No Bamford in the squad was a surprise considering that we needed to score goals. Stuani in his place on the bench was fair enough I suppose but I couldn’t understand why Gestede was even on that same bench. It appeared to me that the deep psyche was that if we are losing throw everything including the kitchen sink into the box, great tactical masterplan!
Barragan selected wide right instead of Fabio? Well that just completely beggared belief especially with the stiff and returning Chambers behind him. SA did at least go with three at the back but it was evident from the off that the midfield was all at sea and the backline hadn’t a clue who was supposed to be where and picking up who. The opening seconds saw our right side unsurprisingly ripped apart and Bournemouth were firing crosses in for fun. The inevitable goal occurred in a matter of seconds. 1-0 down and we were simply awful.
Things didn’t improve and Bournemouth continued to play, tease and toy with us. This was the worst performance from any Boro side I have witnessed since Charlton last season. Considering the importance of the game, the organisation, levels of concentration and commitment just simply didn’t exist. It became more farcical when another dithering defensive display led to Bournemouth going two up, it wasn’t even comedic just simply tragic. Ramirez then managed to get himself booked for a dive that was ten minutes too late for a non-contact challenge. Minutes later with a Negredo pile driving effort sandwiched in between Gaston went into a ridiculous lunge near the opposition corner flag, second yellow and off he went with just twenty minutes registered on the clock (hopefully never to be seen in a Boro shirt again).
Just before that Agnew had been about to bring Traore on presumably for Chambers to try and have a go at the Bournemouth defence. Gaston’s removal instead saw Forshaw brought onto wide left with George dropping into LB with Barragan off and Downing switching to the right in a 441. Confused? I certainly was! On twenty nine minutes Negredo headed down to de Roon who took a long range volley which Boruc done well to tip past for a corner. Minutes later King then stamped on de Roon but the Ref seemingly didn’t see anything wrong and it looked to me that de Roon will be subject to a metatarsal x-ray but despite that he hobbled back on with Fabio told to sit back on the bench. Two minutes later de Roon eventually had to succumb and leave the field. Thirty six minutes gone, one sending off, two subs on and at this point Boro were playing with a back eight, still couldn’t get a tackle in, losing 2-0 yet Aggers puts a full back on! Heaven knows what Gibson and Bausor were thinking but I sincerely hope it was the same as me.
Gosling suddenly pulled up just before half time as Boro where about to take a throw in with an apparent existing injury because nobody was near him. As Cooke then came on for Gosling the Boro
fans broke into a chorus of “Ugo Ehiogu tra la la la la” which was by far the best Boro performance of the day. After a slip up by the aforementioned Cooke with a sliced clearance Chambers hit a twenty yard volley that probably ended up in Penzance. The half time whistle shortly followed much to Boro’s relief and there ended one of the worst performances I have witnessed in a long time. Tactically all over the place, disorganised and despite what the fitness and medical team thought Chambers looked rusty as heck and in my opinion should have made way instead of Barragan who at least was match fit.
The team performance was completely unrecognisable from Monday night but surprisingly as on Monday when Clayton gave away the fee kick for Arsenal’s opener he was at fault for both Bournemouth goals today. As determined, energetic and committed he undoubtedly is his poor decision making is costing us. That said the rest of the side Negredo apart were absolute tosh, garbage, brown smelly stuff stuck to the sole of your shoe.
The first half spoke volumes as to any future of Steve Agnew’s tenure as Boro Coach on a permanent basis. He now had forty five minutes to restore any shred of personal credibility and to save Boro’s season. Being honest at this stage it looked totally transparent that Aggers was finished in his hope of retaining the position as were Boro’s hopes of survival. My thoughts were that as gut wrenchingly painful as it was maybe it’s a good thing. Today was the footballing forty five minute equivalent of taking your 15 year old family Labrador to the Vets for the last time, heart-breaking, but at least the pain and suffering is over with. Little did I know what the second half had in store?
As the second half started unsurprisingly there were no Boro subs made, not that it would have made an iota of difference to the woeful proceedings. The second half started at a fairly lethargic pace in the South Coast sunshine with Boro getting a corner four minutes into it but Ayala headed well over. The next five minutes saw more of Boro being under the cosh with Negredo literally under the cosh or at least on the receiving end of Francis’s forearm smash as we tried to mount an attack. After some treatment Alvaro returned to the field of play to pick up a loose ball from a corner but smashed it well over the goal which seems to have been a Boro trademark all season.
On 56 minutes Afobe should have scored but Guzan got down to save Boro’s blushes and thankfully pushed the effort wide. Friend then picked up a yellow after fortunately avoiding one in the first half. A few minutes later George definitely should have picked up a second yellow for a full on challenge but the Ref at this point was clearly feeling sympathy at Boro’s spineless plight. The game then descended into attack and defend with Boro doing all the defending and none of the attacking as the possession stats showed.
Every pass in a yellow shirt went short, got stuck in feet or simply missed the intended target and then after another defensive series of farcical proportions Ayala was rounded by Pugh and 3-0 to the Cherries. After the restart Ayala took his frustration out on Pugh and chopped him down to pick up a yellow. Like their apt shirt colour Boro were now attracting Yellow cards at an alarming rate and just to rub salt into the wounds Swansea had registered their second against Stoke and ten man Hull had simultaneously taken the lead against Watford. News was filtering through that Hull had went 2-0 up just as Bournemouth worked a pantomime free kick to make it 4-0 as Clayton (or Forshaw) broke from the end of the wall, was dribbled around with ease to see the net bulge from 18 yards out. Then incredibly with fifteen minutes to go the Cherries missed their easiest chance of the afternoon as the ball rolled right across the Boro goal line from Stanislas with nobody to tap in.
Gestede was forlornly brought on for Negredo who had thanklessly ran himself ragged and we then just started to hump long balls up to him who won his headers but then Bournemouth just collected the ball and broke forward again. I have no idea what the logic was in bringing Gestede on but it was obvious there was no tactical intent, just simply hump it long and hope. Fortunately with two minutes left Bournemouth Sub Mousset blasted a shot over from 6 yards out when hitting the target would have been easier. The whistle went and with it Middlesbrough FC’s premiership nightmare was over.
We have conceded 4 goals only twice this season and that Steve Agnew was in charge for both of them along with the Charlton debacle last year tells me that despite some more entertaining football he is most definitely not the man to take Boro anywhere let alone forward. This Season the Boro fans have been nothing less than fantastic. It is a shame that the club have disrespected them in just about every way possible from kits to signings, management insults and the most boring embarrassing performances in football history. Nine points from safety and down without a fight and it feels right now that not once did we truly give it a go or in all honesty if that was ever the genuine intent. To end the Premiership season with a weaker team than the Championship side that got us here now needs answering.
RR, I couldn’t have put it better.
What we saw today was a club in disarray.
The Chairman gives the impression of being distant and disinterested and has made two very bad decisions over the last 12 months – keeping Karanka after Charltongate and appointing Agnew when the penny finally dropped that Karanka had to go.
The manager clearly hasn’t a clue as reinforced in spades today by his selection, tactics and substitutions. He is not the man to take us forward. The coaching staff are no better and those responsible for recruitment have led the spending of millions on dross. They all have to go.
The team lacks quality and has in it a number of so called professional footballers who are paid a fortune but who don’t give a damn for the club, the team and the fans. Ramirez and Barragan should be sacked. The players look bereft of direction, commitment and belief which is a huge inditement of the management of the club.
It is now such a mess that there must be a massive clear out in the summer of management, coaches, recruitment staff and players and a manager and supporting team must be brought in who can build a team that can not only compete in the Championship but also stand some chance of getting us back into the EPL. If this doesn’t happen there is a real risk that Boro will do a Blackpool and sink through the leagues.
How did it come to this? RR is right that the fans (the only positive in a dismal season) are owed an explanation from the Chairman of what went wrong, what he intends to do to put it right and how he will endeavour to make sure the same implosion doesn’t happen again.
Boro ex
The chairman did not attempt to change the manager, he merely fired the existing one.
We could not get a new manager bounce because this person was fully involved and supportive of the existing shambles, as we have seen.
It’s entirely possible that he thought that he might turn things round and prove what idiot’s we fans are. That idea is not unknown.
I do not think that it is unreasonable for him to walk the walk, and I mean now. This cannot be allowed to go on, it is no different to Blackpool, so you can see the danger. An incompetent manager does not just lose matches, he wrecks your club unless you act the man and do your duty
I’m still singing to UB40
Red Red Wine ……
RR
An excellent report and summary.
I believe your views are shared by many.
It remains to be seen if SG will provide feedback on the mistakes made and how he intends to address them.
I suppose that at the end of the day actions speak louder than words so watch this space.
I still fear for the future ☹️
RR
Absolutely right.
I think we’ve said it before but can we please end the season now ?
Embarrassing is an understatement.
We’ve already signed up for next season. Please SG, give us some hope that this mess will be sorted out and we’ll have something better to look forward to.
Werdermouth,
Just sent a post that has disappeared. Like Boro’s ability to play football.
Everybody must be in a darkened room lashing down the Merlot or Shiraz. I just think we have flown to the dark side of the moon and it is dark, very dark.
What is SG thinking right now? We look fools and we look inept.
I need beer. At least.
UTB,
Depressed John
Sorry John I’ve got no post from you in my pending folders to cheer you up – you could maybe try using the back button in the browser to see if it as been cached. BTW already on the second glass of Merlot!
Should be the 2nd bottle after today 🍷😂
Well Mrs FatBob took pity on me after today’s result she was more devastated than me !
She went to see one of our granddaughters star in Les Mis tonight at Middlesbrough Theatre
I couldn’t go as still got me stitches in from Tuesday !
But she came home with a nice bottle of red Chateneuf which we shared and all is alright with the world !
Hoping to be at the game on Wednesday against The Mackems
Next season we will be playing them again but one division lower
Let’s not get too upset remember where UGOs family are tonight it puts everything into perspective
The Boro is bigger than one man or one player it is our club and we shall support you evermore
Good man I’m on the second Leffe!
John
There has been many ups and downs since Steve Gibson took over Boro, some great signings,great night’s,poor times especially the last seven ,eight years
But today was the only time I remember for the last thirty years,that that performance was embarrassing to the point of abject incompetence, it was embarrassing to any team who as hopes of being in the premiership,
If I was Gibson I would get them in a room on Monday and read them the riot act.and I would include Agnew.
Why tell your full backs to tuck in next to your centre back,allowing the opposition acres of room wide,it boggles the mind.
This club is in big trouble and it can happen quickly, you don’t make overall changes halfway in a season, Hull and Swansea made a change at the manager position ,but everyone didn’t leave.
Sunderland will beat us ,and watch the fun then.
I was working north of the border this week and speaking to someone who has a great working knowledge of the game and of course the conversation (as it always does with me) got around to Football and inevitably Boro and then our present plight. The subject of Chairmen came up and he said “ah yes, he’s wildly respected, a great Chairman without doubt, well intentioned, just not a very good one”.
It was food for thought and I wasn’t entirely sure what he meant or indeed if it even made sense especially as a few single malts were involved. This afternoon’s events has me thinking and I think I now get it.
RR
You and your friend over the border made plenty of sense, we have had some shudderingly awful actions from him.
The act of appointing one of the team as manager (without a single qualification) of a Premiership team that had played in a European Final a few weeks previous was both at the time and with hindsight an act of madness,(not a crime as such), but it’s consequences are still with us, and we have just been hit by one of the ripples from that act.
I would have hoped that as chairman he would have sold Ramirez when the offer came in, a foolish omission, we would have had good money and had a couple of points more. But this is symptomatic of his responsibilities as chairman. He should not have sold Rhodes with us hurtling down to the Champ.
We will not talk about his shouting the odds about how confident he was about the fool now in charge, on wonders how on earth he managed to arrive at that conclusion?
My thoughts are with the owners of the 15yr old Labrador. RIP big fella / girlie 🐕
Jarsue159 :
Leffe Blonde or Brune ?
Blonde and large. Like the fat lady!
UTB,
John
PS I suddenly feel content. Don’t know why…
UTB,
John
I listened to the game on the radio. It strikes me that Maddo cares for the club like we do, and rather more than SOME (note, not all) of the players out on the pitch.
The Prosecco, I had hoped, would deaden the pain a little. It has not. I intend to broach a bottle of Black Stump Durif Shiraz, whilst nibbling at cheese. Let’s see if that does the trick.
It would probably be better to send a more considered post than the sort that is likely to be typed if I sent it now. Let some time pass by. We’ll see if it feels any different tomorrow.
Nibbling at Cheese? You’ll have dreams you know. Born in the Premiership, Cup wins, entertaining football. Yeah, it was a dream. Just a small Leffe Blonde to finish the day…
UTB,
John
Your final sentence says it all for me, to end the season in the Premiership with a weaker team than when we came up. I don’t think it is just weaker now, I think it was weaker last summer.
Is Barragan better than anyone that played for us at RB last year, no. Kalas and Nsue could have been kept. Although personally I would have gone for Trippier.
Is Traore or anyone we have played on the right better than Adomah, no. He might have had his faults, but he is head and shoulders above Traore, who is fast, but can’t pass, cross or shoot on target.
For me one of the things about this season that upset me so much was good players not being given their chance; Dimi, Ayala and Rhodes should all have been given chances in the first half of the season.
Espinose is awful [not as bad as Barragan, but still bad], although if Chambers had been fit all season we might not have seen him. I would have brought in Maguire, a good solid English player, or even Lewis Dunk, who is now about to swap places with us.
I don’t see one area of the team that has improved since promotion, and the one that needed to improve most is the front four, the three behind and the striker. Bamford would have been the first phone call I made and then I would have added three attacking midfielders with pace, goals and assists in them. Hard to find are they, surely that’s what a decent scouting system is for. I bet the online Boro collective could name a decent number of candidates we could have signed last summer.
What happens next? Well for me, Agnew has demonstrated that he has not got a clue what he is doing, a different formation in every game, different players and no organisation at all.
Someone on Twitter has said that AK must be loving this and that it demonstrates how poor we are and that he was the only thing keeping is together. That ignores the obvious point that he signed off on signing all of these god-awful players.
We will have plenty of money for the manager to use or abuse this summer, let us hope the right person is in place and the money is not wasted, or we could be down there another 7 years.
Teapot, AK might like to think that he was the only thing keeping it together when in fact he was the one who sowed the seeds of this disastrous season when he threw his wobbly and decided to abandon his team for the Charlton game last season.
The fallout from that has, as I said it would at the time, been festering for the last year and that, coupled with the failure of the Chairman to take action and make the right decisions, have resulted in the debacle that unfolded today.
Sorry that should be ‘BORO in the Premiership’. Bloody spellcheck.
UTB,
John
Me again, I’m afraid – still busting with things to get off my chest. As I said on the last thread, I had no interest in today’s game (although I did listen on Boro+) and have no wish to pick over the bones of that abject embarrassment. Having been out of the loop abroad for a couple of months, my considerations are still longer term so I want to bemoan our ineptitude when it comes to signing players. I know this has been discussed here before but I need to have my rant at it.
It’s not clear just who is in charge of transfers. My understanding is that, having backed GS2 so handsomely, after that disaster the exec team belatedly learned a lesson. Subsequently the official line was that AK drew up a list of his wants and Bausor et al went and did their best but the latter had the ultimate say. That may well be how it usually works but there is evidence of exceptions.
It was quickly obvious that Jordan Rhodes was not Aitor’s idea, who made his point by not playing him. Of course, looked at in one way, Karanka was correct: playing in the way we did/do, Rhodes was the wrong type of forward and AK was never going to radically change Boro’s style to build the team around a player he’d had foisted on him. Similarly I suspect that Downing was SG’s initiative. My guess is that Stewart begged Steve to bring him home – all over AK’s head. So, although he was a proven PL player, Downing was never welcome in Aitor’s Boro.
But, regardless of where the power lies in signing players, our record is poor across many years and a across several managerial regimes. Unfortunately for his reputation, Aitor had a lot more money than his predecessors so his misspending is more noticeable. Ignoring loans (lots of whom have passed through), let’s examine our record of signings under AK.
Successful signings
Dimi turned into a somewhat surprising success that Aitor never seemed to want. He almost ditched him when close to signing Shay Given and then AK did his best to replace Dimi with Meijas.
Our best FB has probably been Friend – but AK inherited him. Nevertheless the club did well to back Mowbray’s judgment in buying him.
Clayton has possibly been AK’s best purchase – maybe his only good purchase. Apart from recent clangers, he has been reliable, largely free from injury, a key member of our ‘dogs-of-war’ MF.
Albert was purchased by Mogga but AK made him a more complete player, who played a key role throughout the promotion seasons.
Worst signings
GKs: Meijas was useless and Karanaka’s obstinacy cost us points. Guzan was a poor GK who unsurprisingly went down with Villa and will now be relegated with us.
Defenders: Alex Baptise passed through without a ripple because of long-term injury. Damia Abella was much the same. Barragan has been a big nothing. He offers little going forward and is erratic in defence.
Midfielders: Bought for a then significant fee, Adam Forshaw took a long time to get into the first team and didn’t play regularly until this season. Even then he faded badly after the first third. Julien de Sart – who? Came and went like a ghost. Yanic Wildscutt was an earlier Traore – bags of pace but little end product. De Pena was much-vaunted when he arrived but left having contributed very little. Similarly Fischer was trumpeted but has been a damp squib. De Roon hasn’t been a bad player but wasn’t worth anywhere near £12m. and brought nothing that we didn’t already have. Ramirez did well while on loan. Once signed, he unravelled and has been a liability for much of this season. Adlene Guedioura – who?
Forwards: Kei Kamara looked promising initially but turned out to be a spoiled kid who was a liability. Kike was a disappointment who was too slow for the Championship. Gestede was a proven PL failure who gave us even more proof by extending his unenviable record of losing. Bamford: bought for a significant fee, was another who had failed across several clubs and so far has continued that run since returning.
Signings that weren’t clear cut successes but ‘did a job’
GK: Valdes struggled at first but soon proved to himself a good shot-stopper. Nevertheless he continues to be suspect in commanding his area and still struggles with crosses.
Defenders: Espinosa looked good at first but was soon found out for indecisiveness and lack of pace. He would have been a ‘worst signing’ but, with all the injuries, we’d have struggled without a body to put in. Fabio would have been in the ‘best signings’ category at one time but, as time went on, his defensive failings increasingly made themselves felt. Great at bombing forward, he is often caught out of position and his concentration and marking can be very poor. I can’t work out why Chambers was brought in at the cost of Ayala. He would have been categorised as a ‘worst signing’ except that we needed him during the defensive injury crisis.
MF: Lee Tomlin could be great – but not often enough. Lacking stamina, he usually ‘blew up’ after an hour. Stewart Downing was brought back home but has mostly been a disappointment. Having recently been a top PL performer, he struggled even in the second tier.
Forwards: Jelle Vossen flattered to deceive. He made an impact at times but couldn’t sustain it. Stuani has scored some important goals but has never secured a place and has mostly been bland. Nugent was in the twilight of his career but brought some PL know-how and did a job. Negredo is on loan but, with his wages, he comes under review. His lack of scoring suggests a failure but, with such poor service, he has been given little chance to be prolific.
In summary, millions have been spent over the last 3-4 years with very few successful purchases and many failures. The record with loans is no better. Overall there has been a lot of player traffic, with many players lasting a season or less, and we now find ourselves plummeting down with a playing squad no better than the one that gained promotion but now in disarray, demoralised and with an inept manager.
Teapot
I don’t think AK will be loving this, you cannot spend so much time, leave and enjoy our demise. It reflects on him.
Of more concern to me are the fact my fears that lancing the AK boil merely left us with underlying problems, his time was up.
New manager bounce is normally down to players response no doubt in part due to the feeling they are responsible.
AK had to go, he cant be solely responsible for what is now appearing on the pitch. Everyone in the club should look in the mirror and ask what they have done.
There are a few evident facts.
The first is we now know why Ramirez has struggled elsewhere. He is a prat.
The second is that Traore may remain a prospect for some time to come.
Apart from stop start Adama we have little pace.
I will stop because I cant be bothered repeating past comments, we cant do anything about our situation.
O dear _ been on my sons stag do so missed it and suitably inebriated not to care too much, sorry to say. I’ll
I have not enjoyed this season at all but will still be at the Riverside in early August!
UTB
I think most of the Boro starting 11 must have been on the same Stag do, they certainly played like they were to inebriated to score!
So far, the Durif Shiraz isn’t working either……
Watched MoTD (missed the start so it was 1-0 before I saw anything at all, and I only missed SECONDS….) and it was as it sounded on the radio. Too grim to merit early comment. Not sure whether to go back into the sitting room to watch the rest of MoTD.
I see we are being “linked” with Chelsea’s Tammy Abraham currently on loan to Bristol City as they want to test him further and send him to a promotion chasing side. It didn’t take long for the media to be talking about Boro’s Premiership sojourn in the past tense. Can’t wait to see our recruitment team unveil an overpriced Tammy Wynette then come August.
The next few weeks will be interesting to see what exactly the likes of Kenyon and co. come up with (or not which is probably the more likely). I think SG needs to take a long hard look at who he has surrounded himself with and what value if any they brought to the table and what influence they have had (or perhaps not?) on his own decision making.
4-0
On behalf of Middlesbrough fans ” Sorry Ugo”
Good player summing up by Nike.
Awful as yesterday was, it really was no more miserable and soulless than what we have endured over the past year but as a statistic – losing four nil to Bournemouth – must be the catalyst for extreme change.
I mentioned a while back that AK has destroyed our club, and was much derided, but as yesterday shows, he absolutely has. Really.
The first myth to go re AK must be that he was a decent defensive coach. Utter rubbish. We conceded few goals under him but only because he packed the team in defence and in a way that allowed no creative outlet or thinking. Anybody can do that and you are only a good defensive coach when it is not at the expense of everything else.
Come next month we will be left with one player who can properly be called premiership class and he will likely leave. This too is a direct consequence of AK’s management, a team should have been built around Ben Gibson, not selling him to build another team.
Sadly Clayton and Friend are not PL level, one thing not AK’s doing admittedly but the rest are just rubbish, maybe Bamford and Forshaw excepted.
This legacy is far worse and goes deeper than anything GS2 left us and calls for a wholesale shift in thinking and ideology.
SA is not the answer and Gibson must have known that but why he was installed is anyone’s guess.
It’s imperative that Gibbo tells the fans what is happening and why it happened and what he will do next. He very much owes everyone that. I back Gibbo wholeheartedly but he has lost his glow for sure. I’m certain most fas feel that same about that. It is not inconceivable that he has run his course, his judgement has been on the wane for some time now. How much money, time and emotion can one man throw at anything before he becomes weary and ineffective? No one can, or will, blame SG should this be the case.
Then the youngsters. Give Fry a go now, recall Chapman if we can, get Morris in if possible and any others. They are the future and a few PL games, even if we lose by five or six goals will help them long term and also get the fans onside with the regime again.
It appalls me that AK was allowed to get away with what he did but, belatedly, the AK apologists seem to have done an about turn and there is a coming together of mind and resolve, as happens when you hit rock bottom.
So put the kids in now Steve Gibson, dump anyone not likely to be here beyond June, and have a holiday.
Then come back and let’s move forward together once more. Surely, things can get any worse…
Now that we know that we are going down, can anybody come up with something approximate numbers as to how the finances are shaping up. We know that everybody talked about a guaranteed pds175 million or thereabouts. How much have we spent, how much is still to come and when do we get it?
Also, who do we have locked in to contracts for next year (whether we’d want them or not).
UTB
I’m sure SG is reflecting on the way forward today, and hopefully recognising the need for a new manager.
It may be that an experienced manager with established pedigree would come – a Benitez if you like – but I doubt it.
Ambitious managers with a track record of success at Championship level should be strongly considered if their team is not promoted – for example, David Wagner, Jaap Stam, and Slaviša Jokanović have all done excellent work this season.
I think we would all agree that it would help to bring in someone with a clear idea of what direction to take, and who has his own list of targets*, rather than our current recruitment team deciding who comes for next season. Although a significant problem is that it will be a while before the play-offs unfold and the position of high-performing Championship managers is known.
I think we will need a massive squad re-build to be competitive next season, and we need a new man who knows how he wants to re-shape the side.
I don’t use the word massive in anger, or as a throw-away exaggeration. For example, we need to completely rebuild the creative attacking element of the team as by August we will have virtually nothing there to take on a brutal Championship schedule unless we spend.
*As Marco Silva has done at Hull.
On contracts this is helpful, Selwynoz:
http://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/fc-middlesbrough/vertragsende/verein/641/vertragsendeJahr/2017
Mark W
Thanks. I’m not sure that they have their market values correct.
The 2018 End of Contract page reveals something I think we caan all agree on – that Fabio should be signed on an extended contract as a matter of urgency.
Looks like the majority of the squad are signed up to 2018 and beyond.
I expect the loan deals for Negredo and Chambers will not be renewed at end of this season. Guzan we already know is going home to USA.
Ben Gibson will probably be sold to PL team. Grant is out of contract and may be worth another year for his experience and leadership and a useful squad player.
Gaston I would sell if we can find a buyer as he has proved this season that he has no loyalty and is purely a mercenary.
We can but hope that the loan deals for Meijas and De Pena turn into sales. De sart will return from Derby and a decision will need to be made as to his future.
This should leave an incoming manager with plenty of options as regards the remainder of the squad and there will need to be a lot of wheeling and dealing if we are to get some pace and creativity into the side to support a promotion push.
Could be a very busy and interesting summer and just wish it was here now and the debacle that has been 2016/2017 at an end.
Forgot to mention Dimi whose contract is up this summer.
Badly treated by AK in my view and I would be happy to give him another year.
Be interesting to see if Valdes wants to stay in a Championship side.
Valdes would be battered and bulldozed by Championship Strikers.
I’d give Dimi another year next season as back-up to Ripley. We might get a bit of money for Valdes and every bit helps.
Agree on giving Fabio an extension, and with Fabio and Friend as fullbacks we’d have two of the better attacking defenders in the division.
With the loss of Gibson we will need to rebuild the centre. But if we get £30m for him we should have the money to do so.
To improve the midfield I’d be looking at Tom Cairney and Aaron Mooy. But we still need two good wingers, who can cross, assist and chip in with goals.
I’d definitely take Tammy Abraham on loan to play alongside Bamford.
Oh and 442 next season please.
After the Strachan disaster I had hoped the Club had learned a bitter lesson on poor recruitment but it appears not as Nikeboro has illustrated above. The only saving grace is that this time it hasn’t almost bankrupt the club. It could have made hundreds of millions for the club (and SG) if they had got it right so financially ultimately it has cost a lot more than the Tartan invasion ever did.
Oh and please give Dimi his earned and deserving game time now the season is over, its the very least he deserves. He earned the right which is a darn sight more than most.
What O folks!
Now I don’t mind passing on a rant every now & then BUT.. SA took on quite a challenge when he grasped the nettle at Boro & became Head Coach.
What’s yer point Spartak? Well, pleased you asked. The RB position has been a vunerability for yonks now – we all know why. So SA gives instructions to the RB to tuck in closer to the CB’s so a)he dont get skinned by flying opposition wingers b) if he does he has cover from the CB as there are three of them.
However, we all know what happened. Space became premium for Bournemouth, cross came in and its 1-0 in first 2 mins. So we’re on the backfoot away from home, a glaring defensive weakness and then down to 10 men when the offending player should never have pulled on a yellow shirt (yellow hmmmmm, who’s choice was that).
So, its all a bit of a shambles but things can get better on Wednesday IF the flaws are sorted.
1 game at a time now & forget the table.
UTB
Looking at those contracts we already have the basis of a decent championship side for next season. Most of the spanish contingent can go, as being either too expensive or not good enough or both. It’s a pity about Ben Gibson but I think we can’t really stand in his way. He deserves the chance at a big premiership club, perhaps with a buy-back clause.
My choice of manager would be David Wagner if we can get him. We should look a pretty good prospect for a new manager. The bulk of last year’s promotion team is still there, we have money to spend, Steve Gibson is a loyal chairman. There are worse opportunities around than us.
I guess now there is not a lot to be said about the performance yesterday that has not already been said and by SG and AV also.
If I am honest I was initially prepared to give SG a go because in truth there not a lot of options available, certainly that we knew about. However there was the rumour that ´Arry would have come, but after that who was available short term until the season end that may have saved us?
There are even calls on here saying we should appoint someone now….OK but who? The situation has not changed and until the season and playoffs finish the choice is very limited. That is unless SG & Kenyon have some irons in the fire, but that would mean that person probably walking out on a club now, not a good sign.
Of course we are all talking as if Mr Gibson wants to give it another go in the the grind of the Championship. Has he got the stomach for it? If he must must think at times have I done what I can. Possibly the Chinese were a real option.
But assuming SG does give it another go and is prepared to gamble and spend some of the parachute payments to have a punt at the very tall order of promotion (see Villa, Norwich, Derby, Wolves etc) the choice of the Head Coach next season could be his hardest decision to date. One he has to get right this time.
Looking at BoroNurk´s link apart from the loanees, Grant and Dimi then Fabio and Husband for one more season all the rest have contracts up to and beyond 2019. All will be on reasonable EPL wages I assume, and unless there any relegation clauses in them, how are we going to move some of those on. In fact the majority in my opinion would not even get us out of the Championship.
So bearing in mind the wages, we have too many “Projects” who nobody will want unless they are for free almost. Then we have the likes of Valdes, Barragan, Bernardo,Guedioura, Ramirez, who need to be moved on IMO. After them the question marks against a number of the other long term contract players. Are they good enough to get ius up? Ayala (injury prone), Friend not the player he was, Gestede enough has been said about him.
That does not leave too many to start with. A new goalkeeper, CB´s, (assuming Ben leaves) creative mid-fielders, wide-players (bring back Albert) and then of course the sharp end. Bamford may do it but we will need one more credible goalscorer and they do not come cheap even in the championship.
I have missed some players out, SD and one or two others. I also think that the younger players may not be good enough yet for the hustle and bustle of next season, but could be wrong.
Anyway you get my drift…..depressing and an unenviable decision for Mr Gibson to ponder on. Get it wrong this time and we could implode.
If we didn’t splash the cash in the Premier League what makes everyone think Gibson is going to throw cash at it in the Championship?
Good point Geoff and I think financial prudence will likely be in evidence again plus I don’t share SteveH’s enthusiasm about the quality of the squad as OFB and myself debated a few weeks back.
The huge amount spent by AK to get us into the Premiership. When we had no money.
Boro’s away support has been tremendous this season and with a more generous allocation of tickets next season and with an abundance of shorter travelling distances to Barnsley, Bradford(possibly), Burton, Derby, Huddersfield (I’m assuming Fulham being the form team will win the play-offs), Leeds, Notts Forest, both Sheffield teams and Sunderland plus a Lancashire contingent of Bolton, Preston and hopefully Mowbray’s Blackburn that’s half the league the cost of travelling should be a lot cheaper, and what’s more enjoyable with more wins than defeats if the right manager is appointed. How about Silva (only on a short contract at Hull), Wagner or dare I say it, MacLaren (a good coach?).
There’s seems to be a widespread assumption that Gibson will leave to stay in the PL. I’m not so sure.
Firstly Boro don’t need the money. There are two aspects to that.
SG hasn’t splashed the cash on players and they must have made money over the last couple of years (two promotion campaigns, a Wembley appearance and 30K+ attendances for much of this season). Most significantly, we all saw the astronomical figures of the value of promotion – even if relegated – and Boro will now have the big financial advantage of umbrella payments for a few years. There must be cash in the bank and there is a lot more to come. So, unlike with the fire sale after the last relegation, we don’t need to raise money just to survive.
Disappointing though this season has been, there is a silver lining. The one advantage of just a single season in the PL is that wages haven’t had chance to escalate. That’s the biggest problem that long-established clubs face when going down and was the main reason for the Boro fire sale after the last relegation. In summary there should be no financial need to sell.
Secondly, who says he wants to go? Ben is no mercenary. He’s a local lad, Boro through-and-through who is living the dream in playing for his hometown club which, last but not least, is owned by his uncle.
Remind him of this, tell him he’s at the best place for him, assure him the the intention is to do a Burnley/Newcastle and keep the core of the squad together with a forward-thinking new manager and that we have an immediate return in our sights.
On the brink of an England cap and approaching the peak years of his career if he was my son or Nephew I’d tell him to go and have a great career rather than stay and maybe have one with Boro.
I completely agree RR. It would have been hard enough to keep him if we’d stayed up. It’s time for him to try the next step up. i.e. playing regular european football.
Not sure Nikeboro that Boro will have that much cash to play with. They still owe circa 100mil to SG, within the overall group. Then most of the players got longer contracts and possibly wage rises, some to 2020 and beyond in Bamfords case.
The players are all on contracts that see their wages drop back to Championship levels upon relegation. That has been standard practice ever since the financial gap between the top 2 divisions opened into a gaping chasm.
It is the only reason that clubs like Newcastle and Burnley have twice been able to keep their squads to together for the second tier and thus bounce straight back.
We have the opportunity to do the same.
Werder……sorry about this again. Another post has gone into the spam box.
Obviously, it has been detected as a load of old rubbish!!!!
I can remember saying a year ago that, even if we dropped straight back idown, it would not be the end of the world. Of course it’s easy to be philosophical about it when you’re on the up-and-up, not seen as the most boring team and you’re not a laughing stock. The pain and humiliation of the last 3-4 months is not a period to relish.
Nevertheless I stand by the point I made.
The players must be that much better for their season’s experience of the top flight. We looked completely out of our depth in the first few games but quickly adapted to the higher standard (which was clearly a shock to them) by the time we played Arsenal and Man Utd away. The fact that it all unraveled after Xmas is more to do with poor management than with the players. I am convinced that our players are better than the performances in 2017.
Regardless of the overall financial situation, we must be much better off than two years ago. Wembley, promotion, 30K attendances, a season of PL riches – and several years of umbrella payments to come. Remember that promotion was described as ‘the richest prize in world sport’. This is a dream come true compared to the penury of the Mogga years.
If relegation is well handled and, above all, we get the right manager we can bounce straight back. After all, Boro have done it before and it’s a well-trodden path: 15 clubs have made an immediate return during the PL years.
One good thing about this season’s debacle is that we’re not at risk of being asset-stripped. Gibson aside, none of our players have covered themselves in glory so we won’t have a queue of buyers outside SG’s office – not from PL clubs and perhaps not even Championship clubs. So, if our playing squad is not going to be cherry-picked and we’re not going to be forced to sell to survive, that puts the club in control.
Get rid of the mercenaries, the players who are too good/high profile to drop a level and those who are short of promotion standard or, like Ramirez, have been found temperamentally wanting. Consolidate on those players who want to stay and fight.
Than wind them up and let them go. Simples.
We opened 4 bottles between us of our latest red to numb the pain but this batch didnt seem to have any potency. Around about half time though I noticed that I couldnt feel me cheeks and that I had trouble concentrating on the match – after that it was down hill all the way.
Down side – non left for the Sunderland game.
So sad but at least the end result now looks inevitable.
I agree with Spartak though – take one game at a time, troulble is we have been doing that for years now.
As they say in politics – I shall now have more time for my family, roll on August for a fresh and less televised start.
Does anyone know when the new strip will be coming out?
I think Werdermouth needs to do a post on the strip and the new strip. Grim, hideous and awful thing. Then we can send the finished blog on the subject to the ‘marketing’ department.
UTB,
John
Ayala, Friend, Fabio, Fry, Clayton, Forshaw, Fischer, Stuani, Bamford. That’s not a bad start for rebuilding a promotion challenging squad. If we reinvest the money wisely that we get for the players that leave (De Roon, Ramirez, Gibson, Downing(?) etc. then we have a decent chance of bouncing straight back next season.
SteveH, It is a start, but certainly nowhere near enough quality in that lot. No creativity. Bamford possibly the only goalscorer. Goalkeeper? It does not bare thinking about at this moment.
The problem Nikeboro is that we are weak in some key areas, especially creative positions.
The only effective dynamic creative attacker was Ramirez, who will go (and let’s not waste any time fretting about him). Traore is thrilling but has little guile or calculation in his play, and so can’t be relied on to frequently set up chances to win games. (And we may get an offer for him – from a club who focus on his highlights!). Downing (and Leadbitter) are two years older from the last time we kicked off for a season in the Championship. Fischer has been ignored by Agnew as well as AK in favour of the above.
Forshaw and De Roon have some excellent qualities, but neither of them has a sufficient combination of guile, vision or accuracy to open up defences.
We haven’t a prayer unless we get in some dynamic creative attackers, along the sort of lines Teapot has indicated, who can consistently set up the chances we will need to win 25+ Championship games. (Brighton have won 28, Newcastle 26 so far.)
Back in the annals of history when we last played in t Championship, we ad little or no ‘creative’ players, yet autopromo was achieved with ard graft and stealth.
Stealth Spartak?
Aye, stealth!
I was always hopeful when we got a corner Ayala would blast one past the oppo keeper off his head – more often than not it occured. So, whilst I too would enjoy watchin the creative, I think the secret to success is havin a core of capable EPL veterans with bouncy energy filled youngens to do the chasing.
Has Grant L still got the legs? I’d keep hold of De Roon, me like! Still we needs a Captain Marvel type who will enthuse tuthers to greater heights of performance, I believe – Ben G is not that man.
Any new manager MUST have that player in the portfolio to come with him. Trusting our erstwhiles recruitment dept is not an option.
UTB
NikeBoro, I hope you are correct about the reduction in contract wages when we are relegated. I have never read that but of course may be it is not something they would shout from the roof tops. Possibly OFB would confirm or not.
What you also have to remember though is that Buklhaul have just post a large fall in profits for the last declared Financial Year and that 30mil If I remember correctly was down MFC and to the cost of promotion. All the extra crowds etc was swallowed up by fees and wages. SD. Nugent and so on.
Will Mr Gibson continue to pump money in, taking a rather large gamble on returning to the promised land. Also the parachute payments are curtailed one year earlier for us for coming straight back down.
Whilst some players would revert to championship wages others have clauses that if the club is relegated it would trigger a release clause to implement a transfer
Players like Valdez De Roon Espinosa would probably fall into this category
Wednesday may come too soon for me to go personally but Mrs Fat Bob and her sister will probably go (if only for a good dinner and a few glasses of Shiraz)
Got to bribe the wife to come with me after this season I must be mad !
Bit then so are all of us Boro Supporters
Boronurk is right. Not only is the team weak in key positions but I’m not sure that I buy Nikeboro’s argument that the players next season will be better for their experience in the EPL.
Who knows what has been going on behind the scenes in the last nine months and that coupled with the disastrous results on the field may well have had an impact on the mentality of the players. It is entirely possible that we may not win another game this season and that is not a solid foundation for embarking on a Championship campaign. The players must be affected by it and could start next season with the scrambled mindset which was clearly evident yesterday. Keeping Agnew for next season will not help change the morale or anything else as he represents the regime this season that has delivered such a shambles. Agnew will not get us promoted and may we’ll deliver another relegation.
To get the best out of the players that start next season in the Hampton ship squad needs a new manager and management team to wipe the slate clean and start afresh.
I’d like to see Aggers stay on but I agree the whole farce is now tainted – a shambles, someone once said.
Big Nigel is off my wanted list.
Wagner would be nice to have.
But given SG’s history of meddling & failure, who with a decent pedigree & half a brain would volunteer?
Or even Championship squad……..
At the start of the season ,we would have been happy if by the January window we would have been out of the bottom three and ready to kick on ,
But no ,we had rumblings from ex pros and some fans, crying we weren’t going out there and showing everyone how good we really were and not attacking breaking teams down ,scoring at will.
Hence Gibson listened ,and this is his problem,he has too many voices around him ,who are clueless,we know who they are,they where around before AK came in,and gave us the little success we’ve had in years.
And by the way if it’s all about results,we are told it’s a results business,who cares how you pick up points.
This season was always going to be difficult,it was about survival ,then bit by bit progress,
Like I said Gibson listened to the wrong voices,you know our brilliant recruitment team.
By the way just wanted to add, I believe the Charlton carry on last season,and the reason Aitor left this season ,was because he was fed up with people within the club and those who are always sniffing around,including some in the local press,questioning his methods,even though it worked for the most part based on the pool of players we had.
Poor Aitor. Someone dared to question his methods? Surely not! What a sensitive soul he must be if that was too much to bear.
He left and rightly so because he wasn’t delivering results and it was clear that his relationship with most fans and some of the players had been terminally damaged. The reason the club is in such a mess today is because he didn’t leave soon enough.
Stop being infantile, AK has been around top people and coached internationally with Spain ,
I’m sure if he’d had better players ,you would have seen a different approach,
Good squad assessment Nikeboro
My worst away trip since Charlton last year and thoroughly dissappoIntend and embarrassed with our performance.
I thought Agnew had done ok so far and tried to improve our attacking intent but he failed yesterday when n a game which we had to win by lining up an AK defensive line up.
We definitely didn’t go three at the back the wing backs never got forward at all,most of the first half it was a back solid yellow line of five or six
Why was Barragan selected after an assassination by the sky pundits last Monday,he continued where he left off!
Chambers wasn’t 100% and neither was Friend.
We needed goals and once again Negrado was isolated,why wasn’t Gestede,Stuani or Bamford playing along side him?
Agnew has signed off his own P45 on the back of this,we are down with the most amateurish performing season in many years. We’ve been the laughing stock of the Premier League. Don’t get me started on Gaston,SG should have taken the 15/16m Leicester were offering because he hadn’t played for us since all he has done is worked against us. I said to the person next to me after his booking for diving he’ll be sent off before half time,two mins later he was gone. He’s worth nothing now and he won’t get a decent club either! If he’s had anything between his ears he’d have played out of his skin to get a decent move at the end of the season.
So as RR says we are going down with a worse team than we came up with,haven’t really got a good nucleus to keep together for a promotion push and immediate return like Burnley and Newcastle did. We need a decent experienced manager and hope we buy players that gel and perform. We are almost back to the day Karanka arrived and starting from scratch!
Apparently SG went on the MOSC mini bus and apologised for the shambles and said it wasn’t acceptable. He’s partly to blame,he hires and fires managers and his timing is always wrong. He’s hired the recruitment staff and scouts who have got it so wrong too.
And it has also been implied he has bought players over the managers head.
An enthusiastic loyal chairman yes but a good one no!
Next season SG an experienced manager please and don’t be wasting money on players the manager won’t play or doesn’t want
I shudder at the amount of money we have wasted in AKs tenure that have barely featured under him. What must Tony Mowbray think when he had to make do with the bargain bucket and BOGOF players!!
GT
AK was and is a one man management walking disaster.
He had no first hand experience of managing a compeditive league football team and all he had going for him was a one dimensional approach that bored us to death but squeaky bummed us into the EPL, where he and we were caught out for being the shambles of a managed club that we are, completely hindered by an inept Chairman.
We now have the pieces to pick up so I guess AK is history.
Another point about AK management style
Although he has worked for some great managers it was perhaps unfortunate that his biggest role was working as an assistant to a narcissist egotistical dictator which influenced Karankas man management style.
Every job I have held in my career I’ve worked with some great managers and some very poor ones! I tried to pick the best bits and discard the dross when I eventually went into senior managerial roles.
We have said it before man management is a great skill to have knowing who to give a kick up the backside to and who needs a kind word and an arm around them.
We should have been warned when Hignett went abruptly what was to come
Thank you AK for the past three years and the success we have had but now let’s move on
The club are bigger than the manager chairman or players it is us the fans that keep it alive and on Saturday the fans were magnificent
I doubt that Huddersfield or anyone else for that matter will let their Managers go to a direct competitor so who can we get that is knowledgeable of the English game and who has achieved a modicum of success with clubs outside of the top 6/8 money spinning Premiership clubs is limited. No point in hiring a “world class” Manager and give him him peanuts to spend relatively speaking and worse still by a Recruitment team who probably still use Nokias and Blackberrys.
Nigel Pearson would certainly sort out the likes of Ramirez, probably permanently. Take yesterday for example when Gaston was stitching us up big time, consider if it was Big Nige he had to face in the Tunnel, I doubt very much that he would have got sent off because I don’t think he would have had the bottle for what would have inevitably ensued in the changing rooms. There again I doubt he would have been anywhere near Bournemouth in the first place and more likely recovering in North Tees after a midweek training ground “collision”.
Long term Nige as we know would like as not be a problem so perhaps not. Mac would probably come back in a heartbeat but I think he’s now a spent force and I doubt SG would countenance it but there again SG’s decision making of late has been less than credible.
It would be great to get say a Silva as Hull did but that would mean having overseas scouting and reliable contacts and I’m sorry but if Kenyon, Orta or Gill recommended anything to me right now I would do the exact complete opposite. AS SG once said I believe about Mac if he said the grass was green he would go out and check for himself. Well if these guys said the grass was green I would go out and check if there was any grass there in the first place let alone the colour.
Alan Pardew was on Sky Sports this morning touting for work, unpopular for lots of reasons but he does know the English game and has worked at Premiership level as well as having reached a few Cup Finals. He has also worked at Championship level in the past and brought the likes of Richie Lambert to Southampton when they were rebuilding. Maybe not who we would want but perhaps more suitable as to where we are and where we need to get to in the next 2 to 3 years which lets face it is about the shelf life of any Manager.
Whoever SG appoints it has to be someone with a track record, no more project Managers and please no to Aggers, he had my fullest support for his efforts but yesterday was so bad as to be unbelievable and 100% unacceptable.
No No No
Not Pardew I hate the man especially after his touchline fracas at Newcastle
Available Managers
http://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/trainer/verfuegbaretrainer/statistik
OFB
Took a look at the long list of losers, breathed a short sigh of relegation, I mean resignation, and wondered still which Kamikazi pilot would be willing to jump into the chaos and bring it around.
Btw. Thereis in fact an organisation in Aarhus, Denmark called Kaospilot that trains people to manage really difficult projects – maybe we could find someone there 🙂
Back to earth and still a dark cloud hovers over my head thinking about it. It’s not helped by SG giving SA a ringing endorsement earlier. Overall it gives me a bad feeling & smells like incompetence of the highest order.
🙁
RR
I was one of those who were advocating for Pardew to replace AK when the writing was on the wall for AK’ s tenure.
I also agree that he is not wholly ideal and has had his own issues in the past but he has a track record in both the PL and EFL.
He is in my view what we need at the present time albeit one Patrick Bamford might not agree!
Roberto Martinez is a strong possibility
Ryan Giggs has been touted on Twitter
Roberto Martinez Profile
http://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/roberto-mancini/profil/trainer/524
Sorry I mean Mancini
Silly old sod
It now appears that the club ( won’t say our club because it’s not) is in a worse state than anybody imagined. There are lots of rumours swirling around but do any of us know what is going on.
OFB sometimes says he has heard whispers but that is all they are we may never know the truth.
My worry/concern is we end up back where we were when GS2 was in charge at the wrong end of the EFL. I don’t think SA is up to the task, his record is abysmal 2 draws and no wins.
Has the chairman meddled in team matters an bought players, possibly, probably, I don’t know, but he has single handily kept the club afloat, we have a lot of emotion invested in the club, but at the end of the day our financial investment helps but it doesn’t keep the club going. As I have said before would any of us invest the money Gibson has ( I know there other financial benefits around what he has done ) I seriously doubt it I wouldn’t.
I think this team is as bad as the GS1 team of 2009 or even worse. Do we have the spine of a reasonable EFL team I don’t think so, we have no creativity in the team or striking prowess the rebuilding job will be enormous an we need a new manager.
Saying all that I have renewed my season tickets and hope springs eternal, but it is hope that kills you. We are not a Leyton Orient or Hartlepool so for that I am grateful.
At the end of the day the PL is where all the riches of mammon are and that is why we need/have to be there. But I haven’t enjoyed the football most of it is hype with a few good teams.
Roll on the end of the season it can’t come soon enough for me.
Roberto Mancini was a strong favourite at one time I believe
Maybe OFB is hearing Chinese Whispers ? 😊
Sis Insights
Is going to post some quotes on Martin O Neill
It’s his rotweiller I wouldn’t like to have
OFB
No no no not Giggs. He would in my view be another project.
It was on twitter so it must be true !!
I wouldn’t want Giggs either because he comes with too much baggage
You’d have to lock up yer wives, daughters, dogs, cats, budgies, canaries, giraffes, oxen, donkeys, rabbits etc, etc.
🙂
And Sheep ? 😀
IF it breathes hide it and lock it away.
UTB,
John
Are you shearing that sheep? No, go and find your own.
Sorry, I’m taking the two Jack Russell’s for a walk.
UTB,
John
I don’t particularly like Pardew but compiling a list of the attributes we need versus what we don’t want or need and he ticks a lot of boxes. I think he is capable of working at Championship level and getting us promoted and with a side that doesn’t have a single player whose surname begins with “de”. More importantly I also think he is capable upon promotion of stabilising us around 14th/15th in the Premiership when we can then call for his head and blame SG for lack of ambition circa October 2020.
The likes of Mancini have nothing that tells me that they have the appetite or skill set to operate at Championship level today or perhaps more importantly Championship players with Championship skill levels and abilities. Granted Paddy may squirm at the thought of Pardew, who knows if he bangs in 20 goals all may be forgiven, there again maybe Pardew wouldn’t have accepted the absolute joke that was January and spoke up during and not afterwards and like as not sorted things himself
The icing on the cake for me would be to clear out the entire scouting and recruitment wasters and put Mogga in charge. Unlikely I know but he has always had a knack of spotting budget priced bargains who go on to perform way above their initial cost/value. Sharp contrast to the waste of space and money that has hamstrung the club of late.
I don’t think for a minute Huddersfield for example would want to part with Wagner, RR. As you know it would boil down to Wagner or whoever wanting the chance to work with a higher budget and a club with the infrastructure for the Prem, and a compensation package to the club they are leaving.
Of course, Huddersfield or whoever could refuse permission to speak to their manager, but ultimately if the fans and players know the manager is interested in a move, they become something of a dead duck for the club.
A club like Boro would be the next step up for an ambitious Championship manager as they would be unlikely to get an offer to go straight into a Prem club.
The problem with Wagner is he is also highly regraded and coveted back in Germany and has gone on record as saying that he won’t leave a job half done and at the minute isn’t interested in anything else. Now of course ultimately money and opportunity talks but would think he will have his choice of clubs, Boro if interested being only one.
Redcar Red
I hate to poop on your parade but no to a Mogga return. Leave him be.
Ian
Please note NOT for a Mogga Management/Head Coach return. Head of Recruitment, huge massive difference!
How many of our Championship promotion team were Mogga’s bargain basement finds, Grant, Friend, Ayala, Dimi, Albert and even Gibson was blooded, plus his Baggies buys who are still plying their trade, far too many surely to be a mere coincidence. What were the total costs of that lot and then contrast with just our January spending alone. Mogga never had £16m to spend in his entire tenure!
Its a no brainer for me except that he may not fancy the gig and of course he would want serious wages for the role but what is Orta currently being paid?
Considering how many repeat January’s he could save us from not to mention the de Sart’s, de Pena’s, Mejias’s, Espinosa’s, Fischer’s, Traore’s, Kike Sola’s etc. etc. and he suddenly seems very cheap. Then throw in the fact that his gems may actually get us promoted and like the Baggies keep us up there. Who else could we realistically expect that level of recruitment from with those proven returns?
Doesn’t sound so hopeful for Wagner then, RR. Of course, he may still get Huddersfield promoted this season, in which case they will suddenly be well on the way to being a bigger club than the Boro!
And Dean Whitehead has the last laugh…
Some of the best pun-tastic match reports (hashtagged #Boro140) from yesterday’s disaster. You have to laugh, after all.
Like Labour, Boro replaced their Ed Miliband with Jeremy Corbyn but like their counterparts couldn’t create a credible opposition
— Daniel
Corb blimey! Boro give Farron away their worst performance so far as they Labour to defeat. May this toryble season end soon
— Anthony “Paulista Park” McCarthy
No apple-ause for Boro’s basket cases on the South Coast as two pears of the Cherries’ peaches meant a fruitless journey
— My own
We slipped on a banana where the cherries went on to blossom. We are nearly plum bottom and were kiwied today. They deserve a raspberry
— Denis Barry (in response to me)
Sometimes, Boro just drive you bananas.
An excellent match analysis from Redcar, not much to add, but for certain if the aim was for Agnew to prove he was the man for the job in the last ten games of the season then he’s failed miserably. Shipping four goals against both Hull and Bournemouth proves that.
We need an experienced Championship manager next season, there are a few about.
No more inexperienced managers please, we’re better than that and we the fans deserve better.
This season has been a nightmare, Agnew replacing Karanka has been frying pan to fire. That said Mourinho would have struggled to keep Boro up with what is a deeply flawed and totally inadequate squad.
Nigel
Amongst all the other things we have been denied by the current powers at the club, we can list the age old, never failing, new manager bounce. Why? Well if your manager and his team of helpers are in a car crash(a full on, six vehicle smash) and have a record of wildly eccentric behaviour, i.e. team selections in important matches, buying and selling players in a manner that would shame del boy, tactics(or the lack of them) then dispatching the manager, and telling his assistant to carry on is not going to hack it. As the manager you dispensed with at least knew how a big team was supposed to work, and his assistant has never knowingly done anything of value in that line, I think we all knew how it would work out.
What we did not realise(as evidenced by this blog) is that you cannot take a team into any English league completely unmanaged, unguided, without tactics, without a plan, and I might say, without hope or confidence.
The evidence that we did not want to believe, because it was too awful to contemplate, was, I am afraid, there to be seen in the Charlton game. It was not possible to be beaten in that game, he achieved it with ease and a bit of humiliation thrown in for good measure.
It was the chairman who appointed him, it must be him who relieves him of his duties today.
It cannot go on in this manner, we have been unerringly dismantled by every bottom fisher this season, we have made ourselves the laughing stock of the football world. They have wildly sold any player of any value in spite of appeals from fans(Reach) they have made regulars of players who cause defeats by their general incompetence,(Barragan) we possess no speed in the team, yet we pick Traore to dribble four men, then criticise him. We possess no height or weight in the team, and get bullied out of games when push comes to shove(and it always does).
Anyone who thinks that we will relax and enjoy ourselves back in the Champ. Can forget that idea, we lost every bit of organisation when AK left the building, and boy does it show, as a watcher of the Champ. I shudder at the very thought of this team being thrown to those wolves.
OFB,
These tasty bits of information… are you a double agent?
UTB,
John
They call be Bond
Basildon Bond
I’ve got letters after my name
Anyone fancy Martin O’Neill? Knows the league, good track record. Great man manager. Could we prise him away from Ireland?
Funny you say that, Clive. As an Irishman myself I’d embrace O’Neill’s arrival, no question. But be careful what you wish for.
“(His) successes have invariably involved grabbing poor to average teams, giving them a stern talking to, then wheeling them out to overachieve… But in the cold light of day, these successes can look rather modest, and his weaknesses rather more glaring.”
“The obvious criticism has been – to (his) fury – that he has never produced a team that you’d willingly pay to watch. (At one club he) was great at organising the talents he inherited… but rubbish at expanding them. (He) does workmanlike, and wants dependable.”
“(His team) were simply painful to watch last season. Willing triers (in the team) predictably flourished, but they lacked the expansive verve needed to open up the Premier League’s legion of mediocre sides.”
“(One club’s) fans thought him limited; (another club’s) fans were restless even as he got them promoted; ridiculously, (even his first club’s) supporters also questioned how far he could take them.
“He is simply astonished that people can question his effort, because he always tries so hard and cares so much – but his tactics are of the variety that prevent you from losing but make winning tricky.”
— Scott Anthony wrote those words about O’Neill in 2007. But you could easily apply many of them to Aitor.
Look at this post
http://m.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/sport/football/premier-league/stewart-downing-wants-steve-agnew-to-be-given-middlesbrough-job-permanently-35647151.html
A cynic might think that Downing wants Agnew to keep the job because he is more likely to get in the first team with him as manager.
Agnew is not the right choice. With him as manager the association with all the problems that led to the abject failure of this season’s campaign would continue into the Championship which in my opinion would have a detrimental effect on results.
It needs a clean break and a new start.
Boro
Downing should be gone, if the chairman bought him, he should still be gone.
Downing is renowned for having lots of talent, and using about five per cent of it on a regular basis.
If the chairman thought we would love to have an old favourite back, he was wrong, we thought we had moved on from pretty unhappy times, we were wrong, all this has done has plunged us back into the wilderness.
The move to a decent continental manager was not a mistake, he moved us on and showed us that there is a better way. Having arrived in the Premiership, we needed to think on our feet.
Great defence, pitiful attacking, why no serious attempt to fix the problem, it is not a mystery, people are fixing the problem all the time in the. football world. Look at Palace great attack pitiful defence, hire big sam, and ten games later, problem solved. Listening to him calmly explaining to the press precisely how he had given direct instructions to various players in his team, and why, then showing the match on screen, was to know what we are missing, and it hurts.
We need to do the managerial deal now, he needs the remaining matches to get his shopping list organised.
To read a list of good managers who have been sitting at home by the phone is heart breaking. But at least we have dodged one bullet, he will be gone, thank god.
I suppose we could always go back to our favourite supplier of people Aston Villa
Steve Bruce would team up with his old buddy again and has a track record of getting promotion and being in the Premiership
Hang on I don’t think I know what I’m saying I’m going for a lie down In a darkened room the stress must be getting to me …..
Stewy has a point in that after a couple of transfer windows Agnew would have his own team and could then be judged more fairly. But on the other hand, if Stewy is also right that we were second to all the loose balls on Saturday, then we need a change of direction urgently. You might get away with a lack of quality compared with the Prem, but one thing that will kill you beyond doubt in the Championship is a lack of commitment.
It has to be the better percentage move to bring in a manager with a track record of success.
Just had a look at Andy Halliday’s tackle on Patrick Roberts in AV’s Tweets, he’s been watching old 8mm and 16mm film of Dickie Rooks. Wow, he didn’t know what hit him!
UTB,
John
A club in freefall, in disarray!
Internal division.
Questionable appointments of people with no direct experience or success in a multi-million pound sector.
A nonchurlant Charman who states that R is not the end of the world.
God’s teeth, how does it come to this?
17th place is the goal as stated at the start of the season. We can’t/shouldn’t/expect better. What message is that? Supported of course by the Gazette in their lvory tower.
Then we have the rose tinted glasses types who ridicule, mock and belittle any and all who raise the alarm.
God’s teeth, how did it come to the Bournemouth meltdown, an end of season shambles?
Noted the rather darker tone coming from Gazette Towers. SG abandoned them for the Times. The phrase about how we see the fury of a woman spurned comes to mind.
Is there a song called ‘Picking up the pieces!’ ?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ijel4Vcqd9g&feature=youtube_gdata_player
Nah, Hudson-Ford. Always misheard the chorus as This is the wrong way, to pick up the pieces’ which fits rather better.
https://youtu.be/Pc14AzULCzo
EXMIL CHALLENGE 2017 Part 3 (final standings)
I think even the most optimistic of us (I include myself) have now accepted our fate and to be truthful including Burnley in the final shakedown is clutching at straws but having 5 sets of predictions instead of the reality of 3 down from 4 makes the final Part of the challenge a little more interesting.
Werdermouth has produced his magic again and it is simple to enter but you have only a short window (hope it is better for you than the January BORO window) as your entry needs to be in by 1945 hrs on Wednesday 26 April 2017 to be accepted.
A link to entry form for Part 3 can be found by clicking on the green Exmil Challenge banner below, which you can also find in the sidebar above the comments – where you can also see a countdown message to the deadline for entry submission.
Werdermouth is producing the league table using his formula after Part 2, good luck to everyone.
Come on BORO.
Exmil/Werder
The Burnley v West Ham and Hull V Palace games seem interlinked i.e. when you enter W, L or D it correspondingly changes the other fixture result. Not that it makes any difference to Boro of course, either way we are stuffed.
Starting to feel uncomfortable with Downing pushing for Agnew to get the job full time. As many have already stated it seems he has far too much influence at the club and not always positive. Gibson’s decision on the manager for next season will speak volumes on his commitment to the cause going forward.
Gooff
He should be gone, part of the problem, plus Woodgate.
I’m afraid it’s a root and branch job.
We will never know quite what has gone on, I think a really good interview with AK(with a Spanish speaker) would be very revealing.
It has been the first ever no show in the history of the Prem.
Plato
Non disclosure clauses in contracts means, like Higgy, that you are paid to keep yer mouth shut & if you fail to do so are heavily penalised financially.
I have also mentioned numerous times that there should be supporters on the MFC board. It’s not happened & you can see now why not – shambles!
Just completerd my Emil Challenge and unfortuanately after Saturday cannot see us getting any more points this season.
As Geoff has said above, uncomfortable with Downing bigging up SA. Alongside his buddy Woodgate it just does not bare thinking about.
If SG goes with this lot then I think he should offer ST refunds to those that want them.
What’s that Pedro – are you saying that our Stewy shouldn’t be telling Ben’s uncle that the job should go to the man that appointed his brother-in-law as defensive coach?
Incestuous shambles!
TBN*
*Total Bloody Nonsense
Incestuous may be a little unfair but I’d now be surprised if Steve Agnew is the long-term replacement of the man who moved on his nephew.
“Defensive Coach”……..almost sprayed coffee all over the keyboard with that one, then realised that that is exactly what he was supposed to be!
I mentioned in my report about hoping that SG and Bausor were seeing and thinking the same thing as myself on Saturday. If they were there can only be one outcome and that is a total clear-out of all those who purport to be part of the Coaching set up. To say Saturday wasn’t good enough is a massive understatement.
It looked like it was intended to be three at the back but Barragan hadn’t a clue where or what he was supposed to do and Friend was being skinned so either by accident or poor planning we ended up with 5 strung across the 18 yard box and no idea of who to pick up or when. Chambers was never remotely match fit. Clayts was left desperately running around in front trying to stop everything, totally undisciplined. Speaking of undisciplined one individual who I refuse to put into print took that to a whole new level. I struggle to believe that that attitudinal negativity wasn’t detectable at Rockliffe.
De Roon put in plenty of effort and was probably the best of a bad lot but wasn’t picking up runners himself before he got crocked. I have never seen a Football club match the colour of their shirts to the core so aptly. Six formations in six games isn’t tweaking the side and trying to get just a little more attacking intent it simply resulted in absolute mayhem and confusion.
If there isn’t to be a comprehensive clear out then for me the next manager needs to be someone who won’t put up with cliques or cronyism. That I should even consider that as a desirable characteristic trait for any Manager just shows the state of decay behind the scenes. Could it be that AK and Mourinho had a valid point? The great “Jocktification” crashed and burned previously and it now appears that the short lived “Teesuprising” has collapsed without a single shot being fired.
Before he left, I said it was not just AK I didn’t expect things to be this bad. The expected bounce is just a sickening thud.
The chairman going on to MOSC coach to apologise is a symbol of the problems as the club unravels.
Werder’s bit about Stewie telling Ben’s uncle made me chuckle.
That I am afraid is where we are at the moment. Little point in my being angry because I cant affect anything. The fat lady has just sighed and packed her costume away, she is just going to quietly leave us to get on with it.
After Charltongate and promotion there was the thought we went up in spite of AK. A more worrying thought is may be AK got us promoted in spite of the players. Truth is neither thought is totally right.
Where the balance between the two views is a conundrum for Steve Gibson to ponder, clearly something is amiss at MFC.
I think there was too much spite on all sides!
Thanks to Redcar Red for spotting an anomaly with the interactive form – it was a ghost in the machine from a piece of code when Palace were still included in the draft version for Exmil Part 3.
Apologies for that but I’ve fixed it now – however a few early predictors may have had their prediction for the following two games affected – basically they were incorrectly connected together so the selection for one automatically changed the other.
1. Burnley: West Ham (H)
2. Hull City: Palace (A)
So if any of the following posters wanted to make a different prediction for those given below (where 1. is Burnley and 2. is Hull) in those two games then let me know and I will amend it – though I think ‘1.W – 2.L’ looks a good bet!
Spartakboro: 1.D – 2.D
Boroexile: 1.D – 2.D
Pedro: 1.W – 2.L
Martin Bellamy: 1.W – 2.L
Jars (Jarsue?): 1.W – 2.L
Andy R: 1.W – 2.L
Exmil: 1.W – 2.L
NeverGiveUp: 1.W – 2.L
Redcar Red: 1.D – 2.D
Jars is correct and I will have a look. My predictions are as good as Boro’s form and attempted PR from S. Downing.
UTB,
John
Sorry, Jarsue is correct. Ghosts in my machine plus spellcheck on overtime = swearing.
UTB,
John
This made me laugh and heaven knows we need one!
http://dailycannon.com/2017/04/alexis-8th-best-dribbler-in-europe/
Keep it dark, don’t say a word. The offers are in the post.
UTB,
John
Redcar Red
I notice end product didn’t appear to be factored in to the table..
🙂
Ian
Ssssshhhhh if we all go along with it the rest of may Europe believe he’s better than Messi, maybe Barca will offer us a swap deal, Lionel plus £50m in the Summer?
Can werder delete the comment?
🙁
Werder
Went to do exmil challenge and it doesn’t recognise my blog name so poster stays red. It accepts my gloomy predictions so they go green for each club.
Unable to submit.
Ian, I believe you’ve done the same thing as you did last time – if you recall I explained before that the box where you enter your blog name is just a text box and it will accept anything you write – but you’re supposed to enter your name first before filling in the predictions.
To fix it Just change one result back and forth if you still have the page open – since the text box doesn’t use any code, it’s the ‘javascript’ controls for each game that are used to update the prediction summary at the bottom and they also check that your blog name has been entered – So if you enter your name last then no code is processed – so your name will turn it green once you change a result back and forth.
Just read Stewies comments on giving SA the job and couldnt for the life of me make sense of them. In essence, his message is that his tactics would have been spot on if only the players had listened to his instructions and followed them. Then, SA is first class and has given the lads loads of confidence and everyone wants to play for him.
Now I don’t want to pull his words apart like he is a politician or a spokesman for the club but isn’t it clear that the tactics were woeful because the back 5 didnt have a clue who to pick up and that any instructions that were given didnt deal with the obvious threat down the sides. Yes the players put the tactical plan into action but we lost this game within 2 minutes and nothing improved and that is a reflection on SA being unable to spot problems and get instructions on the pitch or change things. Nothing changed but the score.
If the players are ignoring the instructions right from the off then they obviously werent listening properly or don’t feel like they had to.
Would Ramirez be bothered about getting himself sent off if he was facing any other manager but ours whose main quality appears to be that he always has a smile on his face.
Take into account that we would be lucky to get anything for Ramirez now and that Ben Gibsons value must have gone down 5 to 10 million, I see the failure in not appointing a fresh face to the managers job to be more financially costly than it might appear.
Just watched the Sydney FC coach talking about when he played for Australia in a World cup qualifier and they wore a hideous shirt, bit of a tie dye nightmare.
At the end of the match he threw his shirt into the crowd and they threw it back at him …made me chuckle .
Ref Downings comments he wants SA to be manager next season beggars belief. You probably have noted that I don’t like Downing in previous posts that I have made. He is bad for the club. I hope that SG gets a new manager in and clears out the old pals act consortium otherwise we have a bleak future. RR reports are spot on. Hope SG reads them.
Mags winning 4 – 1 🙁 wonder if they give it a go next season
If they do “give it a go” I hope they don’t start offering silly money for Gestede, Barragan, Ramirez, Espinosa, Fischer, Guedioura and Traore. Just as well de Pena and Mejias are on loan in Spain and will have slipped under their radar. We need to hold this squad together to have any chance of bouncing straight back!
(inserts one of those raised eyebrow, whistling smiley face things)
Yes congratulations to Newcastle. At least we will have one NE team in the Premier League…..and shame about Hartlepool. Thought the other NE clubs could have helped out more with loanees.
I can just imagine Hartlepool’s response if they were offered some of Boro’s squad!
Will say congratulations to the mags although it makes me feel bilious. Geordies really nice people until you start talking about football then they become raving lunatics.
Yes, hard though it is to say it, well done the Mags.
The huge sadness is that with better management throughout our club we would have been playing them next season.
What a massive missed opportunity this season has been and the fantastic Boro fans deserved much, much better.
Can’t understand how the Geordies managed it with a hugely experienced manager who held a large part of their squad together and jettisoned some big value transfers to bring in tried and tested Championship performers.
You would have thought they would have recruited an inexperienced Rookie Manager then sold all their best players undermining him and replaced them with cheap dross and spending seven years trying to fix all their problems.
I’m at a loss to figure out how they managed it so quickly and with an owner thats almost as incompetent as Hull City Tigers bosses. These teams are doing it all wrong, they should be at the Riverside on Wednesday night to join the Smoggies and the Makems in a few choruses of “We’ll win again, don’t know where don’t know when”.
Werder
Thanks, as usual you are right about my inadequacies in things techie.
Well done to the skunks, choke, anyone handy with the Heimlich maneuver? I am spluttering and my wife asks did you win!
I can’t see SG making any real or appropriate comment until after the final match. BUT at that point we all need a massive sign from him. We’ve all seen for some time that this season was hit and hope, which has crashed and burned. And it could only have been delivered with the active participation (if not guidance) of SG. the multiple failures are systemic across and throughout the Club, from recruitment to coaching, leadership to tactics. Only SG can address the reasons and put in place the recovery. Can he? That’s another question. Does he really, deeply want to? More questions. The Chinese link at the start of the year makes me think that he’s ready to entertain offers. Obviously only the right offer, which that one wasn’t. But I wonder if the ‘dream’ is reaching a crossroads. Is the devil waiting……….
🔴 Just noticed that was actually the 6,000th comment since Diasboro started so congratulations Smoggypaul on that little milestone, which I may add is also 6,000 comments without Boro winning a PL game – so in the words of George Galloway, I admire your indefatigability everyone! – werdermouth
Well, I’ve never won anything before. I’d like to thank my friends, my family, my colleagues – I really would, but actually they had nothing to do with this – mwah mwah mwah…..
Pedro de Espana: Hartlepool are not relegated yet as they are 2 points behind Newport and 4 points behind Cheltenham who they play away at next, with the final round of matches on May 6. Mathew Bates has took over as temporary manager, assisted by Stuart Parnaby, Billy Paynter and Ian Gallagher. They only need to get past Newport or Cheltenham to survive in the football league and maybe they will get a new manager “bounce” for the last 2 matches, unlike BORO. I am sure everyone wishes Hartlepool all the best for the future and hopefully in league 2 next season.
Come on BORO.
EXMIL CHALLENGE 2017 Part 3 (final standings)
As at 2200 tonight I have received 11 entries into the final part of this years challenge:
Ladyboro
Paul
Redcar Red
Never Give Up On Boro
Martin Bellamy
Pedro de Espana
exmil2017
Andy R
Jars (I believe it to be Jarsue)
Boroexile
Spartakboro
Closing date 1945 hrs Wed 26 April 2017.
Come on BORO.
Just to add to that – It’s possible the ‘El Formo’ mail server may be down as looking at the online database where Exmil entries also get saved it is also showing entries from:
KP in Spain
SteveH
Forever Dormo
Paulista Park
Ian Gill
Len Masterman
Redcar Red said
I can just imagine Hartlepool’s response if they were offered some of Boro’s squad!
Pretty similar to mine in August and January!
Elsewhere it is intriguing that in France pro Europe candidates received 49.44% and anti Europe candidates received 49.31% of the vote. Very random based on whether centralist or left/right wing.
Reports say major European leaders are congratulating Macron and publicly so along with Mitterand. A dangerous game being over confident.
Brexit, Trump, Kinnock all cases where the establishment were smug. Beware, people do the voting.
Still rumours but it’s about Pardew !?!
Oh please no I hate the man
Dislike the smarm but he ticks all the boxes Bob (unfortunately).
I was thinking the same thing Ian. The two main parties were disposed off yet the penny still hasn’t dropped that the peasants are revolting. Macron’s champagne socialist celebrations won’t have gone down too well in a few quarters or should I say arrondissements. Still at least he should attract the Pensioner votes!
Onto “Prexit”, over 6,000 posts now going into the fifth month and not a single victory in the history of Diasboro is it possible we will end up in the Guinness Book of Records?
Should say “Premiership victory”, I was being unkind about the mighty Oxford and Accrington wins (rolls eyes).
Just thought I would update you all on the Traore “best dribbler in Europe” thing. This evening I have contacted CIES, the international football institute, based in Switzerland who came up with the statistic to contest it. I have counter proposed that Myself, Ian and OFB are infinitely better and more natural dribblers and very messi like with it.
There is however no truth in tabloid media leaks that Victor Orta and Gary Gill are imminently making a €16m plus offer to the three of us to sign a 4 year contract for Boro however an update may be available in our Platinum members area tomorrow evening!
I’m absolutely brilliant at diving in the penalty area when no other player or the ball is near me
I’m also a dab hand at lumbering into players and tripping them up with my Zimmer frame
Does that add m extra mill or two
Still can’t believe this http://m.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/sport/football/premier-league/stewart-downing-wants-steve-agnew-to-be-given-middlesbrough-job-permanently-35647151.html
One word sums up Stewy’s take on things and that word is delusional. If that is what he truly believes then it didn’t transmit itself very well on Saturday. There was a great opportunity and ultimately like Charlton last season it imploded again. Hull went down to 10 men as well yet they managed to dig deep and win 2-0. No excuses they collectively are a lot worse than they believe themselves to be.
Done Exmill part three and decided to ‘give it a go’. It’s a bit like Football Manager where anything is possible. It ended up with us needing a win at a Liverpool on the last day, getting a draw and going down by one point. Even my fantasies don’t work any more.
UTB
Newcastle got promoted because they had the best squad by far,Brighton went up because they had built a squad over a number of seasons adding here and there.
We are an absolute shambles, sacked the manager ,replaced him with someone ,who may be an excellent coach ,but clueless on game Management.
The team has no Identity ,none knows their roll right now,
How can you plan for next season whether it be personnel or strategy,we know half the squad will leave,whether because of finances or transfers,
Who will replace them,who is scouting who? What team shape will it be,you have to know in order to make the right signings.
You can’t address these things overnight,it takes in depth analysis and talks with agents,
What Steve Gibson is thinking is beyond belief.im now more convinced than ever there was too much interference, from elsewhere under Karanka ,
No Identity ,it’s a bunch of people who base their decisions on chance not top professional analysis.
Hopefully we will have learned by our mistakes!
Fat chance, OFB!
I thought you were calling me by my nickname
Fat Chancer!
Bob
Under AK it was a very organised slow failure(he might have even crawled across the line on the last day) and we were angry(me included) but remove AK. And we are plunged into the horrors of total blind disorganised panic, with, I might say, players not trying.
Looking from the outside, I cannot believe that the local oiks in charge of the asylum have a clue about what to do, about their best team, about their best system, about man management. They say rot starts from the head, so it’s down to gibbo I’m afraid. But first, he has a job to do, unpleasant though it is. The people trying their hand at being a manager must be taken aside and told that it is over, that means the lot, and it should have been today, times a wasting.
Speaking to a friend who supports Sunderland today, I assured him that tomorrow they had no problems, an easy three points.
Hand up those who disagree with that judgement?
Got it in a nutshell, GT!
I am brilliant at the back because anyone who runs round me is absolutely shattered. As John Powls put so well, I am a lot of space to be a waste of.
My other talent is as a one mall wall, that leaves nine other outfield players to mark up the opposition.
I can also use both feet, don’t care which one I use to hack anyone down.
I am able to play in any formation but my best is formation drinking. As with my feet I can use both hands and do keepy uppie with two beers.
As we seem to be into family links at Rockcliffe, maybe Gary will think we are related.
Nailed on for a contract, just got to get the boots out of the loft, I need some cork studs and Dubbin, is Jack Hatfields still open?
Brilliant stuff at lest we can still smile im adversity
OFB
I hope I didn’t have you in stitches!
🙂
I don’t know if I am looking forward to the Tees Wear worse than you derby.
My wife is a Geordie and my mother-in-law lives with us and, surprise, surprise, she is a Geordie too. Now that United are going up my only fall-back is that Boro are the highest placed team in the North East. Kind of a Pyrrhic victory. Those Boro players have a lot to answer for in this house.
I’m taking my two midfielders, otherwise known as Jack Russell Terriers, for a walk. They’d give it go for Boro believe me.
UTB,
John
Jarsue
To be truthful, for all the baiting, humour and smiles at other’s misfortunes I would rather Toon, the Mackems and we were all in the top flight. I would love to see Pools, Darlo and York in the football league.
Agree with that Ian. Although many fans do not see it, It is good for each individual area and the North East as a whole.
I’ll second that Ian. The North East used to called ‘A hotbed of football’ The book is above me on the shelf but we’re more of a cold frame now.
UTB,
John
John
Or even compost?
What’s worse than compost
Sshhh I’m not telling !!
Pedro
Having a premiership side is good for the area.
Having a top flight club being seen all over the world however badly we play, bringing possible investors in to the area and showing them the Riverside now Middlehaven is being redeveloped plus Rockcliffe Hall and the training complex can only benefit the people on Teesside.
Nonsense!!!
It only ever really benefits those who already have
The have nowts will for the most part continue to have nowt or very little.
Modern day & age ‘foodbanks’! How long were we last time in the PL? Fat load of good!
Spartak
Will you stop mentioning Fat !
You’re giving me an inferiority complex!
Boro haven’t won since the Diasboro blog starts, I hadn’t twigged!
That means the blog is due a long run of uninterrupted Boro wins at some point in the future!
Next season will do nicely.
Alan Pardew? God help us no, I’d be off to support Hartlepool if that happens.
We need a very good championship experienced manager, not a walking ego.
Nigel
The best one has just been promoted and I can’t see him leaving Premiership Brighton to head back North anytime soon. Wagner has potential yet has baulked and fell at the final furlong as has Monk and neither of which have “proven” experience at this level. Mrs Doubtfire seems the fans consensus and then of course Big Nige. Jokanovic is a maybe but why would Slavisa leave London and Fulham to come up here? Please no not Schteeve!
Someone needs to get in here quick to get a feel of who he wants and who he wants rid off and then draw up a target recruitment list for the Summer (definitely cannot entrust this to the current recruitment clowns otherwise we could seriously end up with Ian, OFB and myself as the holding midriffs, sorry midfielders).
The clock is ticking and we need to put in place an entire Managerial team by the looks of it so it pretty much appears to be who is available and willing now because I’m not so sure that waiting 6 weeks will do anything other than put us back another 12 months.
If we really had thrown the kitchen sink at Bournemouth, shouldn’t we have had at least a couple of ‘tap’ -ins & ‘plugged’ our defence ?…
We didn’t, so our EPL status went plumb down the drain.
Maybe Wenger’s stalling on his Arsenal future because he’s been offered the Boro job ?
Only woofing rubbish like… 😁
How did you know about Wenger coming to Boro?
It’s supposed to be a closely guarded secret !
And as the late Sid Waddell would say : One hundred and eighty 😊
Spot on again RR.
Getting someone in now, if we can, gives us more time to gear up for next season.
Trouble is I’m not sure who. The names being put forward at present don’t fill me with confidence. As I keep saying, I don’t envy SG (or whoever is in charge).
I’ve just posted up a match preview for tomorrow’s latest ‘must-win’ (or might-not-win again) game against Sunderland as both managers stare the fear of relegation in the face…
https://diasboro.club/2017/04/25/boro-v-sunderland-match-preview/