to go down with a “muscle injury”, thus ruling you out. Add in an uncertain timetable to return and you can make potential suitors really sweat it out, with the risk that come Tuesday evening you throw them into the starting 11 and make it impossible for the buying club to get a deal over the line.

    If you’re Silva at Hull it must be maddening. You’re preparing for a PL game, in a battle to save your PL status and you might find out at lunchtime that Player X can’t play as he’s off to another club for a medical. Or that Player Y, who we assumed would be leaving, is now staying and available for selection. Crazy.

    Anyway, in amongst that, some good news for members of this blog – Brad “Dropsy” Guzan is off to the MLS in the summer. Bad news to conspiracy theorists who assumed he was a long-range pick as our Championship goalkeeper next season. I would assume that he will be limited in his appearances over the second half of the season as a result.

    The other news (rumoured Gaston transfer request) is a curious one. Adulation at Boro will be hard to replicate elsewhere, especially if he doesn’t eradicate the petty side of his game. Then again, he could be employing a tactic out of his illustrious countryman’s book – disciplinary issues preceding a major transfer. Either way, going to Leicester at the moment is like swapping the frying pan for the fire, he may get a couple of games in the Champions League (probably only two), but come May he may find himself contemplating Tuesday nights away at Cardiff, just as he may if he stays with Boro. I can’t, therefore, see it as a step up, whether they are current champions or not.

    But, if we could remove Gaston and sign Bojan and Snodgrass I would consider that an upgrade. If Rhodes moves out to allow Jese to sign, that would also have to be seen as an upgrade. An exciting weekend ahead I think!

  50. What we do have to consider is that we all wanted a stronger squad at the end of the window than we started with. When I say all I mean it was what AK, local journos and fans wanted.

    We have to be prepared to accept that little may happen in the rest of the window.

    We might end up with an unhappy Gaston, no more creativity, a strike force including Rhodes, Negredo, Bamnford, Gestede.

    In that case you get on with what you have but it would be a surprise if no more movement took place.

    Lets hope it doesn’t distract from the matters in hand, a cup match and three points. If it was me we would be training for the Baggies and let the cup match look after itself, it is only three days between the matches to you may as well be ready for the second.

    That doesn’t mean taking Accrington lightly, you have to go at it full bore or you will come unstuck, more a case of similar approach for both games to get things in order.

  51. Powmill

    Loved reading your thoughts ref. La La Land & given the amount of spondoolies washing around in the game it comes as no surprise that gettin a player for a song is long gone.

    Hence, where only a short time ago we would have been thrilled into a collective chorus over a £3 million player purchase, now we sing dirges in the park, singing out loud & clear that £6 million for player xyz is much to much to pay. One could suggest Boro have been short changed & continue to be. A case of American Custard Pie in the face.

    The question is will Boro, the players & their supporters be exuberant at the end of the transfer window? Will Gaston still be singin ‘I want to break to break free!’ Will Jordan waltz away singing ‘Goodbyee, goodbyee, there’s a silver (or golden) lining in the skyee!’ Or will AK chorus the crowd havin secured no strengthenin to the squad and bawl ‘It’s my party & I’ll cry if I want to!’ Then again he may sing more cheerily if Boro bag Jesse in the final minutes and with hand on heart sing ‘Blue moon, I saw you standing alone…’
    Ultimately of course, SG may break into song unexpectantly like & with a delicate tenor hold AK by the hand singing ‘Time tooo say goodbye!’ Followed quickly by the entrance of one Nigel ‘the Atom Bomb’ Pearson to the howling tune of ‘Hello, you fool, I love you!’ with SG on bended knee.

    Time will tell 🙂

    UTB & back to La La Land

  52. Ra-Ra Land (Not)

    We still have to play all of the six elite clubs who are in a struggle for Champions League places, and it took a huge effort to get two points from those fixtures first time round. Indeed, we play all of the current top nine among our remaining 16 fixtures, and in the dogfight itself we still have to go to Palace, Swansea and Hull – opportunity or threat? Overall we have quite a challenge to stay above the relegation places, and clearly we need to find wins from somewhere.

    It’s a disgrace if Ramirez is really asking to leave, but it does put us in the position of needing to replace him. Snodgrass looks like the one who could hit the ground running, and would be worth the money to stay up, but Hull would surely prefer to sell to a team in mid-table (West Ham) than to us. Boban would be off the pace to begin with but maybe has enough in flashes of quality to create or score some of the goals we will need.

    I would be inclined not to sell Rhodes (especially at a knock-down price), in case we are relegated. We might well have a different manager and no Negredo or Stuani, and the option of playing Rhodes and Gestede together might well be useful.

    We will know more when we see transfer outcomes and the response to recent events – by everyone connected with the club – in the West Brom game.

    Thanks to Powmill and RR for the brilliant recent articles.

    I saw a press picture over the weekend which showed that Chambers was in position to challenge Carroll for the first goal, but was being held back by the neck of his shirt by another West Ham player. Maybe a different outcome to the game if that is seen by officials.

  53. Is it only me, or are there others out there who can see a nightmare situation developing on the transfer front?

    We miss out on our three named targets, we have GR wanting away and SD out of favour wth AK – not a happy transfer window ending!

    1. Sparta
      If we even consider letting him go we are fools.
      Under all the talk, that little dribbler laid on three goals, simple tap ins at that. Had they been taken, I think the result would have been very different. Chelsea are very cunning, never waiting until the price goes up, always selling when the price is high. He is the exception and should be treated as such.

  55. This Jese sounds like a right Jessie. A real big girl’s blouse.

    He’s thrown a strop because he’s not getting a regular game. He’s shown no recent form. He’s ‘eased off’ on his training. He’s disliked by the fans because he’s Mr Bling. His real ambition is to be a pop star, and he is trying to line up a recording contract He wants to go back home to the Canaries (can’t blame him for that). He doesn’t want to come here because it’s a strange country. His club are desperate to off-load him,and we are the only one’s willing to pay him his current wages. It’s now suggested that an additional financial inducement might just persuade him to swallow the bitter pill of coming here.

    Just the sort that we need to fight tooth-and- nail for us in the coming relegation battle.

    As the Gazette’s young journos say on their most recent video, “He ticks all the boxes”.

    Another triumph for the Boro’s crack recruitment and due diligence team?

    We’ll see.

  56. Len
    I echo your concerns.
    Sometimes, our recruitment seems to have a hint of desperation about it. Time will tell. We can only hope that we have the right resources to win the fight for survival.
    UTB

  57. All I would say RE Jese is that there were similar concerns about Ramirez when it was rumoured he was coming, i.e. that he was off form, out of fitness, an expensive luxury. And, despite where it looks like ending up, we wouldn’t have won promotion without him.

    Jese could be a similar catalyst. At the end of the day you don’t get a 21M transfer to PSG unless you’re quite a decent player.

  58. The problem with the January window is you are shopping for players other clubs don’t want or are a problem. In addition the prices are inflated because it is a sellers market.

    It looks like the owners at Hull want money in to the club so have agreed to a mini fire sale.

    All the hot air, debate, rumour will not help one jot on Saturday and Tuesday.

  60. As KP just said, we may end up with rejects as our incoming saviors, because I am not sure that the current squad can save us, never mind the Manager.

    Now to make it even worse along comes Gaston el mercenario with his transfer request……gratitude, the vast majority of players are only in it for…me me me. And of course he has had a memory lapse also.

    As Boronurk points out 9 out of our 16 left are against top half teams……it does not make good reading does it. Poor games, points dropped, oportunities missed, just hpoe it all does not come to bite us on the bum on the last day.

    So we will panic buy some additional bodies, to add to our two super duper forwards, who AK knows well and will tell us they will do the business.

    Am I worried, am I panicking, you bet your life I am.

  61. OFB

    Didn’t see the Chambers story anywhere.

    Newsnow reports a Daily Star article. Snodgrass has told friends he wants to play at West Ham but will hold talks with all three clubs. Hull want the deal done quickly so they can crack on with recruitment.

    Pedro

    Most buys in January are the unwanted, that is why you can get them. Gaston was in the wilderness until he came to the Riverside and resurrected his career here. Hopefully we will get a good fee for him.

    Snodgrass is an exception. The club exercised an option to give him another year no doubt to get more for him rather than let his contract run down.

    The difficulty fans must accept is that is the market we have to operate in, the other option is to do nothing then have the fans complaining.

    Damned if you do, damned if you don’t.

      1. So it must be true !!

        Snodgrass agent is Boro fan and had a lot of dealings with the club

        London based rags are going to say West Ham favourite

        It’s not dead yet

  62. OFB
    He could always play Fry in a back three, particularly aganst Accrington.

    Comment for Simon – I tend to agree with you about LA LA LAND. The industry is self-obsessed and always overrates this type of film which ‘pays homage to the great years of Hollywood’. It’s a good film but 14 nominations is crazy. It reminds me if BIRDMAN which had the basic premise that actors are the most important people in the world. Not surprisingly, they all voted for it as best film.

    The transfer window is looking dodgy. Jese and Bojan may be great players but, even if they come, will they get up to speed this season. Snodgrass is the real deal and worth an extra bit of money. He’ll fit in perfectly. I did not understand Ramirez.

    Having the cup game seems a perfect opportunity for Gestede and/or Bamford but even if it works out, will it prove anything for the Premiership. I’m not sure.

    UTB

    1. Apparently with Ramirez it was more of a Snapchat decision !

      🔴 My console shows this was the ton – though eye-witness evidence may be required again…

       – – – – – -🚗- – – – – 100

  68. Snodgrass is looking at his last major contract and will want long term security for his family. If West Ham offer that…

    It is always possible at the end of the window to tell Ramirez that we haven’t been able to replace him, and he can then decide whether to maintain his market value, or sulk. Not sure Ranieri or Howe will like the sulking look.

  69. This Jese bloke sounds like a right prima donna, has some serious form, sounds like he will love it here playing in the snow and cold. Shame we do not have a no dickheads policy. The club seem to be losing the plot, we could be in all sorts of doodoo if we go down.

  70. Many people seem to slam the Boro organization responsible for transfers. Do some still expect us to sign Ravanellis from Juventus or Messi from Barca in 2017?

    I was and still is reasonably happy with the players we got in the summer.

    Already now in January we have signed two good strikers and we now have four good attacking options. We tend to forget where we were just three years ago. There aren’t any projects like Emnes or free transfer or loan players arriving. So progress in my mind.

    I was surprised AK talked so openly about the PSG winger/striker today. My guess is that the deal could be close if he was ready talk about a player so much. Usually he does not comment on the rumours or players at another club.

    So very exciting week to come. Still see we can be stronger at the end of the window than when it was opened. In AK we trust, again.

    Up the Boro!

      1. Let’s face it

        We Royal or otherwise are all in this together !!

        Sink or swim WEnhave to stand by the club this season after the past few years in the wilderness………..

        Tumbleweed rolls along the wilderness road as the last bus pulls out of town

  71. With perhaps only 4 days left of the transfer window, I am getting increasingly concerned.

    As others have said, we could be left in a difficult position should Gaston go with no replacement. The ones being talked about do not fill me with confidence apart from Snodgrass as long as he isn’t crocked.

    Should we not make “The Great Escape” then the recruitment policy and team should be looked at closely since overall I don’t feel they have covered themselves with glory of late.

    Still, I will continue to look to the “Field of Dreams” for inspiration, hoping that we will stay “Up” . We have to Reach for the Skies” and hope that we are not “Dambusters”

  73. Same old, same old!

    Karanka wont apologse to fans for comments he made in the last 10 mins against WH.

    He says he was right to say so. He says the style of play was a success last season & will be again for this season.

    Sounds like he’s not for changin & folk should shut gobs- like!

    Still, now the focus is on bringing in attacking midfielders & if my memory serves me well, the present midfielders are too slow. Therrefore, can we conclude the style will remain the same but results will improve?

    Over to you RR.

    1. Given that it was not an off-the-cuff remark in the first place but a prepared statement that Karanka wanted to say and a message that he forwarded himself and not in reponse to a particular question – then it’s no surprise he’s sticking by it.

      What we should ask is why he wanted to make such a statement in the first place and why is he sticking by it? My hunch is that he wants to leave it on the table as part of his exit strategy that exonerates him should Boro get dragged deeper into trouble.

      He’s essentially saying his method of playing is what makes Boro sucessful anyone who disagrees is wrong and the evidence shows that when Boro move away from his methods they fail. so there we have it – if the crowd don’t believe in him then he won’t change and ultimately he has his option of an exit strategy – and it wasn’t his fault.

      1. I think he has played a blinder in the AK CV stakes. We stay up and he lauds himself as a genius who knew what he was doing all along and how he proved himself right to the unwashed masses. We go down, then the vitriol and “I told you so” starts and like as not he goes with the get out clause of “it wasn’t my fault, I warned them”. And of course the obligatory “I can’t manage at a club like this”, followed by the “did I ever tell you about when I came here…….

        Heads he wins, tails he can’t lose in Aitor’s mind. Problem now of course is once you up those stakes by turning on the fans there are too few dyed in the wool Karankites to carry you over the line should you stumble. There are those who worship the ground he walks on indeed rolling on the foot stepped floor afterwards covering themselves in the very soil and gravel where whence he trod just to get some of that scent all over them.

        Then there are those who see him as an egocentric control freak with dubious people skills who indulge him at best but have never particularly warmed to him. Sandwiched between is the middle ground who have been unsure, maybe he is great or maybe he is just someone who needs his ego massaging but have an open mind.

        I doubt this week will have changed or altered either of the extreme views much. Probably just reinforced the views of those with a negative disposition towards him and worse case maybe surprised a little bit those who go to bed at night with a “I luuurve Aitor me like” T Shirt on.

        The middle ground however is where the danger lies, those undecided will have tipped slightly further over to the dark side. That will have bumped the naysayers numbers up slightly, maybe not enough to get the pitchforks out yet but certainly a few more than this time last week.

        Forget Accrington, the Baggies are the important financial target to rescue lost January points, that is when the pressure kicks back in for real. Dull, dreay dross but a 92nd Grant Thunderbastard to take all three points and AK goes home smiling like a Matador complete with the Bulls dangly bits as a trophy, 1-0 (and I don’t mean the score on the night) like as not believing that double jeopardy prevents a retrial of his comments.

        Every game from now until the end of the season has become a show us and see game. Scrape a win and he’s proving his point, too many draws and that middle ground starts to tip the wrong way and, defeats will just amplify those with a more “attack” minded viewpoint.

        AK’s Boro career to date indicates that he responds best after a crisis, perhaps he has deliberately created this mini crisis for his own benefit, a bit like an angry person putting their fist through a plate glass window to relieve the stress. Lets see if it works, a successful run now of 7 or 8 games would like as not clinch things. A defeat and a poor saggy baggie performance will only turn the screw.

        If there isn’t a positive reaction after all this then I have seen previously what happens when Boro managers push patience and lose the crowd, Mogga and Robbo are testimony to that and if he thinks he has achieved something unique we witnessed similar uplifts and downturns with Robbo and when Mogga started his Boro career we didn’t even have a ground let alone 12,000 watching yet both eventually lost the crowd. What I must add however is that I’ve not seen a previous Boro manager push the fast forward button whilst imploding and not once but twice in the same week.

        So after the intermission of the Cup on Saturday the fun really commences with a rejuvenated Boro, a galvanised manager and his “disrespected” players all with a point to prove albeit three points would be nice but that hasn’t happened in the Premiership since AV had a blog!

  74. I am sorry Jarrko, but I just cannot agree with your opinion with regards to our tranfer dealings.

    The summer was ok but not startling, little EPL experience. Our two new “good” strikers….one fourth choice at a Championship club and the other, who I like by the way, could not get a kick at three clubs.

    As regards projects, what are Fischer and Traore? And loan players….what will Jese be?

    Do you really think they will save us from relegation?

  75. Well, Gaston gave us a Showcase of magic moments. Many Cliffhangers with the Permutations ending up in our favour. That’s something to Crow-o-ther.

    But I hadn’t the Forsyth that to Leicester he’d be eager to come on down if the price is right.

    Time for another attacking Switcheroo?

  76. I hope any pending incoming don’t know about the blog, we are turning in to moaning minnies. There again we could do with something to lighten the mood.

    The window dealings are no great surprise, we knew we were not going to attract top players or persuade clubs to let players go at cut prices.

    Snodgrass now looks unlikely but never say never because we don’t know what is going on in the background.

    Jesse? I don’t know much about him nor Bojan for that matter.

    Of those three I would have Snodgrass, his attitude seems superb and is the main reason Hull are not adrift.

    I am not building my hopes up and reverting to full on pragmatist mode. I cant change anything and that includes supporting Boro.

    1. Ian

      Chap/manager at Hull reckons he’ll get the spondoolies from transfers out to fund transfers in. Big fat belly laughs to that fantasy. I mean really! You’re in the R zone & your top scorer has done a moonlight flit to another club rowing his own lifeboat. Who’d you think in the last days of the transfer window is going to choose Hull City & do you really think the money grabbin owners are going to chuck substantial sums your way.

      Delusional Nonsense Alert!!!!

      So, does that mean Hull are odds on for the flush down the boghole to the Championship? Nothings guaranteed but the odds have to be substantially on.

      Next of course is Blunderland. Old Moysie is making last ditch arrangements to pull in yesteryears favs, to pull the brakes on the slippy sliddy downward motions. But, he ain’t no Fat Sam & it ain’t like running a Speakeasy.

      So, is that two slots taken up. If they go down I’d love to see both those teams try to bounce back in the next season. Wouldn’t surprise me if either did a Coventry or a Southampton before them.

      And that leaves one slot free & AK reckons he’s got the stylie to survive. Is Fat Sam runnin out of luck? He’s made a couple of signings but maybees he’s run out of the nine lives, avin used them and all in previous. AK’s confident, god bless im. Lets hope he’s right.

  77. We Still Haven’t Found What We’re Looking For but with enough Pride and Desire, more Elevation and less Vertigo Boro and U2 will share my quiet optimism and there will be Beautiful Days in May. That would be The Sweetest Thing.

  79. I think some of the apprehension of potential incoming transfers reflects how high the stakes are and whether they can have the impact required in the short time left.

    We should always give new players a chance to show us what they can do – I remember Adama’s transfer wasn’t met with universal approval but he’s shown what he can do and now is fast becoming a favourite of the fans.

    OK it’s down to the manager to select them and get the best out of them – which is always harder when each game becomes crucial to get something out of it. I agree that Snodgrass is one of the few who appears ready to go – we need some of the others to surprise us relative to their recent form I would think.

    1. Adama is a good point, absolutely he wasn’t met with universal acclaim, showed a few flashes of something that in the main has led to nothing and yet he we are citing him as a relative success story. That perhaps tells its own story.

      Snodgrass wouldn’t fit in here anyway, his defending is poor and he keeps wandering over the half way line. If that’s not bad enough he keeps shooting when he could have retained possession and passed it sideways or backwards. Nah dodged a bullet there I think, plus there’s no room on the bench.

  80. Of Gaston does go it will at least give Downing the chance to prove his ne’ersayers (such as me) wrong and prove his quality on a regular basis.

    1. We’ve got Traore Traore Traore on the left on the left….

      And Stuuuuaaannnii on the right on the right – unless Jese comes in, then we got Jessie Jessie Jessie on the right.

      Means two things;

      1. Downing suffering from sore bottom bench syndrome (Aitor chuckling behind his hands).

      2. Aitor’s always right but dont tell him he’s signed a Jessie or you’ll be told to shut yer gob like & remembrr where we were 3 seasons ago.

      It’s gettin better and …. Name that tune & group. 10pts to first correct answer 🙂

    1. Nah! I know the one yer talkin about but no!

      My favs ‘For the benefit of Mr Kite….’ Tops for originality/creativity. Even better than LSD & that takes some beatling?

      Broke the mould with JPG & R.

  82. Jese Rodriguez in talks with boro tells you everything you need to know about Atior karanka as a football man & a top class coach. #UTB Source from Rockliffe says he’s signed tonight !

    1. If it is true that he has signed I hope he likes Teesside and the weather and gets stuck into the challenges of the Premier League and the struggle for survival. Can’t help thinking that someone like Snodgrass who has Premier League experience, has done a fantastic job at struggling Hull, hails from Scotland and doesn’t mind the cold would have been a much better bet. Do we really need another Spanish Prima Donna who can’t get a game at PSG?

      1. It’s all part of the AK plan to have the whole squad of Spanish speakers come what may!

        Think we are close to be able to field 11 at the moment

  83. Is it just me that thinks this or hasnthe content of the blog and everyone who Ian part of it made it even better!!!

    Answers on postcard to Evening Gazette

  84. OFB
    Yes, the blog seems to be flying in its new incarnation. As I’ve said before, I’m having trouble trying to keep up with it. Go away for a day and you’ve got a lot of catching up,to do.
    The big test is how it fares during those pesky International breaks.
    UTB

  86. That’s how it used to be in the old days, Boro in the winter and Yorkshire in the summer! That was when there was very little cross over on either game, footie finished early May and didn’t start again until End August.

    The other game started in May and finished early September with the Scarborough festival.

    Now in this modern age, both are played and discussed constantly, not like when you looked forward to the morning paper for the updates rather than now the latest “news” is on the inter web almost before it has happened!

    Sounding like a proper old man now………

  87. Spartak

    I shared your belly laugh at the thought of how much will be available for the Hull manager after the sales. I suspect Hull will pocket the money to help sell the club and rely on low cost imports.

    I would hazard a guess that the wages of the outgoings will cover more those coming in. All helps the bottom line. Parachute payments will feature heavily in any portfolio.

    Like you I don’t know the facts but that is my best guess.

  88. Don’t blame me for the C word, Cricket. There I have said it!

    Just because AV had a hang up about the word Yorkshire that isn’t my fault. The fact he could go to York Races and send his lad to gymnastics at York baffled me.

    I wouldn’t dream of grumbling about people with other interests be it athletics, stamp collecting, politics, whatever,

    I was born in Yorkshire, in fact it was in Middlesbrough in North Yorkshire, so I take an interest in anything relating to my background.

    The truth is it was a game, we knew the bounds, it was a laugh. More so for me than Vic, they don’t play cricket in North Korea.

  90. Boroexile

    It is not over till the fat lady sings but I did see a rather rotund lady asking for Listerine in Tesco ( other mouthwash is available at other retailers). No bacteria were harmed in making this post.

    1. The Grealish thing makes sense, relegated Villa player, damaged goods, ticks all the boxes Boro need. In fact make that a double, Grealish and McCormack for Rhodes and the Aston Boro transition is almost complete. Emulate them further by getting relegated and wait for the “we didn’t see it coming” 2017 version.

  92. Get into Grealish head ,get some consistency and you have one hell of a player there, he can make defenders back off because of his ability to go around them,create fouls and open space for team mates.
    Like I said it’s getting him at it every game.

    1. GT

      I also happened to be very !excited when I heard the news about young Grealish. A player who really reminds me of Terry Cochrane.

      There is no doubting his ability to take on players and he relishes beating his man. He is only very slight in build but his skill cannot be denied.

      His main problems have. been off field and he has hit the headlines a few times.

      Can Karanka control him and get him into the right habits on and off field woild remain to be seen. However our coaching staff have a track record at this club in enhancing the skills and performance of players beyond all recognition and we all know who they are.

      So is it a risk taking him? Most certainly but Villa need to sell before they buy again as they are going to exceed the FFP rules.

      At this stage of the season when things are so tight and our near competitors won’t sell their players to us it is perhaps a good way for us to let Rhodes who apparently favours Villa go on a permanent basis and we don’t keep paying out for players.

      Grealish is young and if the likes of Ben and Calum can take him under their wing as they have been in the England squad together it may be enough to give him the discipline he requires.

      Interesting it’s going to go down to the wire isn’t it?

  95. We will have to rename the ground Villaside and the pub Navigaston.

    He was an outstanding talent but as has already been mentioned has had problems on and off the pitch. The turnover of managers wont help and you wonder if being a Birmingham lad living amongst his mates leads him in to scrapes that get highlighted.

    Elsewhere it is reported West Hams are not overly thrilled by the possible arrival of Snodgrass. I suppose it fills articles.

  96. Just read Dominic Shaw’s early piece (06:00!) this morning where Karanka has decided to invoke the divide and rule strategy with the supporters – he’s claiming there are two types of fans at the Riverside: The ones that know what works and those new ones (the glory hunters?) who are demanding a different style of play away from the steady solid style that got us promoted.

    Well Dominic has stuck to reporting what he said but has added a few facts to put this in context – Karanka likes to quote the 12,000 figure of who was there when he took over but last season’s average attendance was around 24,000 and this season it’s 30,000.

    So Karanka’s argument seems to be based on those extra 6,000 fans that are putting pressure on the players to do things that just don’t work – like shouting ‘attack’ which he claims puts pressure on the players because if you’re ‘asking for something that you’re not used to doing, it’s difficult for them [the players]’.

    He also seemed to infer the stadium was almost empty for the last 5-10 minutes and this showed a lack of respect to the players. I wasn’t there but I’d be surprised if that was the case – maybe after the third goal went in but up until that moment Boro had a chance of getting a point so it would be unusual for a stadium to empty – we need the view of someone who was there?

    Not sure if he thinks this is going to help matters but if I was advising him I would have stopped him taking a spade into the press conference yesterday – no point digging yourself in deeper as it’s only likely that he will have antagonised more supporters who would have probably have moved on from his West Ham comments if he’d not decided to stir it up again.

    Anyway, there aren’t two types of supporters – there are four as Powmill has shown us in his article!

      1. You should never ever leave the stadium before the players leave the field. I feel it is like leaving a theatre before the play is over.

        The players are the actors performing live at a stadium. You just don’t leave before the end. You can not applaud or you can boo, but never leave before the players are back in the tunnel. It is rude.

        Just saying, like. Up the Boro!

        1. I must confess I don’t leave before he end. In fact you can usually see me propping the bar up and watching the footie on TV whilst all the cars are backed up on the A66 waiting to get home.

          I’ve never understood why go early or even worse hang about in the bar after kick off.

          Of course some go early to get kids away from a heavy footfall of the crowd or if you are an old gadgie like me who’s instead on his fat feet. Others might be going on a night out starting a shift later or even on a promise!

          Saturday was different the fans were hacked off and it was the 93rd minute they left not 10 or 15 minutes to go.

          So in a nutshell some people do it I don’t know why, but they pay their money and they takes their chance .

  97. Interesting transfer strategy we’re employing this season. Sell the players who got us promoted to Villa and buy the players who got them relegated…

    We can all agree that Remi Garde was absolutely hapless, but once bitten and all that. Let’s hope Grealish can metaphorically speaking pull up his socks should he sign and do the business. ( I am led to believe that metaphysically speaking he prefers a rolled around the ankle sock strategy)

  98. Weirder
    I was there and can confirm that very few people had moved until the third goal. Then there was a huge collective shrug and a lot of people started to leave but it can’t have been more than a couple of minutes before the whistle.

    Having said that, I don’t want to use this to attack his comments.. Clearly he is upset at a bad result when we played pretty well. AK should not stick with this topic. We should all be moving on.

    However, I fully I understand his apparent frustration about Ramirez. Is there some subtext to the player’s wish to leave.

    UTB

  99. Selwyn and Werder

    It is fair to say sometimes it is best just to shut up.

    Those of us with long years of being married are well aware of the risks of elaborating or trying to explain even a simple comment on a frock.

  100. Read the news this morning and saw what AK was saying in the presser yesterday (as Werdermouth referred to above).

    He [AK] really does need to stop digging. Even if his version of events is the real one and he says the players agree with him that they were so distracted by the crowd’s positive (positive is my word) exhortations, it makes you wonder about the players themselves. Surely players plying their trade in the EPL are doing so because they are talented professionals and (in Boro’s case) so well drilled into the way the team plays. That they would “panic” towards the end of the match because they are being encouraged to achieve an equalising goal is perhaps much more an indictment of the players not being disciplined enough to play the way they are drilled, or of the management for not drilling it into the players enough, or maybe both. But not the fans.

    This does not sit comfortably with me. I think it is actually a big sign of weakness in the man as a manager and I hope it is not a bad portent of the eay the rest of the season will go.

    As for Gaston. Let him go while we can turn a tidy profit on him. While having matches where he is brilliant, he is not consistent for us and (as others have noted) he can be a liability on match day. If he wants to go, I suspect we will have more of the bad performances and ill-disciplined play, so let him go.

    No news this morning on the Rodriguez front… and now there is talk of Grealish…Hmmmm, I don’t know about the latter, but probably agree with OFB that we do have a good track record with wayward talent.
    Its going to be an interesting few days. Let us just hope we are comfortable against Accrington and score some goals. Lets also hope that sections of the crowd don’t get sucked in to having a go at AK …

    1. I doubt anyone will have cause to have a go at AK against Accrington and if they do it will be well and truly deserved. Tuesday is when AK now has to put up or shut up, lets see what he and his “disrespected” players now deliver.

      On the crowd emptying, apart from the usual handful getting away early as they always do (generally those with elderly relatives, young kids or those wanting to be first at the bar) nobody left until the 3rd goal at 94 minutes. At that point there was an exodus which even Sunderland fans at 25 minutes would have been proud off.

      One group traipsed off for a 20 minute walk to 12 year old Corsa’s and £8/hr drudgery for another week or perhaps a bus and a trip to the Jobcentre if they were lucky. The other group traipsed off to hot showers, masseurs and a 10 yard stroll to £80,000 cars and picked up £50k for 1 1/2 hours work (at which they weren’t very good at). How dare those Corsa owners show disrespect, I hope they now know their place.

      On Grealish, the lad did have a bright future but like so many has managed to screw things up. His personal life interferes with his career probably too comfortable in and around his Birmingham comfort zone and playing Billy big head to his “mates” or “hangers on” in reality. Too weak and not enough fight in him for the Premiership and I can’t see AK taking to him unless the step is already polished and waiting for him (assuming we can get the 29,000 fans off it).

      Right now we have a squad that is just about scraping survival (not a criticism by the way, it just is what it is). Anybody who joins the squad just over this mid way point in the season should be an upgrade on what we have (or about to lose) already. I have no problem in signing the likes of the lad from Finland or Argentina for 3-4 years time that is a different proposition but incoming first team squad players must be better than what you have.

      Is Grealish an upgrade on what we have? or indeed Bojan or Jese? In the case of the latter two they have shown that they can deliver at a top level so there is cause for optimism albeit reserved in my case. Grealish/Bamford/Traore are all maybe/possibilities that could hit top performance and become real stars but right here, right now we need to hit the ground running with upgrades.

      Until the window shuts we don’t know if Gaston stays or goes. If he stays and sulks then his chances of a good move in the summer are scuppered meaning its more likely Lincoln rather than Leicester for him. Put in MOM displays and the worlds his oyster, but who knows what goes on between the ears of professional footballers (or indeed their managers at times).

  101. ‘Aitor Aitor give us a wave! Aitor give us a wave!’

    Aitor smiles & waves to the loyal section of fans.

    Fans relpy with a collective of raised middle fingers and a vocal ‘Arrrrrr!!!’

    Cue Aitor hissy fit at next Presser.

    This is gettin better than the ‘Atom Bomb’ & ‘ Are u an osterich?’ At least he didn’t criticise the Foxes fans.

    ‘Pass the popcorn, Pet!’

    “It’s gettin better, growing stronger…’

    And there’s still soooo much to come.

    Lol

    UTB

  102. “I am never going to criticise the crowd” said Aitor in his press conference. Seems to me that he did a pretty good impression of criticism last weekend and repeated it to a large extent yesterday. Does he live in some kind of parallel universe where his perception of reality is completely different to that of other people?

    As others have said he should either have apologised or kept his mouth shut. He has fuelled the smouldering disquiet that many feel about him and there is likely to be increasing disharmony between the fans and the club. The result will be a negative impact on the team which we need like a hole in the head bearing in mind the perilous League position.

    1. The MGN article in OFB’s post above sums it up perfectly for me. What is maybe more disappointing is that Karanka also apparently claims that the players agreed with his criticism of the fans after the game. Well if the manager and the players think the fans are a problem perhaps the fans should take the hint and stay away.

  104. I pretty much agree with werder. AK may well have a point about the crowd affecting the players, but I don’t see what he hopes to gain by pursuing it. He’s made his point now.

    I also don’t think the new fans comment really fits – we had plenty of grumbling last year even when we were winning (we certainly heard attack attack attack on occasion) – and there are long-term fans on this blog who aren’t satisfied for whatever reason.

    I also don’t think the stadium emptied any more than normal until the 3rd goal went in. Where I was sat, there was more applause than boos from the ones who had stayed behind, as I think they had appreciated the effort. I actually thought it was a really good crowd on Saturday so AK’s comments were a bit surprising.

    He’s clearly under a lot of pressure at the moment, the Ramirez situation must be affecting him and the seeming difficulty of bringing in one of our attacking targets. I think we all know they have a list of players and they basically work their way down it until they get to the one they can reach a deal with. Maybe Grealish is that one.

    The best answer to all of this, whether people thing they’ve been wronged or hard done by is to create a fantastic atmosphere on Tuesday. Holding any sort of grudge just helps the opposition. AK’s midweek record is on the line and he’ll be desperate to continue it.

    Not that I’m forgetting tomorrow, I’m definitely in the ‘a cup run would be fantastic’ group.

  105. Snodgrass looks almost sealed to West Ham, big club, big ground, now an established premier league side, probably last big contract. Good luck to him, the bonus is we have already played them twice so he can do some damage to clubs around us.

    Gaston’s stance is a little disappointing given all the hard work to get him back on the football map. If he doesn’t want to be here my instinct is get as big a fee as possible, if he stays he will be playing for a move in the summer.

    Jesse looks to be an interesting situation, my thought is that as he hasn’t settled at PSG and AK is having to work hard to convince him to come will it be a worthwhile move for us? He seems to want to go to Las Palmas. The choice between Teesside in a relegation battle or mid table in La Liga on Gran Canaria. Looking at BBC and it says 3C on Teesside and 19C in Las Palmas.

    I love Boro but that will take some selling.

    Thoughts turn to the FA Cup, hope it is a decent turnout and a good performance from the Boro.

  106. I am very reserved over Jese, no Prem experience and I think it will take him a few months to adapt, he just will not hit the ground running, for which we really need. If AK lets Gaston leave as a result of Jese arriving, I believe we will be worse off. AK knows better than I, but he has to get this right.

    On to Accrington. I would have Traore bombing down the right all afternoon, zipping the crosses in and see which of our forwards can actually get on the end of them and for that reason I would start Bamford as Negrdo just looks too slow to compliment the speed of Traore.

    1. Its pretty clear that Jese doesn’t want to be here, not surprising if he’s read George Boateng’s comments this morning suggesting that Grealish should come here because its boring with nothing to do so he can keep out of trouble.

      I would question the logic of expecting Jese to settle in a new country when he knows he isn’t staying and worse he doesn’t actually want to be in yet expecting him to perform at Premiership level. I would have thought it more logical to be looking towards Eastern Europe for players who won’t have a problem with the weather or the lifestyle. To my mind it appears that the only reason we don’t is that they can’t speak Spanish.

      SG needs to be very careful at the moment as he could find himself bankrolling an even larger Spanish/Latin contingent that may implode when his manager has his next wobble and walks. When that happens is open to speculation but I fear it could be just one or two bad results away when no doubt it will be the Tea lady’s fault. How many of the “big” names will have either the stomach or desire to fight for Boro then when performances to date have been distinctly average?

  107. The uneducated riffraff attending Saturdays game should be made to prove that they are indeed disciples of the grand all knowing Karanka the Wise and not some bounders turning up to share in the glorious football that is Karankaball. (maybe should be crankyball) Good grief new fans who ever heard of such rubbish.
    Can you imagine going to a Pub and listening to a band who couldn’t play or sing but being expected to clap heartily you would walk out or boo them off the stage.
    So remember on Saturday please have some respect and do not criticise what you do not understand.

  108. My team for tomorrow would be:

    Guzan

    Fabio
    Bernardo
    Gibson
    Friend

    Leadbitter
    de Roon

    Fischer
    Stuani
    Bamford

    Gestede

    And I think he will make more changes than for the R3 game, simply because we have a game on Tuesday. I’d expect near enough everyone who was on the bench last week to start. Downing might play ahead of Stuani for that reason but I’d rather keep Stuani in after scoring last week.

    Suddenly our defensive options look a bit limited with Ayala, Barragan and Chambers out. I suppose Fry might even have a chance of playing.

  109. Well as you’ve started looking towards tomorrows game I thought I’d better put up the pre-match blog – It’s a good opportunity for Boro to progress but there’s also a few sub-texts going on with Karanka’s post West Ham comments and the January transfer window – so hopefully Boro won’t get distracted. On paper it looks like a cake walk but as we know there’s a potential banana skin round every corner if you become complacent.

    https://diasboro.club/2017/01/27/fa-cup-fourth-round-preview/

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