Boro must make the right appointments at the Riverside

by werdermouth, posted in Uncategorized

I read online in one local morning paper that Boro are in pole position to acquire the services of Garry Monk from other clubs because “Middlesbrough are stronger contenders because of the greater stability at the Riverside”. What? Has the word stability suddenly take on a whole new meaning – perhaps they meant stab-ability of in-the-back variety?

From the stories that are continuing to leak into the press as we are swamped with revelations it’s painting a picture of a club where the foundations are looking extremely shaky to say the least – even Theresa May would struggle to utter the words ‘Strong and Stable’ within earshot of the Riverside at the moment in the fear of being drown out by howls of derision or ironic laughter. Rarely have we seen so many mistakes made in one season and we can only hope that the substance of the rumours finding their way out have been properly addressed ahead of any impending appointments.

As those at the club appear to have been playing a childish party game of pass-the-parcel, where when the music stops the person left holding the suspect package is the new villain, who then presumably winks takes off a layer of paper (to no doubt be used later to cover another emerging crack) to reveal more fun and games to come. Then as the music resumes (possibly the theme tune to Benny Hill) the game continues as everyone looks around nervously in the hope that their secret will not come out too. So far we’ve seen quite a number of villains revealed – from Karanka, Downing, Gaston, various Spanish coaches, Valdes and, I don’t believe it, another Victor in the form of Orta. Though in a divided camp, with opinion still divided among the supporters, one man’s villain is another man’s hero or vice-versa – as fault is becoming a fluid fact or even fake news.

The latest defendant, Victor Orta arrived at Boro in December 2015 as Head of Recruitment – which perhaps was not as grand a title as he previously enjoyed where he was used to being called Technical Director in Spain, including at Elche who had been newly promoted to La Liga – incidentally six months before he joined Boro, they became the first team in the history of the Spanish Primera División to be demoted to the second tier under new regulations by the Spanish football league limiting excess debt and economic mismanagement. It would be interesting to know how that was explained in his interview where the purpose of his appointment was ultimately to make money on deals – but the club only reported “Orta has recently left Elche and the opportunity came through Boro’s network of contacts in Spain”.

What was also interesting to note about the career-conscious Orta is that he was a qualified coach and had also taught himself Italian in order to increase his contacts in Serie A. So Boro had appointed an ambitious man who previously had enjoyed a position tantamount to overseeing how the playing side of a club was shaped and he was also a coach – if ever someone appeared unlikely to stay content in his corner at ‘head of recruitment’ then I suspect the god of hindsight allowed himself a self-satisfied chuckle.

So here’s the funny bit – Aitor was so surprised and sceptical that Orta would come to Boro – having assumed he’d be so in-demand he was surely destined for a Champions League side. However, looking now at his career trajectory Seville, Zenit St Petersburg, Elche, Boro and soon probably Leeds – it appears less than upward in mobility. Though apparently he did turn down Juventus where they wanted him to oversee recruitment for the Qatar league – apparently it did also possibly involve being in charge of the photocopier though.

Karanka was a big fan and he even pulled out his favourite adjective to describe him “He [Orta] thinks the best step to come to the Premier League is through us so we are lucky, he is an amazing person.” But the Gazette were perhaps a little more heady: Once talks began it became clear that Orta was excited – as Karanka had been – by Gibson’s “project” for the club, the determined atmosphere and the culture of excellence around the club.

So what has happened to that ‘culture of excellence’? Right now it seems the club are failing in all departments and are currently in the process of having a massive clear-out and what appears on the outside to have instead been created is an excellent culture of distrust and in-fighting.

Why did this happen? It appeared the formal internal club structure has somewhat disintegrated and was instead replaced by an informal Spanish one based on patronage – with a counter power-base emerging among the home-grown and marginalised elements who were left disgruntled by this new powerful clique. Victor Orta apparently assumed the role of Karanka’s right-hand man – though given the rather sinister reports of him talking about ‘his players’ and receiving instructions from the departed boss by text – perhaps left-hand man would be more appropriate. Also why did some players seemingly hold more allegiance to Orta and Karanka rather than to the club that paid their more than substantial wages? Was Boro sold to them as just a vehicle for up-and-coming players?

Incidentally, other than control freakery, I can’t think of why Karanka was still motivated to influence matters after his departure and instruct Orta to visit the off-limits Boro dressing room, but one wonders if the fact that the game in question was against Jose Mourinho’s Man Utd and if I recall the game ended with the Special One spoiling for an argument against some players.

Presumably the club gave Orta the go ahead to recruit a new coaching team that we now hear answered to him and one which conducted business by speaking Spanish on the training ground – Though given his contacts did nobody at the club expect the Spanish requisition? As for the use of thumbs and screws – well, it seemingly created a growing clique who thumbed their noses at club language etiquette as those on the outside were left feeling screwed and ignored on the periphery as the the tortuous slide to relegation of a divided camp began.

It shouldn’t come as a surprise that official positions and actual de facto positions are not the same – Craig Hignett was supposed to be the number two at Boro but in reality he was three or four at best behind Leo and Cachada when it came to influence. Likewise it seems Orta usurped Steve Agnew and became Karanka’s number two as the role of assistant became closer to that of helper.

The problem appears to be whether the club can decide who a manager chooses to be their right-hand man. Whilst I understand why the club would want to have some control within the coaching setup, the head coach will also usually want someone who they know will be their representative and not the club’s.

Also power like nature abhors a vacuum – did Victor Orta just fill the space available to him given that Boro have no Director of Football who would normally undertake such duties and did he and Karanka form an alliance within the so-called recruitment team to work towards their preferred agenda? A club can create structures to act as checks and balances but did they serve only to slow decisions down rather than ensure the correct ones were made. Perhaps they had unrealistic ambitions to what was possible in terms of attracting players – but Orta’s remit at his time of appointment was to replicate his record of spotting and signing young talent in order to get Boro ahead of the game and to make the club a healthy profit on future re-sales. Perhaps this is why the club signed as many projects as they appeared to have done since his arrival – and perhaps this is why they overlooked the need for tried and tested players. It could even be that his renumeration was related to profit on future deals – if so then hopefully Boro had a claw-back clause for losses too!

You could question if Orta went rogue then why wasn’t he shown the door earlier? Or was it just one minor transgression that upset too many people and was he essentially operating under the remit he was given but ultimately failed to deliver? It is maybe a symptom of employing up-and-coming ambitious people who want to position themselves for the next step in their careers. At the heart of the problem seems to be the absence of an experienced individual at the club who can test that the balance of the decisions being made are fit for purpose of the club’s short and medium term objectives. There is little point in learning lessons after the event if nothing is put in place to keep the whole show on track during the actual season. Whilst Gibson’s patient arms length approach with his head coaches is admirable – it perhaps is not always what is needed.

As Boro rush ahead to appoint a new head coach, it looks like at least two of the shortlist are quite inexperienced – Monk is only 38 and Agnew has no experience of transfer dealings. It would appear to me to be a good idea to install a Director of Football who the club knows and who also knows the club, that will be fair in assisting the head coach with ensuring recruitment serves both him and the club – someone like Tony Mowbray I’d imagine who has a lot of integrity and a decent record on recruitment too (other famous sons are available).

One wonders whether we’ll all be discussing a similar state of affairs if the prospective interview of Nigel Pearson turns out to place him in the hot seat – We know Karanka was a bit on the prickly side but Big Nige is not someone who’ll necessarily create a workplace of peace and harmony. The club have an opportunity to regroup and will have some of the best resources available at their disposal – the question is whether they are ready to make the right decisions and do they at this moment know what went wrong and why?

387 thoughts on “Boro must make the right appointments at the Riverside”

  1. Sounds to me too many wanted to be head coach, from backroom staff ,to players
    I think it’s wrong to point the finger,
    I do know , we sacked a manager with the best winning percentage we’ve ever had?
    Be careful.

  2. Indeedy Werder

    More questions than answers, unfortunately.

    My thoughts reach way back to the appointment of GS1 amd before him Robbo. The resultant end results I’ll set to one side for now. The question I need to ask is WHY people with no direct experience in managing a team of such high monetary value are given the job? Its mind boggling.

    The only answer I have is because those making the appointments and running the club are as competent as Theresa May and her cliche of buffoons.

    Simples!

  3. Werder

    I like the pass the parcel analogy, if we could have a totally truthful analysis I suspect many will have played a part.

    We, as fans, are playing a new Hasbro game, Cluelessdo where we have a number of suspects, several weapons and sundry places at our disposal.

    I accuse Ramirez, with the transfer request, in the treatment room.

    Neil Bausor, with the eye patches, in the Boardroom.

    Aitor Karanka, with the naughty step, at the training ground.

    Downing, with the pointing finger, in the dressing room.

    The list is endless.

  4. It’s going to be difficult to let go of all the juicy problems and scapegoats but like Mr Gibson, in fact particularly Mr Gibson, we have to pause and take breath. He has to make the right decision, as fans we only hope he does make the right decision.

    I still feel that we need a manager that the players look at and think, oh bugger, we’ll get away with nowt here. Then, slowly, we become a team again. fans, footballers and club.

    It won’t happen with Steve Agnew, even though I’m sure he is a lovely man.

    Waiting.

    UTB,

    John

  5. You just keep wondering what else can come out. Was the Tea Lady picking the team?
    I notice the Gazette has suggested that Ramirez is valued circa £4.5m, a lot less than the mooted £12m January value but a bit more than the £12.00 I reckoned he was worth a few weeks ago. We shall see.

  6. The whole Orta thing brings me back to the comment my friend North of the Border made a few months back about SG.

    This time he has to get it right as some of his previous eccentric picks has shown that we could be in for a long stay in the Championship if he doesn’t. I think Monk if he comes will be generally well accepted by most fans as he arrives without baggage.

  7. Marco Silva on way to Watford but still no news from Riverside.

    Just hope there are lots of discussions going on in the background with Gary Monk!

    CoB

  10. I agree that perhaps a director of
    Football would make sense someone like McCalaren!

    Monk apparently won’t have a DOF and that is why he left Leeds

    Perhaps if Agnew gets the job then we will see a DOF

    Watch this space

    1. Bob

      McLaren a good coach, but I doubt he sees himself as a Director of Football.

      Nevertheless I can see the benefit of that position and agree with Werdermouth that Mowbray would be an ideal choice.

      1. I agree about Mowbray but the SD Gazette ran a piece which quoted MCClaren

        “The 56-year-old, who has been out of work since March, eventually wants to run his own football club and last year enrolled at Manchester Metropolitan University in order to gain a Masters degree in Sporting Directorship.”

  11. Nice to see that Dael Fry had a full game for the U-20s as they qualified for the World Cup quarter finals. Sounds like a tough battling 1-0 win. Typical Boro?

    Good to see some cricket creeping into the blog. Probably more liked by the older contingent who can remember Yorkshire’s annual trip to play in Middlesbrough. Watching Close, Trueman, Illingworth etc from close up was a highlight of the summer.

    Anyway, back at Teesside’ answer to Game of Thrones, can we assume a managerial announcement sometime next week? Nigel Pearson looks like the Night King without even any makeup but who’s Jon Snow? The new King in the North?

    UTB

  12. Director of football brings it’s own problems if they want to stick their nose in to day to day squad management. It also reduces the shelf life of managers.

    Orta was not announced as an official director of football but looking back he joined us at Christmas 2015 with us well clear with games in hand. Progress has been a bit hit and miss since.

    Maybe I am reading things in to the situation that are not there but we were told English was the language at Rockcliffe, more Spanish came in, the team bonds seem to have gradually unravelled. Orta was in AK’s ears.

    It may be coincidence but it is an interesting time line.

    What happened may have happened anyway.

  14. Well I hope we get breaking news soon about the new manager. The longer it goes on the unthinkable may happen Downing s mate SA gets the job.

  16. If Monk comes he needs to be given the right to bring his own backroom staff. I believe that played a major part in our failure to entice Martin O’Neill in 2006.

  17. Simon

    It appears to becoming a big “if”. Watford have signed up a manager in a few days yet still no white smoke from Rockliffe. The longer this goes the more likely we end up with a manager by default.

  18. Wonder how SG feels about being told to get on with it by SD?
    It’s one thing for us to say it but players should learn to keep their traps shut on certain matters.

      1. Yes indeed! I would have thought that the last thing the club needs at the moment is one of the players – Stewart Downing – telling the Chairman to get a move on in appointing a new manager and at the same time effectively telling him who to appoint. His recommendation is of course Agnew who according to Downing has done an excellent job.

        No, Stewart, he hasn’t done an excellent job but rather a really poor one and he should not even be considered for the job.

        Downing also tells us that the summer recruitment must focus on players who are right for the Championship (really?) and that the club will need players who are prepared to fight and scrap in every game next season. That excludes him from the team then.

  19. Apologies for wearing my Victor Meldrew hat, but I’ve been watching the golf from Wentworth and although the coverage is fairly good I have two major observations.

    1. At the start of each day’s play why don’t SKY at the beginning of each day’s play show the card of the course (yardages for all 18 holes)?

    2. Why don’t SKY do regular trailers, (maybe each half hour) of an alphabetical list of each player’s current score.

    3. Finally, less talking at the beginning of play, and more live golf?

    Sometimes it does my head in! Ugh.

  20. Ken,

    I can’t speak for SKY on the current PGA tournament but most of the time they are not the production company for golf, they are only the broadcaster (i.e they are not producing the coverage, simply tapping into the produced feed, adding their “flavour” and distributing onto SKY subscribers).

    PS I suspect there are many on the blog who consider discussing cricket to be illegal so watch out for the golf backlash (I’m with you though!)

  21. I thought this blog was about Middlesbrough Football Club and not cricket or golf .Sorry ! but I have no interest in the latter two.

  22. Bravo Arsenal. A to be frank lacklustre cup final came to life in the final third and was ultimately won by the right team.

    All this should-he-stay-or-should-he-go talk about Wenger reminds me of these wise words from our own RR, in November 2015.

    “Arsenal fans want Wenger sacked without respecting that he is the only manager of the established big four or five that has kept his club financially stable. If the Russians, Arabs or billionaires pull out, those other clubs are sunk without trace. Arsenal and Wenger on the other hand have a (stronger) grasp of reality.

    “Arsene may not have won as much as some others but what he has won he has won with skill, nous and ability and not with other people’s money. I respect him tremendously despite his tendency to whine a little, those bleedin’ awful coats and his ‘selective defective’ vision at times.”

    Need I say that the Gooners still calling for his head should be careful what they wish for.

    1. Simon,

      You beat me to it, they should be careful what they wish for. I think Arsene Wenger is a class act, he shows some symptoms of manageritis but nowhere like Ferguson and Mourinho.

      Arsenal played some lovely stuff yesterday and how many times did they hit the post?

      At least Chelsea didn’t stage John Terry coming on for the last 26 minutes.

      He’s a great collector of Alsace wine too.

      UTB,

      John

  24. If you think about Steve Gibson comments on Tees, do they throw up some red flags.
    I can understand him saying ,too many mistakes,we have to get the right man in to get us back to the premiership and keep us here .
    What he did do ,was interject his reasons and what we will do,almost as if he was the manager,he mentioned pace etc, we all know pace without end product or thought is a waste.and thats the thing,
    I’ve always felt Steve Gibson isn’t so hands off as made out,and my reasoning is too many bad signings,for too long.

  25. I must apologise to Spartak. You were right that the club was shambles. I tought it was only the first team tactics that needed to be sorted out.

    I think this is the reason why it takes so long for Steve Gibson to make an appointment. He needs to know what is correct for the club and cannot be rushed into an appointment.

    I think it is also fair for Aggers, too. His position and responsibilities must be looked at.

    I hope an outsider is appointed as a manager but also I am starting to see why it has taken longer than we anticipated. At least we should attract most of manager or head-coach candidates in football.

    Patience, lads and lasses now. Up the Boro!

    1. My fear Jarkko is that whoever becomes manager/head coach we are in for a rocky ride.
      The much promised clearout has only meant the departures of the Spanish contingent. This means the beligerents and incompetetents still keep their positions.
      There lies the problem.

      1. Sparta
        It would cause some ill feeling if a group of players were the last men standing after the destruction of a very good period for the club.
        I cannot think of any club worth the name standing for that, and surviving.

  26. I’ve just read the Jeff Stelling interview in the Gazette. What a lovely man he is! He talks a lot of sense, and although a big Hartlepool fan, he is also a champion of Northeast football. I like that, and have always liked to see all our region’ s teams do well.

    Okay, we on this forum are Boro’ fans first and sometimes maybe revel in the misfortunes of our neighbours (a little schadenfreude), but I would hope that most of that is “friendly?” banter. Me personally would love to see our three major teams in the Premier League, and even Leeds and Hull too – it makes for great rivalry. I have also previously written on this forum about my sadness of the demise of Hartlepool, Darlington and York City and hope these clubs will soon rise again.

    Finally, as someone who has suffered with aggressive prostate cancer for six years, I applaud what Jeff is doing to help future sufferers.

    Not only a humorous man, but an icon in the northeast and I for one am proud of him.

    1. Second your sentiments, Ken!

      May I also add a positive attitude like your own is a great panacea to life’s challenges.

      Key phrase
      Never give up – its what can make heroes of us all.

    2. Ken

      A nice post and I think a statement of how most of us would like to see a resurgent North East hot bed Of Football

      Yes we scoff at our neighbours but I’d much rather play Newcastle Leeds or Sunderland than Stoke Brighton or Southampton

      Also if York Darlington and Hartlepool are suffering it means they can’t afford to take on a lot of young local academy players and the region suffers as a whole. I know after seeing my grandson play for Cleveland U16 Countu team there were 3 young lads signed for Hartlepool and now face an uncertain future with a non league club.

      May your illness not cause you suffering and hope that you enjoy reading the Diasboro blog which is so diverse and has a lot of intelligent posts

  27. I see the Gazette now have an article on what the Boro kit should be for next season. The consensus of opinion supports the return of the white band.

    I liked AV’s comment “red hot iron, white hot steel”.
    Says it all really.

  28. Daily Mirror reporting SG waiting for the result of the play off final tomorrow. Wagner his no 1 target. Do these reporters just make it up as they go along lol

    2. I was just reading that one too – apparently it says Steve Gibson has taken advice from Neil Bausor, which I thought would be a given on any major decision.

      Regarding your earlier point about having a breaking news page on Diasboro – it’s possible, though maybe someone else would have to manage it as I’m going to be away for just over three weeks from the end of June (camping in northern Italy) – so I’ll miss much of the action on incoming players. I’ll have a think about what is possible.

  29. Ken

    I look forward to many posts from yourself, keep on trucking and good luck.

    I must admit I was watching TV and cooking during the cup final but actually switched over to cricket commentary, a great finish.

    Oh, the cup final, what a galling result for Spurs, finish second but Arsenal have a trophy. Whilst Arsenal will only play in the Europa Cup there is every chance Spurs will be in the same competition after the group stages of the Champions League.

    Arsenal have a trophy, ManU have two, Chelsea one. It is a bit like finishing fourth in the Olympics or lose a play off final, consigned to history.

    The recruitment gets ever more interesting with reports of Pearson being confident, Monk’s job to lose, looking at Wagner. Would getting Agnew be fourth in the Olympics or losing the play offs?

    Gibson is going to take advice from Bausor, has anyone been talking previously?

    Finally, the white band, like RR I associate the gastric band with us going belly up. I could even cope with the sash but no Barnsley light please, I don’t want plain red, I don’t want pin stripes or red with blotches.

  30. Lets get radical, radical – let’s get into radical!

    https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-EfWdpSR_XwE/Vy8PxkE9yFI/AAAAAAAA3Vk/_lsMvVvT-Mo96n_CV7VHXs7kvcXdU26iACLcB/s1600/stuttgart-16-17-kit%2B%25281%2529.jpg

    Stuttgart just got promo’d from Bundesliga 2 to 1. My German favoured team, havin spent 5 years in Germany in the 80’s, Hannover, got auto promo alongside them.

    Won’t happen mind and shirts already on the way so I can only guess the Gazette has been tipped off in advance, so expect fan’s favorite to reappear.

    Oh, and finally, I think there’s too much made of this loyalty business if the people in charge are so obviously incompetent. It feels like we’re being asked to support a Madhatter’s tea party.

  33. As a staunch old-timer, from the late fiftees,I want my Boro shirt back, Red V neck with white cuffs,
    The Arthur Kaye look.
    Away strip , White shirt red cuffs.
    COB

  34. If this Lindelof is that good and there is talk of silly money,then Bouzer or whoever needs a slap,apparently we had him nailed for nothing but let him go,same as Matic.
    Typical Boro.

  36. Just catching up on posts after a busy day yesterday with the Mrs once she realised Boro didn’t have a game (think she had been saving jobs up for months). A couple of points:

    Ken, great post, keep fighting the good fight your posts on here are really enjoyable and a very interesting read.

    Jarkko, welcome to the dark side 😉

    On the Gazette Kit story AV describes it perfectly. I can’t understand why any business would have an iconic brand image (even clearly identifiable in old Black and White photos) and then tinker and mess with it. Can you imagine Facebook changing their name to “Peoplepages” because the Tea Lady thought it sounded nicer or Audi changing their four circles to three triangles because the bloke who changes the toilet rolls in their Basingstoke branch thought it would look good? It is more evidence of how unprofessional the Club has been run in too many areas and why the changes should not stop with just the Spanish contingent.

    On the Newsfeed suggestion, that out of necessity will literally be a full time job as a newsfeed isn’t a newsfeed if its a few hours or even a day old. Many of us on here are best friends with the “Newsnow Middlesbrough FC” site which is dedicated to breaking news. Maybe a link may suffice?

    On the Cup Final, I had forgotten that it was actually being played yesterday (had mentally switched the Season off) until mid afternoon when I accidentally seen an article for it. Sad days from when it was the pinnacle of the Football season.

    Watching it my overwhelming opinion was that Sanchez cheated with a double hand ball for the first goal and Moses tried to cheat his way into an equaliser. Very sad to see that cheating continues to ravage the sport, becoming expected and has now become almost acceptable.

    Cheating and gamesmanship has always existed but it has now reached epidemic proportions with certain clubs (coincidentally the “successful” ones in this country) clearly relying upon it as a tactic. Apart from that I was glad Arsene won a trophy.

    1. Thanks to fellow bloggers for their kind thoughts. I’m nearly 80 now (or approaching my 9th decade if you prefer), and have always had a phylophosical approach to life, or death for that matter.

      What I would also like to mention about Jeff Stelling is that although obviously the main purpose of his marathon walks is to raise money for the fight against cancer, the fact that his first walk included visits to locally based clubs like Redcar Athletic and Marske United plus those further afield such as Tadcaster Albion and St Albans City must have been great publicity for them.

      I do believe that some folk (not on this forum I’m sure) think football revolves around the Premier League, but it is for many towns and villages the grass roots of their community so as an aside Jeff is also giving them a boost, so more power to his elbow I say.

  37. I’m still not convinced if Boro should be making overtures to Wagner – it’s been mention before that Huddersfield only managed 56 goals and conceded 58 this season on the way to the playoffs. OK he brought in 13 new players and perhaps their budget didn’t afford them the quality to do much better.

    But we should remember many found Karanka’s Championship teams a bit too negative and they managed 68 and 63 goals respectively in their last two Championship seasons – and only conceded half as many goals as Wagner’s side.

    Wagner’s tactics sound very similar to AK’s with a 4-2-3-1 preferred formation and an attack that defends from the front. It no doubt works quite well in the Championship but I’m thinking perhaps a season of low-scoring well-drilled pressing football is not ideal preparation for the PL.

    Maybe, the Boro need to learn some new tricks that make the team a better attacking unit this time round – scoring goals shouldn’t be a handicap to having a successful team. We need a head coach who can bring a better balance to our style of play.

    Incidentally, I had a thought about this ‘head coach’ versus ‘manager’ approach – maybe a manager is what is needed as perhaps they can offer more leadership to the team rather than just coaching a playing style – I think Simon may have said something similar when talking about charismatic leadership in one of his pieces.

    1. Was thinking something similar Werder. Wagner clearly has ability but his tactics are very Karankalike which may bring success in the Championship and with much better players may work in the Premiership but I would like a team being built on a solid defence and more flair, pace and tactical creativity. I’m not sure that Wagner (like Karanka clearly couldn’t or wouldn’t) would deliver that but like I’ve said before its highly likely that the guy who gets us up won’t be the one who keeps us up so perhaps a staged Management appointment has mileage.

      When Mogga got the job we were all dreaming of playing great football but it didn’t materialise. With time and a chunk of hindsight it was never going to happen due to the financial millstone around his neck which he eventually helped get rid of. Pearson may be a better balance on the pitch in terms of playing style but whether he would be balanced off it I’m not so sure and have visions of another mess being left behind. I feel it only fair to point out that the current “mess” is by no means all AK’s fault.

      2. I agree with your point about flair, RR. I posted a while back I that I want a young, dynamic manager who plays fluent, attacking football. Ideally, I’d like a forward line like Spurs’ where players interchange positions, – a bit like the old Dutch national sides, if you like – supported by one or two wingers who can get behind their fullbacks, and a mobile, advanced midfield. I’ve had it up to here with defensive tactics. I say let’s go for it and score more than the opposition! Of course, that’ll cost a bit, assembling that lot, but so what? Let’s bring back flair and scare the opposition to death. I think it was the old Spurs manager, Bill Nicholson, who said that attack is the best form of defence. And it may have been that canny Scot, Bill Shankly, who said, ‘If we’ve got the ball, they cannae attack!’

  39. Looks like he’s got a ‘never say die’ attitude- more than can be said of one or two anowflakes we’ve got in the Boro squad at present.

    I say sign him up!

  40. Werder

    People’s memories of Mogga are tinged with sepia.

    He actually came out and said he sent his teams out to wait and see for half an hour, he sent his teams out to match up the opposition. Simon repeated the Andrew Glover reports talking about three decent games out of 23 at home in a season. Mogga’s teams scored under 60 goals a season.

    Most managers are pragmatic, many work the same way.

    1. Ian

      Mogga did indeed but he also waited for half an hour with the Baggies and the Hibees before us and that was what we were hoping to see. Thirty minutes of astute tactical nous then entertaining demolition of the opposition.

      Many of us had also witnessed Di Matteo’s, Mogga assembled WBA squad that destroyed us 0-5 at the Riverside just after he had left for Celtic. Like the Celtic fans we were hoping for more of the same instead we got split strikers who looked more divorced absolute with the likes of Ogbeche, Martin, Zemmama, Main, Ledesma, McDonald and the Juke. Tactically it was woeful with the players clearly clueless as to who was supposed to be doing what (just as he had done at Celtic).

      He did however clear the tartan dross and leave us with 50% of our current team all brought on or in at under £1M.

  41. Having just caught up with yesterday’s FA Cup Final, Guy Mowbray in his introduction mentioned that in the first final in 1872 that both teams fielded a 2-2-6 formation.

    In my youth the usual formation was 2-3-5, but one wonders what the marking was like beforehand. It would have given Karanka a nightmare!

  42. So at 10.15 pm right now….no further rumours have appeared apart from what we already know ..Wagner / Pearson and Monk the headlines…..there is going to be a sting in the tail I guess….wish it would happen soon Mr SG….we are sat on the edge of our seats lol

  43. Let’s be brave and trust Gibson makes the correct appointment. Better be sure he gets the man he wants than rush to a solution.

    At least there is no chance to meet a scotchman in a loo at Coventry!

    Up the Boro!

  45. I see the white band is back for this years shirt to be released on sale to season ticket holders on Saturday. Let’s hope the band is horizontal across the chest. General sale from Sunday.

    Come on BORO.

  47. Lets see where exactly the “White Band” is and what type of “Band”, “Sash” or “Gastric” appendage Adidas have managed to come up with. Bear in mind that this years kit was supposed to be in keeping with the “White Band” image, lets hope it hasn’t slipped further down around the shorts.

    Funny how the Gazette had a big PR piece on the White Band, uncanny fortuitous coincidence!

    “The fastest selling shirt ever”

    “Sold three weeks stock in just 24 hours”

    “Queues around the West Stand dust bins as fans clamour for the new Home shirt”

    Arthur from Brotton has been queuing since 1953, “I just got off the bus at quarter to eight and made it over here in eight minutes flat to see the launch, there were sparks from me Zimmer frame all the way across the car park.”

  48. As there is nothing much happening and we wait with bated breath for the announcement of the next Boro manager, I thought maybe some of you might be interested in my experiences concerning Boro as a child.

    My first match was in October 1947 when my father took me to see a 0-1 defeat against Everton. As I was a rather small 9 year old, my father wouldn’t allow me to go alone in the boy’s end so I went with him in the west end. However even with him shielding me it was a crush and he didn’t take with him again that season.

    However, all was not lost as he continued going and whilst my mother went shopping with my grandmother, I would be left with my grandfather, and what a treat that was! He used to tell me stories about how Billy Pease used to win the ball in his own half, pass to George Camsell, then sit down on the half way line and wait to shake Camsell’s hand on his return after he had scored another of his 59 goals.

    Now I can’t vouch for the truth in those stories, but I was entranced and of course believed them. Anyhow I must have grown by the next season for Dad took me to the first home game, once more against Everton but this time we won 1-0 with a Mickey Fenton penalty against Ted Sagar who had a storming game making save after save. Incidentally this was the home debut of Rolando Ugolini who made some wonderful cat-like saves throughout his career, but also had the knack of conceding some poor goals.

    The seasons following the Second World War saw attendance records being regularly broken not only at Ayresome Park. In those days there was no football on television and only occasionally on cinema newsreels usually FA Cup highlights, so to see the great players of the day, you attended the match. It seemed that every team in those days had British international players, and as long as we weren’t fighting relegation, I was not overly concerned whether we won or not because I was watching the likes of Finney, Matthews, Milburn, Shackleton, Frank Swift, etc. as well as our own Mannion and Hardwick of course. Naturally it was great if Boro won, but as long as we had played well and I had seen these great players, I was happy. After all Boro were never going to win the league, were they?

    Well, maybe not, but the exception was in 1950/51. Boro went top of the league mid-December by beating Portsmouth 3-1 and consolidated that position with a 2-1 home win against Newcastle on Christmas Day. Unfortnately, the Boxing Day return fixture was postponed and wasn’t played until the last day of the season which we lost 0-1. We had lost our momentum, lost at fog-bound 2nd Division Leeds in the FA Cup where half the crowd couldn’t see the only goal, and although we were still 2nd into March, lost six and drew two of our last eight matches. Typical Boro, eh?

    By now you will gather that I’m a bit of a historian. Well, in my
    youth I fancied being a football reporter. I envied the late Cliff Mitchell and loved his minute-by-minute reports in the Sports Gazette and when I was doing my National Service in Singapore my mother used to send me them every week by sea mail which unfortunately took over a month to reach me. As I don’t get to the Riverside Stadium these days I enjoy Redcar Red’s comprehensive reports as I did those of Cliff Mitchell years ago.

    I love sports statistics, and after my wife died eight years ago I decided to compile a record of all Boro’s league matches from 1899/1900 season, FA Cup results from 1883/84 and League Cup results from 1960/61. The work took me nearly a year to complete and is a comprehensive record of league results season by season, and club by club, and I also have separate records of dates of matches, goal scorers, attendances and league positions which I still update weekly. I am indebted to Dave Allan, Harry Glasper, Graham Bell and Martin Walker prior to 2003 for some information in the book “Who’s that team they call the Boro?”

    Incidentally among the FA Cup records I found that Redcar FC, who apparently played on the current cricket ground, reached the quarter finals in 1886 having beaten Boro but lost to Crewe Alexandra.

    Having finished this project I then compiled a similar record in the same format for Castleford RLFC (now Cas Tigers) from their admittance to the Northern Union (now Rugby League) in 1926/27. I realise this will be of no interest to bloggers on this forum, but it maybe confirms what an empty existence my life has become!

    Well, not really, but whoever said “nostalgia is not what it used to be” in my opinion got it wrong, for when you got to my age it’s nostalgia and memories that give you the most pleasure.

    Finally, if anyone wants to confirm data about any Boro match, or to settle an argument, I’ll be happy to oblige.

    1. As a Wigan Warriors fan, I’m curious as to why you chose Cas. It’s quite unusual for a Teessider to follow RL at all – until I moved to the dark side of the Pennines I didn’t have any interest at all but I love the game now.

    2. Lovely read Ken, really enjoyed that and looking forward to plenty of your recollections over the Summer months. Very humbling for myself to see that you enjoy my efforts at what passes for a report (probably more of an emotional outpouring at times).

    3. Great Post Ken and it’s good to reminisce

      Your story about getting crushed as a child reminded me of the 1973 74 season under the era of Jack Charlton my favourite time.

      I used to go to the chicken run south stand with my pal my two young sons and my pals young suns.

      As the team became more successful the lads were starting to get crushed

      The MD of the firm I worked for was a friend of Jack and they used to go shooting and fishing together

      Jack had complained about the lack of a TV stand and so our firm built one in the south stand and also redesigned the crush barriers to accommodate them
      Seizing the opportunity I had one of the crush barriers lengthened so it was big enough for all our four lads to sit on and watch the football in comfort

      Sometimes being in the right place at the right time helps !

  50. Excellent Ken, keep posting and make sure the nostalgia remains.

    For many years Wakefield Trinity were my Rugby league team until I worked at Wigan and got to know fans there. I still look out for the Wakefield results but surprisingly support the Warriors even though they are from what Martin calls the dark side.

    Redcar Red

    “Queues around the West Stand dust bins as fans clamour for the new Home shirt”

    Are you sure that isn’t clamour to use the dust bins?

    1. Much as I love this gesture and without wishing to be in any way disrespectful, I wish people wouldn’t release balloons. They’re a major environmental issue and just add to the micro plastics in our rivers and seas.

  52. Going back to Werder’s lead piece on the need for the club to make the right appointments now and having given some further thought to the implications of the shambles of the last year, I am not sure that the senior management at the club is capable of getting it right.

    In business, when an opportunity arises that has the potential to massively improve revenues and profits and in parallel to establish the business as a much bigger player in its sector (in this example the global football sector) it is usual for the senior management of the business to focus heavily on ensuring that the opportunity is seized and the potential realised. This means they have to be completely on top of what is happening in the business and, in the case of a football club, make sure that the playing side of the business is producing the results required to turn potential into reality.

    Now, while Steve Gibson is a very wealthy man he must surely have seen that the income from being in the Premier League for a lengthy period would transform the financial position of MFC, allow him to be repaid some of the money he has put in to keep the club afloat and raise the club’s profile with the global football audience. If so, why would he apparently allow himself and his management team to take their eyes off the ball to the extent now becoming more apparent by the day resutling in an immediate return to the Championship with no more than a whimper? It just doesn’t make any sense at all.

    Maybe SG left it to Bausor and others to ensure that everyone was pulling in the same direction. If so, it was a serious misjudgement and a man with his business experience should have known better.

    I guess we will never know the full story but what we do know is that the club has been dysfunctional for much of the last year and the management appears to have done nothing about it. Now they need to step up to the plate, sort the mess out and ensure the management structure and modus operandi is fit for purpose.

    They also need to appoint people to the key jobs who have the necessary experience, will pull together as a team and deliver results. Anything less would be an insult to the fans who have been fantastic throughout the debacle of last season.

    1. Difficult when the club has been infected from top to bottom with incestuous, belligerent, cliques and it has been facilitated by the Chairman buying in players of HIS choice just to make the whole swamp that much more sticky.

      With executives still in place, a chairman not concerned with a TOTAL refit, the situ is not for changing. SG will favour a new manager who adopts his favorites or they won’t get appointed IMHO.

      Nice shirt – sold out in 3 days & wont get anymore till October.

      Happy days

      1. Spartan, maybe you are right. It would help explain the lack of management action to try to halt the inexorable descent to relegation.

        A depressing picture.

      2. Sparta
        Although you cover a lot of the salient points of our shipwreck of a season very briefly, I think that your method drives home the news that we are in a bad place.
        I cannot for the life of me pin it on AK. It does not make sense to accuse him of getting us in position to glide up from the Champ. And, just for fun go around having great games with an array of the Prem. Best.
        The explanation for the disaster, that the club descended into anarchy, makes much more sense.
        If we cannot accept that, then we are hardly going to get the ship on an even course in the next weeks.

  53. 0-0 at full time in the play off final.

    If Huddersfield go up they will be the first club ever to be promoted with a negative goal difference having only scored 56 goals in the regular season, that is Moggaesque.

    The beauty of both teams home colours being blue and white is that the empty red seats really stand out. Attendance 76,682. Will the national journalists point out the gaps?

  54. Maybe , just maybe we have people from the top down are just out of their depth.
    Previous relegation, Gibson didn’t see it coming.
    This time he listened to the amateurs from the EG and sacked the manager without any plan going forward.
    Laughable

  56. Will anything change, I am not so sure.

    As difficult as it is, Mr Gibson has in fact made one or two biggish mistakes over the last 8 years, starting with GS1, when not giving him the help he obviously was going to require.

    And so it has continued. We all make mistakes, BUT when you do not learn from them and then say the same thing, more or less once more, then you have to ask, “just what is going on”. because it does not appear MFC know.

    1. As my Tartan robed friend pointed out “a great Chairman, just not a very good one!”

      The are more problems in the club than I fear are recognised, acknowledged and accepted. For MFC to recover and rebuild all the weak links must be removed along with any infection.

      Ignoring what those of us on here can plainly see and that which isn’t being questioned or reported elsewhere is simply a fools paradise. Sticking heads in the sand shouting “Lalalalalala” won’t make it go away, it will just simmer beneath the surface until the stress fractures reappear. It was highlighted on here and Untypical early in the season that we were underperforming and yet the shambles continued. The “challenges” raised on here were ignored and little did we really know just how deep the rot had set in.

      In any other sphere of business heads would have rolled at executive level. It all seems very cosy and comfortable with little to no accountability for overseeing an absolute pantomime of, cliques, naughty steps and secret codes in a foreign language. Monty Python would struggle to have come up with something as farcical.

      I await the unveiling of the band with interest, if they can’t get it right after last seasons fiasco it just shows how much development, improvement and learning has taken place. What was that thing about doing the same old things and expecting different results? Maybe the club needs a Nigel Pearson right now to fire some home truths up a few backsides?

      By the way congratulations to the Terriers, not overly impressed with Stam’s tactics and hopefully he isn’t on whatever list SG is compiling.

      1. I personally would like to see Pearson given the job. He might point out a few home truths and shake the club out of its current paralysis.

        But if Spartak is right there is no way SG will have Pearson.

  59. This list that SG has got, just gets shorter and shorter. If he does not get a move on it will be either Pearson or Agnew, with another disaster pending

    1. My greatest fear is that all this drawn out selection process is to allow things to settle down. Then in the midst of summer and under everyone’s radar its decided that Aggers really is the best candidate all along after the club exhausted all possibilities. Then we get trotted out the “he knows the club, the town, the supporters, the chairman, the expectations” and of course last but by no means least “the players love him and we have absolute trust and confidence in him”. With the boys at the Gazette doing a pro Agnew PR piece 48 hours earlier at the behest of the club.

      Then along comes October in 20th position. The pitchforks and burning torches are assembling outside the West Stand car park after a 1-3 home drubbing by Barnsley on a miserable dark and damp Tuesday night and the “very disappointed and surprised it hasn’t worked out” speech. Followed by a Gazette piece on the Wednesday (for Platinum Premium readers only of course) on why Agnew should have just remained as an assistant and why it all went predictably wrong for him and how the signs were there at the end of the Premiership season.

      3. An all too plausible scenario, RR, though I’d go for a conclusion in which Agnew is fearlessly scapegoated by the Gazette, once he has gone, for being the sole source of all of the club’s problems.

        Ken,
        Loved all of your contributions.

  61. It seems to me that a very large percentage of the bloggers on here, including myself, have, in order, been shocked at the chaos inside the club, been shocked at the tactics used, wondered why Gibson has not been aware of the situation, and saddened by the whole affair.
    The one factor about the situation that has not been fully admitted, is, how can we all talk blithely about team performances, AK’s failings, individual performances, individual players attitudes, or for that matter, their performances.
    The, now admitted, fully operational snake pit inside the club, surely makes all judgements worthless.
    All the markers used by us riders in the stand to make our judgements are so much moonshine.
    Even the famous deadly defence, derided by many of our number, cannot be written off so easily, for if there were members of that team who simply decided that they were not going to enter the opposition penalty area(cue Alan Shearer pointing out the fact) then maybe, just maybe, we unloaded Someone who simply did not deserve the abuse, or the sack.?

  62. Redcar Red

    You have seen my posts, a gradual slither to an Agnew appointment can take place. If Monk and Pearson don’t want the current back room staff then we could get Agnew by the last man standing rule.

    The scenario that bothers me is one of an outsider taking over, Agnew staying and it not working out and he is replaced in October/November, Another is the new manager coming in and Agnew taking the huff and leaving the new man to patch up as best he can.

    At the moment my instinct is to sit on the money until real clarity appears. If need be, smash the North Riding Senior Cup and rebuild in Jan/Aug 2018.

  63. I go away for a few days, where the weather is hot and humid and where the BBQs reign (actually at Hutton le Hole but we won’t go into details and, anyway, the weather took at turn for the definitely autumnal today and there was fog on the NYMoors on the way back, as well as much lower temperatures) and what do I see?

    On return to the land of Blog, I see a Host of Posters coming after me, coming to take me Home, a Band of Ayresome Angels……… Or is that the wrong sport?

    Time to read the replies to our Starter for Ten. But there is also the Corbyn/May interview(s). Decisions, decisions…….

  64. The one thing that did emerge from tonight’s “debate”, whatever one’s politics. is that a quiescent audience kept under strict control, and a bullying incompetent interviewer are not conducive to illuminating any of the important issues at the centre of this election.

    1. Len

      My view is that as a TV spectacular it was very poor indeed in fact almost embarrassingly biased in parts and thinly disguised at that. My personal “leaning” as such is that I wouldn’t want to elect either of them given a choice and therein lies the problem. A bit like who do you want as next Boro manager AK or Steve Agnew?

      2. What I like is all the politicians are now treading warily and not taking anyone for granted

        The dementia tax the labour stronghold in the north east they have just realised we can think for ourselves

      3. The “Dementia Tax”, Theresa May’s “Stockton is full of Makem’s” moment!

        I seriously wonder at the intellect or complete lack of it sometimes of those who incredibly find themselves elected. Then the Labour party continue to wheel Diane Abbot out as if to balance the ineptness of it all. The gift that just keeps on giving, hilarious until you realise the seriousness of it that these people could be running the country shortly.

        Maybe its just me but I look at all my local candidates and like the “recent “Mayoral” election ask myself one question, why would I want to vote for any of them? Still haven’t worked out the answer and I don’t think I will.

        I’m a great believer in having a box that states “None of the above”. Maybe I should start a “None of the above” party, only drawback would be getting to see Boro v. Preston in midweek from No.10.

      4. Didn’t watch any of it, it has become just plain tiresome. As RR says, why would you wheel out something as divisive as a ‘Dementia Tax’ in your manifesto? Unbelievable. That should have been a cross party examination of the problem after the election. Diane Abbot, that is a complete mystery to me, strap line line; she is redefining the inept.

        Did we actually need an election or was/is it a vanity election?

        Following the appointment of the new Boro manager is more exciting. Can we have a ‘Swingometer’ please werdermouth.

        UTB,

        John

      5. Jarsue

        Maybe SG could organise a live debate with all the Boro Managerial candidates with questions from the audience. Keith Lamb could do the Jeremy Paxman bit 🙂

    2. Andrew Neil is the best political interviewer by far. Well prepared, tenacious, with a sense of humour………(that’s enough about Steve Agnew, let’s get back to the politics).

      Maybe Exmil will be organising a “Predict the General Election Results” competition? Mind you, bearing in mind how well I predicted the Boro’s Premier League denouement, it will be a very surprised Tim Farron waking up to find himself at No 10, with the support of Ms Sturgeon. And, I have just discovered, there really IS a Yorkshire Party which has a policy of having God’s Own County setting it own tax rates

  65. Maybe we should televise the Monk and Pearson interviews on Boro+ or if they want to do it in confidence on the Gazette Premium service.

  66. Better to have a televised Monk – Pearson kick-boxing match, refereed by Leo. Let’s see who will be capable of manning the changing-room door when any self-appointed DOF tries to elbow his way in and talk to ‘his’ players.

    An archery contest with a cardboard cut-out of Stewy as target might also be informative as to who has the necessary skills for Boro managerial success.

    Mark

  69. I suppose Jaap Stam could be approached now, but if Jokanovic was an option you would think a move could have been made by now. So it seems unlikely that he is interested.

    Likewise, if Palace really wanted Garry Monk you would think they would have stepped in already.

    Agnew may have been dealt a difficult hand, but in terms of results he played it just about as badly as it could have been played, and that’s the main evidence we have to go on.

    All this leads me to think that Monk and Nigel Pearson are the only realistic options, unless there is someone under the radar.

    What we know about Monk and Pearson is that Monk took a mediocre mid-table side at a club with an unreliable owner, and with little money to spend turned them into play-off contenders . Pearson took one of the heavyweight clubs in the division with significant spending power, and it went badly wrong.

    So the most recent evidence suggests that SG needs to get on with the interviews, and that if Monk impresses there, it would be the least risky option, and possibly a damn good option, to secure Monk’s services before someone else does.

  71. I agree Ian and unless there is a lot going on in the background that we are unaware of then Agnew and Pearson become the more likely candidates.

    I have mentioned before that SG seems to adopt a paternalistic approach to personnel. I just wonder if some of the delay in making an announcement is due to seeking to find/agree suitable positions for displaced staff.

    This is becoming very much like our transfer activity with named targets being close to signing and then going elsewhere.

    I think you should increase your #daftquidagnew to #dafttenneragnew. 😎

  72. KP

    Monk is also favourite for the vacant Palace job, Puel at Saints may be on borrowed time, Monk will take his time assessing options.

    As we are well aware, we may think Boro is the centre of the universe but it is only one club amongst many.

    Euromillions costs £2.50, should I buy a ticket tonight or put it on Agnew?

  73. Just noticed the EG are reporting that Gary Monk has now gone on holiday!

    Not looking good if you were thinking that Monk would get the job looks like a two horse race unless Peter Kenyon has another foreign manager up his sleeve.

  74. RR, A live debate would be good, with questions from the supporters too.

    Joking aside we do need to see some action. Stam has said he’s staying at Reading to go for automatic promotion. I’m still a new to Agnew but a little action would be good. I reckon it will be Pearson, Leo and Pearson that’s a forbidding pair.

    UTB,

    John

  75. Well the result of the most expensive penalty shootout in history probably means Boro have been spared a possible return to avoiding losing rather than trying to win games under potential head coach candidate Wagner – the tactics all looked kind of familiar as Huddersfield showed lots of energy but little ambition until the last few minutes of extra time.

    Incidentally, who would have fancied taking one of those penalties? Can’t imagine what was going through the players minds as they approached the spot – though here’s a link sent to me by GHW, where Paul Merson describes what was going through his head as he prepared to take a penalty for England against Argentina…

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S6l81QYjNmE?rel=0

  77. I’m actually beginning to wonder if Garry Monk is either not Gibson’s first choice candidate or Boro is not his first choice club. Look at Watford they installed Silva only a couple of days after he resigned from Hull – Monk left Leeds six days ago.

    I’m still not prepared to put my ‘daft-quid’ on Agnew though for the following reason: Although Steve Agnew has conducted himself throughout his tenure very professionally and it has emerged he was hampered by dressing room splits and apparently a head of recruitment gone rogue – with players telling us he wasn’t able to play in the style he wanted.

    Whilst it’s not Agnew’s fault, it basically describes the picture of a head coach who wasn’t able to impose himself on the players and get them to play in his preferred style – so if he can’t do that unless everyone is on board then he may struggle in similar circumstances in the future – so nice guy who is no doubt a good coach but seemingly lacks the authority to impose his will.

    In some respects Nigel Pearson’s experience at Derby has shown a similar problem – except that he seems he was responsible for causing disharmony in the dressing room that ultimately lead to the players not pulling together on the pitch and Derby slid down the table until he was removed.

    So both have demonstrated recently that they haven’t been able to get the players performing on the pitch – the question for Gibson is whether that sounds like a risk worth taking at this moment in time.

    But if Monk is not the preferred candidate then who is? Perhaps it was Wagner but the chairman said himself recently that he was looking at having a more adventurous Boro. Maybe it’s none of the above or is Steve Gibson showing his indecisive side in the same way Karanka wasn’t removed until he essentially removed himself?

  78. Firstly the new home shirt, from the article on the MFC site it looks as though the Ramsden sponsorship is a much smaller logo near the adidas badge and the band is clear or have they got another sponsor lined up. Is it worrying they haven’t released a picture of the new shirt yet as though they have something to hide.

    Manager situation, Wagner interview following victory, he didn’t seem to commit himself for next season with comments like “there is no plan for next season, just going to celebrate” and “I have a few phone calls to make”, I am not saying he is coming to BORO but maybe he has been offered another post.

    The Gazette states “it is reported that Monk has gone on holiday” which is slightly different to he has gone abroad. Besides I heard that him and his wife stayed at the golf club for a weekend very recently but I don’t know how reliable that information is, although if true, it could mean he has already had his interview and SG is waiting to interview Pearson.

    At the end of the day, it is night lol, no at the end of the day, we as supporters have really no influence on who is appointed, some will be happy, some disappointed and maybe a lot will be really angry but we will still be there next season supporting the BORO, maybe through clenched teeth. A good appointment may see a few thousand more season tickets sold when they go back on sale, which will be a barometer as to the general reaction to the appointment.

    Come on BORO.

  79. Werder

    Maybe Mavis Wilton is in charge of recruitment.

    #agnew is not a preference on my part, it is not choosing the right man for the job, it is merely a feeling of where we will end up. A safe, non decision because he is last man standing. I suppose it could be a bit like Gareth’s appointment, it has to be given to somebody. Who is liked and respected within the club?

    The danger is other decent candidates will just get jobs elsewhere or stay put and you are then left with those who cant get another post who have made a career as being guest pundits on Accrington v Bury in the Johnson Paint Trophy or whatever it is called now.

    1. Had to Google that one I’m afraid Ian but I do recall a Mavis Riley now as the ‘I don’t really know’ staple of 80’s impressionists – for my sins I haven’t watched any of the soaps for probably over 25 years now from the days of characters like Stan Ogden and Bobby Grant.

  80. Werder
    You’re right. Agnew couldn’t impose his philosophy, whatever it was, on the players, for various reasons. He does seem a nice guy and is well respected but I’m not sure that is sufficient to put things right.
    Pearson’s recent history suggests that there may be further strife if he were appointed. No matter who SG chooses, it is going to take a long time to restore order to the dressing room and beyond.
    Would us early birds have signed up if we’d known the depth of this shambles?
    Sadly, the answer is yes in my case. I must be certifiable but that’s what 50 years of supporting Boro does to you.

  81. If the first questions that you have to ask an interviewee are –

    Why did you have to be physically restrained from having an almighty punch-up with your last boss?

    In your last post with a Championship team you won one game in the first nine and took your club to the brink of a relegation spot- 20th in the league- before being suspended. Given that record why on earth should we consider employing you?

    Could you tell us a little about your man-management techniques? We’ve had a few problems ourselves in that area. Inflexible methods eventually created quite a lot of alienation amongst our staff.. I see that in your last post you were reported as having launched “a foul-mouthed tirade” at the players after one defeat, before going on TV and publicly criticising them. Did you foresee any of the consequences of this? ie that your actions would result in 6 of the team going to the Chairman the next day, saying that they did not wish to play for you any more, and your having your final short-fuse physical confrontation with the Chairman? Did you do anything wrong? If so, what was it?

    You left your last job after barely a month into the new season with a £3million pound pay-off. This after a similar lucrative pay-off from Leicester, again from a Chairman with whom you were continually in conflict. Failure has been the high road to financial prosperity for you hasn’t it? Have you any message for the supporters in this area who will be paying a high price to finance you should you get the job this time?

    Your past relationships with the media have been somewhat confrontational in that you have personally insulted some journalists (calling one of them an ostrich), and generally appeared, when under pressure, to be wishing to take the whole lot of them outside. Do you have the personal and linguistic resources to be able to use the media in a constructive way to project the club, and indeed the whole area, in a positive light?

    If these are the first questions-as they surely should be – then I can think of no conditions, circumstances, businesses or institutions in which that candidate should be sitting in front of you in the first place.

  82. One other question, do you think grabbing an opposition player by the throat, during a match, is the correct image for our fans in the Red Zone.

    Come on BORO.

  83. If I was trying to choose a manager by character type then I’d quite like one that’s articulate (in English) and pretty down to earth, who spoke from a confident point of view by knowing what he wanted and was not so caught up in his own ego – in that respect I thought Jaap Stam came across as a man who appeared he could command respect without the need to play the kind of psychological games we’ve seen are needed by others. I could imagine him being the Boro manager – others touted I’m afraid sound like it’s more about them than the job at hand.

  84. We, the users of this blog. Continue to wonder why the chairman(and presumably his channels of communication with the dressing room) was completely innocent of any idea that the ship was sinking for the entire duration of the season.
    I’m afraid that the model of running a first class football club adopted by him is a gift to any mischief makers who land on the club.
    All the successful clubs have chairmen who are publicly hands off, but in fact are living in the pockets of whoever is currently their manager, on a day to day basis, reading the news sheets, their word is law, and any one lower on the totem pole would get short thrift if caught usurping power in any way.
    I cannot imagine the Spurs chairman allowing an underling to destabilize his manager, or for that matter, the Arsenal Chairman.
    I could go on, but only dishearten myself.
    The worst thing is that this has obviously been his way, did not it occur him that these employees where simply not good enough to be left on their own, and would inevitably sink the ship(several times)

  85. One thing we should remember is that footballers are used to changes in coaching staff and players, that is the nature of the game.

    As long as most players are here early in June then they will be up to speed with whatever coaching staff are involved. The key thing is getting the manager and coaching staff in place.

    There is always a turnover in players, this summer will be no different. Getting the right ones is the difficult bit.

  86. Jaap Stam doesn’t fill me with the belief and confidence that he will be able to galvanise us into running away with the Championship. Reading finished four points above Huddersfield in the league but his tactics yesterday would have been more suited to playing Manchelskiarsepool in an FA Cup semi final. Defensive, uninspiring, negative and dull, relying on breaks out of defence. Hardly the tactics I would want to spend another 12 months suffering. He also wasn’t too tactful in his memoirs and he also fell foul of alleged banned substances when at Lazio and banned for months for his error.

    Wagner’s tactics were hardly exhilarating either yesterday but Huddersfield did look a little more classy, confident, composed and organised on the ball. My overview of the game was whoever went up will be Lambs to the slaughter and will come straight back down again. Deep down maybe Wagner knows this too and feels that he has taken the club as far as he can, would he be open for a new challenge with a club that has a platform that he could build upon?

    Are any of the commonly named suspects definitely better than Karanka? In many cases they aren’t and that is a great worry. Are we are going to go backwards in an attempt to move forwards? I’m not suggesting asking AK back, that ship has long sailed and was the right decision just at the wrong time but we now need as equally good a Manager as a minimum (and then the big question would be “why would we want to do that?) and ideally (as should have been the original intention) a much better one.

    Can you see an outstanding candidate on the list that is much better than what we had, capable of helping us run away with the Championship and establishing us in the Premiership?

    Pearson, Monk, Jokanovic, Agnew, Wagner, Martinez, Bruce, Pardew, Giggs, Stam, O’Neil, Grayson, McClaren, Pulis, Hiddink, Hasselbaink, Clough, Ranieri.

    2. RR
      It will be interesting to watch Wagner’s career from now on in, it is rare for a beginner in management to be faultless, but he came close.
      He spent the season in third place, tucked in behind the big two, qualified for the play offs- with three games to go and dropped ten of his team to prepare for the play offs. Smart, or what?
      With 185 million at stake, it’s no surprise that they played defensively.
      Happy watching.

  87. I see Thomas Tuchel has left Dortmund after winning the German Cup on Saturday. Now that would be a coup if SG could pull it off and my guess is he would want to retain some continuity and Championship experience at MFC.

  88. Redcar Red

    You are correct, as I have posted many times the managers send their teams out to play in similar ways, even Eddie Howe sends his troops out in 451 when it suits.

    Wagners team went up having scored 56 goals. We tend to forget the problem we had in the Championship was converting possession in to goals and at times missed many chances.

    We did not have the cutting edge or the skill sets to easily change. There again the manager wasn’t for changing either.

    If the manager cant or wont change, the option is change the manager which is what happened.

    Our plight is shown by the fact we let Reach, Rhodes, Nugent and Adomah go. No Premier teams came in for them, we will see them in the Championship next season.
    Their departures were not the reason we were relegated. Did we bring in better?

    Like many I didn’t think they got a decent chance for this season but by the same token they haven’t ripped the Championship apart. You could play all four as attackers for a championship club. The sum total is 102 games and 15 goals.

    In season 2015/17 the totals for Boro were 111 games and 22 goals (that includes cup games).

    Somehow we have to become more potent, as you say none the of list excites, the one that might is Martinez but leaving a Belgian side with Hazard and Lukaku and de Bruyne etc to travel to Bolton on a Tuesday in February? Mmm, maybe not.

  89. I think the prospect of Boro running away with the Championship or ‘smashing it’ is a bit of a red herring – rarely does a team win promotion that easily such is the grind of the league.

    I can’t say I’ve got a candidate in mind that I feel would in anyway guarantee a top two finish for Boro – I’m still getting to grips with what needs fixing and who will be left in the squad and are they good enough or even still motivated for the challenge ahead.

    Whilst it’s true good organisation will take you quite a way in the Championship where winning three, drawing one and losing one from every five games will get you up. Essentially boring steady football will get you up but we know it takes a bit more invention on the pitch to keep you up – plus it’s not that easy to buy a bit of stardust and hope it integrates on top of your methodical energetic platform.

    I think whoever gets the job must be a believable option from the outset – I suspect many supporters will wince at the prospect of a continuation of austerity anti-football as the our only viable solution as we know what’s coming next. Can the Boro faithful be sold the same product with different packaging? Perhaps many could but I believe many will not have the the same patience they allowed Karanka as we’re starting the journey from a different place now

  91. I mentioned a couple of weeks ago that I thought SG made a mistake in his hoping that Agnew would be with Boro for many years. I think now it will be extremely difficult for him to find a prospective manager who would accommodate Agnew, possibly only Steve Bruce.

    Steve Bruce has a history of resigning posts (Birmingham and Hull to name two), and although Villa have been made favourites to gain automatic promotion next season, Bruce has apparently been told that he must sell players before he can buy any.

    I wonder whether SG has approached him, because he would obviously have greater spending power at Boro, or is that a no go area?

    1. It’s possible that Gibson has someone like Bruce in mind and is waiting for him to decide that Villa “can’t match his ambition” but of course a club has to ask permission to approach a serving manager – unless like Strachan, he’s encountered in a chance meeting in a service station toilet, though asking someone in those circumstances if they’re interested in taking things further would perhaps pose a different risk…

        1. Terry Scott full back
          Bernard Bresslaw ch
          Syd James gk
          Jim Dale striker
          Kenneth o Connor fb
          Leslie crowther mid
          Joan Simms physio

  93. I think you are being a bit harsh on Pearson there, Len. With all the goings on it could be quite handy to get a guy who comes in and gives Gibbo, Stewy, Aggers, Bausor and anyone else he doesn’t like the look of a few good slaps. But probably not Leo, we can do without Godzilla v Megatron on the Rockliffe Park golf course.

    Also, there’s the prospect of some tasty animal metaphors being thrown at the Gazette crew:

    ‘So Mr Vickers, you think I should be playing a more expansive attacking game? Are you a lemming Mr Vickers? Do you see an enticing cliff edge and recklessly charge forwards to throw yourself off? Because Big Nige can arrange that, no problem. Have you seen the figures for journalists mysteriously falling from height in Leicester during 2014? Google it, my lemming friend.’

    Mark

  94. Werder

    As the acting profession is being quoted I think Strachan was ‘resting’ at the time.

    I do repeat what I said earlier, players are used to turnover and get on with it. I will also throw in a thought, is it possible all the angst has an element of self protection?

    A manager who had lost his way, a couple of rogue footballers and a dodgy Orta is enough to cause a bit of mayhem in a club.

    A summer break, new faces and a new management team can work wonders if the core of the squad is sound. If there are a couple of trouble makers left that would cause a problem.

    It will be interesting if Karanka joins Orta at Leeds and does really well.

  95. We keep getting snippets, of
    Karanka fault ,Ortas Fault, Barraggan,Ramirez,Valdez, Stuani, De Penna,Negrado, Traoria, Speedy Gonzalez, Taco Bell, anymore.
    This stinks , maybe Orta was defending his players,
    Something isn’t right here and maybe uncle Steve as dropped himself in.

  98. Just been reading a couple of articles about Victor Orta’s appointment at Leeds as Director of Football – what struck me is that it appears this move was being setup long before he left Boro.

    If you take these three statements from the Gazette article it looks like the move to Leeds was he reason he left Boro:

    Orta was heavily linked with a move to Leeds before his Boro exit was confirmed last week.

    He was identified by new Leeds chairman Andrea Radrizzani who believes Orta is a shrewd behind the scenes addition as the Italian continues his overhaul of the managerial structure at Elland Road.

    [Boro] Bosses were thrashing out an exit settlement with Orta for weeks before his departure was finally confirmed last week.

    This seems confirmed by a Yorkshire Post article who said:

    Orta joins the Whites following 17 months with Middlesbrough who the Spaniard left earlier this month to pave the way for his move to Elland Road.

    So it’s possible that the recent revelations that he was the source of dressing room unrest were overblown in an attempt at some kind of news management as he left for a rival – in the end the story about wanting to speak to his players was only attributed to one un-named player and one un-named club employee. Though this next statement seems fairly neutral and could easily equally be applied to someone like Downing.

    The Spaniard’s belief that he had an increasing influence in the dressing room is thought to have caused friction behind the scenes in the final months of the season.

    Clearly he can’t have done anything that allowed the club to discipline him or even terminate his contract at the club, otherwise they wouldn’t have been negotiating his exit settlement.

    Though many of the players he helped bring to the club have hardly been a success – but I presume these players were sanctioned by the recruitment team as a whole and they were assessed by more than just Orta.

    Perhaps the problem was the overall strategy for which Orta was brought in to do was not necessarily one that could guarantee results – for example what was the expected conversion rate for the budget targets we went for? or what was the anticipated period for them to adjust to English football. I’d imagine young players would need a longer run in the team for them to adjust – Karanka seemed to expect them to be ready to play and they were dropped pretty quickly when they didn’t perform.

    The club maybe expected quicker results and Orta maybe expected more input on ‘his players’ progression at the club. It sounded like he had Karanka’s ear but his input was not welcome under Agnew. Perhaps that’s why he’s moved on to a Director of Football post rather than just being the Head of Recruitment where his role was open to interpretation depending on who’s in charge of the team.

  99. Look back to my managerial cult piece and apply it to Gibbo as chairman, and consider why he’s been untouchable for so long. The greater his legend, the more withdrawn he’s appeared to be.

    As for Pearson, I’m convinced there’s sentiment in there too – Captain Fantastic, he of the 1995 and 1998 promotions who would have kept us up had he not been injured for a large portion of 1996-97.*

    *The last part is a little bit of a myth, in my view. Even when he did play in the early months of the season, the defence was leaking like mad. It took a points deduction, the pressure of fewer games to save ourselves and his new partner Festa to revitalise him.

  100. Werder,

    Very shrewd. I was always sceptical of the Orta story.

    It’s a useful rule of thumb that if you see a story in the media that provokes an almost universal reaction, either positive or negative, that it should be treated with some caution. The sources of the story should be scrutinised and the interests they represent taken into account.. The Orta story was an obvious case of news management, because Orta’s version of events was never given, and there is no evidence that it was ever sought. There was no balance to the story, and it led the reader to only one obvious conclusion, whereas, in reality, such situations are invariably more complex. Another way of expressing this is to say that it was a piece of anti-Orta propaganda of the kind we would never have seen had he still been employed by the club. This is not to argue, of course, that Orta was innocent of all charges, but that the situation was, in defiance of Occam’s razor, almost certainly more complex than the one presented.

    One of the things I most dislike about the club is that when someone leaves, whether a player or staff member, stories designed to discredit them are fed to, and dutifully reported by, the Gazette. It happened with Higgy, with Aitor, and with Orta. And when was the last time you saw a fulsome tribute to any player or staff member for the contribution they had made or the pleasure they had given, something that is a commonplace courtesy in any normally functioning organisation. Indeed when Albert left us, for example, the silence from the club, apart from a few snide comments, was so deafening that I was moved myself to write a small tribute for the pleasure he had given me over the years, for his hard work, for his unfailingly positive attitude, and for the fact that , in an era of snarling prima donnas, he literally did play the game with a smile on his face. He seemed to me to be a player whose overall contribution might at least have received some acknowledgment from the club. That it didn’t, told us far more about the club than it did about the player.

  101. Building on my last comment.

    An independent thinking coach with attacking principles, for me.

    Why “independent thinking”?

    Because we’re stuck in a parochial paradox.

    Clashes of style, ambition and personality played a massive part in AK’s downfall.

    At the time of the great cup triumphs, it was nice to believe that we were one big happy family wholly buying into the Basque boss’s ideals.

    The arrival, and later dismissal, of Hignett, then the arrivals of Agnew, Downing and Rhodes, suggested otherwise.

    Ex Boro men, brothers-in-law and nephews.

    It is as if, for all our desires to move on towards a better future, we can’t bear to let go of our past.

    I know, I know. This may sound hypocritical. Typical Boro makes Boro Boro, and all that. But if we really are to progress the manager must be allowed to make his mark with his own men and his signings – and yes, I highlight the likes of Valdes and Negredo – must be made to feel more at home.

    The pleading for our promotion heroes to return was understandable. It was the extremity of such pleading that was hard to bear.

    If other clubs – like, say, Bournemouth and Burnley – can embrace change and move on, why can’t we?

  102. Werder

    I believe there were many parties involved and to some extent it may have been blown up after we were doomed as people rationalise their positions.

    AK said 16 players came to say goodbye to him, entirely possible with a large group of players and still have several who didn’t like him. People work with people they don’t like all the time and just get on with it.

    The blame does start with AK because he was the manager, he sets the tone, when all is well then those who are playing are happy. When things start going wrong more players become unhappy. When the manager starts lashing out it makes you think all is not well.

    You are left with thought that maybe Bausor and Gibson missed it all in which case they are culpable. I cannot see Ben and his uncle not talking, Downing and Woodie are local lads, it stretches the bounds of belief that they were not aware of the situation.

    We are even told Orta was looking for replacements for AK in January.

    I hate to say it but journalists like a good story.

  103. Beautifully written about Albert, Len.

    My guess is that the manner of his exit – the refusal of a new deal, his “brother” chipping in – left a rotten taste in the mouth and the club didn’t want anything that would make the hierarchy look bad to leak out.

    It’s quite common for writers to stand by the regime when one player or one coach departs acrimoniously – as the saying goes, there’s no “I” in team, and the need to maintain unity, when the pressure is on to deliver on the pitch, is paramount.

  104. The Northern Echo reports that Monk will not be offered the post at Palace, they are said to be looking for someone with very recent management experience from the premiership, like last season, so that they don’t end up like Sunderland.

  105. What if the manager they bring in,doesn’t fancy the players we have right now ,they may not fit his system,
    He won’t have much time to change things,and as we know you need a good start to the season to get momentum.and with an already broken dressing room, we may Smash our way to div1.

  107. gt

    We don’t know how broken the dressing room is, if it was just a case of the Spanish contingent who have now left then the dressing room should come round, The likes of Grant, Clayts and Friend will ensure that will happen.

    If there were other rifts that would be different, from what I saw towards the end of the season it was more a case of we were just not good enough. Our chief flair in Ramirez had left the building, the other player with the skills had lights on but nobody was in.

    Then it was the case of over red rover but look at seasons end for Hull (lost last three, GD -13) and Sunderland (lost last three, GD -8), hugely disappointing ends was their fates were settled. We lost our last three with a GD of – 7 but two of those were away at Chelsea and Liverpool.

  114. Len –

    You make some very good points in relation to the Orta story – particularly the one about that there was no attempt to get his side of the story to verify the un-named claims. It does sound more and more about creating a narrative for the club to give the view that he was asked to leave. I expect his exit settlement, like others, has a gagging clause in it so we’ll be unlikely to hear his version any time soon.

  115. Dom Shaw reveals

    The shirt, which will feature the return of the white band, has been described by the club’s head of retail and ticketing as “one of our best home shirts for a very long time”.

    So there you are, from the official mouthpiece of the organisation that brought you the gastric band and mickey mouse badge.

    1. If I recall correctly, I think the marketing people at the club said the same thing before last season’s launch – though I’m not sure what else they can really say as “it looks pretty rubbish, I don’t know what we were thinking of” would probable mean you’re in the wrong job!

  116. Been watching u20 WC ,some excellent football being played, England better the last two games, since Fry brought in next to Morobi the other centre back from Chelsea, he was really poor first two games,
    Fry was solid today did his job, Chapman came on for a cameo had a couple of runs ,did some chasing.
    Some of the other teams are very good too, the Africans are good technically ,and play with speed.
    Just like everywhere though you have to put it into the net.
    Impressed with England’s tempo, excellent passing and counter attacking, could have had four or five today.

  117. Werder

    I think we agree on that.

    I think part of gastric band’s problem was that on the less svelte as the band approached the hem it looked more like the Nile Delta than a canal.

    1. The main problem with last season’s shirt was the decision to go with white shorts rather than red ones – the impact would have been far less negative if someone had actually looked at the kit with the shirt tucked in and realised the whole combo looked decidedly odd. Perhaps whoever signed off the shirt saw it in isolation.

  118. Very interesting article from the Birmingham Evening Mail is quoted in the Gazette today. It’s basically saying that the stronger current Championship clubs are ready to go for next season and will be able to out-perform Boro, Hull and Blunderland who are managerless, rudderless and losing their better players.

    I think the guy has a point. We don’t know who our manager will be, we don’t know what style of play or formation we need to recruit for, and we have / will have some gaping holes in the squad which need to be filled. The clock is ticking.

    Today’s rumours seem to favour Monk as a viable candidate who is not sure to go to Palace, and has not gone off on holiday rather than talk to SG, which was yesterday’s drift. Surely we should be able to interview the candidates who are genuinely interested in a shorter time frame than this?

    1. There is the possibility that Monk has been offered the job in principle but wants to have a break first before getting down to business – otherwise when is he going to have the opportunity? He’s just finished a long tough campaign with Leeds and must need to recharge his batteries.

      The players are already on a beach somewhere and any new boss will need to be ready when they get back to start work and start planning on who he needs. I’d be completely gob-smacked if Pearson is in charge next season as perhaps will many who come across him – though if Agnew is in charge I will be severely underwhelmed to the point of smacking my own gob to test it’s not a dream.

  119. Boronurk

    I think a lot depends on the actual situation within the club. If the squad is generally sound then the system shouldn’t matter so much, they all play a variation of the same formation despite what we debate.

    The main thing is getting the new manager in place. Unlike at Hull and Sunderland any new appointment knows he will have money to spend and will be able to run his own ship.

    If it does drag on then we will have problems.

    1. Looks like an own goal to me!

      Story of Theresa May’s weak n wobbly election campaign.

      Slice of Dementia Tax anyone? Not too expensive as it will only cost you your house!

  122. A good striker.

    What is it with Boro and “good strikers”?

    Here’s a piece from Harry Pearson highlighting the failure of Alves.

    https://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2009/jan/22/middlesbrough-premierleague

    Also…

    Phil Boersma (47 league games, 3 goals)
    Billy Ashcroft (127 appearances, 25 goals)
    Peter Davenport (66 starts, 8 goals)
    Andy Payton (23 appearances, 3 goals)

    And now we have Jordan Rhodes.

    Even Ravanelli doesn’t escape H. Pearson’s scorn, for reasons of character. And even he managed just two league goals on the road all season.

    1. Paul Wilkinson & John Hendrie contributed 109 goals for the Boro between them.

      ‘Always look on the bright side of life!’

      Except if you support the Boro, like!

      Lol

      1. Well, that’s a start.

        And then there’s Cloughie himself. 213 in 197 appearances. Camsell still remains at the top, with 325 in 418.

        Post-Bernie (118 in 307) and excluding Hendrie, Wilko and Rava, who’s at the top?

        Ricard (43 in 134), Viduka (42 in 108), Scott McDonald (40 in 124 – and he is deemed a failure!).

        Bam Bam, if on form and with the right players and tactics around him, still has a chance. He’s on 20 at the minute.

  123. John O’Rourke (38 in 64 games) and John Hickton (192 in around 500 games though wiki does give different figures, must check my book at home).

    1. Simon

      Tell me, is the problem at the Boro the fact that we play to a system and the striker must fit in or is it we just have duff strikers more tha other clubs? I mean cant we build a team that compliments a strikers strengths or is that too much like rocket science?

      Just askin like!

  125. Spartak

    I think we have bought some donkey’s over the years, it seems to be a knack.

    Even in our promotion season I dread to think how many one on ones we spurned, throw in some dreadful final balls and it is little wonder we scored so few.

    1. Morning to say about not being able to take a throw on when we are pressing on their half

      Poor free kicks that are easily saved

      Poor corners with no pace power or direction apart from Fischers

      Penaltys given against us which weren’t

      Offside given against us which was wrong

      Oh and poor goalkeeping !

  128. I see your points, Ian and Werder. I think I’m frustrated by not knowing if SG has set up an interview timetable to suit himself and perhaps to leave time for Wagner to be available, or whether the delays are because Monk or another target are waiting for a different job, such as Palace or Southampton.

    Examples of my concerns:

    Will the new guy’s key aim build his defence around a top-notch goalkeeper he likes, who we could be pursuing now? Is that where he sees one of the big investments being made?

    Will he see a Gestede type of player as his 9 with a Bamford as his 10? Or will he see Bamford as the 9 with a Ramirez type playmaker as the 10? Or would he want a lightning-quick striker as his priority and be keen to spend a significant part of the budget there?

    All these sorts of decisions could influence where we need to strengthen, and who comes, although I take the point that many players could certainly fit different roles and suit any manager, and maybe we are already setting up those deals.

    Mark

  129. It may well be that Boro don’t accommodate specialist goalpoachers full stop. The kind who the team must be built around rather than the kind who can be also trusted to put in a shift, win the ball in the air, hold it up etc.

    If a forward at a top team isn’t pulling his weight in some way or another in almost every game then the manager will be bound to be disappointed. Even during his best season at then third tier Huddersfield Rhodes would be hot for a while then cold for a while – he has always been a streak striker, a mood player.

    Which makes you wonder if he was the right fit for Boro even before he signed.

  131. Kevin Corbyn rant…

    “When you do that with politicians like she said about our figures – and when you do things like that about a woman like Diane Abbott…

    “I’ve kept really quiet but I’ll tell you something, she went down in my estimations when she said that. We have not resorted to that.

    “You can tell her now, we’re still fighting for this election and she’s got to go to Middlesbrough and get something – and I’ll tell you, honestly, I will love it if we beat them. Love it.

    “It really has got to me. I’ve voiced it live, not in front of the press or anywhere. I’m not even going to the press conference but the battle is still on and the Tories have not won this yet.”

  132. Thought for the Day

    I wonder if in the of the challenge of an ageing population becoming too great a burden on society the Tories would introduce the ‘Euthanasia Bill’, dressing it up as a positive opportunity for the sick, old and disabled to sacrifice themselves for the greater good of society.

    They could erect monuments and hand out medals ‘To those who Sacrificed Themselves’.

    They could of course get a five star meal before being wheeled off to the ‘Train to Paradise!’

    Echo’s of Soylent Green me thinks!

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N_jGOKYHxaQ&feature=youtube_gdata_player

    1. Funny as I started to read your post and before I read the end I immediately thought about Soylent Green and lo and behold there it was !

      A great film

  133. I’m almost feeling sorry for the Gazette reporters. With no news yet on the new manager they’re having to recycle old news or just reporting rumours of prospective signings from the national press.

    Surely we won’t buy players until a new manager has been appointed! Well apparently we have already, though only projects.

    What worries me is who is authorising these projects? I was hoping that the future manager would be in control of all transfers.

    Are we still going to have interference over new acquisitions? What on earth is going on? Who is accountable? Are we looking for a new manager or a head coach?

    These questions may be rhetorical but I am beginning to despair.

  134. I think we are now in the period of the ‘Phoney War’. Something is or might be happening somewhere. But what? I console and comfort myself with the thought that Boro might finally be thinking about and considering the next manager, well we’ve had enough time and no notice is being worked.

    I presume that the interviews are being carried out away from the lenses and Rockcliffe rumour machine. Probably in a car park on top of Carlton or Newgate Bank.

    Just keep staring out to sea Corporal Jones and you’ll finally see something.

    UTB,

    John

  135. Ken Smith

    I assume my namesake is still in place, the Armada may have sailed but the work done by Mogga and Aitor in improving the structures at the club should still be in place.

    There are few actual transfers taking place.

    Simon

    I remember a Leeds player talking about Cantona, Sergeant Wilko would pull his hair out because of what Eric wasn’t doing, the players were willing to bust a gut and give 110% son Eric could do what he did best.

    Modern managers and coaches wont allow that anymore. With rare exceptions top players are at least as fit, strong and fast as other players but it is allied to greater skill.

      1. Fat chance Iii
        Except MAYBE Monk!

        Whats the hold up?

        Aggers- thats what and who!

        SG’s bestie may be lured away for his coaching prowess – shock, horror. We cant have that. Lordy, no! Catrastrophe. The end of the world is nigh – really?

        More nonsense from the executive!

  137. Noting that Trump wants to pull out of the Paris agreement on Climate Chamge thought you might like this little piece

    It’s a Green Thing ?

    I was at the check out at the supermarket the other day after one of my rare shopping trips. There was a much older lady just in front of me handing her items to the young girl cashier to be rung up at the till.

    The young cashier suggested to the much older lady that she should bring her own grocery bags, because plastic bags weren’t very good for the environment and they had stopped giving away free plastic bags.

    The woman apologized to the young girl and said ”
    I’m so sorry but “We didn’t have this ‘green thing’ back in my younger days.”

    The cashier sneered back at her

    “That’s our problem today. Your generation didn’t care enough to save our environment for future generations.”

    The older lady thought about it.

    “You know you are so right. our generation didn’t have the “green thing” in its day.

    Back then, we returned milk bottles, pop bottles and beer bottles to the store. The store sent them back to the plant to be cleaned and refilled, so it could use the same bottles over and over. So they really were recycled. But we didn’t have the “green thing” back in our day.

    Grocery stores bagged our groceries in brown paper bags that we reused for numerous things. Most memorable besides household garbage bags was the use of brown paper bags as book covers for our school books. This was to ensure that public property (the boyoks provided for our use by the school) was not defaced by our scribblings. Then we were able to personalize our books on the brown paper bags. But, too bad we didn’t do the “green thing” back then. Our groceries apples and oranges and potatoes were sold loose and not wrapped up in clear film and on plastic trays

    We walked up stairs because we didn’t have an escalator in every store and office building. We walked to the corner store and our children walked to school. We didn’t climb into a car every time we wanted to go a short distance.

    We washed the baby’s nappies because we didn’t have the throw away kind. We dried clothes on a line, not in an energy-gobbling machine burning up 240 volts. Wind and solar power really did dry our clothes back in our early days. Kids got hand-me-down clothes from their brothers or sisters, not always brand-new clothing.

    But young lady you are so right; we didn’t have the “green thing” back in our day.
    Back then we had one TV, or radio, in the house — not a TV in every room. And the TV had a small screen the size of a handkerchief (remember them?), not a screen the size of Yorkshire.

    In the kitchen we blended and stirred by hand because we didn’t have electric machines to do everything for us. When we packaged a fragile item to send in the mail, we used wadded up old newspapers to cushion it, not plastic bubble wrap.

    Back then, we didn’t fire up an engine and burn petrol just to cut the lawn. We used a push mower that ran on human power. We exercised by working so we didn’t need to go to a health club to run on treadmills that operate on electricity.

    But you’re right; we didn’t have the “green thing” back then.

    We drank from a tap when we were thirsty instead of using a cup or a plastic bottle every time we had a drink of water. We refilled writing pens with ink instead of buying a new pen, and we replaced the razor blade in a r azor instead of throwing away the whole razor just because the blade got dull.

    But I do agree with you that we didn’t have the “green thing” back then.

    We had gaslights and when electricity came we had one outlet in a room, not an entire bank of sockets to power a dozen appliances. And we didn’t need a computerized gadget to receive a signal beamed from satellites 23,000 miles But isn’t it sad how you the current generation laments how wasteful we old folks were just because we didn’t have the “green thing” back then?

    We don’t like being old in the first place, so it doesn’t take much to piss us off…”

    The old woman paid her bill packed her goods into a large wheeled home shopping trolley and walked out with not a backward glance leaving the young girl open mouthed

    1. I STILL drink water from the tap. We dont have a dishwasher or electric clothes drier. I and/or the Mrs dry the dishes with a tea towel. I dont own a car. I walk to the local supermarket (10-15mins) and take the same big strong bag each time. I and/or the Mrs carry the shopping home. I walk 45 mins minimum every day, sometimes different routes but always down to and along the river. We have 1 tv, always have, always will. Even when we were flush my Mrs bought second hand clothes for the kids when they were young.
      Cultural shifts/habits OFB. I am appauled by the amount of plastic floatin around in the Med and Pacific. We are an abomination of a species. No question.

    2. Too right. We were also fighting a war at home and overseas, and we had to make do because everything was rationed, so we dug up our beautiful lawns to grow our own vegetables and fruit. We didn’t have wall-to-wall carpeting, and some of us didn’t have indoor toilets. We took down our iron gates to be recycled in munition factories.

      We were all in it together and most of us loved our neighbours and children respected their elders. There used to be a saying “don’t teach your grandma to suck eggs”. I’m pleased people today don’t have to suffer what my parents had to.

      We recycled everything from using newspapers as toilet paper, and string to hold our trousers up or to lace our shoes, and we don’t need the younger generation to tell us how to recycle, because in those days there was no alternative.

      Nevertheless I would have loved to have been in that shopping queue just to see the expression on the cashier’s face. Well done to the old lady!

      Good post, Bob.

    3. I hope Mr Trump is reading the blog. Certainly should.

      I have said for a while that we should live like our gran parets did. We must do it to save the planet, they did to save money to have a family.

      Up the Boro!

  138. What’s even worse is that this whole managerial process is taking so long that I’m probably going to have to find a subject for another article – unless anyone out there has got an article up their sleeve?

  139. Werder

    Just leave the blog to run because this is the Boro related subject at the moment though the managerial merry go round is not going round.

    The rumours still say Gibbo is planning to interview this week but it is nearly next week and he is planning to sit down with Agnew. If I was Agnew I would be hacked off if he hasn’t been spoken to me as yet.

    There is the risk Monk and Pearson go elsewhere and in the meantime Agnew takes another job.

    Maybe the players are having a vote on who they want as manager.

    1. Ian
      The risk of Agnew taking another job are vanishingly small, you do not get many interviews with your best mate for a job that pays big bucks.

  140. I see that five U23’s have been released, although I have not followed them I do recognise some of the names, Bradley Fewster, Junior Mondal, Niall McGoldrick, Lewis Maloney , Jo Wheatley. Anyone who has followed the U23’s surprised by any of the names ?

    Come on BORO.

  141. Talking of recycling, the local council tried a neat trick of raising council tax without actually appearing to do so. They hid part of the rise as a £40 a year charge to have the brown organic recycling bin emptied every two weeks over summer at the same time as the blue bin (for bottles, plastic and paper).

    I think the take up was way south of 15%, everybody just puts it in the black bin and it goes to landfill.

    The local council missed it’s recycling target by some distance. Maybe Boro should sign them up.

  142. I’m a blank re. topics at the moment Werder. Work and readjusting to my new life in Belfast is taking my time.

    Might I add… what brilliant, poignant posting from Bob and Spartak.

    Ian, there’s a good quote relating to Cantona that I’ll dig up for you later.

  143. Simon

    The story came from when I was driving several years ago, I listened to an ex Leeds playing being interviewed and for the life of me cant recall his name.

    Tony Dorigo. Just come back to me, I think!

  144. Bob
    Thanks for that .
    I’ve been banging on to my kids for years about “recycling” in the days when everything was in black and white.

  146. Good link from GHW. We need him back unless he is locked in his shed.

    Elsewhere talk is of Lazio being even more interested in de Roon and Celtic in Fischer.

    Just need someone in place to spend the proceeds should they leave.

  147. The Boro “Management Challenge” is perhaps not as drawn out as it feels in reality. The Play Offs just finished on Monday this week and “if” Wagner and/or Stam were under consideration along with the other well published suspects then SG was stymied in doing anything until they concluded at Wembley at the earliest and had at least 48 hours to reflect.

    Watching the Play Off game I felt that if I was the losing Manager pride would surely want me to stay and fight with my Players rather than walk away? As it was Wagner triumphed and will probably stick with the Terriers and I would be surprised if Stam walked away from Reading (unless he was pushed) due to a sense of unfinished business and loyalty.

    In hindsight that was probably always going to be the case even had the result been reversed. So outside of the top two and Huddersfield who else is worth a mention? That really leaves only Monk, Jokanovic and perhaps Carvalhol who hasn’t been really linked. Jokanovic I doubt will now be headed North any time soon. Carvalhol maybe doesn’t spark a lot of excitement but take a look at the Wednesday team and you will see some decent footballers in there but how many of them would we want? One or two perhaps which maybe indicates what a good job he has done despite getting close and failing two season running. At 51 he has a few miles on the Experiometer and with serious Championship cash to spend could make an impact.

    Monk of course is well discussed and liked as a person, he is young which maybe raises a doubt although turning a decrepit Leeds team (and Club) around took some doing. Youthful exuberance and enthusiasm may be a good fit with a Boro needing a breath of fresh air.

    Agnew almost seems public enemy number one outside of the dressing room at least. In fairness it appears that what he inherited was something of a Viper’s nest if we are to believe the timely leaked “stories” emanating from Rockcliffe and Gazette towers. A Keeper who I felt was an unnecessary and incorrect type of signing apparently emptied a full perambulator’s worth of toys out on the plush Rockcliffe resorts floor. Throw in the earlier Ramirez histrionics and there was no doubt a bad taste made worse by the fact that these two in particular were to be the launch pad of Boro’s success (along with the isolated Negredo). Instead they allegedly sulked, stropped and downed tools, great just what Aggers needed in the trenches. At least he had the likes of Guedioura and Gestede to lift the tempo and belief! He had not exactly been dealt a decent hand. His Guzan principles however left a bad taste with many looking in from the outside and may have tipped emotional opinions if any needed tipping after his miserly points return.

    So while there are a lot of question marks over Agnew there is something to consider when the core of Players with whom we do connect with, generally trust, believe have support for him. They can’t all be wrong surely? I know that Downing is in amongst that lot, perhaps even the “ringleader” but if what was happening was truly going on then a lot of the things which have been levelled at Stewy are the exact things we are levelling at Bausor and SG himself for not doing something. Could it be that one of our own saw the mess and could either keep his head down and say nothing or stand up on the ramparts and call it like it was? Had the arrival of Woody (again questionable on my part) resulted in restoring Boro’s fortunes would we see the Downing intervention very differently? The way I see things now is that it was such a mess I doubt if even Fergie could have sorted it out with ten or so games to go.

    And so there is our former Captain Fantastic in the frame, Nigel Pearson. Could he repeat the Leicester story or will he replicate Derby? That’s the real fear in the back of everyone’s minds. He will give 100% commitment but will he alienate playing staff, backroom and coaches (if there are any left now)? No doubt he may rub SG and Bausor up the wrong way but considering what has been drip fed to the press of late perhaps that is something that should have happened and indeed if it is all true many would say needs to happen and quickly to bring a much needed reality check.

    Maybe the answer is somewhere in the middle. If Agnew is better than recent circumstances dictated and the core of the “remainers” support him then we perhaps shouldn’t entirely dismiss the opinions of them. Bamford has only been around a short while and unlikely to have formed really close bonds yet he too seems to be of the opinion that Aggers is good for the club. As a bright young lad he probably has the intellect to warrant some merit for his tuppence worth.

    We have had massive upheaval in just a few weeks and to completely remove what is left of something which lets face it did have some merits in achieving promotion and a few decent stoic away performances in Cups and the Premiership may set us back even further. Or it may rid us off any lingering taint. Monk would possibly want to bring Pep Clotet in as his assistant and Darryl Flahavan and maybe even James Beattie with him up from Thorp Arch. I doubt that with the exception of Clotet AK if he went the opposite way down the A1 would consider retaining any of them. I don’t think Aggers is the type to undermine or derail things so could maybe still fit in. Leo of course is Leo but he nailed his colours to the mast when AK departed (and well before by the sounds of things). Is passion and loyalty enough? Lets face it as much as many of us love Leo we can also see his histrionics at times being a distraction and whilst his passion is never in doubt we have seen some poor and questionable Goalkeeping choices and performances during his tenure.

    I’m not sure who Pearson would bring in and perhaps is much keener to get back into the dug out than say Monk and may be more willing and amenable to accede at least initially to SG’s wishes of retaining Aggers. Putting Pearson and Leo on the same bench would inevitably lead to some explosive bust ups with officials and opposition managers. Maybe not a bad thing during some games but over a season could prove disruptive and have a negative effect.

    Then there is always the idea that perhaps SG has a.n.other up his sleeve and we may all be surprised as will the bookies and the protracted time frame is down to something or someone we haven’t even remotely considered? Whilst the suspense is killing us the time frame is probably realistic and hopefully evidence of careful reasoned consideration.

  148. Watching Man City crashing into the market like a rabbit on heat, tells me that they are the bet for champions next season.
    When one considers the remarks of their supremo re. Finishing third(a disgrace) then one gets an insight into their mind set.

  149. Redcar Red

    I accept what you say about the turmoil but if the boil was lanced and agitators side lined it still leaves the question why didn’t we get some form of bounce from the loyal core of the squad?

    It could be the deck had jokers but no face cards, once the jokers were gone we had a bum hand. Maybe the deck dealt to AK was flawed but whilst the jokers were on his side we coped. Without the jokers it is possible both AK and Agnew struggled.

    1. Ian

      The Squad was disjointed and unbalanced from the off. Had Fischer been a revelation winger, skinning defenders for fun, flying down the flanks and pinging pin point balls onto the head of Negredo then it would have made a difference. Had Stewy been five years younger or had two strikers to pick out when played centrally. Had Guedioura been a creative midfielder instead of a Championship journeyman. Had Gestede been a footballer. Had Traore half a brain or Barragan knew how to take throw ins. Had we kept hold of Nsue. Had Valdes not required three months to get match fit and then not thrown a hissy one. Had Ramirez been a decent honest bloke and been professional. Had Friend and Leadbitter not been injured most of the season. Had we not signed Guzan and played Dimi. Had Chambers not been played with a broken foot against Oxford. Had all the “de’s” delivered. Had Bausor stepped in and sorted the pantomime out behind the scenes. Had Albert not been sold (or even Nugent come to that). Had we signed Kalas instead of Espinosa. Had Ayala been fit for even half the season. Had we tried to win instead of draw every game. Had we a decent recruitment team. If only!

    1. Spartak

      Isn’t that where Victor Orta came from? If they rate Mancinin then we have probably dodged a bullet. Aggers and upwards 🙁

  151. About 10 or fifteen years ago, SG would have gone all out and signed Zlatan Ibrahimovic to smash the C’ship next season.

    Let’s hope he gats a manager signed up at least. Up the Boro!

    1. Sorry Jarkko, I don’t think the likes of Zlatan would have signed for a Championship team, and I don’t think SG would have had a say in transfers.

      Please let the manager, whoever that might be, manage without interference from the chairman.

  152. That Cantona quote is, not surprisingly, from Keane: The Autobiography.

    “Eric struggled in Europe; to be fair, we all did. As I have acknowledged, he was superb in the domestic game, perfect for English football, where his poise and technical brilliance meant that he was always one step ahead of of the chaos around him. With bodies and tackles flying everywhere, Eric’s sang froid was a major asset. And because we were so strong around the park, we could indulge him, spare him the chasing back, the graft, the tackling we did on his behalf. Sometimes I’d think ‘f*** it, Eric, you lazy b*****d,’ and then before, or even after, the words were out of my mouth, he’d weave a magic spell to score or set up a goal.

    “That was the pattern that served us so well in England. Europe was another game, far more demanding…

    “A magical asset at home, a match-winner countless times in the Premier League, and the FA Cup, Eric didn’t shine so brightly in Europe. I can’t recall one important European tie that he turned for us. In Europe you moved up a level or two. It was not just the real quality attacking players like Zidane or Del Piero that captured everyone’s imagination, but tough, wily defenders, guys nobody had heard of, who closed space down, timed their tackles to perfection, were instinctively in the right cover positions, had pace and read the game superbly. Eric never conquered this. And conquering Europe was now what Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United was all about.”

    1. I’m afraid I’m already spoken for next season

      I have a fair bit of coaching the sweepers and the back yard 4

      I’m striking the old paviors into a new pattern using a version of stone from China

      I’m downing a few beers whilst doing this and getting rid of the woody undergrowth whilst singing aggersdo do do as I chop down the old apple tree.

      I have friend to help me and all he sings is Dimi some loving whilst ordering kebabs.

      I’m sure when it’s finished it will look Fabio and I might put in a pond with a little Fischer.

      I don’t want De Roon it so might have a rake through the rest of my midfield to see what’s lurking there.

      Hopefully I’ll build bridges and have a bam ford as well but will have to keep my shorts on or I’ll be a bit Rudy!

  155. The title of the next blog discussion should be.
    “The last ten seasons and the end of a dream”
    If you really think about the decisions that have been made regarding appointments and recruitment since the Southgate fiasco ,as been almost Fred Carnos circus .
    A progressive club does not loan untried eighteen year old youth players, half a dozen players from the Scottish Northern league,anyone available whose been around the block ( big ish, Bent, others)
    I could go on but I’ll ask for your thoughts on the ten year bs we’ve been fed.

    1. I think we tend to blame everything what happened after Xmas 2016 on Karanka.

      He had – and still has? – one of the best winning percentages of any Boro manager and he treated the players fairly. If you played well you stayed in the team.

      Perhaps the problem was none of the players performed in 2017! So we have to blame the players as much as Karanka. There was no improvement after Karanka left.

      RE: new manager appointment. I think everyone involved must have planned they holiday trips to start immediately after the season is over. Also Aggers was on holiday in Portugal as Dormo said as well as Pearson, Monk etc were on holiday. And many others. The football world has only the close season the possibility to have a holiday.

      Do we know if Sir Gibson was on holiday, too? Also his agenda at his real work in transport business must have affected the process of hiring a new manager. So perhaps there is just practical reasons why Boro has not yet appointed a manager. And he needs to meet every candidate at least once before making a decision and not like the fans by reading gossip on papers or social media.

      Up the Boro!

      2. I agree that AK has shouldered more blame than he was probably responsible for but I disagree that he treated players fairly. His comments about Bamford for example were highly unprofessional, his naughty stepping of certain players for failing to pick up opponents yet certain other Spanish speaking players were apparently immune from such treatment.

        I could go on with a long list of names of whose faces fitted and those didn’t but its over now. While he had his undoubted merits, man management was not one of them and fairness was far from the top of any list I would draw up on him and one of the reasons he ultimately parted company with the club.

  157. Well, as we still await news of our next manager perhaps delving into history might ease the boredom.

    This will be Boro’s 47th season outside the top division, two of which were in the third tier, and our 108th as a professional club, so those of us who think our rightful place should be in the top division may have a point when considering our history.

    However those 61 seasons in the top grade have only yielded 818 wins and 1006 defeats from 2438 league matches, but the new season will see us reach 6,500 goals when we score our 22nd hopefully before the end of October.

    In the eight seasons in the old First Division following the Second World War, and indeed right up to Easter 1961, all teams usually had to play three matches in four days – Good Friday, Saturday and Easter Monday, but the only time Boro won all three was in 1952 when I was lucky enough to see all three – a 2-0 home win against Villa sandwiched between an away/home double over Newcastle 2-0 and 2-1. However before those matches we were third from bottom and struggling against relegation and eventually avoided the drop, 19th out of 22 teams.

    Generally it had been a poor season with a period from 6th October to Good Friday of only five wins in 25 matches (sounds familiar) and a concession of 62 goals. That included some heavy defeats, 0-4 against Wolves, 1-7 against Burnley, 0-6 against Fulham, and 0-5 against Chelsea, not forgetting the humiliating FA Cup defeat at home to Doncaster on the day the King died. So it was remarkable what we did that Easter (typical Boro then).

    However it was only a stay of execution as we were relegated the next Easter along with Liverpool who beat us 0-1 on Good Friday and 1-4 on Easter Monday. The following season after drawing at Plymouth, we then lost the next nine matches, including twice against newly promoted Ipswich 0-1 and 1-6. However, after signing two new forwards (Charlie Wayman and Joe Scott) we won 17 and drew 3 of the next 26 matches (although that included a sequence of winning at home to West Ham followed by a 0-9 thrashing at Blackburn), and had risen to 9th by Good Friday with an outside chance of promotion. Of course we then lost twice to Birmingham 2-5 and 0-3 eventually finishing 12th.

    So generally Easter was not a happy time for Boro except that remarkable occasion in 1952 when beforehand I had given up hope of avoiding the drop.

    I should just like to amend information I recently gave about Redcar FC, who indeed did beat Boro to reach the FA Cup quarter final in 1886, but were defeated by Small Heath (now Birmingham City) not Crewe Alexandra. Not having records of Redcar’s results, I gave the information by memory – no I was not alive then. In fact it was Boro who lost their first FA Cup quarter final match to Crewe Alexandra two years later in 1888.

    Incidentally in that season Boro lost 2-4 to Sunderland in a previous round, but were reinstated after Sunderland were disqualified I believe for fielding an unregistered player.

  159. The manager situ seems to be irritating everyone including me….all we have is rumour after rumour…to be fair SG needs to make a statement to the thousands of fans waiting for a snippet of info…and that is ie current update is I am looking at various options and a announcement will be issued soon…we will have a new manager who will take the club forward….

  160. The dream is certainly wobbling, gt, but hopefully it isn’t over yet.

    A strong managerial appointment and good recruitment using our spending power should leave us with a fighting chance of the top eight. I suspect we will not be among the early pacesetters, but if we can fill the significant gaps in the squad successfully we can kick on as the season progresses and the new team gels.

    Having an experienced manager with a good record will help everyone to stay confident if the early season is difficult, whereas if we have Aggers, I think both fans and players will see him as the problem, lose belief, and morale could plummet.

  162. Whoever the manager is I do hope Boro appoint someone who will give our youth a fair chance. Other teams seem to try out youngsters but not Boro, that philosophy of buying in ‘talent’ and selling your own seems odd to me but I’m just a lifelong fan who can make empiric judgements, really I suppose that really is down to the managers personal philosophy and fears.

    Any sign of an announcement on the horizon? The EG boys seem to be going into recycling and trivia… that’s when I can be bothered to fight my through the advertisements.

    The phoney war continues.

    UTB,

    John

    1. Well I’m in the dark as well!

      My Boro buddies are on holiday (aren’t they all) and know nothing.

      I’m not at the ground sniffing around as it’s close season

      My first contact will be July at a Boro event at Rockliffe and hopefully it will be all over by then,

      “They think it’s all over ……….”

  163. jarsue

    June is that time of the year where football goes away, you hear of the odd deal ready to be signed Jul 1st but players and managers are away on holiday.

    There is always the risk of drift and we end up with an unsatisfactory compromise but at this stage there is little going on anywhere so there is time for things to come together.

    The worst case scenario is not getting the best man because of trying to accommodate Agnew but Aggers jumps ship anyway because he is hacked off. The players are hacked off because they wanted Anew and we end up with an LMA remnants box appointment.

    It may be we wake up after the general election with an unexpected leader and I am not talking Corbyn!

    Billy Davies or Paul Jewell, gulp! I would prefer Jimmy Jewell or Sammy Davies jnr.

    1. He was getting older each season which obviously helped plus Caryol getting crocked and Wildschut unwilling to being Karankasised into a defensive wide player left a lot of scope for Reach at the time.

  165. Simon

    Mogga’s team at West Brom did not have a single player from their academy system.

    When Stricken was manager, Anlov regularly posted he wanted Southgate back because Stricken never played home grown players. Both played 4-5 per squad. That was when Bates and Williams were treatment room regulars!

  166. I just want a Manager with a winning mentality, one who wants to win rather than draw or play Chess or that other “sport” beginning with the “C” word.

    If that means mercenaries or expensively assembled buy ins or academy players fine. Where they come from is irrelevant its the league table that I will ultimately judge them on.

    The famous “won’t win anything with kids” was proven wrong just once and that bunch of players all coming through the United ranks at the same time has never repeated itself anywhere else even at United.

    Its also worth noting that the top 6 clubs like Chelsea seem to have far too many young upcoming “projects” being farmed out all over Europe so the cream of the crop have already been siphoned off before the rest Football even get a look in. How many Chelsea loanee’s have we had for example and that is just one club!

  167. Maybe the new manager is being rolled out tomorrow in the new Boro Kit waving a Boro scarf above his head abit like Robbo at the kit launch tomorrow 😏

  169. Redcar Red

    Even more disgraceful is an agent acting in the best interests of the club and player and refusing to hype up the situation to help line his own pockets..

    FIFA should revoke his licence.

    1. I think we should hang on to Fischer and give him a go next season. No disrespect to Dutch or Danish Football but apart from two or three Dutch clubs the rest are hardly Premiership standard. He has had a few difficult years and maybe playing at a level were he should be a class above will give him the confidence and belief back in his game along with the opportunity to get competitive games under his belt.

      If the old adage “Form is temporary but Class is permanent” is true then I would think that regardless of who is Boss of Boro next season he would figure strongly in his plans. A year of playing consistently and getting rave reviews for the same puts him back in the spotlight and back in the Premiership if all goes well. A transfer to a side where he becomes a squad player remaining rusty will not be in the lads best interests.

      The ideal for him, Boro and his agent is to take the chance that the Championship provides him with and play himself back into contention for the big glamorous move that once beckoned his early pre injury career. We get promoted, he goes to a top European club for £30m, his agent gets a slice and everyone is happy. I never got the impression that he looked fully recovered in his few appearances with us until his final outing where we saw a glimpse of just what may lie beneath the rust.

      1. The English Championship is the FOURTH biggest league in the world. Attendances and salaries are better than in Italy for example. So we can argue if Ajax or Inter Milan are bigger than Boro, but not about the Dutch League or Italian Serie A in general.

        Boro should match any salary of any team in Italy except Juventus and the Milanese teams. And Boro will match Ajax for salaries, too.

        The above means that the Championship will attract better players than other leagues except EPL, La Liga and Bundesliga. The bad thing is that it makes it difficult to get out from there (except through relegation as Leeds and Wolves showed).

        Up the Boro!

  171. OK, perhaps Lazio or Roma can match Boro, but you got what I meant. The Danish National team coach should be happy if Fisher plays REGULARLY for Boro in the Championship.

    I see the point in picking players who play regularly. But sitting on the bench in the EPL does not make to the international squad …

    Up the Boro!

  172. I think it’s getting to the stage where I’m now thinking Steve Gibson must be deliberately spinning out the decision process and stringing along several candidates as he waits in the hope of capturing a big name who’s as yet not been mentioned in the media.

    Anyway, the first interviews are probably being held on a yacht somewhere along the haunts favoured by millionaires – they’re unlikely to be held in a prefab on a business park overlooking a stretch of wasteland like most people experience.

    1. Does an interview on the boating lake at coatham Redcar count

      Boro hospitality won Bronze in the national stadium awards last night

      Great bunch of people

  173. We now know he has spoken to Agnew about how the season went and planning for summer and pre season. I suspect Agnew must be in the running otherwise if I was Aggers I would have left for pastures new.

    Apart from that and the kit launch nothing is creeping out, even OFB has no tittle tattle.

    My instinct is that as it drags on and Aggers is still working at the club for next season then #daftquidaggers looks a little more likely and Gibbo has shown due diligence

    A press conference next Thursday or Friday during election coverage would be a good time to sneak out the news.

    Just musing like, a good conspiracy theory never goes amiss, nor does a bad one!

  176. Saw and read the Gazette survey on the fans choice for new Coach….well from the ones known about.

    What was not nice, was the long list of opinions they posted, some saying who the preferred, but the majority stated that they did not want Mr Agnew. What chance would he have if he did not have us top by the end of August.

    There lies the major problem as many have said on here. Is SG trying to accomodate him within the new set up?

    That will not go down well as many have said with any prospective Coach. Like AK and even SA, they want their own.

    SG must be looking to appoint an outsider otherwise we would have had SA confirmed by now,..surely?

    1. Pedro

      You would think that would be the case but regardless of who SG ends up appointing he has to be seen to at least have gone through the motions and this week was probably the soonest he could have a definitive shortlist and speak to any external potential candidates.

      A new Manager will be given the benefit of the doubt for the first 5 or 6 games until he finds his feet and organises his charges. With SA he has to hit the ground running, before a ball is even kicked minds are already made up. Not a good situation to put any Club, Manager or Players into.

    2. The fact is that Gibson doesn’t, as a businessman wouldn’t, give a jot about what the fans think. If he believes Agnew is the man for the job then he’ll get it. QED

  177. Ian, do you think youwill get a Trabi? More likely a BMW with “only” 400 000 km (note the Blogmeister is in Germany) on the clock.

    I wpuld rather have a Trabi like in the old days of AV, mind.

    Up the Boro!

  178. Farce and travesty! Farce and travesty!

    Move along now. Nowt to see here except farce n travesty.

    Maybees they’ve sent the Count out on a manager scoutin mission visitin as many motorway rest stop toilet facilities as he can in the hope he might just bump into someone interestin?

    My guess is he’s been arrested for bungelowin, like!

    🙂

  180. With AK’s departure we went from feeble in attack to feeble full stop.

    The Chelsea capitulation was downright pathetic and should have spelt out the need for a leader as well as a coach – and Aggers is really only one of these things.

  181. As a bonus. Deceptive Statistics…

    No one surely believes Negredo or De Roon were value for money, yet if you said “they’ve scored almost half our goals this season between them” you might initially think they were.

    The joys of putting a spin on something.

  182. Simon

    Lukaku, £28m, scores 53 goals for Everton. Negredo, £0, scores 10 goals for us. Infinitely better.

    As you say, spin is great. I did ignore the fact Lukaku has a retail value for Everton.

      1. I don’t think Agnew will get the job.

        As Werder said the longer this goes on the more it appears to be a major target we are going for.

        Gibson has come up trumps before if we can discount wee kranky and Gate.

        I think he wants to make a marquee signing and generate a push for next season

        I hope so and let’s be honest and think about it rationally if it was going to be Agnew we would have known by now

        If it was Pearson he would have been brought in as a firefighter in the lattter days of the Prem to give us momentum to go back up

        So will it be Monk ?

        Some friends of mine who are Swansea supporters said that he lost the plot during his second season on charge and went all defensive (sound familiar?)

        No I think it’s someone else and no matter what people say Peter Kenyon knows a lot of football people

        I expect an announcement soon……..

        Watch this space !!’n

      2. Powmill-Naemore
        Cassandra

        At the risk of being admonished for mentioning cricket, the Yorkshire players apparently were quite surprised that Lancashire as the away side had the option to bowl first under the new “uncontested toss” rule introduced last year, and decided to bat first on winning the toss.

        Young Ben Coad expected the ball to seam and swing if the overcast conditions prevailed all day, and with almost clear blue skies forecast for today Yorkshire should be able to post a 300 plus score.

        Tomorrow more cloud is expected so Yorkshire ought to be able to press home their advantage.

  184. I’m guessing that Garry Monk has been interviewed by SG but is not keen in accommodating Steve Agnew and is stalling to see if he is offered an interview with Crystal Palace. Meanwhile SG has probably given him a time limit to think over his options. I think that he has also interviewed Nigel Pearson, but is wary of giving him the job and that if Garry Monk turns him down he will appoint Steve Agnew on a one year contract.

    I hope I’m wrong but fear I’m not.

  185. Nice to see that we are still studying the form shown by various players last season, quite how we work that one out beats me.
    Last I heard via the public confessional, was they were all at each others throats, no one knew who was trying, and who was trying to get the manager sacked. In my experience that makes judgement difficult at best, if not impossible.

  186. As time passes and the voice of reason returns, the general opinion in the great world outside this blog seems to have decided that we, as a club have well and truly blown it.
    Decided that we, not AK were the problem, and that furthermore , they would very much like to hire him.
    It is devoutly to be hoped that no important club takes him, as Red faces are not a good look

  188. A propos of sweet FA, I really wonder what our Academy achieves. Eight more players released including some who were touted for greatness, yet we’re still signing ‘foreign starlets?

    One wonders why MFC spends so much money on youngsters who briefly, or even never make it to the first team, and some of whom who have been dumped in previous seasons are still playing Premier League or Championship football. Do we know what we are doing? Would be tragic to see Harry Chapman and Dael Fry consigned to the Boro Academy bin only for them to reappear as PL players. Could it be the Boro old boy coaching network is hampering progress in this area? Just a thought..

    1. The Portuguese are excellent with young players,bringing many through,you would think Boro would look at their model,and even hire someone from it, a different set of eyes.

    2. It only needs one or two players every 2/3 seasons to make the academy pay for itself

      Don’t forget we sold Reach for a good fee and Steele

      Both Fry and Chapman should make it and also Ripley so there’s another three so taking all that into consideration we are not doing so bad

      The best academy of course is the Southampton one which provides revenue to the south coast club and is the model we are trying to emulate

      A lot of those players just released will make it in professional football at one level or another.

      Boro have also resigned Armstrong a former Boro academy product to play in the u23 team

      There are also a lot of players coming through so difficult decisions had to be made to allow their development

  189. [comment deleted]

    At what point did you think all that would be allowed? I’m left with no choice but to put you in pre-moderation whilst you calm down – werdermouth

  190. In response to RR’s earlier post on AK, I believe Bernie concluded he had many merits as a coach but was a poor man manager. Fair enough.

    I’m reminded of words I used before – Scott Anthony on Martin O’Neill, which could be applied to AK too.

    “(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.”

  191. I missed teapot’s comments, lets hope they were a one off.

    I also missed the cricket score as have relatives staying so just having a quick sneak whilst all are still abed.

    That is another week gone by, as long as due diligence brings about a diligent appointment that is fine. If it is drift and dither that is a concern.

  192. I used to read the Gazette’s daily blog, but no longer. Does it still say “keep up to date with today’s breaking news” ?
    What breaking news?

    On second thoughts maybe I should have continued reading it – I might have missed something!

  193. Oh dear , a few comments on Facebook , saying Agnew has been given a 3year deal and will be revealed today….hope this is utter garbage

    1. So do I Braveheart. We” have the canoe and the barbed wire but no paddles and no maps. A singularly uninspiring and depressing thought.

      The outcry from the fans will be frightening.

      UTB,

      John

    1. It’s a huge white band as an advertising hoarding

      Don’t think Redcar Red will like it ?

      Short looks more orange than red

      It’ll do for our one season in the championship

  195. Ref about the Facebook comments about Agnew…looks like the guy who put them on is a windup merchant….in other words …a [edit] …grrr

    Whilst that’s not a particularly strong word in the grand scheme of things – I’d prefer if we don’t go down that road as it’s possible it may encourage others to think they can use it against other posters, thanks – Werdermouth

  196. Is the heat getting to people? It will be very sad if Werder has to keep intervening to uphold the standard of this blog. He has worked so hard on this to date and I’d hate to see him think “why bother?” and call it a day.
    Let’s get a grip and maintain the gentlemanly behaviour which sets this blog apart from those at the “gutter” level.

  202. Another epic fail from MFC with the new shirt. Sponsors name isn’t very subtle is it?
    As someone said on twitter “did someone put the decimal point in the wrong place when typing the font size”?

    1. FA sponsorship regulations say that the name is limited to 100 square centimeters on the front of the shirt – so someone must have measured it I presume. Though before you wonder I don’t think Diane Abbott has any Boro connections.

  203. Werder

    Yes, that was my only slight negative feedback – the shirt would have looked a lot better with smaller sponsor’s text.

    A vast improvement on last year’s though. I like it.

  204. Adidas make fairly conservatively styled shirts at the best of times so I was expecting something dull and boring but with a white band at least. I wasn’t disappointed when they released the Ramsdens advertising hoarding cleverly disguised as a Football shirt. So close yet so far, a Marketing faux pas if ever an example was needed with the old “less is more” adage clearly out of the window.

    We have a shirt that would have been uninspiring but boringly acceptable hijacked by a sponsor insisting that they take over the entire shirt and consequently a band sized to accommodate. What was wrong with just Ramsdens? Why not go the whole hog and have their phone number, website address and their Head Office address along with a list of local branches all plastered on it or are they saving that for next season?

    Advertising, Corporate sponsors and their logos are a part of the game today whether we like it or not but the offensive “Caps lock swearing” size in your face nature of this one is a complete turn off to the Ramsdens brand. Surely someone with an ounce of design skill could see that it is completely unbalanced and an offence to the eyes.

    So once again we have an amateurish attempt with a childs John Bull printing press that just looks ridiculous and like something out of a Charity event. Lets hope the competence of this exercise doesn’t spill over into the Management appointment. Worryingly I think once again it could be indicative of the Clubs ability to get things right #daftquidagnew suddenly doesn’t seem so ridiculous!

  206. In between the launch of the new Sandwich Board I spied this interesting snippet:

    http://www.insidefutbol.com/2017/06/03/garry-monk-and-james-beattie-set-for-middlesbrough-pep-clotet-leeds-job-speculation-added-to/339105/

    Normally I dismiss these websites as just regurgitating nonsense non stories (one yesterday was saying how Leeds should bring in the Boro out of favour midfielder Barragan!) but what I found interesting in this one is that they state that Pep Clotet would not be joining Monk. Now that in itself isn’t startling but when you link it to the Agnew staying on “sticking point” then it perhaps has a modicum of feasibility even if the author hasn’t put two and two together?

    1. It wasn’t actually it was Harold Shepherson who chose the shirt whilst he was acting manager before big jack arrived in the close season

  213. If this story turns out to be true, it will be a long way from the worst possible result,
    although some degree of urgency will be required in addressing the playing personnel issues.
    That said, the agreement (if true) was probably reached sometime in the last week , and those wheels could already be in motion.
    Interesting closed season in prospect ??

  214. Ramsdens currency!

    I’m NOT buyin THAT!

    God’s teeth, have the Boro not got enough money to last three seasons already without putting that monster of an insult to the people of Teesside on the front like a damn billboard?

    Farce and travesty, AGAIN!!!

    1. Spartak,

      I would say close but no cigar. It’s red, it’s got a white band and it has no finesse. To me it looks like a perverse compromise. What’s the back of it like? Does the stripe/band go round and link to a number panel?

      If Addidas are ‘designing’ these shirts then the Pratt who does it knows nothing about type hierarchy and certainly nothing about design.

      It’s better than last year but if the club had face painted a shirt on the players it couldn’t have been worse than that one.

      Anti-climax for me.

      UTB,

      John

      1. Dear John,

        with all due respect, I couldn’t care less if the white band struck up God Save The Queen marched round the back of the shirt and disappeared up a players backside. The advertising hoarding is an abomination and an insult to people in the area who for years are just scrappin by.
        Okay, he’s a suggestion given Boro have £100 million comin their way without includin Ramsdens Currency contribution. I wanna see every last penny made on that abomination given to a charity that cares for the needs of the sick, disabled, ex-servicemen/women and unemployed of Teesside.

        Then I’ll buy it!

        Until then they can stick it and I’ll wear a retro.

    1. Running stories before they break in the press could get to be a good habit!

      Let’s face it if we’re wrong it’s not sandalous?

  216. Predoctable!

    We’ve always eatin pickled babies and I see no reason to stop now- even with £100 million in the bank.

    Jesus wept! And now I know why.

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