On Monday, we finally saw the long-anticipated unveiling of Garry Monk as the new Boro manager – though not in the more recent position of head coach I would guess since he referred to himself as being in management. It had appeared from the outside to be a rather protracted process where several candidates had been supposedly interviewed and asked to prepare detailed plans for the purpose of taking the club forward – though perhaps they were only being lined up as a plan B in case the Monk deal hit a snag. It sounds like he had been identified as the right man quite a while ago but there had been problems with his contractual position at Leeds United that had caused the delay rather than Boro being unable to make a decision – whilst Monk had decided not to extend his contract with the Elland Road club under it’s new ownership, it’s quite possible he may have still been theoretically employed by them until his existing contract expired at the end of June – which I imagine would have been quite late to install a new man at Boro given the need to make preparations for the coming season.
Though it’s hard to tell how much of the news about Pearson, Agnew or other candidates was just exaggerated rumour to fill the void or even news management to deflect attention from the task of securing the main man. The fact that Monk had quickly become odds-on favourite to head to Boro after walking out on Leeds, together with stories in the media from those closely connected to the Yorkshire club must have had some credence – perhaps Boro had long since been fishing for Monk or perhaps he had even been poached and then handed on a plate to Steve Gibson after Orta was installed as Director of Football – at some point perhaps the bones will be picked out of that particular dish.
Though at Monday’s press conference Monk played a straight bat (as we say in football) over anything regarding Leeds and simply explained that he had intended to continue at Elland Road but it became apparent that the new structure at Leeds didn’t suit him, which was no doubt code for the fact he wouldn’t work under Orta as Director of Football – though I can possibly think of one out-of-work manager who would probably find it ‘amazing’ to be given the chance.
Anyway, enough of the chase, what sealed it for our new man was that Steve Gibson’s passion, desire and determination for the club was there to see. It was this determination that Monk shares and he wants to be challenged as a manager, which in his words meant this was going to be both a fantastic challenge for him and Middlesbrough – so it became very clear for Monk when speaking to Gibson that Boro was going to be the right club for him.
In fact the new Boro manager said that as soon as he spoke to Middlesbrough it was was clear it was the right opportunity for him – it ticked all the right boxes. Though what those boxes are (or tick-boxes as Monk referred to them in an almost involuntary way) wasn’t really determined in the press conference even though they were mentioned quite often – only once did we see inside one particular box and it revealed that he thought Boro have a good talented squad with a core of players who know the Championship. I presume that is now a memory much fresher in the players minds than the one regarding the Premier League, which will no doubt be buried so deep that it will only be reachable for a hypnotherapist with eyeballs larger than those of David Moyes with severe hyperthyroidism.
So what is the Challenge?
Monk is not phased by Steve Gibson’s declaration of wanting to smash the league and is comfortable with working under pressure, as that is what he says he likes and is happy in having that ambition. Though he agrees that the ambition and objective is to gain promotion in his first season – but Monk did try to manage expectations somewhat by saying he’d like to make that in his first year but with the recognition of how difficult the league is. He gave the example that last season only one of the three relegated clubs made it back up (personally I’ve forgotten which one), which shows how difficult and competitive the Championship is – in fact he also made the point that it took 80 points to even gain a play-off place last season and his Leeds team finished seventh on 75 points, which under normal circumstances would have been enough for sixth spot. Though you could argue for a team in sixth place to gather 80 points it may also indicate the league as a whole was less competitive otherwise they would not have found it so easy to register so many points – but Monk is confident with the challenge ahead as he thinks Boro are equipped, ready and determined to bounce back at the first attempt.
The new Boro manager thinks the key is the opportunity and understanding of what the club wants to do and how we as a club are going to go about it – it’s the clarity of that which appeals to him most and he believes the club has a lot of good strong foundations – though perhaps he was pushing the foundation analogy envelope too far on his first day as one would have been enough.
When asked about what his style of football is, Monk preferred not to put forward a label but simply said that he’d leave his style and philosophy for others to describe (which no doubt many will be happy to oblige) as the important thing is to win games and that is the purpose of how he trains himself, his staff, players and club – on top of that sits his footballing philosophy and he believes the key is to get the crowd engaged and the players engaged. All of which sounds refreshingly pragmatic and in contrast to being too attached to any particular methodology or dogma – though he’d probably be rubbish at advertising something like shampoo (though perhaps slightly better than Steve Agnew getting the wash and go gig) if he hasn’t got any of those meaningless pseudo-science buzz-words to hand in order to make himself sound cutting edge.
Though the issue of who will form the manager’s coaching team is still undecided and Neil Bausor said that the club will be discussing with Monk about his support staff in the coming days – the Boro Chief Executive also responded to a question on whether Steve Agnew has a role by saying how the club hold him in the ‘utmost respect’ and will discuss his future in the coming days – that sounded like a phrase that normally precedes ‘we wish him well in his future employment’ as someone is thanked and waved goodbye. Though it’s odd that if he was not part of the club’s plans he should have left already – perhaps Monk is still being persuaded of his merits but the danger is that it would put somewhat of a brake on a fresh start.
Building a squad
The first job of any new manager is to decide on who stays and who leaves and what players are required in order to make a squad capable of achieving the objective. It’s early days for the new manager and he’ll be awaiting the return of his players from their summer hols with interest – plus no doubt he’ll be made aware of who has shown an interest in leaving the club.
Monk said that he’s still in the process of assessing the players and he’s looking forward to meeting them. The aim is to discuss the situation with the squad over the next few weeks and once he’s had a chance to work with the players he’ll be able to assess how they fit into his plans and decide what type of players will be needed in terms of new additions – he’s excited to be working with the players as they have a lot of talent but they have had a big disappointment last season – but it would be the failure to respond that disappointment that would be the real disappointment. He says the key is to refocus and have the confidence to respond to the next challenge.
Monk is aware that Boro are in a healthy financial situation (possibly one of his ‘tick-boxes’) and he will have more than a decent budget made available to him. Though quite wisely he proclaimed ‘It’s not about how much money you spend it’s about how well you spend what you’ve got’ – that’s a message perhaps others at the club would do well to remember. The Boro manager is clear that when it come to recruitment the central issue is ‘only to do things that are going to help the group we’ve got’ – which I take to mean not bringing in players that will upset the dressing room or undermine the principles of the group as a whole. Monk certainly sounds like he knows the importance of having a unified group with the whole club pulling in the same direction – something that was allowed to slip last season as the club seemingly broke into factions.
Monk sees his first objective as getting his squad fit for purpose and spoke of how there are certain principles that he follows that are key to helping this group and the club – he wants to help the players get back their confidence so that they can enjoy the challenge ahead and believes there are a lot of things in place that are really good at the club that are going to help everything tie in together – though he forgot to mention the excellent training facilities, which I had thought was a contractual obligation for anyone employed at Boro.
Monk is also prepared to give youth a chance by bringing them into the first team environment but they need to deserve that chance and prove that they’re good enough and develop into a first team player – there will always be a pathway for young players into the first team squad, he declared.
So phase one of Monk’s blueprint has begun and his aim is ‘to get the squad to the point where we’re happy with it and have all the players in place that will be needed’. So it’s going to be a busy few weeks ahead before the season starts – though from his first press conference it looks like he’s a man who means business and knows how to handle the job ahead. The players will soon return and he’ll soon be finding out who are up for the challenge and which players look capable of achieving the goal set by the chairman.
The following table shows the current squad, with those in red now having left the club, those in yellow have had interest from other clubs and could leave – though it’s likely more will fall under that category once they return from their break. From what I can see of those remaining or likely to remain it looks like our core may have somewhat melted and there definitely looks like some strong additions are needed – particularly in attack which looks weak. Another keeper will probably be required and with regard to the defence a lot may depend on whether Gibson stays and Ayala can stay fit – so I suspect more additions in that department will likely be sought.
| Player | Mins | Games | Starts | Sub | Subbed | Goals |
| GOALKEEPERS | ||||||
| Víctor Valdés | 2520 | 28 | 28 | – | – | – |
| Brad Guzan | 900 | 10 | 10 | – | – | – |
| Dimi Konstantopoulos | 0 | – | – | – | – | – |
| DEFENDERS | ||||||
| Ben Gibson | 3420 | 38 | 38 | – | – | 1 |
| Barragán | 2196 | 26 | 26 | – | 3 | – |
| Calum Chambers | 2160 | 24 | 24 | – | – | 1 |
| George Friend | 1960 | 24 | 20 | 4 | – | – |
| Fábio | 1849 | 24 | 21 | 3 | 5 | – |
| Bernardo Espinosa | 975 | 11 | 10 | 1 | 1 | – |
| Daniel Ayala | 917 | 14 | 11 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| James Husband | 59 | 1 | 1 | – | 1 | – |
| Alex Baptiste | 0 | – | – | – | – | – |
| Dael Fry | 0 | – | – | – | – | – |
| MIDFIELDERS | ||||||
| Adam Clayton | 2806 | 34 | 32 | 2 | 4 | – |
| Marten de Roon | 2777 | 33 | 32 | 1 | 5 | 4 |
| Adam Forshaw | 2700 | 34 | 30 | 4 | 9 | – |
| Grant Leadbitter | 707 | 13 | 7 | 6 | 3 | 1 |
| Adlène Guédioura | 135 | 5 | – | 5 | – | – |
| Julien De Sart | 0 | – | – | – | – | – |
| FORWARDS | ||||||
| Stewart Downing | 2212 | 30 | 24 | 6 | 4 | 1 |
| Gastón Ramírez | 1550 | 24 | 20 | 4 | 14 | 2 |
| Adama Traoré | 1537 | 27 | 16 | 11 | 7 | – |
| Christian Stuani | 1359 | 23 | 16 | 7 | 12 | 4 |
| Viktor Fischer | 436 | 13 | 6 | 7 | 5 | – |
| GOAL SCORERS | ||||||
| Álvaro Negredo | 2880 | 36 | 33 | 3 | 13 | 9 |
| Rudy Gestede | 524 | 16 | 4 | 12 | 3 | 1 |
| Patrick Bamford | 281 | 8 | 2 | 6 | – | 1 |
Just for comparison, here’s what out last promotion winning squad looked like with the players that got us to the promised land. Those who are no longer at the club are shown in red, while those who were either loaned out or didn’t play a league game last season are shown in yellow. Perhaps there are still enough of those who know what it takes to get promoted that are currently still with us but it’s quite conceivable that Boro will be left with only a handful with that useful experience come the first game.
| Player | Mins | Games | Starts | Sub | Subbed | Goals |
| GOALKEEPERS | ||||||
| Dimi Konstantopoulos | 4140 | 46 | 46 | – | – | – |
| DEFENDERS | ||||||
| George Friend | 3427 | 40 | 39 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| Emilio N’Sue | 3282 | 40 | 37 | 3 | 5 | 3 |
| Daniel Ayala | 3010 | 35 | 34 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| Ben Gibson | 2840 | 33 | 32 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Tomáš Kalas | 1787 | 26 | 19 | 7 | 2 | – |
| Amorebieta | 1032 | 13 | 11 | 2 | – | – |
| Ritchie De Laet | 846 | 10 | 9 | 1 | – | – |
| Dael Fry | 630 | 7 | 7 | – | – | – |
| Bruno Zuculini | 301 | 5 | 3 | 2 | – | – |
| MIDFIELDERS | ||||||
| Adam Clayton | 3700 | 43 | 41 | 2 | 4 | 1 |
| Grant Leadbitter | 3449 | 41 | 39 | 2 | 9 | 4 |
| Adam Forshaw | 1025 | 29 | 9 | 20 | 2 | 2 |
| Jack Stephens | 11 | 1 | – | 1 | – | – |
| Julien De Sart | 2 | 2 | – | 2 | – | – |
| FORWARDS | ||||||
| Stewart Downing | 3570 | 45 | 40 | 5 | 12 | 3 |
| Albert Adomah | 3233 | 43 | 36 | 7 | 11 | 6 |
| Christian Stuani | 1868 | 36 | 20 | 16 | 11 | 7 |
| Gastón Ramírez | 1295 | 18 | 15 | 3 | 12 | 7 |
| Carlos de Pena | 242 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 3 | – |
| Adam Reach | 227 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| Yanic Wildschut | 46 | 1 | 1 | – | 1 | – |
| GOAL SCORERS | ||||||
| David Nugent | 2265 | 38 | 24 | 14 | 7 | 8 |
| Diego Fabbrini | 1259 | 22 | 14 | 8 | 12 | 4 |
| Jordan Rhodes | 1161 | 18 | 13 | 5 | 9 | 6 |
| Kike García | 840 | 19 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 4 |
| Kike Sola | 51 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | – |
Interesting, that second table. More then half of the regular starters that got us up are still here. If we use the money we have to replace the other half with better players than those that left then we must have a good chance of going up.
Great Post as usual don’t get too comfy during the summer we need these to keep coming along
It will be interesting to see if the “Ortaless” Recruitment team can match the new manager’s requirements.
Great post Werder. Thought monks most powerful comment was that it’s not about building a squad of players it’s about signing players that’ll improve the team.
I think that got lost in translation somewhere last year and we ended up with a fairly large squad with not many of premier league standard. Every signing should generally improve the first team and that way you ultimately end up with a good squad. Signing players to provide back up is not a good modus operandi!!
Excited about this year. Names like mcgeady and assombalonga being mentioned are positive signs. Players that are proven at this level and in assombalongas case young enough to possibly step up to the next level.
Up the boro.
Enjoyed the write up, Werder – keeping up high standards as the norm.
I want to digress slightly to bring up the England performance of last night against France.
Now correct me if I’m wrong but it appears to me that the French players or those that stood out, were there enjoying themselves expressing their talents freely. The England players were in contrast bereft of ideas and self expression was limited, to say nothing of quality team play.
So, here’s the Spartak conclusion. English players are the product of regimented coaching schemes and schools where self expression is second to structure and the ‘game plan’. Therefore, it should come as no surprise that if the game plan doesn’t work thenbthe players dont have the cognitive wherewithall to adapt and overcome.
I believe, as with many things, it starts at an early age. Young kids are taken off by parents to the ‘soccer’ school where the coaches with their shiny FA coaching badges mould them into the accepted material for the template (OFB whats yer thoughts?).
This IMHO has a direct effect upon the development of the youngster’s cognitive neural systems which are a determiner of future ability.
If by contrast you allowed the budding young superstars the chance to simply play and thereby explore the game in the form of five-a-side or as I played as a boy 3 against 2 defence/attack, then their development is nutured by the myriad challenges instead of being placed in systematic boxes.
Now of course there are examples of system football being successfully played, but I would suggest what made these systems a success was the cognitive quality of the players not primarily the system itself.
My god, maybe I’m agreeing with Ian when he says its the players on the pitch that count.
Spartak shivers uncontrolably at the thought and crawls back under the stone at the foot of the White Carpathian Mountains from which he came.
🙂
JC4PM
Spartak
I don’t agree with your comments on coaching kids in England
I’ll get back to you on that
By the way your pun on Monks habit was sandalous !
OFB
Spartak
I’ve been involved with junior football for over 45 years either as a referee coach dad or grandad.
What I have seen is only a desire to help kids play football
The TJFL is the largest junior football league in the world and now has both male and female teams from under 8 to under 17 years of age.
Nearly all of these are run by dedicated people some of whom have been on coaching courses as I myself did and not once were we encouraged to try and get kids not to show individual skill.
I refereed the junior cup final with a very young Jeff Winter acting as one of my assistants and the standard was always and still is extremely high.
I have also been involved with Boro juniors and refereed games each Sunday when triallists were invited to play with the Boro juniors and several 30 minute games were played to assess individual capability and skill levels.
I took up coaching and worked with Darlington Juniors when they were still in the football league and also Guisborough town.
All these games were played in the right spirit with no mind numbing coaching or drumming skills out of players. What was shown was teamwork and the ability to see if players were in a better position for a shot on goal etc.
My sons played at a good level my eldest having his promising career cut short by injury whilst still a Boro junior and my youngest being invited to join Hartlepool who were struggling at the time so we decided against it and he made a career outside fortball
So in the present day my eldest grandson has just won the Northern League junior u16 league as captain of shildon and my younger grandson won u12 league and cup with TJFA
He also. Plays for the county who reached the Northern Final against Lancashire after beating Cumbria Northumberland and Durham county. This team was coached by schoolmasters who gave up their free time and did not discourage free spirit or skill.
I give those as examples so you can understand that I still see junior football at all levels and have not seen any brainwashing of kids.
What happens at pro clubs I cannot say but it certainly does not happen at Junior Level
First hand knowledge on matters like this is always better than rumour and hearsay about what youngsters are being told or the manner in which they are being coached. For those of us NOT involved in the junior game, it is good to have the information and it might put a few suspicious minds at rest.
Sparta
Just a point about the match last night.
The French players were not in the least thrown by playing with ten men.
Arsenal are not In the least thrown by playing with ten men.
There is a French connection
Therefore it is not an accident, they are using a tried and trusted method.
So, why are teams like Boro utterly unable to handle the ten man syndrome?
Are they unable to study a video of, say, Arsenal winning when down to ten men and behind in a big game?
Just asking.
I started reading the piece this morning, turned the TV on to see the terrible scene in London. Horrific, you fear for the people living in the upper floors of the apartment block.
Great piece Werder, when do you go on holiday? I don’t if we can allow that.
Spartak, you can come out, there is no shame in agreeing with me. We are inclusive on here.
🙂
Was that the royal wee, Ian? Or were you just takin the proverbial?
‘Monk is the manager, football is the game. We’re all inclusive & winning is our aim. So sing us on through the sun and rain coz …’
I’ll leave it there I think!
UTB
In Monk’s winning habit we trust- lol
I’m almost in demob mode now as I’ll be off on a three-week road trip to camp in northern Italy in a little under two weeks – so then we will have a real summer service!
I actually didn’t get much time to post in the last week as my seven-year-old has been off school after he had a trampolining accident and broke his collar bone the day before his birthday – thanks to the youth of his bones he’s well on the mend and should be fit in time for the trip – but he had a week of pain and was not able to lay down, so sleep deprivation all round was the name of the game. Though his penchant for exaggeration has him telling the story of how he fell 15m to anyone who foolishly asks for the details.
So you couldn’t feel his collar if he was misbehaving !
Great article Werdermouth and I found your “Monk fish” references particularly amusing. 😀
The squad comparisons are interesting and whilst on the face of it we may have a good core suited to the Championship that could rapidly change if we cannot hang onto some of the key players.
Lots of ins and outs could change the dynamics and there may well have to be a bedding in period for new recruits which could impact upon the ability to “smash” the league.
I suspect our new manager is certainly going to be busy over the next few weeks and it will be fascinating to see what unfolds starting with his back room team.
A very good summary of Chris Monk’s interview and hopes for the future.
I am also impressed with your use of colour charts and graphics (way beyond anything I could attempt).
I also like the use of your “nom-de-plume”. Werdermouth – a play on words of “word of mouth” , also the affinity to Bremen where I suspect you reside.
Love this site and your tolerance to the odd mention of other sports, (especially Cricket) which might have been given a red card under the previous writer.
Ken,
Werder’s ‘nom-de-plume’ also sounds like a very Middlesbrough pronunciation of ‘word-of-mouth’. Clever stuff!
UTB,
John
Thanks Ken, I find a bit of division and colour always helps when trying to illustrate information when using graphics – though since WordPress has a ban on the use of style sheets it makes it a bit more complicated when constructing a web page – but there’s always a way. As for nom-de-plume, yes it is a double play on words as I do also live in village on the outskirts of Bremen.
I am not a great fan of the EG but do visit the site daily. They have today penned an interesting article on GM’s management style entitled “5 insights into Garry Monk’s methods from one of best football books in recent years”. Well worth a read imho.
Great read Werder. Brilliant .
Any chance Gary Monk can get rid of Mark Page !!
Braveheart
Can’t get to matches nowadays, but second your comments about Mark Page. Let the crowd create the atmosphere.
Thanks Braveheart – perhaps Monk could draw inspiration from Umberto Eco’s novel ‘The Name of the Rose’ that is set in a monastery in which several of the inhabitants die mysteriously after reading books that turned out had caused their deaths by the use of a deadly poison to mark pages…
Brilliant
Werder
Nice spoiler for “the name of the rose”
I’m on page three at the moment
Ken
Shame about Yorkshire last night, playing a major semi final with Root, Bairstow, Rashid, Plunkett and Willey away on international duty makes things tough.
Ian
Feel sorry for Ben Coad bowling the penultimate over, great prospect but he’ll learn from it. I can’t understand why batsmen are rested by England selectors for important County matches. Bowlers yes, but not batsmen.
I realise Yorkshire have to rest Sidebottom in white ball matches, but I would have selected Patterson instead of Fisher as, although not as destructive a bowler, he is very difficult to score against.
Yorkshire 2nd XI did OK last night Not so bad for other counties full of Kolpak players who England can’t come along and nick, but it’s a lot to make up for the international contingent. What annoys me is the way the selectors tell us we can’t pick, let’s say, Bairstow because he is resting, when in fact he has played very little cricket but spent much of his time carrying drinks. A joke.
Great post Werder, as ever.
The squad looks in decent shape to me with not too many players required, just a small handful of quality additions that we should have the finances to bring in. That of course supposes that the current squad will be largely retained, which is a “big if”.
K P
Read the EG piece. Monk’s preference for players who are “thinkers” puts Traore’s future in serious doubt I would have thought. His approach to team-talks sounded very sensible to me and, I will speculate, a very different approach to AK’s.
Andy R
Yes the article seemed to indicate a highly capable management style which is built on engaging with people rather than dictating to them, which in my experience is more likely to produce a positive response.
I agree that Traore is one who might have difficulty with this new management approach and I dare say there will be a few others. It will be interesting watching the in and outs.
It will be interesting to see, when season tickets go back on sale, how GM’s appointment is greeted.
Come on BORO.
I’m hoping for something simpler from Monk, more free-flowing on the pitch and more humble off it without surrendering the intelligent, robust foundations AKBoro brought us at the best of times.
As I hinted in my cult piece, AK’s egotism and desire for the limelight was ultimately his undoing. Of course I sympathised with him – anyone who tries so hard and cares so much without receiving the kind of praise he thinks his relative success deserves (“Success is relative to where you’re at” — Jack Charlton, 1995) is entitled to feel aggrieved – but, as Danny Murphy and to an extent Spartak have said, you’ve got to entertain the fans at least a little bit.
It was easy for me to enjoy 2014-16’s victories at a distance – when you don’t go to games and/or are too busy to watch them all, hearing about and seeing Boro being top of a division with all those wonderful statistics is fantastic – but the truth always runs deeper.
Also. We need a song.
“Hey, hey, we’re the Monkees?”
‘Hey, hey we’re the Monkee’s!’
Dire, Simon. Simply dire!
I know, Spartak, I know. But the song’s a bloody ear worm. As La Bamba is.
OFB
I take my hat off to your dediction. You are to be applauded without doubt.
But something is amiss (no pun intended) and the ‘brains’ at the FA could scarecily recognise it as a problem, nevermind fix it.
I forget the last time I saw England, not to mention the Boro, subdue the opposition with fast flowing interchangeable passing leading to a spectacular goal.
Just sayin like.
I blame the coaches me, like!
Spartak
One more point about coaches
Dave Richardson, the head of the Professional Football Coaches Association, believes that the different coaching bodies should unite in continuing to improve the technical ability of young English players so that Sepp Blatter’s insistence on Barclays Premier League clubs fielding a minimum of six home-grown players becomes an irrelevance rather than an obstacle.
The youth development guru, Graham Taylor’s assistant manager at Aston Villa before joining the Premier League and helping Howard Wilkinson to devise the Charter for Quality that ushered in the academy system ten years ago, is playing an instrumental role in Grass Roots Football Live and believes that such an integration between the professionals and the amateurs can only support the work the FA is doing.
The academy system has been castigated…
So why did I quote that?
Well Dave Richardson was the guy I took my coaching badges with. He was the coach at Longlands College Middlesbrough before he moved to Aston Villa.
He is also the guy who trained a lot of junior football coaches on Teesside.
My case rests !!
OFB
OFB
Suits, suits, suits and systems.
I have no faith in people or organisations who proport to having reslonsibility but fail to produce improvements in quality.
There now thats my cynical prejudice out in the open.
Where ever there’s a safe haven with a regular cash supply you’ll find them
In fact, this idea of badges & qualifications makes me laugh. Out of curiosity how many coaching badges did Cloughie earn before taken Forest to not one but two European Cups? What about Shankley? How’s about Bobby Robson? Just wonderin about Pelè, Garrinchio what academy did they go to?
There must be hundreds if not thousands of soccer schools across the UK and we get beat by 10 Frenchmen.
Just sayin like!
Spartak.
You remind me of this great piece by Ronan Early that I read years ago.
http://irishpost.co.uk/irish-football-needs-re-education-not-unrealistic-expectation/
Some quotes from it to get you started.
“(Dunphy and Giles) believe there are too many egotistical bluffers in charge of young teams, promoting brute strength over artistry and beating kids into rigid systems, stifling their imaginations.
“If you speak to anybody involved with youth soccer in Ireland or Britain, though, they will tell you that while that stereotype still exists to a degree, it is largely outdated.
“In my limited experience this is true. A couple of years ago, on a week off, I did the level one coaching qualification with the London FA up in Walthamstow. There was about 35-45 of us in the class, most of them coaching teams already, and I couldn’t see any of these ‘route-one, get-facking-well-stuck-in’ dinosaurs.
“There were people of all ages and all backgrounds, in common they had a simple desire to help youngsters enjoy the game and improve.
“The overwhelming message of the week from the instructors was that aggressive coaches and parents are the number one reasons kids give up sport. It has to be fun. And for that to be the case kids needed encouragement and from their teachers and parents, not criticism.”
Simon
A few have mentioned above the Gazette article and the book from Michael Calvin’s discussions with Garry Monk. It seems our new manager buys into the same ethos!
“The word I always use when I walk into a changing room, especially at half-time, is balance,” he says.
“When I’m angry my players know it, but you don’t have to go absolutely mental. If I spend five or six of my ten minutes just bollocking someone, I haven’t really helped him, or the group. If I’ve gone nuts, I haven’t given him the information to make him better.
“Put yourself in his position. Number one, you probably don’t know what you’ve done wrong. Number two, you probably don’t know how to correct it. Number three, you go out there, p****d off. You’ll probably end up trying harder, but still making the same mistakes.
“It’s far better for me, as manager, to concentrate on the next half. I give them three points defensively, three points offensively, as a group, so they have clear information. What’s done is done at that point. I can show them what was wrong the next day in the post-match reflections”.
In my humble opinion the above shows excellent man management skills, if you don’t teach and explain to someone their shortcomings how can they possibly learn and improve. Screaming at some one achieves only negative emotions and behavioural traits to the point where they are overly conscious and focussed about not making a mistake rather than making a positive contribution that just might go wrong three times in ten.
I totally agree with that Simon which concurs with my statement about Jimior coaches and sports teachers
It’s interesting that ex
Professional players try and put something back into the grass roots of Football
Julio Arco at S Shields Alan Armstrong another Northern League coach and Jim Platt Bernie Slaven Higgy and Pally all coaching youngsters
I was talking to the two Campbell Brothers Neil and Andy the other night both friends of the family and my two lads.
They are both working a school sports teachers
Now you can’t tell me they are all encouraging kids to win at all costs and route one fooorball!
No they are putting their love of the game back into basic roots and should be commended for it all of them
Brilliant piece Werder (as ever).
On the England game I think as Spartak has highlighted comes down to Coaching styles but present styles as oppose to perhaps early conditioning as Bob explained although I suspect that at club level that is indeed the case. England looked to be trying to stick to a complex game plan that had been learned and rehearsed. Absolutely great when your opponents play to your strengths and facilitate said plan but when they have a bit of skill and ability that they are actively encouraged and passionately supported to utilise then it made Gareth’s planning rather bland and not very encouraging.
The cracks were showing at Hampden, except whereas the French had great collective and individual skill and sprit the Scots had fire, hope, passion, desire, spirit and bloodymindedness. Two completely different scenarios but both undone the meticulous English plan A. Passing out from the back, building up slowly is great but if the opponents are in your faces and tackling your RB as he receives the ball from your Keeper it scuppers the plan as Scotland did from the off. If your midfield possession passing is intercepted by sharp minds with great ball skills who had outlets already anticipating the second phase of play and off and running to receive then you look a bit pedestrian as the French done to England last night.
Back to Boro and Traore, he is the ideal player in such a set up (French that is not the “to me to you” possession borefest) if he only had a brain. The ability to read the ball, the gameflow, the winning tackle and positioning for the next phase he would be Messi in all probability. The pace and skill is there in abundance but the reading of the game is crucial not only for Traore but his team mates who can empathise with him and intuitively know where he will be, what type of run, how much pace to put on it and exactly where he wants it. That understanding would be lethal at Champions League level let alone Premiership or Championship. Instead Adama bless him just stood looking lost as an observer most times like a puppy waiting for someone to throw the stick.
If Monk can establish that link and mentally build that connection between Adama and the rest of the squad we could witness one heck of a player whose career would finally reach the level expected of him. We saw some small cameo glimpses of something similar with Bamford who was getting onto through balls and had that millisecond advantage on defenders by reading the game. Now Paddy we know has the brains which proves the point or at least supports it but Adama has untouchable pace. Heaven knows many have tried, Barca, Villa, AK and Aggers but if Monk can finally join those dots then we very well may smash this league. I think Adama was perhaps burdened with too much tactical responsibility when he is really better off not having to think too much and being let loose.
RR
Loved your piece about Traore.
One thing really got to me when watching him, we gave him the ball to feet, the opposition surrounded him(four men) he tormented them, our players stood and watched at a respectable distance, and the crowd enjoyed his brilliance.
That never changed, no one at this club ever tried to devise a way of using him which caused the opposition problems.
Simon RR
i think we’re getting so.ewhere close to a consensus. Three points
1. Traore is a lost cause. I love his skill to bits but his ‘thinking’ is absent. GM ( thats the manager not the food!) will ship him out toute suite.
2. Fed up to the back teeth with peeps with zero people skills eg. Therasa May, AK etc. etc. Can someone not filter these people out of people management jobs.
3. The FA & their suited friends are worthless.
More later
One thing that stood out from the two tables was the figures for Ramirez in the promotion season. You can see the impact he had on the second half of the season with seven goals from 15 starts, it is a shame he lost his way.
We have to get a couple of players to have the same impact for a whole season..
Redcar Red has highlighted Traore, we need a Lloyd Webber BBC special ‘what do you do with a problem like Adama’. The game just passes him by, there is a talent that needs harnessing.
“ADAMA” The Musical appearing at a theatre near you!
Featuring music from Rodgers and Hammerstein “How do you solve a problem like Traore” and the unforgettable “It keeps you Runnin” by the Doobie Brothers.
“Go your own way” by Fleetwood Mac, “Turn, Turn, Turn” by the Byrds, “Running on empty” by Jackson Browne all keep the entertainment and excitement flowing as Monks on skateboards end the show in a fantastic showstopping finale singing the Who smash hit “The fast, dumb and blind Kid who can’t play a final ball”.
RR,
Harsh, but true.
UTB,
John
Where on earth did
That musical extravaganza come from ?
Thanks to everyone for their generous remarks on the new blog piece – as always much appreciated.
I think from what I’ve heard from Garry Monk so far he sounds like a shrewd acquisition for the club. It’s also refreshing to have someone who can articulate to the supporters how he thinks and how he he intends to proceed – hopefully this will also prove to be a great skill in dealing with the players too.
As you lad was exaggerating the fall did you give him a yellow ‘get well’ card for simulation?
The amazing thing is how children recover, when my son was young he suffered with asthma and after a bad chest infection was seriously ill in hospital. My wife stayed with him and the doctor told us before I left for the evening that if things didn’t improve overnight he would be on a drip in an oxygen tent. I had a horrible nights sleep and when I went back to hospital the following afternoon they said take him home tomorrow as he slowly dismantled the ward.
I think it’s safe to say that if AK had zero people skills his reign wouldn’t have worked as well, or for as long, as it did. Let’s just say that every saga has a tipping point, every reign has an end.
Season tickets are back on sale from 9:30 tomorrow morning, prices are on MFC website
http://www.mfc.co.uk/news/article/2016/middlesbrough-fc-riverside-stadium-season-cards-3730715.aspx
Come on BORO.
Ah but can you pay!!
Three phone calls and a visit to the club and I still couldn’t pay as the phone lines were down up to at least yesterday and couldn’t accept card payments !
I went home and returned with a cheque !
Wonder how much they’ve lost by phone lines being down
Simon
Read the article on coachin in Irish Post. Yes, more academies please with their clipboards and tracksuits (there’s that word again. Grrrr!)
The question I want answerin is ‘How do you teach the kid to read the game?’ How do you teach him or her to select that perfectly weighted defence splitting pass?’ ‘How do you train the kid so at the age of 20 he takes to the field with international confidence and ability to take on the best in the world?’
Organisation without inspiration is turgid nonsense – aka AK football.
Just sayin like like!
Sparta
I have read on several occasions about coaches who play a complete full on practice game and stop everyone instantly when a player does something utterly stupid, freezing the scene and going back to the moment of madness. Taking every one through it, why it was the wrong thing and what was the right pass in the circs.
not something which happened at Rockliff I would have thought, judging by the endless repeating of errors we witnessed last season.
Spartak
The topic of the lack of “genius, game changing” types in England teams of late was discussed on a well known sports radio station this week. The co-presenter was an ex-international and it was his view that you cannot “coach” it into someone. You can coach athleticism and ball juggling skills into someone but genius game awareness is learnt as a youngster through extensive playing, you work it out for yourself through trial and error whilst playing with your mates at school and in the streets under no pressure from coaches. You know when you’ve played a defence splitting pass, or dribbled past someone, you like the feeling so you endeavor to repeat it again. If it doesn’t work you do it slightly different next time till it does. It was his view that this precious “playing” time with many many hours of unrestricted no-pressure casual footy is far higher in latino countries than ours which is why they produce more of these flair players who can think for themselves. He said clubs and academies snapping up 7, 8 year olds and “coaching” them for the next 10 years is clearly not working.
I think you need a bit of both. Because, to quote a film director, too much freedom equal chaos, which ultimately equals rubbish. That’s where we ended up at Mogga’s end. With Aitor it was the other way round – too restrictive. The progressive elements in his teams – Ledesma, Tomlin, Gaston, Fabbrini and to a lesser extent Adomah, Reach, Leads, Rhodes and Negredo, were not enough, in too many eyes, to atone for a dour, defensive safety first legacy. Me, well, I was happy to be patient with it for so long because there was one goal or result changing error in so many of the PL games. Until the January window.
Spartak 6.03
The great Wilf Mannion wrote in his autobiography that he never had a coaching lesson in his life, and what’s more would never have welcomed one.
In fact the England team never even discussed tactics, just played off the cuff.
Ken
England 0 USA 1.
Iceland 2 England 1
Results separated by many years. It is very difficult to know where to start with causes.
By the look of it, the younger England age groups seem to be playing with more freedom or rather less rigidly. Hopefully it will spread as the age groups mature.
For that to happen these kids have to play. Will that happen? The idea with the introduction of the likes of TLF and Zola was to help raise the standards within clubs. We have just sucked in more overseas players.
The other side of this are the concerns that modern academy, graduate players are technical clones. They don’t have to do anything for themselves.
OFB promised more info in response to the White Carpathian stone dweller. I look forward to that because I have little experience of our youth prospects.
It may be cyclical or if not what goes around comes around.
I’ll add
England 3 Hungary 6
Credited with changing the game.
Let’s not forget though that England had never lost at home to a foreign team outside the British Isles before that Hungary team who at that time were all army personnel who played regularly together.
Although Walter Winterbottom was the England manager he didn’t pick the team. This was done by the FA comprising prominent club chairmen who would choose their own players sometimes, although if their team had an important match coming up, perversely would not pick them.
I’m not sure how many club chairmen were on the selection committee, but a vote was taken position by position starting with the goalkeeper with no thought of the compatibility of players.Also players selected were expected to make their own way to the venue of home matches with a 3rd class rail ticket.
I remember when the great Irish international Danny Blanchflower signed for Spurs he questioned why the emphasis was purely on fitness with no work with the ball. He was told that by not seeing a football in training it would make them “hungrier” for it on match days.
The FA were arrogant believing England were affectively World Champions and refused to enter for the World Cup until 1950, and perhaps there was also a little arrogance amongst some of our international players, and that was why the likes of Mannion didn’t feel the need for coaching.
As an example I well remember the joke about Boro turning up for an away game with only goalkeeper Ugolini, Hardwick and Mannion. Well the story goes that they played against their opponents who had a full team, but by half time Boro were winning 2-0.Apparently Wilf got injured so George said “no worries, me and Ugo can control them”.
Well when Wilf saw the result that Boro had lost 6-2 he asked George how that had happened.
George then explained the reason was that the other eight players turned up for the second half.
When I read the posts above I, too, thought about the defeat to the USA and the pair of thrashings by Hungary. I suppose the Hungary defeats came against an absolutely exceptional team, playing a different system, which shone briefly like a supernova. The defeats by the USA and by Iceland were in a different category, but whether it was the coaches or the players who were responsible is a separate question.
Forever
It is never just the coaches or the players responsible for the national team, you can add in the clubs as well. That includes owners, managers, fans.
It seems a badge of honour for fans to say they don’t care about England, I leave the other home nations out because I am English and an England fan for all sports. Then British, then European.
I watched an England match in my local when Arsenal were in their pomp. There was a group of contractors working on a new hospital in the pub and they were scathing about the England team. They were wearing their Arsenal shirts and didn’t care that there were no Arsenal players on the pitch because their squad was almost totally from overseas.
Kevin Keegan tells the story of sitting in the directors box at Highbury, alongside him was the French national manager. Keegan was there as a fan, the French manager was scouting players in both sides.
PS
I think it was Highbury
I’d naively assumed that we could smash this league, that with the secure financial position we would be able to add to the team, the four or five top Championship players we need.
But looking at the prices of players, Harry Maguire £17m, Fulham reportedly turning down a bid of £20m from Newcastle and I wonder what it will take in this crazy market to get players of the ability of Jota in our attacking third.
There are bargains to be had, of course, but most of the players that have shown ability in the Championship, the likes of Forestieri, Jota, Cairney, Swift, Abraham, Costa and Mooy will be vastly overpriced.
I think we have an interesting few weeks ahead, but I am less confident now than I was a few weeks ago.
Players such as Aiden McGeady don’t really excite me, he’s 31, but he did have a reasonable season for PNE, so may do a better job than anyone else we have for the LW position.
Note to self: Be patient and don’t judge until we start the season.
Yes I agree that the asking prices for players does seem somewhat over-inflated – plus the reported wage packages are prohibitive too. Sellers will only get close to their asking price if a PL club comes in for them – no Championship club will blow close to half of their parachute money on one player because he had one half-decent season. I think around £10m is top dollar (once the Ramsdens Currency exchange rate is factored in) for second tier teams and we won’t compete on wages that’s for sure.
It’s probably worth looking at our promotion winning squad to see that it’s all about having a decent quality in depth with a few good loan deals that will probably make the difference over 46 games.
Another excellent thread. I’ll add my belated two-pennyworth of thanks to Werder for a brilliant piece.
Bob’s mention of Dave Richardson brought back some great memories for me. I knew Dave well, a lovely bloke, and we shared a passion for Charlie Parker as well as football. We should all be proud of him as someone from the Boro who has made a major contribution to the national game.
Ken’s mention of Wilf as someone who didn’t need any coaching reminded me that Raich Carter had the same philosophy. It served him well as a player, but was disastrous when he put it into practice as a manager. He was the Boro’s worst ever.
On early coaching of the English national team, it wasn’t so much that they weren’t coached but that it was so naive and patrician.
Tommy Lawton told a story of Walter Winterbottom’s coaching; “Swift, you throw the ball out to Scott. Scott, you pass it to Matthews. Matthews, you beat three or four men, get to the bye-line and pull the ball back to Lawton. Lawton, you put the ball in the net.
At which point Len Shackleton put up his hand.
“Yes, Mr Shackleton?”
“Mr Winterbottom, which side of the goal would you like him to put the ball in?”
Lawton attributed to this particular incident the fact that Shack, in spite of his talent, was never picked for England again.
Hi Teapot
I think you made a good point a while back – am I right? – that we paid the price for bolstering our defence on the cheap with Barragan and Espinosa. It is possible we thought “ANOTHER centre-back?” when it came to Maguire – I know such a thought entered my head anyway – but considering Ayala’s fitness record and the lack of a dependable alternative for Gibson, he would have been a great bet.
We may have had him for 6 million, now he’s valued at nearly three times that.
It would have made far morse sense to have landed Maguire even if it meant going up another two million which would probably have tipped it. Problem was we were still thinking like a Championship club!
I recall making a strong case for signing Maguire at the time, just as strong as the case I made for why we shouldn’t have signed Barragan. Only 24 years old and a future ahead of him. Just a shame he wasn’t called Harroldo Maguirez as no doubt he would have shown up on someone’s radar or perhaps not, taps nose and walks away whistling.
I think you mentioned something the other day that underlies the problem, and how Garry Monk sees things differently. namely that any player you bring in should be better than anyone already there. I don’t see the point in buying squad players, surely the person that is displaced becomes the squad player.
I think people are currently overrating the players we have, especially with regard to the Championship promotion team. If we look at those who player regularly and those who made an impact, Gibson and Ramirez will be gone. None of the 3 attacking players behind the striker are as good as we need them to be, in my opinion. It doesn’t matter how many Chris Woods or Britt Assombalongas we have if there is nobody to provide chances.
Dimi and Ripley are decent options at GK in my view.
We may need to replace Gibson and Chambers, Fabio and Friend are okay at this level. The former leaving may well give us enough money to replace that pair.
Clayton, Leadbitter and de Sart are okay at this level, as is Forshaw, but if De Roon goes I would hope that money is put towards a very good midfielder of the likes of John Swift or Tom Cairney, though not necessarily Cairney himself who would now appear to be out of our league.
Behind the striker, and I like Bamford for that role, or at least one of those toles if we play 2 up top, I think we need proven goal scorers and assist makers. Jota, Pritchard, Costa and the like are what we need. It may be possible to get players from Premiership clubs that are not getting the game time they require. Like Benik Afobe, who would make far more sense to me than Assombalonga who doesn’t have the best injury record, despite his excellent conversion rate.
Len Shackleton, Walter Winterbottom’s Albert Adomah, a mercurial talent who wouldn’t track back!
In his Autobiography he had the famous chapter entitled “The average Director’s knowledge of Football” which was a solitary blank page. He had of course fallen out with the board at Newcastle hence his transfer to the Makems. One of the games great talents and an even bigger character.
He also used to play that sport with the “C” word. The one were you wait around for hours waiting for something exciting to happen, yawning before realising its chess in white uniforms, only much slower and less hectic. 😉
RR,
I believe that chapter was originally quite a few blank pages but to tone it down he reduced the chapter to one blank page.
UTB,
John
Redcar Red
I remember hearing a story that Shack once got bored, stopped play, and then sat on the ball inviting opponents to kick it away. I can’t vouch for the validity of the occasion but certainly remember the story – wonder if anyone else has heard the story, and if it was true who the opponents were.
Ken
Heard the story which has passed into folklore
Don’t know if it’s true!
OFB
He allegedly used used to play “one twos” with the corner flag to beat an opponent!
I think, since AK’s whole first choice spine last season, if you don’t count De Roon, was English – Chambers, Gibson, Friend, Leadbitter/Clayton, Forshaw – it’s wrong to point fingers. (Note, too, that everyone’s favourite goalkeeper was Greek.)
And, as critical as I have been of Barragan – with hindsight – when we signed him, he had years of experience at the very top in Spain. As did Victor Valdes. So you can’t blame AK for thinking, they’re worth a punt.
With Valdes, AK unfortunately went for the Dr. Roy Keane approach of signing “big name characters (he) knew” in the hope of giving everyone a lift. It doesn’t always work.
As an aside, I was having an interesting discussion with a friend yesterday. He reminded me of the time that, even when his Bournemouth were “hammering us” (with two dubious penalties and a worldie, might I add), Eddie Howe had Harry Arter throw himself to the floor in the penalty area. The argument then was, had they been Edouard Hówe and Harry Artinho there’d have been uproar. But hey, they’re English so it’s alright. (No it isn’t.)
My barbed comment wasn’t aimed at AK. As Coach he apparently didn’t decide or make the signings and he who did has thankfully left for pastures new down the A1. Our gain is their loss!
Barragan was never a prolific player in Spain, rather one of those Players who somehow managed to make a decent living out of it. If he was to be described in terms of a colour it would be Magnolia. His profile was never that of an overlapping Full Back terrorising defences. The AK team template was structurally set in concrete meaning that players who came in should have been two things, firstly better than what we had and equal first they had to fit the system. Antonio done neither and I suspect in the desire to get Negredo and Valencia’s desire to lighten their payroll it was a Bogof offer, take Barragan or you don’t get Negredo. Having acquired Barragan the Boro squad then needed “balancing”. I believe that losing the Nsue and Adomah understanding cost us points over the Season.
Whether Barragan and Espinosa stay or not will be determined over the next few weeks but my view is that at Championship level they can both do a job. As critical as I have been of one or both of them at times I think they could have a part to play next season but suspect that any half sensible offers will see them depart to warmer climes.
I guess what I’m saying is, it’s never as simple as Big Bad Aitor versus Poor Ickle Jordan. The reality is far more complicated. Though I should add, your post on AK/Downing on the previous blog was a great read. And revealing.
Thanks for the reply, RR. And I’m with you about Nsue & Adomah. Sometimes what players can offer to a team transcends their overall ability and experience. If you offered me a choice of Nsue & Adomah versus Barragan & Adama, I know who I’d take.
As an aside, I would like to share with you some of my own words, from the Gazette.
‘(AK) played his international football under Javier Clemente, a manager who was renowned more for “faith” and “hard work” (qualities from the Basque Country, where he selected many of his players from) than a truly expansive style.
‘Under Clemente, Spain were successful, at one stage going 31 matches unbeaten, but throughout his reign it became clear that he could only take the national team so far.
‘…Coaches like these are what I’d call “systematic”… (they) may achieve great things to a point, but they are more likely to be found out eventually. The best coaches… can improvise and adapt when the situation calls for it in addition to being systematic.’
That was me when AK was appointed.
Two years later…
‘Too many questions still hang over the manner in which (AKBoro) have progressed into second place: the rigidity of the 4-2-3-1 formation, the lack of game changers, solidity over creativity, not enough up front, winning ugly rather than beautifully.’
Prophetic?
Simon
Everything that you say is true.
Unfortunately if the chairman and the fans were asked before a ball was kicked to make a choice, do you want to be promoted, with a lot of hard graft, or do you want your team to be the most admired team in the division?
The answer would have been unanimous, promoted please sir.
Good post Werder, I agree that the main focus for new signings needs to be the strikers, I also wouldn’t be disappointed if the players signed in January left with the exception of Bamford.
Assuming de Roon leaves we’ll definitely need one or two midfield players, ideally dynamic , attacking midfielders. Forshaw, Clayton and Leadbitter are all very good championship players but they’re all too similar for me.
If we can keep Ben that will be a major coup and will give us a potentially very very strong defence.
I hope we see Conor Ripley get his chance in the first team squad along with Dael Fry.
I like Monk he gives me confidence and a growing optimism
As for the England football team I’ve followed/supported England since the early seventies and apart from very briefly in ’90 and ’96 they’ve never been anything other than also rans, definitely category B where international teams are concerned.
I don’t know what we do wrong with English footballers, or what France and Germany do that we don’t, but I do believe international football is not a priority in England.
As for Wilf, never saw him play, but I’ve seen some black and white footage and he looked sensational as my Dad and his brothers said he was, that said he never played in a successful England team.
Finally my thoughts are with the survivors of the Grenfell Tower fire, a more horrendous situation for those trapped in it is beyond imagination. No doubt once the investigation is concluded lessons will be learnt, but what a tragedy for British society that such a catastrophic tragedy has to happen for the lesson to be learnt.
On the plus side it is heartening to see such a culturally diverse community pulling together in adversity.
Nigel, Nigel,
Wilf mansion, at the end of the second world war, everyone came home with one object in mind, to have some fun.
All sports and pastimes, and I do mean all, even greyhound racing, god help us, were played to full houses.
Wilf had spent the war as a rifleman in the Green Howard getting shot at in all the glamorous places, you know Dunkirk, Alamein Sicily, D Day.
He took his place as by right in the greatest team in the world, which naturally toured the continent.
The scores read something like this. 8-0 10-0 5-0 and so on
That forward line was a bit special, gorgeous George Hardwick was pretty special to, as Captain naturally.
So I think that we could say that Wilf played in a very successful team, and how.
I actually saw George Hardwick play in a testimonial at South Bank FC
I was friends with a group of lads and one of them was George’s son.
We all went to the game and went back to George’s place in Nunthorpe and talked to George a really nice guy.
We stayed so late my bus back home had gone so George gave me a lift home .
I remember my Dad saying how did you get home I thought you would ring me for a lift. I said
“George Hardwock gave me a lift home”
“Why didn’t you invite him In for a cup of tea”
Spluttered my old man.
“I didn’t think you would want to meet him as you’re a Newcastle supporter”
I replied and my dad just shook his head .
“I am but he was on of Emgland’s greatest Captains””
And he went out still shaking his head
Plato.
I agree. See my post which I sent having not read yours at the time.
Nigel
Afraid I can’t agree. Apart from playing in the victory international for Grear Britain 6-1 against Rest of Europe (incidentally Hardwick captained that team with Boro the only club to provide more than one player), Wilf played in the most successful England team of the time in 1947/48 beating Portugal 10-0, Belgium 5-2 and Italy 4-0 all away plus home victories against France 3-0, Holland 8-2 and Sweden 4-2.
The sickening clash of heads with Billy Liddell against Scotland effectively ended his international career. Scotland
Nigel
Terrible pictures, as a non fire fighter or building regulations expert what struck me from the images was the way the fire spread outside the building so that the tower was sheathed in flames.
I saw a programme where they showed how fire fighters suits were made and it had some tests to test integrity, one basically covered them with flammable material and set alight.
It bore a frightening resemblance to what I saw in the film footage.
So Puel is sacked by Southampton after one season despite getting them to 8th place in the Premier League. Are clubs’ expectations now getting out of control or is it commendable that they seem to be bordering on the impossible?
Speaking to a Forest fan and he was saying we were in for Assombalonga.
He is believed to be the highest paid player at Forest and guesses that to be around £30-32,000. Thinks they would want a profit on the £5.5m they paid for him.
I would expect Gibson to support such a transfer wholeheartedly. Recall how after Mogga departed, Aitor was able to bring in loannees on bigger wages. Similarly, after Roy Keane left Ipswich, Paul Jewell was able to bring Jimmy Bullard (on 20 or 30k a week) and Michael Chopra on board not too long after Keane had been told to keep costs down!
I don’t know if Keane was really bitter, but he certainly wasn’t surprised:
“It happens – there’s trust in the new manager. For a while.”
Boroexile
It seems to be a way of working overseas, the manager is a coach given the players to coach and that is it. The model is in place to recruit and sell, the coach is dispensable.
Watford also do the same.
Ian, interesting point. Maybe we should try it…..!!
Off-topic for a tick.
“There are thousands of people on the street tonight and the country’s going to the wall
“But you can’t blame me, I’ve done nothing wrong, in fact I’ve done absolutely bu**er all
“There’s trouble everywhere you look for sure
“It’s a wonder my eyesight’s so poor
“The economy is rocking and reeling
“And that’s why I get the feeling… that
“Like a prat out of hell I’ll be gone when the next election comes…”
John Major’s Spitting Image, circa 1993.
It’s not just football that’s cyclical.
Simon
If I remember correctly Ayala was already at the club and they tried to get Tomlin in the August but he came in January. Varga came in the summer
Given came as emergency loan in November? Danny Graham in the January. Chalobah and Omeruo came from Chelsea. Meijas also came in.
Hopefully now that Leeds have found themselves a Manager the Middlesbrough Newsnow page might contain some stories about us and the preoccupation of all things Boro will now cease from those wearers of shirt numbers on their socks.
Bookies have stopped taking bets on Traore to the Hammers which indicates there may be more than just an element of truth in it. Perhaps he may be better suited to running around the Olympic Stadium (didn’t even mention taxpayer once then) than the Riverside. I’m wondering if there is another swap deal involved or if its for cash?
Traore to the Hammers? I like that idea.
I wonder if Snodgrass may come the opposite way?
Were you being cruel you’d put “If I Only Had A Brain” in the Adama musical. But that’s nasty.
Another number for RR’s blockbuster musical “ADAMA!” Could be Dusty Springfield’s hit “I Just Don’t Know What to Do with the Ball”. Maybe room too for the Pete Seeger folk classic “If I was a Hammer”. Ending with the Boro faithful giving a heart rending rendition of Noel Harrison’s famous “Windmills of your Mind” (no lyric changes required!!)
We could start the show with “Yakety Sax” but probably unfair on Benny Hill.
I can smell him, even from under this stone on a wet day at the foot of the White Carpathian Mountains.
‘Come out Lurkin, we know your there!’
lol
Where is he?
Who is he?
Tell me.
We will watch his career with interest, particularly to see what other coaches can make of his ability. If Traore comes good……..
He must do at some point. When I heard of AK playing him on the flank closest to him I shook my head, play people in their best position. As the season progressed I mentally apologised to Aitor.
Skybet has us at 7/1 joint favourites with Villa to win the league, both at 9/4 for promotion.
It is like having odds on next springs grand national so far ahead.
Lurkin Gill scorz again – the man’s a colossus!
I am big, does that make me a colossus?
If you stand still a lot you could also be a coliseum !
A giant of a collostomy!
Oh dear, have I taken one giant step too far?
🙂
Spartak,
It’s in the bag.
UTB,
John
Are you taking the proverbial?
New away kit on sale, it is the same as the home kit only white with a navy band.
Come on BORO.
I like the new away kit. Apart from the sponsor, obviously.
Have we signed any of these players yet?
GK
Wayne Hennessey – Crystal Palace
Chris Maxwell – Preston NE
RB
Tomas Kalas – Chelsea
Dominic Iorfa – Wolves
Timothy Fosu-Mensah – Manchester United
LB
Andrew Robertson – Hull City
Ryan Sessegnon – Fulham
Charlie Taylor – Leeds United
CB
Callum Chambers – Arsenal
Pontus Jansson – Torino/Leeds
Marc Roberts – Barnsley
Tosin Adarabioyo – Manchester City
CM
Tom Cairney – Fulham
Conor Houirihane – Aston Villa
John Swift – Reading
Fabian Delph – Manchester City
Will Hughes – Derby County
Teddy Bishop – Ipswich
RW
Matt Ritchie – Newcastle
Alan Judge – Brentford
Tom Ince – Derby County
Robert Snodgrass – West Ham
LW
Helder Costa – Wolves
Tom Lawrence – Leicester
Bakary Sako – Crystal Palace
Jacob Murphy – Norwich
#10
Jota – Brentford
Fernando Forestieri – Sheffield Wednesday
Adam Pritchard – Norwich
Aaron Mooy – Manchester City
CF
Benik Afobe – Bournemouth
Tammy Abraham – Chelsea
Britt Assombalonga – Nottingham Forest
Chris Wood – Leeds United
NO! NO! NO!
Not havin it, more Ramsden’s in yer face currency nonsense. The club’s whorin itself out for money it dont need.
Symtomatic of the modern day footballin era.
Rubbish!!!!
The vacations of a Middlesbrough player have ended up being a subject of pride from a small city in Spain.
Left-back George Friend is spending a few days in Benitatxell, a town of less than five thousand residents, and his presence has made it to the media.
Website Xabia Al Dia, which reports local news, has covered the player’s training at La Font, where he’s trying to keep his form during the vacations.
The outlet claims this is a chance for other Premier League footballers to get to know Benitachell, something that would certainly be a great attraction for the place.
Middlesbrough’s Friend has spoken to La Font’s official channel and praised the facilities, confirming that other players could start going there due to the tourist attractions and facilities to keep in form.
Local sports councillor Toni Colomer has also commented on the player’s presence, and said it shows how good the place is: “Elite footballers like Friend choosing Poble Nou de Benitatxell’s camp for their training is another proof of the quality of our facilities.”
Friend is clearly making friends on holiday, and Middlesbrough can only be impressed by the footballer’s commitment to stay in shape over the summer.
Large dose of PR piffel there OFB! Does George have any ‘friends’ there by any chance.
Tough of the Track- well as far as I remember he ran through ploughed fields int pourin rain, like!
😉
Good lad was Alf remember it well
OFB
Thanks for the news OFB, perhaps I should pop up to Benitachell as it is only an hours run from what is now home. I can catch up with George and get his autograph/views on new/old manager etc.
Oh b……… I am presently in Worthing visiting relatives. Must try and persuade the misses to visit Portugal and Boro’s training camp if roumours are to be believed.
I’m sure your missus would make it Worthing your while!
We lived in Spain for a coupe of years living near Cadiz and often drove up to Albefuera in Portugal for weekends
Loved living there
None of this fancy diet nonsense, did a mornings work and had fish and chips before a race.
http://tse1.mm.bing.net/th?id=OIP.acPwT3OY0cuZy3Us8KXayQEsDv&w=233&h=186&c=7&qlt=90&o=4&pid=1.7
And still won!!
Twitter sayingmassive news from Boro tomorrow !
No I’ve no idea
Sponsor aside the kit’s as good as we can hope it to be. Unfortunately the sponsor is too big an issue for many. Hard currency?
More excitement, maybe the ‘gastric band is back?’ I hope it’s simply that Ben is staying.
UTB,
John
Maybe they have signed up a colossus as the new mascot but I haven’t been contacted yet.
OFB
I trawled the sundry news sites but as I don’t do twitter at a loss.
Maybe Ramirez has left the building.
I believe Leeds have announced a new first team coach so wonder if this means Boro are now able to announce GM’s support staff.
KP
Arriva or is it now Sapphire?
Beeline ?
Ken
Good shout but would that be massive?
Ian
I suppose it depends on the number of seats. 😎
Think the news will be about the backroom staff, ins and outs.
Ronaldo wants to leave Spain having been accused of tax evasion, he has never ruled out a return to the UK.
OFB’s mystery is solved.
Ian
Funny that’s what someone on twitter said as well
Is it you that’s starting these rumours?
OFB
He’s obviously nostalgic about the clobbering he got at the Riverside. James Morrison was it?
UTB,
John
Mogga’s back as Director of Footie!
Just guessin like!
Spartak
Don’t know if Monk wants a director of football, certainly didn’t want Orta but that is a different matter.
Ian
Mogga’s no meddler!
IMHO
Thoughts on Adama
The young man is exceptionally gifted but perhaps too gifted, if you can be!
The secret to his development is to….
Yes!!!
Currently reading ‘ Thinking, Fast & Slow.’ By Prof. Daniel Kahneman. In the book he talks about 2 systems, the first being intuitive – he’s wrong!
His understanding of what intuition is is flawed.
Btw. I’d bet Ian’s house on the fact that Adama is an intuitive footballer par excellance.
Just sayin like
Spartak
By definition Director of Football directs.
I think the Club and Director mean well but anyone who is married or has a partner understands the result.
Right, I’m sitting here in the sunshine in Norfolk, two Jack Russell Terriers next to me, waiting for today’s ‘Moses comes down from the mountain moment’. what will it be?
The flask of coffee is made and sandwiches prepared, I just hope it isn’t like the managerial best kept secret saga.
I don’t do Twitter though so I’m relying on you OFB. I still can’t have any wine or beer to celebrate whatever it will be either.
UTB,
John
Traore to West Ham for £8m otherwise all quiet
OFB,
My reply is under your reply to Spartak, don’t know why.
UTB,
John
Gazette headline
‘Players to have been linked to Boro….’
God’s teeth, is that headline churned out by a malfunctionin journobot or what?
AV are you there? Has pride in the job sunk without trace in a race to the bottom?
Dear me!
If you have a premium service what do you call the rest of the reporting ?
Are they going to retro-fit a footballing brain as an add-on?
UTB,
John
First relegation,
Second ‘That’ shirt followed by ‘Sons of That Shirt’.
Third Gazettelive possessed by journobots!
You’ll see Corbyn in number 10 next havin tea & biscuitz with the Iranian Ayatolla whilst Trump sits in a cafè round the corner waitin his turn.
Sparta
Jeremy will be with the ayatollah some time because he is booked to show Jeremy the stocks of ” weapons of mass destruction”.
I know it is a shock to the government, but they had forgotten where they hid them.
One of the cleaners told them where to look.
If Traore drives to West Ham will he actually get there?
Yes but he will drive past London because he can’t finish.
Come on BORO.
When Adama got himself to the six yard box the whole of the Riverside crowd should have shouted “STOP!”, followed by “SHOOT!”. Then, of course having followed instructions it would have been followed by “GOOOOAAAALLLL!”
lol
🙂
Spartaboro
I was with you all the way until the last bit when I think your optimism got the better of you! Iol 😎
Apologies for the misspelling Spartakboro – I need to check and recheck before I post in future – my bad.
What’s in a name?
AV wrote an interesting article in the free library.com in December 2013 about “nops/washers” and “scabs” being the history behind Middlesbrough Ironopolis and Middlesbrough FC.
Ironopolis (nops or washers) entered the Football League in the 1890s having sought an agreement with Middlesbrough FC to merge as a professional team, but folded because the latter reneged on the agreement (hence the name scabs) because it wished to remain amateur.Thus Ironopolis folded because on its own it became financially unstable.
Now as there appears to be a lull in the happenings at Boro HQ whilst we all await the announcement of Garry Monk’s coaching staff and Wednesday’s fixture list announcement, and as the Evening Gazette seems only to be able to recycle old news or speculate on players’ comings and goings, and with no Yorkshire cricket to read about, I thought I’d do some research on the names of football clubs.Yes,I know you’re thinking what a sad life I live – well not really, I actually enjoy doing some research.
First of all my friends wonder why I’m always asking rhetorical questions, so first of all why Is Middlesbrough the name of the town? Why not Middle Borough? After all that is what it actually was once – the middle borough between then the two larger boroughs of Stockton and Redcar; and why Redcar not Red Scar (red rock?).I can’t believe our forefathers were all illiterate!
It is said that their was a gypsy’s curse on the Boro and that is why we never won the First Division title or FA Cup. I always thought it was because no matter how one spelt Middlesbrough or Middleborough it contained thirteen letters. This could have been avoided of course if we were called Middlesbrough Athletic, after all that is more or less what the sign reads – Middlesbrough Football and Athletic Club.
We might then have shouted “come on Athletic”. No, it doesn’t sound right.
Incidentally, in my youth I never heard us referred to as Boro; it was always The Boro – made us sound unique and more important.
At the moment, of the 92 clubs making up the Football League, 14 are called United, 13 City and 12 Town. I understand City and Town; self-explanatory, but one would have thought that clubs like Liverpool and Sunderland would have been proud to add City to their name. After all Swansea changed its name from Town to City when it became designated a city.
But what does United mean? I understand using the name when two or more clubs merge as happened with Newcastle in the distant past, but in other cases does it mean “we stand together” Surely all teams stand together, or they should. I am always intrigued by the two Scottish clubs in Dundee which are on opposite sides of the road within a few hundred yards of each other. One is called Dundee United; united with whom, certainly not with their near neighbours Dundee FC.
Or is it that as a team the latter are not as united as the former?
At the moment we have four clubs called Rovers, three called Wanderers, but only one called Rangers. There are also three County clubs although how Newport got that suffix I don’t know, and another three called Albion (the old name describing England). Then there are rather exotic suffixes such as Alexandra and Argyle.
Of course many clubs changed their names when towns and cities grew, such as Newton Heath to Manchester United, and Small Heath to Birmingham City, but others such as Woolwich Arsenal to plain Arsenal so that alphabetically it would be first on the list.The Gunners must have been peeved at the birth of AFC Wimbledon and subsequently AFC Bournemouth (formerly Bournemouth and Boscombe Athletic).
Now I wonder how the dear folk of Boscombe felt about their Town being deleted from their club – probably the same as those from Hove would feel if Brighton and Hove Albion did the same.Maybe AFC Bournemouth thought its original name was too much of a mouthful like Scunthorpe and Lindsay United was.
Other sports clubs think it’s more glamorous to add suffixes to their teams’ names. This probably started in the USA and is now widely used with Ice Hockey, American Football, Rugby Union, Rugby League and now even County Cricket Clubs.I am pleased such suffixes have not infiltrated football clubs yet.
I know the Hull City owner wanted to add the suffix Tigers to his club, but we already have Leicester Tigers RUFC and Castleford Tigers RLFC over here and I don’t wish our clubs to become “Americanised”.
After all why would we want our club to be called Middlesbrough Steelers FC?
Up the Steelers? No, up the Boro will suit me fine.
Ken
A very interesting article on a slow ” Boro news” day.
I think this big news rumour is just that a big rumour! 😎
KP
I think you’re right. I’ve been checking on and off all day for this big news story. Big let down so far.
Excellent read Ken. Many thanks!
By the by, a little while back someone (no names mentioned) suggested Boro Steelers as a real alternative. Now I know the power and pull of tradition and continuity, still I quite like it.
Perhaps its something to do with my age as I’m still quite young at 55 (feeling more like 40! Ask the Mrs’ she’ll tell yer.)
😉
🙂
Keen,
I always understood the origin of the town’s name went back to the Middle Ages when it was the mid-point, and presumably a stopping off place, for monks travelling between the religious centres of Whitby and Durham.
I thought Middleabrough was a name of a farm originally.
UTB!
Locally.
Good morning Jaarko,
If you can find a copy there is a book written by William Lillie, Borough Librarian, 1926 – 1951 titled; The History of Middlesbrough, An Illustration of the Evolution of English Industry.
The book mentions the ‘Midlesburg Chapel or Cell’ built at the request of St. Hilda as Abbess of Streonshailh(Whitby) it was called the Church of St. Hilda. The cell was consecrated by St. Cuthbert of Lindisfarne 686.
If you do manage to find a copy the whole book is a heavy, but very interesting read.
For cricket lovers just after Australia won the first ever(I think) Test at the Oval the team later played 18 Middlesbrough on the Linthorpe Road ground 5,6 and 7 July 1880. There’s around four pages on the History of the Boro too.
Have a dig around on what my farmer neighbour calls the inter web and see if you can find a copy.
OFB, still waiting for the big news and the flask is empty.
UTB,
John
John
Twitter has gone quiet looks like everyone having a siesta
OFB
Quite right, Len.
Mydils means middle, and Burgh frequently used in Scotland was a Saxon word meaning a settlement.
So in fact Mydilsburgh was a settlement between Stockton and Redker, apparently Redscar then Redcar.
Borough is probably the English version of Burgh, and I suppose that is where the name came from.
However, it does make the name of Middlesbrough unique as all other towns and villages would be spelt including the letter ‘o’. Perhaps some readers can explain the reason.
As for Notts County I often abbreviate their neighbours as Nottm. Forest being aware of the distinction you mention.
Incidentally I believe Woolwich Arsenal initially copied the shirt colours of Forest as the power of English football was centred in the Midlands and Lancashire, after having once borrowed their shirts; not absolutely certain of that, but seemed to have read it somewhere.
Also Len you are probably correct in your information regarding Middlesbrough’s name being derived from being the mid- point between Durham and Whitby.
My information came from “The History of Redcar and Coatham” which might on reflection be a little biased.
Ken
All the very reasonable explanations for the name leave me cold.
Point one, every place is between two other places(not strictly true, but you know what I mean)
point two, I fail to see how any group of people could come up with a name as silly as Middlesbrough.
Point three, the spelling is impossible, the name is not euphonious(is that a word)?
Point four, how were they allowed to get away with it?
Point five, there are many names that are easy on the tongue and the ear, so why the abomination?
Ken,
Perhaps the most frequently muddled and mis-applied club name is what some fans and even pundits (who should know better) refer to as “Notts Forest”. No such team exists, and to use that term in Nottingham itself is to put oneself in danger of serious physical injury from fans of either Nottingham team.
Notts is, of course, short for Nottinghamshire, not Nottingham, and the two teams playing in the town are Notts County and Nottingham Forest- the county team and city team respectively. Forest, appropriately, play at the City Ground, but curiously Notts play at Meadow Lane, which lies within the city boundaries, whereas Forest play on the other side of the Trent in West Bridgeford.
For one reason and another I have not been able to participate in here as much as sometimes I would like. I never fail to keep up to date with reading Werder’s and Simon’s always excellent leaders. The current one was excellent Werdermouth and set us thinking about what (who) we have had and who we have let go and what their effective contributions may have been.
A big big thank you to Ken Smith who had joined the party over recent weeks. Your posts have been brilliant to read. It has been a tradition since Untypical days, and so happy it has continued with the Diasboro, that so many people take so much of their time to share their time, their interests, their knowledge, their compassion, their joy at being part of a community that is bigger and better than any one of us as an individual.
As for the missing ‘o’ from Middlesbrough. The story I heard was that when the new town of Middlesborough was to be given the status of County Borough the town clerk made a spelling mistake on the document that went to Queen Victoria to sign once she had signed it, that was it and no one could possibly contradict her and so Middlesborough became Middlesbrough, the only “brough” in the world. Maybe that is also why we are The Boro as there really is only one.
Thanks for the information, and also your kind complement.
Just remembered something. In the 70s, around the time he Cleveland Centre was recently opened, the council got some new mini pavement sweepers to use on the extended pedestrianised areas. The name of the town council was proudly emblazoned on each flank … “Middlesborough Council”
Ken,
I have posted reply Jaarko’s 5.50 post on the 17 June. Do you have a copy of the book in question?
The book was William Lillie’s lifetime project. The volume was only available from Boddy’s Bookshop and Smiths on Linthorpe Road.
UTB,
John
Jarsue159
Sorry no. I obtained most of my information of the history of Middlesbrough (Mydilsburgh) from Wikipedia. I once owned a copy of “The History of Redcar and Coatham” which did give a slightly different version probably because it was written by an old resident of Redcar who perhaps exaggerated the importance of Redcar.
Wikipedia is not always accurate, but in this instance I accept the version that Mydilsburgh was a Saxon settlement used by Monks on their journeys between Durham and Whitby.
Powmill-Naemore 9.55pm gives a logical account why the letter ‘o’ was omitted from Middlesbrough.
The land betwixt the Reed Marshes and Stockton may indeed have been the Middle Borough but I suspect it was called the Middle Borough because of the handful of Monks who looked after the Chapel/Church/Priory between Durham and Whitby in the 600’s. Five hundred or so years later Guisborough Priory was built possibly in an ecclesiastical manner not too dissimilar to the Boro moving from Ayresome Park to the Riverside (poetic licence abuse alert) or knowing Christianity a rival gang of Monks trying to muscle in on the block.
Redcar, the land of the marshy reeds, Reed and Kjarr (Scandinavian for Marsh or Boggy land) was an established fishing village in the 14th Century, the time of Robert the Bruce, 100 years war and the Black death which killed half the population of England. Insignificant compared to its then mighty Domesday book neighbour of Marske. Speaking of Robert the Bruce, the term Erimus (“We shall be”) can be traced back to the Bruce family whose motto is Fuimus (“We have been”), who were lords of Cleveland in the Middle Ages. The Lion in the Town’s crest is from the Bruce family coat of arms. Could this Celtic connection be a reason for the “Burgh” type spelling and the English Borough pronunciation being juxtaposed over time and confusingly amalgamated somehow?
Saltburn’s history usually tends to begin with tales of smugglers conveniently ignoring the thousand years or so previously when the Romans had a lookout post on the top of Huntcliff. The “Middle Borough” was as mentioned nothing more than a farm with just two dozen or so individuals in 1800. The “Stoc” in Stockton also comes from a word meaning a Monastery or Priory with “Ton” being a farm in Anglo Saxon however “Stocc” in Anglo Saxon also means logs or wooden so could it have been a wooden built religious settlement of Makems praying for salvation?
So what on earth is the point of all this rambling? Well two main ones, firstly there is beggar all happening on the footie front and the second but chilling one is that this area has a long standing history of Monks which proves that the arrival of Brother Garry was ordained long long ago by our forefathers!
When I went to school, we were taught that Middlesbrogh was a brand new town , designed and built in the 1800’s . .where none had exisited before.
In fact if I recall it was the first ever “new town”
Been away darn sarf and only had fleeting access to t’internet.
Unless I cant find it th breaking news never surfaced. Always Monday.
You are correct Ian.
I posted a comment on the lack of same late yesterday.
No news is, er, no news.
ID revealed!!
So since GM announced as manager , it is all quiet again . Not a whisper from anywhere as to what is going on right now . Don’t you think the club should be updating fans on the progress or no progress exactly what is happening. Gazette towers have ran out of ideas what to print . Grr.
The. Coaches at Leeds that Monk wants to bring in have existing contracts until end of June
They cannot talk about contracts or Leeds will say they have breached their contracts by verbal tacit acquiescence and sue them and Boro
Meanwhile things are going on behind the scenes and we will know presently what they want us to know
Let’s face it the EG premium service is behind our news output we were a week ahead of them saying that Monk was coming
Be patient Braveheart all will come clear
Thank you, Jarsue159. I keep that in mind.
As I know some Swedish, too it is interesting to see the Viking connection in names around Middlesbrough. Like Röd Kärr (red marsh or swamp) for Redcar or Vit By (white village) for Whitby.
I was in Trondheim, Norway last week and the streets were called Gate (in Swedish Gata). Reminded me about York!
Not to mention the Dales around Boro – the Swedish equivalent is Dal. Especially many names on the moors sound like Swedish, too.
Up the Boro!
Jarkko
The name Gill comes from Old Norse Gil, a small valley or ravine.
Ian, is that the reason the name is pronounced differently to Gillingham, for example?
Secondly I suppose you are not related to Gary Gill?
The only thing easy in our language is that every letter is always pronounced and always the same way. So we don’t often need business cards as pronouncing a name once is enough to know how to spell it. Other than pronouncing, English is easier to learn.
Up the Boro!
Jarkko,I am quite surprised when foreigners say that they find English easy to learn. We have so many word that are spelt the same but pronounced differently such as “read” which in different tenses is pronounced “reed” or “red”.
However, the worst example is the last 4 letters “ough”. Different pronunciations for although,bough,cough,rough,through not to mention Middlesbrough.
One thing about foreign languages, especially the Latin ones, is the use of acute and grave accents which define pronunciation. I learnt French and Spanish at school but what I found difficult were irregular verbs and the use of tenses. In fact I nearly always use the present tense especially in Portuguese where I probably have a vocabulary of 2,000 words but find it difficult to compose a sentence. However, in all languages I find it much easier to translate the written word into English than the other way round.
I suppose if I lived in a foreign country I would find it easier, but when one only spends a relative short time abroad it becomes difficult.Most foreigners learn English at school; we English generally are lazy about using foreign languages as most people speak English.
I am lucky enough to spend most of the winter months in the Algarve but rarely hear Scandinavians, Dutch or Germans speak their own language or indeed Portuguese when ordering a meal – no, they speak English.
I do admire them, and also yourself. You all really put us to shame!
Jarkko
More on links Teesside-Vikings
http://www.kirkleathamparish.org/history/
Many years ago I was confirmed a Christian in St Cuthbert’s Church by the Bishop of Vitby 🙂 The original church was built around 800 AD upon a viking burial site.
Further, I read that Roseberry Topping was once called Odin’s Seat.
Maybe we could rename the Boro the Boro Vikings instead!
Just sayin like!
jarkko
As far as I know I am not related to Gary Gill, Gill is also a name amongst Asian people as well but I don’t know the link.
Talking of Gary and recruitment, Northern Echo reports we are selling Traore, de Roon and Ramirez but trying to keep hold of Gibson. Maybe get £30m in to the club.
#warchest
Ian, you’re lucky not to be called Smith. When my wife was alive when asked her surname, she almost used to feel embarrassed by it.
She would say it’s a common name. I knew in which context she meant the word “common”. I used to say “Don’t say common dear, say popular”.
Philip Tallentire in the Gazette thinks Boro are in a better position than most clubs even if Gibson, De Roon, Traore and Ramirez are sold.
He is probably correct as long as suitable replacements are
made. Obviously Gibson is almost irreplaceable, but one couldn’t blame him if he wanted to move – on two counts.
He would hope to make the England squad for the next World Cup and probably thinks that would be unlikely if he stayed at Boro. However, in my opinion that would also be unlikely if he signed for a top six club unless he became a regular first team player which might be doubt. Perhaps a “safe” club such as Southampton might be a good choice, but apart from the top six or seven, can any other club be certain of being “safe”?
I am not so sure either that he would be picked for the World Cup squad, and if he was, that he would be in the team unless one or more of the centre backs were injured. Nevertheless, he obviously enjoys training with the squad, so maybe that might satisfy him. He therefore has to weigh up whether his loyalty to Boro overrides his international ambitions.
The other reason he might want to leave Boro is if there is a significant drop in his salary as a result of relegation. It is usual for clubs to insert a reduction of salary in a contract for such a contingency, and I’m not sure if one exists in his case.
Many fans contributing to forums (none on this forum I’m pleased to report) call players who wish to leave following reiegation mercenaries. I deplore the often obscene name-calling that Peter Beagrie receives for example, but surely in the real world most of us would have done the same in his circumstances.
Of course nowadays footballers receive a weekly wage probably considerably more than the average man earns in two or three years. Nevertheless, their career might only last for less than twenty years, and if Gibson’s wage has been reduced significantly that may well be another reason for him to leave. He therefore has a big decision to make, as does De Roon.
I do think that Tallentire’s valuation of the four possible leavers is overstated, excepting possibly Gibson’s worth, and I hope that he and De Roon both stay.
On another front, does any one think that Fabio has been playing out of position. I think he is too small for a full back (Kenny Samson he ain’t), but would make a good attacking winger in the Championship.
Ken
Central attackers will tend to pull away on to a defender of Fabio’s height, all he can do is challenge though to be fair even the likes of Friend have been out jumped at the far post.
As for English, I was on a phone call to an overseas help desk and when the lady heard my name she asked me if I could speak Urdu. Sadly I had to reply no, it would have helped but her English was far superior to any foreign language I can muster.
Ian
I too have a common surname being a Davison which always gets changed to Davidson on every communication invoice bank detail or.cheque!
I remember when I went to Spain to work constructing an offshore living quarters for the North Sea
We were all given Spanish lessons for three months as the locals hardly spoke English
Even after all these years I can converse on Spanish. That’s if I need to eat drink or talk about welding steelwork!
My accent is terrible I’m told but I never go hungry or thirsty!
I think is Brits learn wht we have to or make ourselves understood,
I remember OZ from Auf Wiedersehen Pet miming a squawking chicken in a German Indian restaurant and getting the wrong dish !
Auf Wiedersehen was one of my all time favourites, too. It was shown on TV here, too – we do not do dubbing here but for Oz I needed to read the texts!
Up the Boro!
I’m watching the repeats on Yesterday channel.
Fabio can jump remarkably high for a vertically challenged bloke and seems to hang in the air as well. I often noticed last season how he used to win headers that he shouldn’t by the laws of gravity have got anywhere near!
RR
And boy, did it annoy the opposition, totally unfair to constantly beat a very tall player in the air.
Yes I noticed how he could outjump taller much taller players than he
I have just allowed myself the time to be distracted from the paper I am writing for my work and did some trawling on the internet, and have found a little more about the origins of Middlesbrough for you Ken.
Apparently in the 12th century a Benedictine priory was built somewhere between the site of the present day old Town Hall and the Transporter Bridge. The priory was established by Robert the Bruce and gifted to Whitby Abbey. It was the half way point for travellers between Whitby Abbey and Durham Cathedral.
The Scottish word ‘burgh’ describes an autonomous settlement. Burghs are still common in Scotland. However, a significant number of burghs were actually established by the Church as ecclesiastical burghs. So, the obvious name for the location was Middilburgh.
Middlesbrough Priory, as the modern writing refers to it, was destroyed during the Dissolution of the Monasteries in the 16th century. (You can read a little more about Middlesbrough Priory at http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/yorks/vol3/pp105-106 .)
No further forward on the evolution from Middilburgh to Middlesbrough without an ‘o’ though.
Thanks for the information.
Is it a coincidence that we’re writing about priory monks so soon after the appointment of our new manager?
Quite a mass of posts
A normal service will be held tomorrow
But it was the railway men who made the mistake when painting the signs for Egglescliffe at the Eaglescliffe Juntion, right?
Up the Boro!
Could be. I’m never sure which of the two town I’m in at any one time.
Where’s Yarum?
I see all Monks back room staff have left Leeds !
Come on BORO.
They must be on their way to Middlesbrough Priory 😉
Apparently three hooded individuals were spotted imbibing in the Tontine near Mount Grace priory on their way North up the A19. They had just Pepped in for a Flahavan of ale, Beattie wasn’t confirmed!
Post 197, you have been warned!
Post 198 warned about what! 😎
Post 199
200
Are you sure Gill isn’t old English for Poacher ?
Hence Gillie one who catches them ???
As sure as night follows day.
202 I seem to have lost the plot! 😎
Redcar Red
With the lack of news from Boro HQ it’s good to keep up with the humour. It’s a pity Galton and Simpson, or Croft and Perry are long gone; we might have given them some material for a new comedy series.
I suppose on a day like today “It ain’thalf hot mum” would be about par for the course
Or dad’s army !
With due deference to Ladyboro and any other members of the fair ladies
Before the advent of television I used to like The Al Read Show on the wireless (there’s a word you rarely hear nowadays). Al Read was a Lancastrian whose catch phrase was “right monkey”.
He did a skit on the police, and I still remember one scene where he was giving evidence to the magistrate in court against a person on a charge of drunkenness and causing a public nuisance.
It went something like this.
Policeman:- I was patrolling my beat in my normal course of duty when I espied the accused acting in a drunken manner.
Magistrate:- How can you be certain that the accused was drunk?
Policeman:- Well sir, he was wearing a red scarf and waving a football racket, shouting and swearing at the top of his voice “Middlesboro’ for the Cup”.
Magistrate:- Write down the actual swear words on piece of paper and pass it to me.
After fining the accused the magistrate asked the policeman what chances he thought Middlesboro’ had of winning the Cup, whereupon the chances were written on another piece of paper passed to the magistrate.
A long deceased pal of mine had audio cassettes of The Al Read Shows – wish I had them!
Rays a laugh (Ted Ray)
Beyond our ken
Round the Horne
The clitheroe kid
The Navy lark
Loved them all
Have a search on the net I bet they are you tube
Just checked they are all
On the you tube app
Ken
There is a cassette of Al Read on Ebay for sale ( second hand) the seller is in the UK.
Cheers
Had the good fortune to get about 80 recordings of classic British comedies which I downloades to cd’s, many hours of great memories.
Cheers 🍺
Sunday afternoons and wireless… my mum called ours the “stereogram” on account it had 2 speakers. that is a word I haven’t heard for decades..
Well we’ve already got ourselves a network
Bob, one of the radio shows that I found rather odd was “Educating Archie”. Archie Andrews was Peter Brough’s ventriloquist dummy; how a ventriloquist can perform on the radio, the mind boggles.
Yet Tony Hancock started his career on that show. Mind when Peter Brough appeared on TV his performances were not much better than Eric Morecambe’s comedic ventriloquial attempt.
Regarding Gibson,
It saddens me to hear all the talk of ben staying, normally our supporters are very alive to the realities of the modern game, and know that when a player has worked his way up to the top of the game, then he moves to a top team and plays in the big matches, and hopefully wins the big prizes, and gets the big rewards.
i think that ben is already fixed up with a top team, and will move effortlessly into that world, he certainly ticks all the boxes and looks the part.
He should not be thought of by the mid table strugglers, that is not for him, he’s better than that.
Ken
Your post took me back to Sunday afternoons listening to The Navy Lark, Around the Horne and The Clitheroe Kid.
Happy Days.
Steely
Ah, the Clitheroe Kid with Tony Melody and Danny Ross. When asked his name Danny Ross said Alf Hall, Tony Melody’s reply something on the lines of “never mind, if you do I’ll pick you up”.
Am I right in thinking that Petula Clarke played Danny Ross’s girl friend and Jimmy Clitheroe’s sister?
I actually saw Jimmy Clitheroe driving a car in Stockton. He was peering through the steering wheel.
I saw jimmy clitheroe in pantomime at the globe in stockton he was great
Ken,
The Al Read shows are readily available via Amazon. They are somewhat dated now of course, but still worth a listen.
Len
They are all loaded onto you tube so you done even have to buy them !
Well spotted.Thanks Bob and Len.
And of course the American shows Biko I love Lucy Mr Ed
Even some of the newer jokes are worth repeating.
Boksic was off sick so Bryan Robson went in to the butchers to get something to pep him up. Robbo’s turn came, ‘Pound and a half of Black pudding for Boksic’.
‘Take it’ the butcher replied, ‘you wont get a better offer’.
Then there is another I have used before, after promotion from the third division in 1987 the players went out for a party. The next morning, one of them woke up on the floor of a pub.
‘Where am I? he asked the cleaner
‘The Northern’ she replied
‘Bugger’ he answered, ‘Didn’t stay up long’.
Or something like that
On a football note the players are getting ready to come back
Ben Stuani Fry and Chapman. Will be later because of international duty
OFB at 10:20 pm
I’m sure you mean Bilko the sharp witted US Army Sergeant, and not Biko the father of Black Consciousness, tortured to his death by the South African police and further immortalised in the Perter Gabriel’s classic tribute …..
BILLO
BALLO
BALKO
BULLO
BULKO
BILKO YES YES YES
Now that it appears that Orta’s Leeds have parted company with Flahavan, Beattie and Clotet I’m guessing all that remains now is the official unveiling of them in their Ramsden Currency trackies.
I suspect that discussions will have been taking place with Aggers, Leo, Jordan and Woody simultaneously and all or at least most will leave. Agnew obviously gave his best and I suspect that his going could be a coaching loss to the club, on Jordan it was too short a time frame to make any decision so I guess we are unlikely to miss him and the same goes for Woody who for the life of me can’t figure what on earth the logic was in bringing him back. I think Woody now needs to get himself a foot on the bottom rung of the Coaching ladder and build himself a career. Leo will be missed by me at least, a passionate nut case who was entertaining but always worried me in that during his tenure Dimi aside we had some really duff or suspect keepers but that wasn’t exclusive to his time by any means.
Whatever happens to them I wish them well and hope their careers move in a positive direction. The announcements on back room staff probably had to wait until formalities with Leeds were complete for the Elland three. Now that they are no doubt there will be a news conference shortly.
With Traore almost becoming a Hammer a rumour has surfaced that Chelsea have come back to take a sniff at our departing sprinter. It looks like the Club have already decided that Traore’s future lies elsewhere (thinks back to Monk’s opening comment about working with “intelligent” footballers) so any competition for his signature can only bode well for the Boro’s bank balance. A thought did occur however that whilst Traore’s transfer dealings are widely acknowledged what is going on with Rhodes?
RR
I could be wrong but it is my understanding that players contracts run until 30/06 so JR is still our player until he formally completes his move on the 01/07.
But I could be wrong.
Thats what I figured KP but Traore and Rhodes are both contracted to Boro for longer than this June so why not report that Rhodes will finally become an owl in the next few weeks?
HITC and Football League World are getting more desperate by the day so surely a Rhodes story is just as valid or is it because Wednesday are not a Premier club so who cares?
Speaking of garbage “News” sites here are a few moronic headlines they could use for click bait:
78 year old believes in Monk
3 geriatrics Monk should sign
4 reasons why Middlesbrough should sign this 57 year old Goalkeeper
Why (insert any Premiership club) should sign this Boro stalwart
Why (insert any Premiership club) should avoid this Boro stalwart
Why Leeds should scupper £15m Boro target
3 Leeds players Monk should bring to the Riverside
25 Boro Players Christiansen should make top priority
Why Gibson isn’t worth £20 million
Why Gibson is worth £40 million
RR
Says it all really !
Good job we have a premium site !
OFB
RR
The Rbodes deal is dead
He is not our player
The loan period was only an interim until the permanent deal kicked in
It saved time during the brief transfer window
Identical to when we signed Tomlin
A clean sweep of the coaching staff would suit me if Aggers had been more efficient and more vocal during AK reign then he would have had a chance to progress with Boro
I take the point, OFB, but you may remember we signed Sean St Ledger on loan, having agreed a price to buy him permanently at the end of the season. He was so evidently NOT up to the mark that we bit the bullet, paid the loan fee but decided NOT to pay the balance that would have meant he was ours at the end of the loan period. We took a hit but avoided paying the full purchase price.
So, it COULD be done (ie NOT going ahead with the sale but recaling the player at the end of the month) if the club and player wanted it. Of course, if they don’t, there is no point in speculating……
Fixtures are out tomorrow morning. I will be driving all morning and tied up in meetings on the afternoon and evening but I will take a wild guess now on us getting Sheffield United at home for the opener and it being the Friday night game on the 4th to kick off the season. I will also take a further guess that we will be at home to Fulham on the final day of the season.
You been looking at the runes again?
Rattled the runes and first game up is away to Leeds last game away at SAFC.
FA Cup 3rd round away to MUFC score 2-1 to the Boro.
Just guessin like and I’m not tied up, never have been and never will be unless you count 21 years of marriage in late August.
🙂
I thought JR was a done deal only needing to be ratified on 1st July.
A bidding war for Adama, wouldn’t go amiss. I think he would be better off at West Ham unless Chelsea buy him and loan him back.
Ian
Do you think he could find his way back?
Linked to Tom Ince.
Hope not, vastly overrated and with his father meddling in the background a real pain. Apparently the Rams are asking over £10m from the Terriers for his services after turning down £7.5m already (allegedly).
OFB and all the other bloggers needing a comedy fix from days gone by, go to this link on the BBC http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/categories/comedy you can’t download them but you can get your “titters” out, as Frankie Howerd used to quip, till your heart’s content. I spend my ironing hours listening to all of my childhood radio favourites.
Before anyone says anything, yes, I iron, when you’re on the road it’s either looking like most teenagers these days or having personal pride, I pride myself on being an ironing Nazi.
Sorry I’ve been away so long, but I have been reading avidly.
Redcar Red
Some doubts about Ince, lots of clubs and not fulfilled his potential. Intrigued when he wouldn’t play for England U21’s because he was focussing on getting a premiership place.
I think there are too many “issues” the worst being deluded that he is a Championship superstar. Would he improve us? I don’t think so.
If as is likely Rhodes goes we may be getting back what we paid for him, likewise Traore it would seem albeit Albert I think was valued at a similar price and as both club managers wanted rid for different reasons the “swap” was of a notional value. So regarding those two then from our Championship promotion side we have lost Albert and Rhodes and not lost any money on them and as Albert cost us just over a million in theory we could be a few quid up on the deal.
Question now is who would we be looking to bring in for squad replacements? McGeady has been mentioned along with the young lad from Blackburn Connor Mahoney. Then there is the consideration that Fischer was seemingly overlooked in favour of Traore so maybe the “replacement” is already here. Then of course there is Harry Chapman who may come of age.
I’m not so sure I’d splash the talked about amounts for Assombalonga, his injury record makes me nervous. I think I’d be more inclined to go for out of contract Anichebe to use as a battering ram with Stuani being a somewhat silkier option. Not sure what to do about Gestede other than keep scratching my head, he wins headers but not particularly accurately and with the ball at his feet he makes Marvin Emnes look world class. Chris Woods? Nah from me, a journeyman one season wonder who may repeat his feat but I have my doubts and besides silly figures like £20m are being bandied around to the likes of Everton etc.
We definitely a bit of creativity in the middle and with de Roon likely to depart the cash from his sale should be enough to bring in a Championship star or two. With Clayts, Forshaw and Grant we don’t need any more defensive midfielders. It will be interesting to see the type and calibre of player brought in contrasting with what went before. Just wish clubs would get back to business and hurry up and get on with it now.
Patients Redcar Red, it’s only a week on Saturday to 1st July and remember the saying “buy in haste, regret for the rest of the season” lol.
Come on BORO.
Gestede and Boro have never felt the right fit.
As with Villa, when it came to Boro he looked to have bailed out to the first Premier League club desperate for any kind of teeth up front. And both transfers were vastly overpriced.
That said, him and Bamford may click if they play together. Who knows?
Although it seems a done deal with Sheff Wed , I wouln’t mind Rhodes back at Boro.
I see Clotet said he will not be rejoining Monk from Leeds to Boro
It had been said previously that they had fallen out in later months and Clotet has said he is moving on to pastures new
Is that a sign that Aggers or Woodgate will stay ?
Hope not
I haven’t a problem if Aggers stays. I think he’s probably a good Coach just a poor Manager. In balance however we need to remember the circumstances under which he took control were far from ideal plus he doesn’t seem an egotistical attention seeker and comes across as a genuine bloke.
Having injuries, a stroppy Keeper, a petulant Uruguayan, Adama Gump, Orta’s signings and a divided dressing room whilst deep in the brown stuff with a run-in of fixtures that were as tough as tough could be made the term “baptism of fire” more like a walk in the park. Its still not clear if Agnew has been requested or even wants to stay for that matter so we will have to wait and see but its clear that SG see’s him as a loyal servant.
Aggers yes
Woodgate needs to join a club at a lower level and work up
I think the chalice handed to Aggers was so poisoned that it would have taken an entire pharmacy to have drunk from it and then survived.
The point is that he is a coach and I doubt anyone would suggest he is anything other than a good one. He has been loyal to the club and is well liked at all levels within the club. But the tin he was carrying didn’t say “manager” on it. He wasn’t employed as a manager. Its just that he put his hand to the steering wheel when the previous manager left the vehicle. We would have crashed anyway.
Woodgate, on the other hand, WAS a very good footballer when he was fit. Sadly his career was one littered with lengthy periods of injury and unfitness. Maybe if he were suddenly to show some ability as a coach, passed the various levels required, he would be best starting at the right end of the ladder rather than expecting to get on near the top rung.
255 posts so far, I suggest you get your fingers out so we can approach the three hundred.
Show some dedication, at least the fixtures are out tomorrow, the one caveat is no false news please.
Boro
To unveil new coaches at Boro tomorrow !!!
They’ve gone for Renault instead of Volvo !!!!
EG released the news about Clotet not joining Boro after we reported it on this blog !?
Good job the journos are logging on to a premium site !!
What say you fellow bloggers ??
I see Richie Smallwood has joined Mowbray at Blackburn, I wish him well for the future.
Come on BORO.
….and I don’t want to throw cold water on everyone’s enthusiasm, but I could very happily live a little longer without football. The season will start soon enough, too soon, and will go on FOREVER with Saturday, Wednesday, Saturday etc etc.
Some of us would like to have a holiday in August, and not find that, wherever in that first month they take time away, they will miss maybe 3 (or even 4) games.
Football should end after the FA Cup Final in the first week of May, and start again in September. In the intervening period, we’d have time for cricket, athletics, tennis, golf and other pastimes, including time away. Then we’d all be raring to get started with football again.
Or is that an old fashioned view?
Must say Dormo I do agree with you, with the Open Golf, cricket Test Matches and Twenty/20 still to come and just over the half-way mark in the RL season plus the Lions tour just in overture mode.
Dormo
I’m with you on that.
On a different subject, I was staying at the Grand Central Hotel in Glasgow the night that England played Scotland and was quite relieved to know that I look old enough to be no threat to man nor beast. For those that are not familiar with the area, the Grand Central used to be the British Railways Hotel at Glasgow Central Railway Station.
My wife and I were taking an after dinner walk in the area and 90% of the male population were dressed in trews or kilts and we heard chanting, marching throngs of what could well have been a massed gathering of the clans leaving a train and proceeding down the platform to the nearest pub. We saw one brave older looking bloke wearing an England scarf sitting on his lonesome with his lady and hoped he too looked too old to be a threat.
It was a truly noisy night; almost impossible to find space in a pub anywhere.
Bob and Len
Thanks again for setting me in the YouTube direction for Al Read.I listened to a few of his shows yesterday.
I do hope however that his catchphrase of “right Monkey” won’t become a catchphrase labelled to our new manager. I squirm when nicknames of players, etc add ‘y’ or ‘sy’ to their surname.
The Metro reports Chelsea are interested in Traore, what I didn’t know is that Barca supposedly have a three year buy back clause.
The other thing about the reports is that we ‘need’ to sell players. I think the term is want not need.
On the news stories, what is interesting is that now we have separated from the Gazette we have become less reliant on the paper for news. Possible reasons?
One has been enforced by Boro Premium, more interestingly the Gazette is not always first with stories, that may be constrained by the relationship with the club. Notwithstanding that, at times they are repeating other’s stories.
Sometimes stories leak and with the number of parties involved not all will tell the Gazette first.
Then we have a few secret squirrels on here, OFB is often to the fore with snippets.
How can it be called Evening Gazette when it comes out at lunchtime? I used to deliver the Gazette as a schoolboy an had to wait till 4pm at the Gazette office in Station Road, Redcar to collect them.
In the summer months they used to have the lunch time cricket scores and often a later score in th stop press.
In the football season the latest scores used also to be in the stop press.
I know with the internet,etc there isn’t the need nowadays, but what it does publish is yesterday’s news.
I suggest it should be renamed Morning Gazette.
Ken
They have dropped the Evening from the banner it’s now just called
THE GAZETTE
with premium upgrade for football news (at a price!)
First match Wolves away. Not a happy hunting ground for me.
Full Fixture List
http://mobile.mfc.co.uk/
I didn’t realise that Bob. It must be nearly 30 years since I bought the Gazette.
And NOT on sky, so Saturday 3 pm kick off.
Come on BORO.
The Gazette reports Clotet’s twitter thus “It’s been over three years working alongside my friend Garry Monk but it’s NOT time for me to move on and look for a new stage in my career.
By using the word “NOT” instead of the word “NOW” the report gives the complete opposite to the original twitter. Does anyone at Gazette HQ proof-read sentences before printing them?
I mist cunfeas in theses daze of prwdoctabl wird writimmmg thit itz ezy tooo milk mishstakes
I noticed rhe same mistake, Ken.
Perhaås the just use proofreadin by a computer. It does not understand sentences. Just separate word. Even I could do better!
Up the Boro!
And I forgot to proofread my reply. Too big fingers for mobile phone key pad…
Up the Boro!
15 points in August, then, like!
“Top of the league, Ma!”
Smiles all around.*
*Just managin expectations, like!
Just wondering – any of these teams NOT in our league? Like, I mean, they’re SO much better than us and we really shouldn’t be stood on the same pitch like coz we’re ONLY the Boro, like.
Or is that soooo last season?
Spartakboro glad to see you are not going over the top with your expectations.
Just saying like.
Come on BORO.
Sparta
Last season we had the dream start, a continuous line of dross, in fact every one of them had counseling whilst in the relegation zone at some point in the season.
That turned out well, didn’t it.
Ken
That’s Premium Boro for you, Boro fans miswriting for Boro fans.
A little bit of managing expectations won’t hurt. Too often “England Expect” when their foundations and playing style give them little or no reason to.
Why not, as Jared Browne once pointed out, enter a season with the “we are a good team, let’s see how we can do” attitude? This may unburden us of excessive entitlement and encourage a more free-flowing style.
I’m also with Andrew Glover (circa 2010) in that the penny’s got to drop, and fast. Even half way through the second season following the 2009 relegation, he had the sense that many fans and a fair proportion of the players believed the Championship was beneath them. That a respectable showing at Swansea wasn’t good enough because they were “hardly Man. United”. Maybe so, but when we played them that season they were in the midst of an ultimately successful promotion campaign while we were hovering among the relegation spots to League One – so, relative to us, they were!
And who started for Swansea that night? Ashley Williams, Joe Allen and a certain Garry Monk…
I don’t think they, or Bournemouth, or Burnley, got where they were today by thinking of past glories, or thinking they could just turn up and walk over the opposition at home**. The painful memories of the booing following a home draw with Sheffield United on the opening day of 2009-10 are still fresh.
A lot more hard work and a little less entitlement will go a long way – and that’s why I think Monk really is our man.
**Although, to be fair, none of those teams had, as NikeBoro once pointed out, been to the Promised Land as recently as we had, and didn’t have to go through as tough a period of acceptance.
I was in contact with a good friend of mine who works in the local media and his comment was
“Everybody seems to think Gary Monk is the right appointment. His attitude and thoughts are very impressive and everyone at Boro are extremely pleased to have tied him down to a three year contact ”
OFB
Agree Simon. Delusions of grandeur sometimes.
Self belief NOT over confidence IS whats called for.
Moanin Mary’s with their sack cloth and ashes dont win wars or battles on or off tbe pitch.
For sure expect hard games, expect teams to up their game but never believe you cant win every game.
UTB
Spartak,
I thought exactly the same about being top at the end of August and unbeaten after looking at the fixtures. The only problem there is, ‘IF’ we do manage that feat, September becomes a different kettle of fish. Let’s say we start to drop points against the better clubs and even lose a few, does our confidence go the same way?
Come boltin outta the traps & leave the rest chokin on yer dust. Then, when the time comes to grind a result out simply do it.
Enough said!
I.m not so sure that the first five games will be so easy.
Wolves is not somewhere that Boro have typically flourished, Sheffield United are no pushover and will be well up for it, Burton Albion will want to show they can hack it in the Championship, Forest will be looking to bounce back from a poor season last year and Preston can turn in some very useful performances.
That said, most of the games in the Championship are tough but if we don’t get at least 10 points from the first five games it will be a disappointing start.
I think, from the point of view of a player or fan, it is good to believe that you can win every match. From the point of view of a manager, it is somewhat different.
The trick to maintaining a consistent level of self-belief, I think, is to move on quickly from a loss – if you can. Because if you’re in sport, you will lose at some point. You can’t win every game.
Self belief is the most important thing in sport.
Look at Leicester when they won the Premiership the more they went on winning the more they kept on winning
We must also use the squad system as it’s a long hard slog in the championship and we need to rotate to maintain fitness levels and free from injuries
On the other hand…
I’ll leave you with my quote of the day. It’s from a Guardian piece back in 2000. The argument is that while it may indeed have been disgusting for United to crowd Andy D’Urso like they did in that infamous game, what else do you expect from a team that is so unified in their will to win?
“We’ve all seen the pictures: it’s an open and shut case isn’t it? Here’s big bad Roy Keane, with his bulging veins and invincible bank account, bullying poor little Andy D’Urso over the first league penalty to be awarded against Manchester United at Old Trafford in six years.
“…(But there) is not a manager in the league who does not want his players to perform with passion, and though Keane and Co might have overstepped the mark to give all the club’s regular detractors a chance to air their prejudices and complain that Manchester United get away with murder, the fact remains that (Sir Alex Ferguson)’s boys are the leading team in England, quite possibly in Europe, at playing each match as if their lives depended on it.
“…’Football is played by creatures of flesh and blood and feeling,’ (Ferguson wrote) in his autobiography. ‘Tactics are important but men win football matches. The best teams stand out because they are teams. There is a constant flow of mutual support among the players, and a manager should engender that sense of unity.’
“Well, Ferguson has certainly been doing that. It might not be pretty, may indeed be reprehensible, but United’s sense of unity is frightening. Those rushing to condemn Keane’s gang-slanging should first ask themselves whether they would like him in their side and then consider what they expect for £52,000 a week. A headshake and a few Irish curses?
“If United wanted a player who would react to a dubious decision by standing open-mouthed with his hands on his hips they could have got one much more cheaply, since the league is full of them. What you get for the money with Keane is the single best embodiment of the champion’s mentality that runs through Old Trafford. It has a lot to do with the manager and the huge crowds, but is mostly due to the organic process by which members of a consistently winning team come to believe in each other, refusing to accept weakness in themselves and becoming intolerant of failings in others. This is what top-level professional sport leads to.”
So is what we saw an irreversible consequence of the desire for success in the modern game?
Nail head on hit!
Like sayin just!!!
😉
Spartakboro “never believe you can’t win every game” so it’s 138 points, come the end of the season, now where did you finish in the last Exmil challenge ?
Just saying like.
Come on BORO.
Ouch !
See our former Blogmeister is talking about the gentle start and run in. An open invitation for “Typical” Boro.
Let’s hope Typical Boro do not turn up this season and that we do, as SG said, smash this league. We can but dream.
Looks like our other local team are heading for defeat at Lords.
Looks more like being an annihilation than a defeat – 130 for 8 following on and still 85 runs behind. The batting this season has been unusually weak.
Some dates for people planning trips to the Riverside or away matches, before making travel/accommodation plans firm:
Clubs notified of selections for remainder of August by 28 June, 2017
Clubs notified of selections for September by 14 July
Clubs notified of selections for 7 October to 11 November by 25 August
Clubs notified of selections for 18 November to 9 December by 29 September
Clubs notified of selections for 16 December to 13 January by 3 November
Clubs notified of selections for 20 January to 3 February by 8 December
Clubs notified of selections for 10 February to 3 March by 29 December
Clubs notified of selections for 10 March to 31 March by 19 January
Dates when sky are confirming televised fixtures therefore the date and kick off time may be changed.
Come on BORO.
Interesting two opening fixtures for Boro. Our best away record in the top tier is against Wolves – played 27, won 11,drew 5, lost 11. They are the only team against former “established” clubs where we have not lost more times than we have won, although in the second tier our record is not as good – played 16, won 5, drew 2, lost 9, goals scored 18, conceded 28.
Of couse our highest score was at home to Sheffield United 10-3 on 18th November 1933 when George Camsell scored 4 and Bobby Bruce scored 3. We led 6-2 at half-time and was the third of a sequence of three home wins which produced 20 home goals (Liverpool 4-1 and Stoke City 6-1).
Surprisingly though the attendance for the 10-3 win was a mere 6,461, and before anyone comments, no I was not one of the spectators!
Of course this won’t be regarded as a portent of what might happen this August, but we can dream can’t we!
Exmil
If I’d have been Boro manager last season we would be looking at Prem fixtures now not Championship and I would be in the top three of the challenge not the bottom three.
Just tellin it like it is & shoulda bin like!
🙂
Spartak
That s what I mean confidence it counts for so much in sport and in life!
OFB
Shoulda bin like? is that a leader in ISIS or the Taliban?
I think you should look for three points in every match. A ‘point that may prove useful at the end of the season’ is not as useful as three points.
Ken
My visits to Wolves have ended in defeats.
We have to go in to every match as if it were a cup tie
Ah but I was there when it mattered
Promotion to the Premiership !!!
I did see us win at Forest, a ground where my visits are usually terminal to our hopes.
Elsewhere Will Hughes of Derby is attracting interest from Watford. Skilful but never impressed against us.
Losing Ince and Hughes would stiffen Derby up but would be a loss of creativity.
I also saw us win at Forest 4-0 in 1956 and Clough scored a hat-trick.
Ian
You may remember a boxer called Muhammed Ali. His most oft self quote was ‘I am the Greatest!’
As I recall he didn’t say ‘These guys are way above my league!’
Then there’s Ronaldo. He doesn’t appear to apologise when he’s scoring a goal in, what was it, his third Champions League final or more reaching the record for scoring in said compedition.
For the record, I was appauled when I heard Bryan Robson say to his Boro team ‘Just go out and enjoy yourselves lads!’ – God’s teeth I could’ve wept.
Wow was I lucky
Not as bad as Big Jack’s HT team talk in Liechtenstein in 1995.
“There’s nothing I can do for you. You’re going to have to work this one out for yourselves.”
A matter of days later the squad went to Harry Ramsden’s for a pre-training meal.
And prayed to the cod almighty for guidance or they’d had their chips
Skulks away with a sheepish look on his face……
Did a Harry Ramsden ever play for Boro in the 60’s?
He cod of done but he haddocked got a clue and was battered. Wrong plaice, wrong time.
Interesting article in the Northern Echo today:
MIDDLESBROUGH have confirmed who will make up the core of Garry Monk’s backroom team at the Riverside Stadium.
Former Blackburn and Southampton striker James Beattie, a former Boro target during his playing days, has followed him from Elland Road and has been named a first team coach along with ex-Swansea coach David Adams.
Goalkeeper coach Daryl Flahavan, who was with Monk at Leeds, has been brought in along with two further additions with Sean Rush joining the club as head of physical performance and Ryan Needs coming in as head of performance analysis.
Come on BORO.
Also confirmed by MFC and the Gazette but no mention of a number two or what is happening to last seasons back room staff and Agnew.
Come on BORO.
Maybe SG is going to ask one of us off here to be the number two seeing as we bleedin well seem to know everything! 🙂
At least this coaching lot will converse with the lads in English !
Well the fixtures finally confirmed our status for next season. At least we dont have to face a run-in against sides in “a different league”.
On the transfer front we are now linked with Cunningham from Preston and Christie from Derby (Cyrus) add them two to the alleged McGeady interest and we might be becoming Boro on the Liffey!
Being Irish myself I’m all for that.
As a bonus… Niall Quinn on what happened after Harry’s Challenge.
“…it’s dusk at Lansdowne Road and we’re all waddling about the pitch, groaning, full of fish and chips and trying to do a training session the night before this must-win game.
“We’re burping and farting and creased over with laughter. Our main thought was it’s been a happy era and it’s ending soon…
“Sometimes you don’t need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows. It was all over for Jack.”
Simon,
I actually did “Harry’s Challenge” in 1993 when they had a chip shop in Hong Kong, I’ve even got the certificate to prove it. I had to eat what is best described as Moby Dick’s brother, along with half an acre of chips and accompanied with two portions of mushy peas. Oh, and four slices of bread and butter as was the rules of the challenge. The prize was a free afters of bread and butter pudding with custard, which the missus ate because I don’t have a sweet tooth, and of course my certificate. In those days I was as thin as a rake, needless to say I won enough in side bets to pay for the meal, I struggle with meat three veg and a Yorkshire these days, though.
Certainly a bad result against Middlesex, international calls for Root, Bairstow, Rashid, Willey and Plunkett at different stages cant help but there should be enough quality to avoid an innings defeat.
Mainz are interested in Viktor Fischer, who does not feature in Garry Monk’s future plans. #boro [Ekstra Bladet]
Well Bernie’s bullish!
I sat atop of Eston Hills and looked below at the Boro
a town of few thrills.
I saw a crowd wandering there, a dark cloud above them
in despair.
The moaning Mary’s were at the fore their ambition in tatters
on the floor.
We not meant to succeed they cried and chanted whilst more
upbeat supporters on the periphery ranted.
The other teams are so much better than ours perhaps we ought to go for a draw.
The upbeat supporters at glance of the new season replied ‘Perhaps we should show you the door!’
And so it was they were pushed away and the sky over Teesside lost its shades of grey.
The sun now shines upon the Riverside and supporters hold their heads up with pride.
A new manager called Monk sits in the seat and supporters look forward to a footballing treat.
UTB
It has become a tradition in the last few years, to lose against Middlesex. A mate of mine was surprised that Yorkshire losing to Middlesex wasn’t included in the Queen’s Speech. But there’s losing and there is capitulation, and that one fell firmly into the latter category. Not good.
What a lot of piffle in the Gazette on which clubs have the easiest/hardest, starting/finishing fixtures purely based on last season’s form and bookmakers odds.
Who would have predicted Huddersfield or Reading would finish in the top six last season, never mind contesting the play-off final?
I am genuinely surprised at the arrogance of the reporters (especially AV who I would have thought should have known better) taking into consideration how poorly Boro performed against the likes of Blackburn, Charlton, MK Dons, Rotherham,etc in our promotion season.
Often promoted teams start off pretty well the following season, so I wouldn’t expect a home game against Sheffield United to be a home banker. Although a good start to a season is desirable, we started pretty well in 2009/10 then fell away disastrously, and conversely started badly three years ago with home defeats to Sheffield Wednesday and Reading but reached the play-offs. That season Bournemouth had an average start, but were eventually promoted as champions.
It wouldn’t surprise me if Boro started the season with two defeats but eventually made the play-offs. We know, to quote Mick McCarthy, what a “bonkers” league the Championship is, and what does concerns me is that the often misquoted remark from our chairman to “smash” the league might come back to haunt us.
It is good to have confidence, but to use the word “smash” in any context was in my opinion at best inadvisable, and at worst arrogant.
Bernie thinks we should keep Traore on the basis he has skills and they can be developed so why not by Monk who was good at developing players at Leeds.
I see his point because he is still young, Barca still have a rebuy clause. That tells you they struggled to harness his skills so sent him out to develop with the option to get him back.
Since then several managers have tried with limited success. He did well for us as he took teams by surprise but opponents soon cotton on and either find a way to stop him or even stop himself.
It is a tough one, will he get that light bulb moment? He could terrify this league, he could be another why did we let him go like Jordan, Albert, Yannick and Muzzy yet none of those ply their trade in the top flight, no big club gave us suitcases stuffed with tenners.
Fischer? Saw a few bits of from him but not enough, he could be another who could come to life.
Stick or twist? Take the money or open the box?
I think Monk wants players who can make an immediate impact and not have players he has to teach
If we are going to get promoted then we have no time for players doing catch up
Just read the report in my morning paper about England beating South Africa in the twenty20.
It mentions Jason Roy getting out yet again after an injudicious shot.
‘Pure lunacy. Put it this way, if you ever took a trip inside Roy’s brain, you would have plenty of room to walk around.’
Here is todays question, who matches that description in our squad?
Stoke
Ben Gibson
£12m
LOL
A: Woefully undervalued when you consider Pickford who hasn’t been called up the England squad was £30m.
B: He should hold out for a top 7 team or nothing IMO, as they were 15 points clear of the rest. He is certainly good enough to play at the top end of the division.
That is a P155-take. Cheeky devils.
UTB,
John
OFB
There have to be question marks over Traore, he is the type of player that a big club loans out to do his learning at someone else’s expense. In essence that is true of Barca if the buy back clause exists.
Instinct would be to cash in on him, sell him to Chelsea for lots of spondoolies, they can loan him back if they want. As you say we need to focus on getting up.
Fischer? Just haven’t seen enough.
Teapot
I agree, a left footed centre half in the England squad for £12m. I know it is all silly money nowadays but there is no need for us to buck the trend.
I’d also like to factor in the silly money teams like Fulham are asking for their players. If Tom Cairney is worth £20m then Ben is worth double that, and I would really like Tom Cairney in our midfield, but doubt we can afford that.
PS
Great news about Dimi.
Ian I agree entirely. He was badly treated last season in my opinion and deserves another chance this season.
Still think it would be worth approaching Shay Given so that we have two experienced keepers and one developing.
By that I mean Dimi, Shay & Ripley. Meijas needs to be moved on. 😎
I’m slightly concerned at some of the middling, journeymen we are being linked with currently, like Christie and Cunningham. I’ll keep my criticism powder dry until the season starts though, it might all be smoke and mirrors.
Just paper talk from pushing agents. I take it with a pinch of salt. Monk will be judged by who he actually signs.
Ken
I agree, it is all part of the phoney war before the real business starts. As usual we wont know all of the business until the end of August. Business up front is great as long as it is the right business.
We don’t need squad padding, we want improvements on what we have. If it projects we want them look at the likes of Harry Chapman and others within the academy.
Sky news reporting that SD has been informed that he will not be part of GM’s plans next season.
Interesting to see what unfolds and if he goes or stays to fight for a place. 😎
Just read that KP, so what does that mean for Woody?
Given the number of personnel accompanying GM I cannot see JJ, LP or JW being retained. SA appears to be mulling over his options.
I think you will find that SA is away but will be meeting the Chairman next Tuesday to discuss the future.
The Teesside Mafia follow the Spanish Armada out of MFC. If there was warfare at Rockcliffe it may turn out to have been be a pyrrhic victory for the locals.
I’m delighted if that is happening. Monk has to purge the decks of everyone who was involved in the mutiny otherwise he will be starting the season with one hand already tied behind his back.
Totally agree Powmill..
Very impressed that Monk has cottoned on so quickly to what needed to be done.
Many of us on here would have made tackling the SD issue our first essential move, but we have the experiences of the last two seasons as well as recent events to support the case for swift and decisive action.
You would normally have expected a new manager to come in, take the temperature of the place and understand the club’s culture -a process taking weeks or even months to effect- before making such a firm move. That he has taken stock and acted so quickly speaks volumes.
RR put the case for Stewie very well, but the fact remains that he has seriously under-performed for two years, and has been primarily been the victim, not so much of poor man-management, but of his own half-hearted displays, poor motivation, and, since the advent of the SA regime, an increasing sense of his own entitlement . I’m sorry to have to say that I think that we are well rid of him. Part of an essential draining of the swamp, and a necessary pre-condition of any future progress.
Impressive management.
I agree Len with you comments other than ” we are well rid of him”. He hasn’t gone and given he has a two years still on his contract it may be easier to say well rid of than actually achieve.
Boro are dependant on an acceptable bid coming in from a club that SD is happy to go to. It didn’t happen in January and there is not any certainty that it will happen now.
As the EG has suggested he is well settled in the area and in my view would be unlikely to achieve a contract elsewhere which matches/betters his current deal.
He may well be content to sit it out which does not help GM or Boro. It will be interesting to see what unfolds during the coming weeks.
KP
He has been given a free transfer which means his contract is paid up and he’s off
He’s no longer part of our club
NE reporting that he can leave for free .
I don’t have a problem with downing leaving. I also think he’s massively underperformed. Although I would add as a caveat that just about every offensive player did under ak.
I just hope we don’t run into a situation where we let players go and then struggle to replace them. If the rumours about Fischer are also true not to mention traore and Ramirez who would we have left?
I already think the central midfielders need reinventing, the attacking midfielders and the strikers that’s an awful lot of transfer dealings. There’s only the defence and goalkeeper I’m ok with and that’s if Big Ben doesn’t go.
Speaking of traore. Is he a winger? I would suggest not. His lack of positional awareness combined with his inability to defend means he’s a liability in that position. However, as a number ten with potentially two strikers in front of him and no responsibility for defending I think he could run amok in this league. Play more to his strengths and not to his weaknesses. No doubt West Ham would have played him in the dimitri payet role had they managed to sign him.
For me 8 million is a pittance when he could quite easily gain you six points in a season even as a sub because he can do things other players can not. The emphasis this season is on winning games not like last season where it was trying no to lose. For me if you’re attempting to win a game you don’t sell players who can create something out of nothing. They are like gold dust.
Paul
It’s a curious situation with Traore, and we do not come out of it well.
We allow a price to become known, then we find that everyone wants him, including one of the biggest(and richest) clubs in the world.
We then stand frozen In the headlights as sums like twenty million are bandied about.
When selling a player it is never wise to rubbish him publicly.
When selling a player try to get the best price for him.
Stewart Downing is not a free transfer, he will bring a fee if we want a fee. We cannot lose money on every deal we do, there can only be one end to that business plan.
Stuart Downing is a free transfer
OFB
Has he been given a free? My reading of the EG article is “the club being willing to sanction a free transfer” so to me that is not a certainty but you may be aware of more information to which I am not privy.
I agree that he should be allowed to leave. I have nothing against SD personally but take the view that he has been a poor investment which has failed to produce the return many of us would of hoped for.
I do not see him improving even under our new manager. 😎
AS far as I am aware he is being paid off and could cost us £6m ! In wages and agent fees
Best for all parties I think although the fees quoted could buy a decent championship player
If only I had been a footballer…….
More than a lifetime’s worth of wages, and that is NOT to play, but simply to go away and, presumably, to keep quiet or at least not be critical and disrespectful of the club and its management. I could do that for £3M, halving the cost to Boro over SD’s wedge. I could even be relied on, for the £3M, to say some very positive things about the club and all connected with it. I’d maybe have my fingers crossed behind my back, but I could also be relied upon to be more articulate and media friendly in those comments than anything SD could offer.
That, of course, is without taking into account the lifetime’s worth of wages and the signing on fees at Villa (wasn’t it, first?), at Liverpool and then at West Ham. Maybe he has had more lives than a cat? We can ignore the piffling amounts he would have received at Boro the first time around, and the amount received for his Return Trip, although I suspect the bank managers handling the accounts of the various contributors to this blog would be jealous of those early contracts and the recent one (no doubt with its Premier League uplift after promotion in 2015-16).
Weep not for our former Academy Graduate. No student loan for him to repay! Who’d be a wage slave?
He could always sign for the sand dancers if he didn’t want to move house again….
Agree with Len. It’s good that the SD situation has been tackled early. Just hope that he does move on, as his continued presence could prove a distraction.
As you might gather, I’m one of those who’ve been underwhelmed at the lack of impact he’s had. Paul Merson he was not. He may well move on and prove himself again but I’m happy for him to do so.
Pleased that Dimi has been given a contract.
Just waiting to see who arrives after 1July.
That will, hopefully, give us something to get excited about (one way or another).
There may be other scenarios for Stewie.
He may want to stay and prove his worth.
If he leaves on a free it is possible there will be some financial arrangement such as waive some rights and you can go where you want.
Maybe he can go on a free, keep his wages and take Woodgate and Ramirez with him.
It could be that like any mutiny neither side wins, the leader for letting it happen and the crew for mutineering.
Never one party solely to blame.
Reflected glory, U21’s 3 Poland 0. Coops on the coaching staff.
Not SD’s biggest fan, and said at the time not to sign him……another SG mistake.
Now if Bob is about right and he can go on a free, that should only mean paying up his two years wages at a reputed 30K a week, 3mil. Now there may be add ons, but if he is getting a free……having your cake and eat it. I will be very miffed if it is any more. He has earned enough from the club for very little.
Reportedly on £70kpw
I thought I remembered AV saying when he signed……..great buy and he has taken a big drop in salary, although he did get the long term contract. Of course I am sure there will be adds ons for promotion and may be relegation??
If Pedro is right about SD surely having ‘add ons’ for relegation in his contract it would go a long way to explaining some things from last season 🙄
I don’t really care about the financial ramifications of this story, the club can deal with that.
The fact is that when he arrived in the Championship we were expecting a player of his calibre to score 5-10 goals a season and to provide a similar number of assists. He didn’t manage it 2 seasons ago and he isn’t going to manage it next season.
Complete waste of money in my view, and I loved him the first time he was here.
Boro have made a £3million offer for Sheffield Wednesday goalkeeper Keiren Westwood. #boro [Sun]
Not familiar with him OFB, is he value for money or are we being viewed as cashed up sitting ducks?
He used to be the Sunderland keeper and also is the Eire national keeper. He is 32 and is highly rated as a steady pair of hands, I would suspect that as the payment for Rhodes is due this month from Sheff Wed that a deal would be struck to reduce the amount of monies to be paid.
Monk and his team will have seen him at close quarters during the last season and will know all about him
OFB
I read that story, I would prefer Ripley be given a chance, he has been out on loan and ever present at Motherwell and Oldham in the last two seasons.
Last season was exceptional keeping 18(?) clean sheets. I think playing as a keeper is different to outfield positions, even in the lower leagues a save is a save, the defenders are not as good in front of you. mistakes are obvious whatever the level you play.
Ian
we cant afford to take risks though look what happened last season when Valdez was finding his feet – we leaked goals
Middlesbrough are willing to do business for Friend at around £8m. Watford are yet to make a formal offer at that level, however, given Friend is 29 years of age but the transfer is still under consideration by senior figures at Vicarage Road.
Brighton Want Downing – note the report says he is Boros highest paid player ! So the £70k per week could be right
However, newly-promoted Brighton are looking to snap up the experienced midfielder, who would add some Premier League experience to compliment the likes of Dale Stephens and Anthony Knockaert in the midfield next season.
The highest-paid player at the club, Boro are keen to move Downing on, and the ex-England international will be available on a free transfer, but no bid has been made as of yet.
FourFourTwo magazine have hailed the club’s appointment of Garry Monk, naming our new manager among the best in the Football League.
The leading football monthly has compiled a list of their top bosses across the 72 clubs, and Monk is placed at the very top of that list, along with Fulham’s Slavisa Jokanovic and Derby County’s Gary Rowett.
“The bar was set extremely high in the race for the Championship play-offs last season,” writes Mike Holden for FFT.
“Though Leeds ultimately came up short, it was nonetheless a remarkable achievement to amass 75 points with a club that carries such a heavy weight of expectation on bottom-half resources.
“Now at Middlesbrough, Monk starts from a stronger base and can bank on greater support in the transfer market. His ability to break a team down by its component parts, make each more effective, and then put it back together should ensure that Boro waste no time dwelling on the disappointment of relegation.”
Newcastle have reportedly joined West Ham and Chelsea in the race to sign Middlesbrough winger Adama Traore.
The 21-year-old made 16 starts for Boro in the Premier League last season, registering one assist following his move from Aston Villa last August having previously come through the youth ranks at Barcelona.
It was believed that West Ham were on the verge of an £8million swoop with reports claiming that Traore’s representatives had met with officials from the London club last week, but nothing has materialised.
Champions Chelsea have since been linked again after they initially expressed an interest during the January transfer window.
But with no deal on the horizon with the Blues, reports are now claiming Magpies boss Rafael Benitez will look to keep his fellow Spaniard in the North-East with a bid.
There could be something in the George Friend story as we have been linked with Cunningham from Preston, Taylor from Leeds and Bryan from Bristol. Of course it may all be just agents using Boro to try and push prices up. At this level Friend is as good as it gets so I wouldn’t particularly want to see him leave but at £8m it may be tempting if we can back fill for half the amount and at a younger age. His value to the club however is more than just a Player being an exemplary off field ambassador and a fan’s trusted and respected favourite. Some boots to fill by anyone’s measure!
On Downing the whole saga has been a bit of an underwhelming emotional coaster without the roller. It hasn’t really worked for any party and apart from Downing’s bank account there have been no winners. I had hoped for a Zenden type season this year with a new Manager but clearly Monk has the engine bay stripped out and the entire thing up on the ramps for a complete overhaul. That does concern me just a little because as bad as we were in the Premiership for the Championship I think just a few tuning tweaks here and there was all that was required. I hope he has kept notes on where everything goes when he puts it back together.
On the Westwood story that may be an interesting and tempting “undisclosed” blurring of the edges as part of the Rhodes deal especially under FFP rules possibly suiting and helping the Owls. He is probably as good a Keeper as there is at this level, proven, experienced and not needing to acclimatise, regain fitness, confidence,sharpness and settle in (still can’t believe that we were that naive with Valdes).
Clearly clubs are now looking to buy and sell so the next few weeks should provide plenty of talking points. The worrying time for me is August when we hope to be finally settled with our squad but like Albert last year there are usually a few surprises and not always nice ones (Ben comes to mind).
RR
Unfortunately ben will not be a surprise, his time has come and he must grasp the nettle, get to a big club and reap the rewards of his play and his general demeanour during his time with us.
Football has a cycle, you rear a top class player, four years admiring him, then he takes flight and takes the games big prizes.
Be deserves everything that he achieves, top man.
OFB
Any keeper is a risk, Connor is no lightweight and has played in the rough and tumble of League One. The reason Oldham stayed up was largely down to his keeping.
Ian
this is a seasoned championship player who was superb in this division last season
OFB
47 clean sheets says it all
Westwood has excelled since arriving at Hillsborough in 2014, with only David Stockdale [48] keeping more Championship clean sheets than the Irishman’s 47 since then – having appeared on 10 more occasions, prompting Wednesday to hand him a new three-year deal in August 2016.
If we had Westwood, Ripley and Dimi (in no particular order) I would be comfortable with that. In truth those three are a safer and stronger group than the keeping scenario we had last season.
If I was Stewie I’d be off to America for two or three seasons.
I’ll be sad to see him leave, but with Monk allegedly wanting to create a fast dynamic strike force its easy to see Stewie might not fit in. Speed never was his forte.
If Gary Monk does create a new fast, dynamic, attacking Boro team it will be something of a culture shock for us all after a few seasons of AK’s pragmatism.
Could be an exciting season.
If Brighton are interested in Downing we should organise a whip round to pay for a taxi.
I join Len in being suitably impressed by the speed with which Monk has reached the decision that should have been taken last summer. Indeed, I suspect had we done so last summer then things could have turned out a lot different. Anyway, that is the past.
It looks like the business end of the summer is starting to come into focus now and the associated horse-trading and gamesmanship begins. I for one find it an exciting period, although naturally the targets are slightly less glamorous this year than last. That, however, may not be a bad thing – I’d gladly trade the column inches generated by Valdez for more clean sheets if Westwood joins. I’m also curious why people think that signing Westwood means Ripley won’t get a shot? There are many, many games over the course of a season – Ripley may end up being our cup keeper. Three goalkeepers is basically the minimum you can have if you’re serious about having a strong squad anyway. Dimi, Ripley and Westwood would be a nice set.
As for the defence, well, I’m hoping that Monk begins to clear out the likes of Barragan and Espinosa, although both may be able to do a job at this level. Perhaps they will turn out to be players we retain to aid our promotion push and then, should we be successful, jettison at the earlier opportunity next summer. Otherwise the player turnover gets well into double figures, which is always a big ask to control and deliver success from.
Exciting times all – let’s hope it continues!
I think Baptiste could be a big squad player for us with his experience and also good enough to stake a claim and hold a spot in the side keeping everyone on their toes!
I see the Gazette’s Boro “Premium” service is being touted once more for the princely sum of £3.99 a month!
* Exclusive content for Gazette Premium subscribers
* Exclusive access to their writers
* Exclusive podcasts and videos
* The “sharpest” opinion on all things Boro
* A fast ad free experience
Personally I just don’t get it but in fairness to AV and company no doubt its a case of big brother putting the screws on them. The sister Trinity group papers all have a similar feel with videos popping up and then following you desperately as you scroll down the page consuming data and clogging up the download time and then trawl through the written word.
I have never watched a single video or podcast through, no disrespect but journalism and undoubted writing skills are one thing but entertainment value on video sadly they are not (and nor should they be). A cross somewhere between grumpy old men and last of the summer wine but not in a good way.
As for no ads, well adblock sorts that one out despite the yellow band at the bottom. A balance perhaps between static ads and removing videos to give quick loading time without peripheral but doubtless irrelevant double glazing, fitted kitchen dross or some click bait 87 year old woman marries 19 year old step grandson and honeymoons on Jupiter would be a workable balance and all parties. win. They already have a Gazette live banner across the header, its not Rocket Science to add a bit of commercialism without detracting from the quality surely?
Advertising revenue is important but as in all things in life its all about balance and harmony. Meanwhile all the news, rumours, gossip and opinions (sharp and some decidedly blunt) are all on here thanks to the collective efforts of everyone. Just a shame that Trinity Mirror couldn’t see what AV had created and the potential to develop it further incorporating it harmoniously rather than jettisoning the baby with the bath water. Like I said, personally I just don’t get it!
Five new coaching staff linked up with new manager Garry Monk at Rockliffe Park this week.
They are five familiar faces to the new Boro boss, who has worked with each at various points of his playing and coaching career.
Here we take a closer look at the new arrivals who’ll be in the Boro dugout next season.
James Beattie – First Team Coach
Beattie is the most recognisable of the new names to make the move to Teesside.
The former Southampton, Everton, Sheffield United and England striker racked up nearly 150 goals in his playing career, no less than seven of those coming against Boro.
Making the move into management with Accrington Stanley, Beattie was in charge as the Lancashire club recorded a shock League Cup win against Tony Mowbray’s Boro at the Riverside in 2013.
Beattie linked up with Monk, who had been a Southampton teammate, as a first team coach at Swansea City in 2015, and held the same role alongside the new Boro new boss at Leeds United last season.
Dave Adams – First Team Coach
A former player in the Welsh Premier League, Adams began his coaching career as a 17-year-old – quickly earning his UEFA A licence followed by his Pro-Licence.
Having worked with the Welsh FA, Adams then joined Swansea’s academy as part of the club’s drive for Category One status.
It was actually after Monk’s departure from Swansea that Adams made the move into first team affairs, as assistant to Alan Curtis.
In March 2017, Adams worked briefly as Everton’s Academy Head of Coaching.
Darryl Flahavan – Goalkeeping Coach
A veteran of more than 400 appearances between the posts, Flahavan spent the bulk of his playing career at Southend United.
Among the highlights of that career was a man-of-the-match display as the Shrimpers earned an incredible 1-0 League Cup victory in 2006, against a Manchester United side containing Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney.
In June 2016 Flahavan, also a one-time teammate of Monk at Southampton, joined the now-Boro boss’ coaching staff at Leeds United – a club where the goalkeeper had held a brief loan stint in 2009.
Sean Rush – Head of Physical Performance
Rush is another to follow Monk from Leeds United to Boro this summer, having previously held the same role with the Yorkshire club.
His time at Elland Road actually predates Monk, but was part of the backroom team as Leeds recorded a highest league finish since 2011 last season.
Rush had previously worked with Hull City, as well as rugby league club Hull FC.
Ryan Needs – Head of Performance Analysis
Having coached in the USA and Brazil, Needs’ career as an analyst began with Swansea’s academy in 2014.
As well as a Master’s qualification in Performance Analysis, Needs would study for his UEFA B and UEFA A Coaching Licences.
Needs progressed to working with the first team at the Liberty Stadium under Garry Monk, before making the move north to link up once again at Leeds last summer.
Julian de Sart on the move
Bought from Standard Liège for around £2m in February 2016, the young Belgian midfielder spent the second half of last season on loan at Derby.
Returning from his rather tepid spell there at the end of last month, de Sart looks unlikely to be a Middlesbrough player next year either, as Voetbalkrant in Belgium reporting a move to Zulte Waregem is on the verge of being completed.
The website state the 22-year-old passed his medical with the Jupiler Pro League side on Thursday, with an announcement expected this morning, although that has yet to happen.
The deal is said to be a loan with an option to buy, suggesting Garry Monk hasn’t included de Sart in his plans for beyond next season if they are giving Zulte a chance to sign the player permanently.
I am not aware of any other sports forums be they football, cricket or Rugby League comparable to this one or its predecessor. However I find the reporting of sports events in the Gazette are much inferior to those in the Northern Echo (football), Yorkshire Post (cricket) or Pontefract and Castleford Express (Rugby League).
What on earth has happened to the Gazette? OK I don’t expect its reporters to reach the standard of the late Cliff Mitchell, but how many reporters does it need to give a concise report of a football match any way near what Cliff used to give or indeed Redcar Red does on this forum?
Even the articles (I exclude AV from this criticism) are pretty mundane or repetitive of the Boro website, and apart from the Tripe Supper podcast I gave up watching the video clips many moons ago. I find the adverts an irritation as I rarely watch television programmes live, but record them on my TiVo box to watch later when I am able to skip them.
So now the Gazette has this Premium service (whatever that is) at a “premium” charge. I wonder how many readers pay for this service, and if it makes a profit!
Redcar
The Gazette site has get steadily worse over recent years, as I posted a few days ago we are picking up stories elsewhere – I know some of us track Newsnow.
In some cases you get the Gazette telling us that sources reveal x,y,z and that comes form other papers and media not from the horses mouth across Middlehaven. I am not sure there is as much privileged access as in years of yore.
Back to keepers, I am happy for Westwood to come, he is a very good keeper. My view is Ripley has served his time and is due a chance.
Elsewhere in the squad we are seeing the rumour mill swing in to action. Downing and Ramirez leaving are not a problem, de Roon, Fischer, Ben, George, Traore all doing the same would make a dent in our prospects.
If Guedioura, Barragan and Bernardo also left following the departures of Valdes, Negredo, Guzan and Chambers that is getting in to a major rebuild.
Werder’s table will look like the last election night with swathes of red.
I’ve posted this before. If you want to access Premium Boro for free and if you use Internet Explorer, follow these instructions.
In the top right hand corner when on the internet, click the ‘Tools’ button. The click ‘Internet Options’. When the pop up screen opens, click the ‘Security’ tab and put the level to ‘High’ then click ‘OK’ then click the ‘Privacy’ tab and click on the ‘Advanced’ button. Then set ‘First party Cookies’ to ‘Block’ and ‘Third Party Cookies’ to ‘Block’. Press ok and ‘Apply’.
Then log onto the gazette website and you can see all of the Premium content without the pictures and podcasts, but you don’t get any adverts or pop-ups and it loads in seconds. It’s easy once you’ve done it once or twice. Still better discussion and information on here.
By the way, it works the same for the Guardian, Daily Mail etc. It’s easy to restore your settings, just reverse the process. I’m not a techy but I think what I have described above is what Werdermouth calls disabling JavaScript?
I like the idea of having Westwood, Ripley and Dimi as our GK options. Like Ian, I would like to see Ripley given a chance to prove himself in the Championship but accept the slight element of risk so I’d go with the suggestion that Ripley is used for Cup matches, although I’d be happy for him to step up in the event of injury to our first choice.
I also agree with RR’s thoughts on Baptiste and Friend. George would be a great loss for a number of reasons but, as we know, every player has his price.
After we went down in 1997, Robbo did what many a good manager should do to the squad – cut down the glamour, bring in pros and blood youngsters. Our ultimately successful promotion campaign was built on solidity with a dual shield – Mustoe & Townsend – supporting the creative elements of Merson and Higgy, who, along with attacking full backs (Fleming, Kinder, Stockdale, Harrison) and Emerson while he was there, linked a strong defence with attack.
No, it wasn’t as exciting, but it got us over the line – albeit on the final day. And it’s an achievement that warrants more respect.
Like Aitor’s 2014-16, sadly forgotten in the aftermath of a wretched season.
Sometimes managers, and players, need to be reappraised for what they *did* do.
Also, I still don’t blame AK for Rhodes – I blame the top level culture that spawned him.
A culture that, in Roy Keane’s words (again), focuses on what players like Rhodes can’t do, instead of what they can do.
And he would know. He played mainly under a manager who wasn’t fond of building his team around specialist goalscorers. Van Nistelrooy was an exception, not the rule.
Tellingly, United won one title in five years with Van Nistelrooy, and five out of seven following his sale.
Simon
I come back to the point I have made before, the players we wished were given a chance in the top flight are all playing outside the premiership.
No one swooped with squillions of tenners to entice them away to a premiership club. They came to us because we pay relatively well and no one in the top flight wanted them.
End of story, forget naughty steps, forget favouritism – that doesn’t mean it didn’t happen. They are playing at their natural level. Appearance and scoring stats don’t lie.
What you can say was that the recruitment was not an improvement on what we let go.
Camarederie, continuity and unity provided synergistic values which were devalued, dismissed and discarded for what proved to be much poorer versions of what we had individually.
Those individuals may not have been world class but give me Nsue and Adomah over the farce that was our Premiership right side. Give me the understanding, confidence and trust with Dimi over the vertically challenged star billing that was so rusty WD40 was out of stock in DIY stores across Teesside for months.
Ian
It’s interesting, and very pleasing, that we seem to have the world and his mate beating a path to our door for our players.
We even seem to be waking up to the fact that Traore seems to be worth far more than our quoted price(something wrong there)
The free transfer Downing is changing into a tradable player.
I will refrain from going through the list, but a lot of players are in a tug of war situation.
Somewhat different to our usual,” give us a few thousand and we’ll call it quits “
First of all, I am absolutely in awe of Werder’s terrific opening article, a very interesting, informative read.
On the current developments, I think it’s a good thing that most of Monk’s established backroom staff are joining him even though it will be sad if guys like Leo have to move on. There is a limited amount of time for Monk to get his messages across to the players and it’s going to help that his staff are already right up to speed with what he wants.
I think it’s also good that Monk isn’t messing Stewy about, and has come straight out and said he’s not part of the plans. It gives Stewy time to sort out his future and lets us know that the club will be looking to play with more pace and dynamism up front.
On the other hand, it appears likely that we will need even more new blood in creative midfield positions, and we already knew Ramirez and Fischer would probably go. It’s a total re-build in prospect, and our promotion chances will hinge on getting highly capable recruits, and the new faces gelling reasonably quickly.
It’s a huge challenge, and that’s why I don’t think it makes sense for us to think we are promotion favourites.
Looks like de Sart is going as well albeit at least on loan initially back to Belgium to Zulte Waregem.
Apparently the mighty whites have beaten us to the signing of Mateusz Klich. This was a major coup as apparently Real Madrid, Chelsea, Barcelona and Man United are all equally devastated after losing out on the 27 year old Pole as he slipped through the Boro’s grasp instead preferring to join the exciting revolution at Elland Road (according to a well respected Journalist). Who says Victor Orta isn’t worth his weight in sock tabs!
Interesting that a manager as astute as Chris Hughton might be making an offer for Downing. He’ll be on a free, of course, which helps. But Stewie’s best display of our promotion season was down at Brighton. Indeed it was the team’s best display all season, with Downing pulling the strings in a way that he has never done either before or since. No doubt Hughton and the Brighton fans will be hoping that Stewie can reproduce that kind of form on a regular basis. Boro fans wouldn’t be so optimistic.
Len
You’re right. Boro fans have, in general, been disappointed with him. If he goes to Brighton, or elsewhere, and shows his “West Ham” form, it will vindicate the view held by some that he was restricted by the AK system. Time will tell.
One touch
Two touches
Slots it home
RR
Let’s hope that Leeds enjoy the same benefit as we did from Orta’s expert knowledge.
I’ll second that
Interesting fact Simon about van nistelrooy. Couldn’t believe he’d only won one title at Man Utd but you were spot on. For some reason my memory of that era is of Man Utd winning everything. Shows how the mind plays tricks on you.
As for the links with Westwood. I’m not overly enamoured. It’s the one position with dimi and rippers that I felt quite confident in. Certainly at least an equal of Valdes and guzan.
To be fair the signings of keepers (perhaps mark schwarzer aside) has always tended to underwhelm me. If the outfield players are good enough a decent keeper generally does enough. If your outfield isn’t then it doesn’t matter who you have between the sticks you generally get beaten. Take guzan last year. Despite looking incredibly shaky how many points did he actually cost us? Probably none.
That’s not to say a top drawer keeper can’t make a difference they most certainly can but it’s like the cherry on the top of the cake. Only the cherry doesn’t make a difference if you haven’t iced the cake first. (With the icing being the outfield players)
I am starting to worry about the possible size of the rebuild project if all the linked players actually leave or have their heads turned. Buying half a squad and getting them to gel is extremely difficult not least when clubs know you have money to spend and inevitably play hardball over transfer fees. I know it’s not monks fault and it’s the nature of the beast but it may be difficult to get in all the players we’ll need to get promoted particularly if we’re once again looking for players with the right offensive skills….yet again!
For me we’re looking at almost…one central defender, a right back, one/two central midfielders, three attacking midfielders/wingers and possibly another one/two strikers. Then if Ben goes you can throw another central defender in the mix.
That’s potentially ten players needed. Maybe that’s why I’m not that interested in us trying to sign a keeper.
Obviously we may have a curve ball or two where a player we expect to leave actually stays in which case that number will decrease but it shows the size of the task at hand even with money to spend.
Redcar Red
I agree, the recruitment didn’t improve matters in any parts of the pitch.
Players leave for many reasons, I thought the idea was to improve the squad.
The prime aim should be to improve the first eleven, the squad will improve as a result of that. That didn’t happen last season.
It’s great to read all the inside news that always seem to arrive here quicker than anywhere else. I reckon that OFB is worth his weight in gold to this blog and, from his comments, tha sounds like a considerable amount 😊.
Am I being overly sentimental in thinking that George Friend is worth more than simply money to the club. He seems to represent a lot of what is positive about Boro in the community. Also, with Gibson possibly going and Leadbitter maybe not in the team, who is the onfield captain of this side? Given that he is also a Premier League quality player with Championship experience, he would seem to be someone that Monk would want to keep.
Is there some question about his long term fitness and ability to get through a gruelling Championship season?
Anyway, it looks as if things will start to happen next week.
UTB
Selwynoz
Friend is a totem for the fans, so is Grant.
That doesn’t mean the new management team think the same. Both spent quite some time in the treatment room, Grant didn’t feature much and no one would say George took the Premiership by storm.
Like always we can sit and suffer but can do nothing about what goes on. Our Championship winning core could melt away by August.
Morning Paul
The right ‘keeper really can make a difference. I remember Schwarzer’s debut at Stockport and how he immediately injected the back line with confidence. Ditto Given v Bolton at home. We were only unfortunate that Schwarzer broke his leg the game after the cup final. Typical Boro.
Van Nistelrooy, in a way, was unlucky. He joined United in a period of transition. After thriving off Beckham’s crosses for a good deal of 2002 and 2003, he had to adapt when Ronaldo arrived and United began to play more on the floor, linking their forwards with midfield and relying on a supply line through the centre. Something that Rooney, Saha, Tevez, Welbeck and Van Persie were more suited to – note that Chicharito, United’s most Rhodesian forward, always seemed to be squeezed off the team sheet for big games.
It’s worth contemplating how different our spine was from when AK arrived to when we got promoted. Ayala, Gibson, Friend, Leadbitter… not very. And we already had Dimi and Adomah.
I think Monk will be keen to hang on to at least a handful of settled players – we need change, but we need something to build on too. Signing almost a completely new side last summer was a major factor in the drop. And while Valdes and Negredo did shine at the top, their availability should have been a warning.
The problem wasn’t the number of players we signed it was their poor quality. I also disagree that Valdes ‘shone’. His poor showings at the start of the season resulted in many dropped points, which may or may not have saved us.
Hi Teapot.
I was actually referring to his time with Barcelona, and in Negredo’s case his time in Spain and at City. So they did shine at the very top level.
In fairness, once settled Negredo eventually scrapes double figures and Valdes did keep us in many games. But his stark errors detracted from the good he did.
Si
We also had team spirit that developed and culminated in the Dickens Inn party
Bringing in so many players destroyed that togetherness and the attitude of Valdez Ramirez and other big time players (or so they thought ) caused rifts in the team.
Hopefully Monk and his coaches will engender a new team spirit because it was that kind of togetherness that made Leicester into Premiership Champions
Oh and Big Jacks Boro team of 73/74
OFB
I mentioned lately that I thought that our chairman’s use of the phrase “hope to SMASH the league” was at best ill-advised and at worst arrogant.
Sport is littered with quotes from chairmen/managers/players showing possible overconfidence and then after failing, perhaps wishing they had kept quiet after being humiliated.
A good example happened this week in Rugby League, where after Brian McDermott (the Leeds Rhinos coach) had used similar provocative interviews before his team’s match with Castleford Tigers, looked a broken man during the Sky Sports interview with the press after his team were humiliated by Cas.
It is good to have confidence, but someone once said that to keep quiet and appear to be a fool is preferable to open one’s mouth and remove all doubt. A bit of humility is best, as using expressions like “hoping to smash the league” only gives opponents greater incentive to win.
Ken
I posted the day SG made that famous statement that it would come back to haunt him. Obviously he was speaking with a supporter’s emotion at the time. Had his interview taken place on the Sunday/Monday, I doubt he would have used those words.
If Ben and George are set to leave, I hope it’s sooner rather than later so that their replacements can be in place for pre-season build up.
Ken
Speak softly and carry a big stick is a wise adage.
Local journos are complicit in the stance, so they should, it is their job to report not to change.
Arrogance gets it’s just deserts. May at the last election – interesting story I heard that it was those around her who encouraged her to have an election, the Remain faction, Clinton, anyone remember the triumphalist Kinnock party pre general election?
There will be many in the Championship looking to knock us off our perch, the same fans who wished they had Gibbo as chairman will revel in any discomfort.
Exactly Ian.The trouble is that although Gibson’s statement was reported in the local press, it was picked up and misquoted in the national press, and to use a word like “smash” suggests to our rivals that he expects Boro to obtain 100+ points.
I thought at the time it was the type of rhetoric poitician’s sometimes use as you have suggested.
On a slightly different note and mainly for those supporters who are living overseas and perhaps had been looking forward to watching every Boro game live via a streaming facility, I share with you my latest correspondence with the club regarding the facility or lack of.
” Good Morning Rachael
I refer to our previous correspondence.
Do you have any further information re the iFollow service?
I am particularly interested in the ability to watch games live as I live in Spain. I understand from the EFL website that Middlesbrough are one of a number of clubs not included in the EFL streaming facility but that clubs not included will have access to the facility so as to be able to provided it via their own communication platform.
Can you confirm that this facility will be available in addition to the live radio commentary/videos previously provided through Boro+?
Look forward to hearing from you.
Kevin Peters”
” Hi Peter
Thanks for your email regarding the iFollow service being implemented by the EFL.
At this stage, the club has neither opted-in or opted-out of the service and the suggestion that we have opted out seems a little premature. Once we have seen a full proposal of the service the EFL plans to offer fans – and the capability and reliability of the service – we will discuss fully and make a decision from there.
One thing that may be of interest to you for the new season is that we are in the first phase of launching a digital platform that will see an increase in our free-to-air video content and a vastly improved new-look for our website.
A second phase will be launched at the start of the season which will include an all-new matchday offering which will transform the way we currently cover our matches via http://www.mfc.co.uk.
Thanks again for getting in touch,
Kind regards.
Rachael
Rachael Millward | Supporter Services Officer”
It does not bode well when they can’t even get your name correct!
Rachael has stated that “the suggestion we have opted out seems a little premature” when I did not make any reference to opting out but quoted from the EFL website which states that a number of clubs were not included because they were either not part of the EFL last season or were planning their own facilities but that they would have access to the streaming facility and be able to make it available via the club website.
I am not encouraged by Rachael’s response promoting the club’s new digital platform and at this stage I think it unlikely that I will have access to live matches as opposed to overseas based supporters of many other clubs in the EPL.
I acknowledge that there is still time for the facility to be made available and I await with interest the “new matchday offering” but I am not holding my breath and I do wonder if this is another example of poor business management by the club. The jury in the Peters’ household is still deliberating!
The women cricketers look to be on the way to a defeat in the women’s cricket world cup, over confidence again?
Everything seems to have gone quiet on this forum, so I thought perhaps fellow bloggers might like to give their views of the best eleven players they have seen in a Boro shirt. Mine in a 4-3-1-2 formation would be:-
Mark Schwartzer
Cyril Knowles, Southgate, Hardwick, Mick McNeill
Emerson, Souness, Juninho
Mannion
Clough, Ravenelli
Substitutes:- Jim Platt, John Craggs, Gary Pallister, Paul Ince, Paul Merson, David Hodgson, Mickey Fenton
I have excluded players who were past their best such as Bobby Murdoch, Bryan Robson and Paul Gascoigne, and found it difficult to exclude Juninho as the number 10 so have included him in midfield which possibly unbalances the team.
I realise that most bloggers will not have seen Hardwick, Mannion or Fenton play, but I did many times and had to include the two most famous English internationals in my eleven, and if we include substitutes Fenton would be a must.
It was also difficult to omit the likes of Gordon Jones, Dickie Robinson, Ugo Ehiogu, David Armstrong and Nick Barmby.I would be interested to hear other fans views and guess they would have as much difficulty in their choices as I have had.
I’ll have to have a long think about that Ken
Bit my favourite player was Souness
Like OFB Ken, I’ll have to think about that too. It’s so difficult to whittle my favorites over the years down to 11 starters and a bench, but I am going to try to do just that over the next few days.
Ken,
I think Bill Harris would deserve a run out in the midfield, when I was a kid I always thought he had some real skills. Maybe it’s nostalgia striking again!
UTB,
John
Not bad…. 6 players for about 32m.
1. Assomblonga 10m
2. Burke 8m
3. Westwood 3m
4. Mcgeady 2m
5. Taylor 2m
6. Bartley 7m
#UTB
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-4636158/Boro-bid-Nottingham-Forest-striker-Britt-Assombalonga.html
Ok here goes.
GK Schwartzer
RB Craggs
CB Southgate
CB Maddren
LB Jones
RM (wide) Hendrie
CM Mustoe
CM Souness
LM (wide) Armstrong
FW Viduka
FW Juninho
Set up 4-4-1-1 with the wide men pressing forward and Juninho linking centre midfield to attack to feed Viduka and to play off him as well.
On the bench…
Platt
Ehiogu
Boam
Emerson
Ripley
Johnston
Hickton
Barmby
I’m not old enough to have seen any of the greats from before the early seventies. I did find it very very difficult to see past the great side that Stan Anderson built and to which Jack Charlton applied the finishing touches and the spark. All the same it is very difficult to pick out who you remember as best in which position when comparing from different times and different teams.
I always liked watching John Hendrie and even though I imagine quite a few of you disagreeing, I would have him in any of my team’s. Similarly I think Robbie Mustoe was a great unsung hero and if he was alongside Souness in midfield I think we would have a formidable midfield that would take no prisoners but would be blessed with great creativity.
My heart said Big John up front, but I let my head overrule me and put Viduka in, supported by the little fella as I believe Viduka to have been one the best (if not the best) finishers we have had over my years.
Anyways, that’s the team I would pick today. I guess I might pick someone different tomorrow!
Uncanny Powmill I wrote my list and saw yours nearly the same!
we are either great football pundits or fools seldom differ.
a couple of changes though
GK Schwartzer
RB Craggs
CB Southgate
CB Maddren
LB Ziege
RM (wide) Merson
CM Ince
CM Souness
LM (wide) Armstrong
FW Viduka
FW Juninho
Again Set up 4-4-1-1 with the wide men pressing forward and Juninho linking centre midfield to attack to feed Viduka and to play off him as well.
On the bench…
Platt
Ehiogu
Pearson
Emerson
Ripley
Johnston
Hickton
Hendrie
Ravanelli
Cochrane
Some of you may know, but my younger brother had a serious stroke back in April 2016. I had tickets for him me and my brother in law to the Brighton game, but there was no chance he would make it. (His son was brave enough a to take his seat on the day.) It’s been a long road for him and he is still on the journey. I really hope that I’ll be able to get to a match with him sometime during this coming season.
Anyway. The care and support he has had from the NHS and the Stroke Association has been absolutely superb. His two children have also been hugely supportive of him. Now the two of them are running the Leeds 10k on 9th July to raise money for the Stroke Association. If any of you would like to support them in their endeavour they have a just giving page at https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/Rebecca-and-David-Glynn. They are still a little short of their target of £500, so if any of you can help that really would be appreciated. Just tell them Powmill told you!
Chipped in and good luck to them Powmill, hope your Brother continues on the road to recovery!
Many thanks RR
Speedy recovery Powmill for your brother. I feel we’re all one family on this forum.
Powmill
Done !
I too am aware of what a stroke can do as I was forced forcibly by Mrs Fat Bob to retire at 61 after suffering a series of mini mini strokes !
I didn’t want to stop working but as my doctor said he had a lot of rich patients and most of them were in the graveyard!
I stuttered for a while afterwards and my short term memory is still shot but after 8 years I have my life back and go to writing groups have a bit of banter with all you bloggers and generally feel ok.
So tell your brother things get better it takes time patience and the realisation you have to slow down and take things easy.
As we all must do live each day to the full
OFB
Thank you for that Bob. I’m not ashamed to say I cried as I say with him and he bowed me he could move his right thumb a couple of weeks after the event. It is remarkable how he has recovered over the year since. Like you said, patience is a key word. That and belief. We’ll get him to the Riverside this season though, I am sure. He might have missed the last promotion party, but. Not the one at the end of this season!
Bob
Quite agree.As some of you know, I lost my wife eight years ago and I myself have had aggressive prostate cancer for over six years. I’m off to Menorca next Friday and have holidays booked to Austria in August, and Poland in September, and still hoping to spend the winter in the Algarve.
I’m very lucky financially but intend to go out of this world positively. After all you only have one life, and I intend to make the most of it.
Thanks Ken. I think a lot of us feel just the same. Mrs Powmill, Powmill Junior and me are off to Mallorca on Saturday so shall give a wave to you in the general direction of Menorca. Hope you enjoy your break and I am sure we will.
OFB
Reported bid in for Assombalonga.
I will have to my pen and paper out for my favourite eleven in Kens challenge.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-4636158/Boro-bid-Nottingham-Forest-striker-Britt-Assombalonga.html
SSN also report that Huddersfield and Burnley are both after Assombalonga.
Come on BORO.
OFB, I’ll go with the fools seldom differ line 😉. I just couldn’t bring myself to even consider Ziege. But Terry Cochrane almost made my bench.
I know what you mean about Ziege and his departure to Liverpool. In my mind one of our greatest left backs and a wonderful taker of free and corner kicks who could whizz them in at pace.
I have heard stories about why he left from some of his former team mates and allegedly what went wrong was this.
A non drinker he involved himself socially and used to frequent the restaurants in Yarm, once actually paying for the Bryan Robson family meal in a restaurant before quietly leaving without fuss. A genuine guy, liked by all those who played with him.
During pre-season training the season he left, the Boro squad went to Ireland and rose at 6am to go training and run on the long golden beaches. After half an hour they came to a pub near the beach which had been arranged by the Boro coaches to open and let them in as a private party.
In a small space of time they were all smashed, that is all but Ziege the non drinker. He was manhandled to the floor and alcohol poured down his throat until he became roaring drunk. Apparently this episode put him off Boro and that is why he invoked the transfer get out.
Only a story I know and cannot be proven but if you remember similar stories from Merson of the drinking culture which he wanted to escape from it does make you wonder.
Terry Cochrane signed from Burnley for £175k I believe but our resident encyclopedia Ken Smith should clarify. A great winger and exciting. He was another guy who came to Boro liked the area and stayed. A lot of players have done that. He stepped down into the Northern League and Teesside League and I had the pleasure of refereeing him on a few occasions very polite and respectful. He is also a great coach and works with teams from Eston and Normanby and also whilst at Billingham Synthonia carried out individual coaching for my eldest son whilst he was still playing.
We could include a lot more and I dare say when we see other selections we will say -WHY DIDN’T I INCLUDE HIM?
Correct, Bob. Signed from Burnley in October 1978 apparently for £233,333. I have a video somewhere of his terrific overhead goal in a third round FA Cup tie against Swansea on Match of the Day.It was the 4th goal in a 5-0 away win.
Incidentally Boro won only twice and drew once in the 21 league games that season, and as the BBC expected a Cup upset it was the main match on MOTD, and if I remember correctly most of the goals were breakaways caused by the speed of David Hodgson.
I remember that Swansea game. I was on a ferry to France with my car listening to the game on the radio and couldn’t believe the result.
I was driving my car to southern Spain to work for the next two years amd sang (untimefully!)’for the next three days as I drove the 1800 miles
Oh happy day where did they go?
I meant to say 21 away league matches.
And I meant untunefully
Damn this predictive text !
Does anyone else think the same as me that in the U21 European championship, Germany deliberately lost 1 – 0 to Italy so they would meet England in the semi final rather than face Spain. In the Italy match Germany did not have 1 shot on target in the whole match !
Come on BORO
iv’e seen that happen before when watching tournaments when teams wishing to avoid teams in a semi final grouping have rearranged their team. Including swapping the centre-forward and goalkeeper positions and players who were both lost in an unaccustomed role.
Needless to say they lost the game but went on to win the tournament. So not very sporting but effective!!!
Very interesting and revealing, Bob, re: Ziege.
And I can’t say it surprises me one bit.
I certainly have no hard feelings about Merson anymore. The timing and manner of his departure may have been off, but what happened behind the scenes clearly had a lot to do with it.
Contrast with Juninho, who is more fondly remembered – largely because he presented himself relentlessly positively in the public eye and got a big heroic exit.
And then there was Ireland’s trip to the US Cup in 1992, described in Roy Keane’s first book as merely “(finding) a few good bars.” But “in public… the matches took place and were reported on as if they mattered… (a classic) example of the gap between what really goes on in football and the folklore that is fed to the public by the media.” Not a view I entirely trust as objective, however, as it is spiced up by – yes – Mr Dunphy.
If 20% of Bob’s story is true regarding a supposed Professional Football club then I am truly staggered and astonished. My head tells me it can only be urban folklore growing arms and legs over the years.
There have however been too many rumours and innuendos about a drinking culture for it not to have some substance to some degree. If the above events are true then it is evidence of very poor and weak leadership in that it happened and dared to be even risked without fear of consequences.
I don’t want to repeat that statement my mate North of the border made but in those circumstances I would have erupted and would have had to be physically restrained from those entrusted with extremely valuable business assets. Several heads would have not only rolled but be still orbiting alongside space station junk.
Note I have carefully said allegedly and have not expounded on the story in any way. Is it folklore? Is it a myth? All I can say is those allegedly involved players, management and executives are long gone.
we all hear stories and I have not embellished it in any way. I don’t want tales like this about the Boro circulating and we should therefore put it in the history of the ancient past and know the likes would never happen with the incumbent regime.
As Simon said Bob, that’s quite a story. I can believe there is more than one grain of truth in it. All the same it is still difficult to escape the feeling that we resurrected his career and the scousers had to have found out about the clause from somewhere and it was all just not quite cricket and once again the Boro come off worst. So, I’m sticking with my original feeling and he’s not even on the bench for me.
Whilst you ponder your favourite players in the Boro team here is an interesting article from The Fourth Official. I got every one of them right!
We can all spot a bad player. But we all know when we see a good one and you don’t have to be a scout to find them. I may have posted this before but in all my time refereeing Boro juniors two players really stood out for their ability at 16 years of age.
One was Stan Cummings who went to Sunderland for a £millon. The other was Craig Johnson Middlesbrough,
Anyway here is the article on the bad ones.
Like many clubs, have their ups and downs with transfers. For every Victor Valdes, there is a Marvin Emnes. They have never been a club who have been able to spend huge money. However, every once in a while they would splash the clash. Unfortunately, though they would also often get transfers wrong. Most notably in the 2009-2010 reign of terror under Gordon Strachan in which he brought in a plethora of SPL players, 95% of which were useless. These included flops like Kris Boyd, Kevin Thomson, Willow Flood and a number of other less than adequate players who set Middlesbrough back several years.
However, while an honourable mention must be given to most of Strachan’s signings, Middlesbrough have also made huge blunders outside the Strachan era.
Here are three of Middlesbrough’s worst modern day transfers.
Afonso Alves
As mentioned earlier, Middlesbrough are not the richest club in the world. But back in January 2008, Middlesbrough made their record signing. Afonso Alves signed from Dutch side SC Heerenveen for a club record fee of £14.45 million. This was a huge fee for Middlesbrough at the time and still remains their highest transfer fee. It was also a pretty big fee for any Premier League club back in 2008. To put it into perspective, the only signing more expensive in the winter window that year was Nicolas Anelka for £15 million.
So with the fact he was one of the biggest winter window signings, Middlesbrough’s record signing and had scored 48 goals in 50 games for SC Heerenveen, you would have expected Alves to be lighting up the Premier League. Unfortunately for Boro fans, he was a complete flop. In his first full season for Boro, the striker played 31 games and scored four league goals. Alves’s first full season at Boro was the 2008/09 season. This also happened to be the season Middlesbrough were relegated from the Premier League.
Therefore, not only was Alves a record signing that completely flopped, he also, as Boro’s main striker failed to score a respectable amount of goals to keep Middlesbrough up. This is why he is, one of, if not the worst Middlesbrough signing in the modern era.
Mido
Mido is an Egyptian striker who Middlesbrough signed from Spurs for £7.48 million in August 2007. This was still a pretty big fee for Middlesbrough at the time.
But like Alves, Mido failed to live up to his price tag for a number of reasons. Firstly, he was not a Premier League goal scorer and managed just seven goals in his time at Boro. Secondly, he was very injury prone. In total, Mido missed 290 days through injury between 2007 and 2009. This is clearly not something you want in a new signing and his injury problems meant he played just 12 games for Boro in his first season. Thirdly, Mido was incredibly lazy on the pitch. He even began to put on a large amount of weight and no longer looked like a professional footballer. Mido also played several games for Boro in the first half of the 2008/09 season when they were relegated.
Overall, Mido was expensive (at the time), lazy, injury prone and not a very good goal scorer which makes him one of Boro’s worst signings.
Lee Dong-Gook
Lee Dong-Gook signed for Boro in January 2007 from Korean side Pohang Steelers on a free. So it is clearly not Lee Dong-Gook’s transfer fee that landed him on this list. What actually lands him on this list is the striker’s abysmal goal scoring record.
In his year and a half stay at Middlesbrough, Lee Dong-Gook played 23 Premier League games for Middlesbrough. He scored zero goals in that time. Can you imagine signing a striker, having him at your club for a year and a half and him not scoring a single league goal? Admittedly, Dong-Gook did score two goals whilst at Boro in cup competitions. However, they are not much to brag about. In the 2007/08 season, he scored one FA Cup goals against Mansfield Town. Then in the League Cup, he scored one against Northampton Town in the second round.
This shows what a bad signing Lee Dong-Gook was as he never managed a single league goal while at Boro.
I have made a list of Boro players that have played since the war which might help you to select the best eleven players plus seven substitutes that you have seen. Obviously it is not a comprehensive list and I have omitted current players.
I have listed them in positional categories, each category in alphabetical order.
Goalkeepers:-
Cumming, Dave (147 appearances 1936/47)
Pears, Stephen
Platt, Jim
Schwartzer, Mark
Taylor, Peter
Ugolini, Ronaldo
Whigham, Willie
Full-backs:-
Cooper, Colin
Cooper, Terry
Cox, Neil
Craggs, John
Fleming, Curtis
Gordon, Dean
Hardwick, George (also played centre-half)
Jones, Gordon
Karembeu, Christian
Kinder, Vladimir
Knowles, Cyril
McNeil, Mick
Pogatetz, Emil
Quedrue, Franck
Robinson, Dickie (finished career at centre-half)
Ziege, Christian
Centre-halves/Centre-backs:-
Boam, Stuart
Ehiogu, Ugo
Festa, Gianluca
Huth, Robert
Maddren, Willie
Mowbray, Tony
Nurse, Mel
Pallister, Gary
Pearson, Nigel
Riggott, Chris
Rooks, Dickie
Southgate, Gareth
Wheater, David
Woodgate, Jonathan
Half-backs/Defensive Midfielders:-
Arca, Julio
Blackmore, Clayton
Boateng, George
Cattermole, Lee
Doriva
Gascoigne, Paul
Geremi
Greening, Jonathan
Harris, Bill
Ince, Paul
Johnston, Craig
Mahoney, John
Mendieta, Gazkia
Morrison,James
Mustoe, Bobby
Nattrass, Irving
Parlour, Ray
Pollock, Jamie
Proctor, Mark
Rochenback
Townsend, Andy
Inside-forwards/Attacking Midfielders/No.10:-
Barmby, Nick
Carbone
Cummins, Stan
Emerson (Costa)
Fernie, Willie
Gibson, Ian
Hignett, Craig
Juninho
Mannion, Wilf
McMordie, Alex
Merson, Paul
Murdoch, Bobby
Tuncay
Wingers:-
Adomah
Armstrong, David (Spike)
Beagrie, Peter
Cochrane, Terry
Delapenha, Lindy
Downing, Stuart (not now a current player)
Hodgson, David
Holliday, Eddie
Johnson, Adam
Kaye, Arthur
Ripley, Stuart
Centre-forwards/Strikers:-
Beck, Mikkel
Boksic, Alen
Clough, Brian
Deane, Brian
Emnes, Marvin
Fenton, Mickey
Fjortoft, Jan-Aage
Foggon, Alan
Hasselbaink, Jimmy
Hendrie, John
Hickton, John
Horsefield, Arthur
Jankovic, Bosco
Job, Joseph
Maccarone, Massimo
McCrae, Alex
McDonald, Scott
McIlmoyle, Hugh
Mills, David
Nemeth, Sziland
O’Rourke, John
Peacock, Alan
Ravenelli, Fabrizio
Ricard, Hamilton
Slaven, Bernie
Viduka, Mark
Wayman, Charlie
Wilkinson, Paul
Yakubu, Aiyegbeni
I know it’s a long list of strikers, and not many of them would be considered in a Boro “dream team”, but some of them did score plenty of goals, something we have lacked lately.
I am pleased some of you have already submitted your selections, but I thought that providing a list of past players may stir some nostalgia and be some help.I realise that of the 111 players listed a very small proportion would be worthy of selection, but perhaps younger bloggers may not have heard of players prior to say 1990.
why didn’t I pick Pally! doh
What about Marco Branca Ken?
Branca scored nine goals in 12 league games for Middlesbrough, including two on his league debut in a 3–1 victory against Sunderland, a hat-trick versus Bury and another two in the 6–0 win over Swindon Town. In addition, he played two League Cup games, scoring the second goal against Liverpool in the semi-final second leg.[1] His nine goals aided in Boro’s promotion to the Premiership, but he was then sold to Swiss club FC Luzern.
If he hadn’t been injured he could have been one of our greats
Yes. One I missed.
Can I pick Mrs Karembeu?
Hello Boys !
I wish I said that !
Ian. I was expecting someone to comment on her.
Here’s my best/favourite 11:
Schwarzer
Knowles
Southgate
Pallister
Queudrue
Foggon
Boateng
Souness
Hignett
Ravanelli
Clough
Some tough decisions especially on the flanks and leaving out TLF!
Here is a comprehensive list of Boro Players past and present to help in selection (and revisiting memories of yesteryear).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Middlesbrough_F.C._players
Like Bob with Pally I can’t believe I missed out Andre Bikey!
I should have thought about Wikipedia. I spent about 3 hours scouring season by season.
So where would Mrs Karembeu play, would it be a case of two up front or a holding midfielder?
It isn’t easy.
Listened to a bit of radio five and heard a Robbie Savage story from himself. After a training session he drove off in a huff. The training ground is in a residential area and someone complained about speeding..
The next day Micky Adams called Robbie in to the office. Robbie said it wasn’t him. Mickey Adams offered him one more chance. Robbie asked how do you think it is me?
Micky Adams came clean and said ‘how many yellow Ferraris are there with SAV number plates do you think there are in the City carpark?’
Brilliant.
Mrs Karembeu is known to be pretty good in the cup! Playing for Boro she would be quite uplifting.
Ian, I had her down as a player for Bristol City, or was it Bristol Rovers.
Twitter ye not…. As Frankie Howard would have out it
Interesting when considering your best 11, the first thing that hit me is that we have had some pretty average goalkeepers over a long period of time. The 2 standouts to me are Pearsy and Schwarzer, good goalkeepers but you would think we would have had a least one worldie in the last 40 years, but I can’t think of one.
I’ll tell Jim Platt that when I see him at the first home game in August !
He’s very proud of his record at Boro!
Very good goalkeeper, but how many of our goalkeepers had opposition managers trying to prise them away, can’t think of too many. Did Jim turn down the chance to move to a Liverpool, Arsenal, Leeds etc?
I’ll ask Jim that question
Monk has asked De Roon to stay. Will be pretty difficult with just a £10million release clause.
Here’s a reply from Jim himself
Boro were a top club Robin. 😀 actually Man City showed interest in me I heard but at the time freedom of contract was a thing of the future so the club that held your registration had you by the balls.
Middlesbrough are considering a move for 20 year old Moroccan winger Stelios Moreau from Le Havre Athletic Club [Nombre de conneries] #Boro
Geoff
We seem to have had an abundance of top notch Centre Backs and a fair few decent Midfielders, even a fair few big name Strikers. We do though seem to have had a dearth of Wingers as well as Keepers over the decades. Some pretty decent Wingers but no really great ones, even Bolo used to be not very good (or words to that effect).
Platt is in my team, just the other ten to sort out.
It was a coin toss for me between Platt and Schwartzer, but went with the latter. If I was to put two goalies on the bench the third for me was Pears.
Poor Jim would probably have had a 100 International Caps had it not been for Pat Jennings being around at the same time. Jennings made his International debut in the same game as George Best in 1964 against Wales, their future career paths couldn’t have been more contrasting.
My team is based on who I saw play and what they could offer at their best.
Platt – Swarzer and Pears would be good shouts
Craggs – Butler in contention
Boam – Mowbray strong contender
Southgate – Pallister and Maddren top players
Quedrue – Cooper and Jones close competitors
Geremi
Souness
Proctor
Armstong
Merson – TLF first time round a real option
Boksic
Centre back was tough but I went for a header and a reader of the game.
Midfield built around strength and the ability to get forward.
Merson because I suspect he played some of his best football whilst at the Boro and the team built around him.
Boksicknote not because of his consistency but probably the most unplayable on his day, when he felt like it, as long as it wasn’t too much trouble. And he terrified Derby.
I didn’t see many players that Ken and Len will remember so like a ref I can only give what I have seen
Ian
Good choices in the modern area.We always seemed to have good centre-back partnerships – Boam with Maddren, Mowbray with Pallister, Southgate with Etiogu. I am a little surprised that as yet nobody has picked Woodgate.
In the olden days defenders never ventured beyond the half-way line, and I can never recall a centre-half ever scoring until John Charles came on the scene. However he was exceptional and equally adept as a centre-forward as he was as a centre-half.
Though I’m edging towards forty, I appear to be a relative youngster among the Diasboro faithful so my best XI will be relatively modern. I’m going for a 3-4-2-1 Christmas tree formation:
Schwarzer
Ehiogu Southgate Pallister
Geremi Ince Emerson Ziege
Merson Juninho
Viduka
Second XI (3-4-1-2)
Pears
Festa Pearson B Gibson
L Young Mustoe Boateng Queudrue
Barmby
Boksic Ravanelli
PS Viduka would be on a rolling six-month contract in order to keep him motivated.
PPS Bernie Slaven wouldn’t be too happy reading through our best elevens.
Looks as though more players are leaving the Boro than look to be coming in at the moment.
I thought De Sart may have been given a chance in the pre-season training and friendlies as he appeared to do OK at Derby. Likewise Fischer. So with what has gone, to be followed by probably Downing, de Roon, Gibson and possibly Friend / Clayton to a lower EPL team.
It is now starting to look like a major overhaul is going to happen. Not sure how well Monk will know the Boro players that are left, apart from watching the seasons match videos. Only training and matches will give HIM a true idea of their value to him.
Better quality replacements may be difficult to entice. Yes we may have a decent budget, pay better Championship wages, but if we want quality then we may be competing with the likes of Burnley, Bournemouth, Huddersfield and others for the same players.
They will probably get first dib, the Boro what’s left over.
Going to “smash the league”, as somebody on here said, Mr Gibson would not of said that on the following Monday. Boro are not favourites it my book. A Lot will depend on who we can get in and get them to gell.
Still on the subject of signing players(just)
In the case of the thirty million player we nearly signed.
Reading the obstacles which were placed in our path, one followed by another in an endless stream. One had to believe that we were being given the run around.
I reckon, people get on the phone just as the deal is coming good, a big club get back to the sellers and tell them to stall the deal (any excuse) and it’s another case of ” bad luck old boy”
He will be gone by January ,and Woodgate will take over. The Swansea fans will tell you he dismantled a good squad there. I hope I’m wrong but I have a bad feeling on this appointment.
Nah !
A mix of old and oldish for me which reflects the 60 years I have followed the Boro. 4-3-1-2 formation.
Platt
Craggs Pallister Southgate Jones
Harris Souness Mendieta
Juninho
Clough Hasselbaink
Of the hundreds of players I have seen over the years, Graham Souness and Brian Clough were the two who made by far the biggest impression on me. They were both mercurial.
Boroexile
I’ve struggled with my choice but I like your lineup. Might have Viduka as an alternative to JFH. Centre Back is so difficult because, in my opinion, we’ve had so many good ones. Not sure how Cloughie would get on with our choices. I’d have to add Southgate to Souness and Clough as my all time stand out players.
Steely, of your three stand out players, which would you choose as the best? For me, Souness was the best player I have seen in a Boro shirt. I remember in particular the brilliance of his performance in a 4-0 win at craven Cottage in March 1974 – it was absolutely magnificent in every respect.
Who would other bloggers choose as their best ever?
SOuness again his hat trick against Sheff wed 8 0
Boroexile
I was there that night when the late and great Bobby Moore made his debut for Fulham alongside Alan Mullery.
It was as you say a magnificent performance by not only Souness but the whole team who played Fulham off the park.
Alan Mullery still recounts this match as one where he and Bobby did not know what had hit them. The speed of counter attack, the passing and clinical finishing is something he and the Boro supporters will never forget.
I saw most of the games that season both home and away and it is still the best season ever for me, perhaps because of all the previous “near but yet so far” seasons previously before Jack took charge.
Let’s hope we can have something similar under GM.
CoB 😎
Best all time Boro XI? Here’s my crack at it.
Schwarzer
Craggs Maddren Woodgate Zeige
Mendieta Souness Emerson
Juninho
Ravanelli Viduka
Close call between Merson and Juninho. Leaving out Southgate was a tough one too.
Nigel
Don’t know about Ziege at left back, couldn’t mark a bingo board. Very much a wing back, typical of the way Germany played at the time, we played 352.
Anyway, just had a quick trawl of Newsnow stories.
Westwood not for sale especially to rivals.
Burnley and Huddersfield are sniffing around Assombalonga. We have put a bid in for him.
Fischer can leave along with Stewie.
Monk wants Gibbo and de Roon to stay. Gibbo valued at £25m. De Roon has a £10m release clause in his contract.
All just stories.
We have signed some donkeys over the years,but what about the bargain buys who turned out to be fantastic signings,l can think k of,
Platt £10,000
Foggon.£ 10;000
Murdoch. Free
Sounes £ 20,000
Hickton £ 10’000
Pallister bag of balls
Ian Gibson..£ 20,000
Dickie Rooks.£ 20,000
David Chadwick £ 10,000
There are many others ,can you name some?
In the old days just a £10 pound signing on fee for the likes of Brian Clough, Alan Peacock, Billy Day, etc.
GT
A bit harsh what you’ve called Pally isn’t it?
OFB
Leadbitter Free
I hadn’t realised how few bloggers on this forum hadn’t had the pleasure of seeing Wilf Mannion play for Boro.His last game for Boro was in 1954 which was four years later than both George Hardwick and Mickey Fenton, so maybe I should have picked a team excluding them.But how far back should I have started; where do I begin.
I wondered whether as I was a teenager when I used to see him play, the mists of time have clouded my judgement. However when I have read from autobiographies of his contemporaries such as Tom Finney and famous ex-players who were schoolboys the same time as me, such as Bobby Charlton and Brian Clough, I realise his greatness was not over-stated.
Many comparisons have been made about him and Juninho, but the main difference was that my generation had the pleasure of watching Wilf for several seasons whereas Juninho was with us for only a comparatively short time, but nevertheless he was the nearest to come any way near him. In my opinion Wilf was second only to George Best.
If I were to choose a Boro team, say from the 1960s onwards I would have to make only two changes, but if I had to choose only Englishmen, it would be quite different. I am not advocating for bloggers to revise their choices, but in the event my team would be:-
Pears
Knowles, Southgate, Pallister, McNeil
Hendrie, Ince, Hodgson
Merson
Clough, Hickton
As Spartak would write – just saying like.
I thought Hendrie was a Scot, Ken.
How about Gascoigne in his place ?
Mahalo. Not Gascoigne, he was last his sell by date with us. Mustoe it must be for me
Oh dear, mea culpa.Meant to say Hignett.
Love your posts Ken, full of interesting tales of Boro over the years . . great stuff, John Hendrie was a favourite of mine too. I remember him torture us in the play-offs for Bradford (along with Ormondroyd), so I was over the moon when we got him a few years later. I know you said a while back that you could provide info about peoples earliest “first Boro game” memories. Well hope you can help me with mine, it was at home to West Brom, I think it was 1-1, and I think Bendon Batson scored for them, it was around the late seventies. Then I think my next game was at home to N.Forest, we lost, something like 0-3 might have been the score . . all a bit hazy now, hope you can fill in some gaps for me, much appreciated if you can.
Ok here goes with my team of UK players only although I reserve the right to change my mind!
Platt
Crags Southgate Maddren Cooper
Souness Murdoch Hignett Armstrong
Hickton Slaven
Says a lot about my age thinking about it
Well, here we are
Have I missed anything?
Sets the ball down on the penalty spot
FOr Big John Ian Gill to blast it down the middle!
And here is an international team to give them a game
Schwartzer
Quedrue Huth Festa Pogatetz
Emmerson Juninho Johnston Boateng
VIduka Ravenelli
Now that is a game I would like to see!
Might try to combine the two although may be hard to decide who to leave on the bench
Souness was also probably the best player I have watched in a Boro as shirt .the perfect combination of being tough as old boots but immaculately cultured with the Ball. Sadly one of my lasting memories of him was seeing his dismal, do is interested first half performance on his last match before going to Liverpool. He was justifiably booed off at halftime if I recall. It took a little off the shine for me. No doubt if his class otherwise.
‘do is interested’ should have read ‘disinterested’…
‘No doubt if his class otherwise’ should have read ‘No doubt of his class otherwise’
Hate this I’ll make it up for you typing on mobile phones!
A titter ye not I typed his morning in the mini thread on Mrs Karembeu turned magically into Twitter ye not, thus destroying all the inuendo…
I bet you felt a right tot
I probably have to agree Powmill about Souness being the best player in the modern era ever to wear the Boro shirt. I believe a poll was conducted about 15 years ago or so, and he was voted the best.
However, most participants in that poll probably never say Mannion play and indeed I missed his greatest Boro match.This was on 22 November 1947 against a Blackpool side including his England wing partner Stanley Matthews, and Cliff Mitchell in his match report wrote :-
“Wilf Mannion dribbled and swayed past opponents like a winger in Saturday’s 4-0 rout of Blackpool. He fired in shots like a centre-forward, and in the coup de grace he played keeps-uppy with his head as he ran passed stunned defenders before allowing the ball to roll down his back before trapping it with his heel, and all because he wanted to impress his watching fiancée”.
However, I did see him score a first-half hat-trick nearly three years later in a 8-0 demolition of Huddersfield Town which I did quote as the finest Boro performance I had ever seen. I know that Souness scored a hat-trick against Sheffield Wednesday in a 8-0 win in 1974, but Mannion’s was in the First Division.
Incidentally I wonder if anyone can recall the first day of the 1958/59 season when Clough scored five times in a 9-0 win against newly promoted Brighton. Unfortunately I missed that match as I had just returned by sea on a troop-ship the day before to Southampton having completed my National Service in Singapore. We were to complete our demob at RAF Innsworth but as it was the weekend a group of us took the bus into Gloucester and one of our group bought a sports paper and said “I see your team won 9-0”. Of course at the time I thought it was a wind-up.
The strange thing about that season was that Boro beat both promoted teams home and away, 9-0 and 6-4 against Brighton, and 6-1 and 3-0 against Scunthorpe with Clough scoring hat-tricks in all four matches. In fact he scored 14 of the 24, and Alan Peacock scored 7, but Boro only finished 13th just above Brighton. Typically Boro!
Love reading your posts Ken, keep them coming!
Ken,
Around that time, perhaps a little later in the fifties, didn’t Boro get a beating by high scoring Bristol Rovers and Blackburn?
I also remember being being at an evening match at Ayresome Park and I think Mannion made his debut for Hull City and tortured Boro but I don’t remember the result, but as Cliff Michelmore would have said it was a beautiful sunny evening.
UTB,
John
Jarsue, you’re right about Boro being walloped by Bristol Rovers but it was the season before and in fact it happened twice.
First of all Boro lost at Eastville 2-7 in 1955/56 and again 0-5 in 1957/58. Strangely I have a little story to tell in the season between those defeats.
I was awaiting my overseas posting in the RAF at Innsworth in Gloucestershire and whilst stationed there I persuaded a pal of mine from South Shields to accompany me to that match as there was a regular train service from Gloucester to Temple Meads, Bristol. I was wearing my red and white scarf and on arrival at the station asked some locals for the directions to Eastville. They obviously thought I was a Bristol City fan taking the mickey and it took some convincing to assure them I was a Boro fan as they had never heard of away supporters
visiting their stadium as it was fairly remote. In those days very few football fans travelled to away games unless it was a local derby or a cup tie. As it happened Boro won 2-0 before a crowd of over 24,000 as Boro and Liverpool were at that time considered promotion favourites. Boro finished 6th and it was another five years before Liverpool got promoted.
I also saw the match when Mannion played for Hull City. That was on 5th February 1955 in Boro’s first season after relegation. Boro had won nine successive league matches but typically lost 1-2 before a crowd of 32,619, their second largest home crowd of the season.
That season after the first match was drawn at Plymouth, Boro lost the next eight matches but recovered, beat West Ham 6-0, lost the next match 0-9 at league leaders Blackburn, then the following Saturday beat third placed Fulham 4-2.
After those eight consecutive defeats Boro won 12 matches and lost only 3 before that Hull defeat, but then won 5 of the next 7 to raise hopes of a promotion challenge before sadly falling away at Easter and finishing 12th.
It was one of the most remarkable seasons I witnessed, and if only Boro had signed Charlie Wayman, Joe Scott and Bert Mitchell at the beginning of the season, Boro would probably have been promoted. Wayman scored 16 times in 32 matches, Scott scored 16 times in 29 matches, and Delapenha 15 times in 38 matches.
It augered well for the future, but as we all know it was another 20 years before we saw First Division football again.
As an amendment – it should have read “nine successive HOME wins” before the Hull defeat.
Ken, I was at the game when Boro beat Brighton 9-0. My recollection of the game is a little dim now but I do remember that Brian Clough was unplayable and, despite the scoreline, the Brighton keeper had a very good game. Without him it could easily have been 12 or more for the Boro and Clough could have had a double hat-trick.
I agree with most that Souness was probably the most complete player we ever had, I still remember the over the top tackle on Tommy Craig of Newcastle, he would get a 6 month ban these day’s for that. For me though it was Bobby Murdoch who left his mark on me, here was a guy that was past his best when he joined Boro, could hardly move but his passing and vision were sublime, I have never seen a better passer of the ball before or since, his partnership with Souness was the best midfield I have seen, Murdoch spraying passes around and Souness winning the ball in the fifty/fifty’s. I always wondered what Murdoch must have been like in his heyday when he won the European Cup with Celtic.
Also I’ve noticed Huddersfield seem to be splashing the cash, seem to be breaking their transfer record with each buy. Do you think they’ve learnt from our mistakes?
Geoff
We made two mistakes.
Firstly recruitment. Buying “projects” who were simply not good enough or ready. Buying La Liga mediocrity, gambling on an unfit has been Keeper and a star Striker who was never integrated into tactics. In other words a complete dichotomy with what was required, put simply buy a better player in as many positions as possible. Instead we actually managed to weaken the squad.
Secondly and crucially, unity and camaraderie was destroyed and with it intuitive understanding.
Huddersfield may be making similar mistakes with some of their signings and if not careful the synergistic benefits of camaraderie may be lost just as it was at Boro. That said I hope they punch above their weight and spoil the rich clubs club.
Real Betis are close to securing a deal for Middlesbrough full back Antonio Barragan and a deal could be announced before the end of the week, say reports.
According to Estadio Deportivo and Marca, the 30-year-old is set to arrive at the Seville-based club and will replace Cristiano Piccini, who has left for Sporting Lisbon, in their squad.
Barragan joined Boro last summer for a €2.5m fee from Valencia and started 26 Premier League matches at the Riverside Stadium but was unable to prevent the club’s relegation.
Estadio Deportivo say the transfer will be completed before the end of the week but do not mention a transfer fee, while Marca believe it will initially be a loan deal with an option to buy.
The matchday squad that started last season was only missing 1 main player from the camaraderie driven promo squad and that was Grant due to a hernia op, he might have even been there, but without his boots. All the main Dickens Inn crew were still there on the bench or on the pitch, they vastly outnumbered the few new faces about 14 to 4 . . . camaraderie should have still been strong.
Billog
The likes of Nugent, Rhodes, Ayala, Nsue, Dimi, Adomah and the injured Grant were there or thereabouts but for one reason or another were hobbling, dropped or discarded. Even the de Laet’s, Kalas and Reach (understandably) had departed.
Empty lockers with new owners and language skills in the case of many had to have an effect on what had been to what was to come. Its only psychological and I’m not saying that the above were world beaters but what replaced them were certainly not an upgrade. The bonds could not have been the same.
Having been born in 1953, I never saw Mannion or Hardwick play and so I fall into the same category as many of the people who have already posted. My early years were in the second division when we used to get excited about Eric McMordie playing for N.Ireland or Alan Peacock making the England squad even though we knew that the club wasn’t really top class. It was not until Jack Charlton’s side that I saw us regularly beat other teams. Watching that team steamroller through the opposition was amazing and I was lucky enough to see that game at Fulham.
My brother is a fair bit older than me and so remembers the older players much better. With regard to goalkeepers, he always says – tongue in cheek, I think – that Ugolini was unbeatable ‘as long as he had Boro down for a win that day’.
Can someone clarify the situation with De Sart. is it a one year loan with him then coming back to us. I hope so because then we have the best of both worlds. If he comes on in leaps and bounds, we can take advantage and if not, we haven’t lost much. It seems a shame about Fischer. Given how good everybody said he was, I’m a little surprised that Monk is not giving him a go to see what improvements he can make. He must be very sure of the players that he wants to bring in.
UTB
DE SArt one year loan followed by option to buy
Other news
Boro have shown an interest in Aden Flint, with Bristol City ready to cash in on the defender. #boro [Mail]
I have seen the photographs of the young England players visiting Auschwitz and commenting how it was something they wanted to do in their spare time.
Fair play to them, but did they have to wear earphones which I suspect they were wearing to listen to their favourite music?
I have visited Auschwitz and am going back to Krachow, one of my favourite cities, in September but will not revisit Auschwitz as it was one of the most harrowing experiences I have ever encountered as most people who have been there will attest to.
It is not the place where one should take photographs, never mind listen to music.
Maybe I am mistaken in my belief that these young men were listening to music; perhaps they were listening to a guide’s commentary. Well I doubt that because when I visited the guides didn’t use such monitors; one listened to them intently as they related the horrific events.
Again, fair play to these youngsters in wanting to visit Auschwitz, but am I being cynical in thinking it might have been a propaganda exercise? Or if it was a genuine spontaneous visit, am I being over critical? Or perhaps, it is just my coming from a different generation in thinking the way I do?
Ken, if as you suspect they were listening to music and not guided commentary then I am with you on this and if it was music then it devalues their intentions.
Ken,
That sounds like modern history being trivialised. I have just read a book called ‘A Writer at War- with the Red Army 1941-1945’ by Vasily Grossman a Jewish and Russian journalist.
In one chapter of the book he chronicles the Red Army over-running the Treblinka concentration camp and it is the most awful and harrowing thing I have ever read, it brought tears to my eyes. I certainly could not listen to music on headphones and read his account.
Maybe a stiff whisky when I am finally off the antibiotics, anyway the book is highly recommended.
UTB,
John
I love this blog! My first Boro match was in 1960/61 and friends and family have long since tired of my reminiscing of the days of ‘propa footer’. Not only do I find fellow nostalgics here but I find people like Len and Ken who make me feel like a spring chicken (figuratively, that is. Although …)
It was Eid on Sunday so I have a welcome couple of days holiday (yeh, I know that’s odd. It’s complicated …) and have had chance to wallow wonderfully in the blog. I changed my job a couple of years ago and the commute into Brum means I don’t get chance to do more than superficially keep up. Previously I used to work in London and the 2.5 hour train journey meant I was a regular contributor but no more sadly. That will have to wait another couple of years until I retire.
In my time Souness was definitely the best all-round player. Juninho was the one with the most sheer talent. I never saw Mannion competitively, only in a testimonial (Gordon Jones?).
Nike
I believe that the matches that you see as young boys can never be used as evidence of anything.
I was taken to see my first match by my father( versus the cup finalists Blackpool) and yes It was the Mannion match, and yes it would be used by every coaching academy today, and it spoiled me as a football watcher.
It was as good as any lover of football could imagine(think of that statement)
I was left wanting to see It again, in slow motion(once slow motion had been invented)
It was a tribute to the lasting power of love.
He used methods other players could not dream of using, like a ballet dancer on speed, all touch and feints and dropping his shoulder, or pretending to drop his shoulder. it is true that the Blackpool players several times in the match told their team mates to take their turn at looking like fools.
The match was played in a good spirit throughout. Different times, or what?
Thanks Plato for your graphic account of the Mannion match.You are so privileged to have seen that match. I was 9 year old at the time and my father had taken me to my first match some 6 before the Blackpool match and was so fearful of my getting crushed that he wouldn’t take me again until the following season when I had grown a bit more.
Your description “like a ballet dancer” seems very apt as all through his career he had the knack of not only out jumping players much taller than himself, but timing his jump and almost hovering in the air to head the ball. Without doubt the finest inside forward (or number 10) I have ever seen.
Nikeboro
Like you I saw Mannion once in a testimonial match of some kind. It was at Clairville I believe. I have mentioned it before and someone else remembered it.
My dad always told me how good Mannion was but you can only pick from what you have seen.
Mannion i’m afraid i hardly watched as I was more interested in the girls who went with us.
That was at clairville same game as you George Hardwick supplied us with the tickets
Having caught up on my blog backlog, I read Powmill-Naemore’s item on his younger brother’s stroke with personal interest. Older readers might remember that, as opposed to my current one-contribution-a-quarter rate (see above), I used to be a regular. However I did have a gap of best part of a year when I too had a health scare.
Mine was well short of a near-death experience but I definitely saw it move closer. Most of us in our 60s become aware of our mortality but I’m probably more aware of it then many – and that’s no bad thing. It’s easy to be complacent, delude yourself you’ll live for ever and think that you’ll ‘do things one day’. Carpe diem. I’m steadily ticking off the items on my things-to-do-before-you-die list.
As for your brother, Powmill-Naemore, the good news is it gets better. I can’t wink with one eye and my wonky smile means I avoid photos. I’ll never be as strong as I was, nor have the same stamina but it’s good enough. I’m working and enjoying life.
Thanks Nike. I know he follows this blog, without writing on it himself so he will be picking up on the positive things people have said. The message everywhere is the same, <>. And so it will.
funny that …. i tried to put the “It gets better” quote between double <> and it was totally dropped in posting…..
I did try to say, The message everywhere is the same, “It gets better”. And so it will.
More power to your elbow, Nikeboro. When my wife died and I then was diagnosed with cancer, I at first thought what’s the point of living. However I pulled myself round and became positive about the future.
Apart from my love of Boro and Rugby League, foreign travel became my interest. I had a wish list of six places I wished to see before I die, and I’ve been very fortunate financially to visit them all – Christ the Redeemer statue and Pao de Acucar (Sugar Loaf Mountain) in Rio de Janeiro, Table Mountain in Cape Town, Havana, the Icebergs and Geysers in Iceland, the Giant’s Causeway in Northern Ireland, and finally the magnificent Colditz Castle in Saxony which was used as a prisoner of war camp in the early 1940s.
Now this forum has given me an added interest. Life is for living and one has to make the most of it as none of us gets a second chance.
Good health and good luck.
It’s funny I don’t think anyone can name a player from era 1960 to 1967 who made his mark on the fans,it was probably the worst time in history, for us,we were in free fall.
We even signed full internationals like ,Nurse,Oritt, Braithwaite, Crossan ,
We had Harris, Peacock, McNeil, Gibson, Halliday, and we were still useless,
Talk about bad Management.
There was Eric McMordie who arrived in that era. An extremely talented individual and one that was not too far away from the bench on my selection.
Not for me. I remember when Eric played one of his first games for N. Ireland (I think against England), saw a lot of the ball and looked really eye-catching. The commentator drooled over him and McMordie was hardly off his lips.
BUT – when Shankly did the after-match assessment he did not join in the acclaim. His withering judgement was that he’d seen a great deal of the ball but done nothing with all that possession.
I was shocked at this indictment of my hero, especially from somebody I held in high regard. Intrigued, I watched through the recording focusing on Eric’s contribution – Shanks was right. Eric had flattered to deceive. He buzzed around and looked good – but no incisive passes. In modern parlance: assists zero.
After that, I used to watch McMordie in games more critically and, while he was undoubtedly an entertainer and one of our better players, he looked better than he actually was. It was telling that Eric was one of the first players that Big Jack dropped (without a game) when he arrived.
For me, players from that era (which was my introduction to Boro) that made an impression: Cyril Knowles, Mick McNeill, Geoff Butler, Bill Harris, John Hickton, John O’Rourke, Alan Peacock, Eddie Halliday, Ian Gibson. However, as you say, we had far more internationals then than now but were still useless.
Nike
Re. McMordie, I once was having a discussion about him, saying that he did not contribute enough goals( about five a season) and was told that in fact he never scored a meaningful goal. It was explained like this. Eric fluttered about the pitch all season, but was at his best when scoring the last one in a five nil romp, add in the odd penalty and the home tie against lower league teams and there’s your five goals a season. So he was a non scoring forward.
And henceforth he shall be known as Adama McMordie or should that be Stewart McMordie? 🙂
GT
We fielded four England players in our forward line during the Peacock years, so it must have been some management failure to win nothing.
I agree with others that I’m concerned that, for the 2nd summer running, we look like suffering from wholesale squad changes. In my mind’s eye I had thought that we had the makings of a decent promotion squad with some in-fills but without the need for major surgery.
Players like Chambers would be gone; Ramirez and perhaps Downing would be moved on; there would be bids for our best, like Gibson; and there was some deadwood that would be best let go, even though they might ‘cut it’ in the lower division.
Having made those deductions, It seemed to me that we were OK in goal, we had the majority of a strong defence remaining, there were ample holding midfielders and the weakest areas (unsurprisingly) were in the creative/attacking quarter.
In goal, Dimi has done it before in the Championship and Ripley is coming on fast. At CB, if he can stay fit, Ayala is tried-and-tested and will pair well enough with Espinosa. Fry is steadily improving and Gibson might yet stay. At defensive MF we have an embarasment of riches. Bamford and Gestede have both previously scored well at this level and might well prove effective – but even the best need some supply.
With money to spend, my estimation was that one CB, a couple of creative playmakers, a pacy attacking midfielder and, of course (as always) a reliable scorer was likely to be all that was going to be essential. Depending on who left and for more strength in depth, I thought it would be best to acquire a GK, a RB, another couple of creative/pacy attacking midfielders and another striker.
Now I tot it all up, I’m surprised to find that totals 10 new players, which is rather more than the tweaking I thought.
Nevertheless the rumour-mill seems to suggest that even bigger surgery is in hand. Why? Well, new managers have their own style of play (let’s hope that GM’s is different to AK’s) and so always have their own opinions and preferences on players that will complement their style.
However my guess is that the turnover is more to do with the split and divisive camps that resulted from the disastrous recruitment last summer and January. I suspect that GM is getting rid of the bad apples along with the dead wood.
That is my thought too and I hope it is the right interpretation of the clear out.
Monk had to start with A squad he knows is 100% behind him
Nikeboro.
It’s good to have you back. Your posts have been among the best I’ve ever read on UntypicalBoro.
So sorry to hear about your health scare, but glad that, as you say, you’re working and enjoying life.
Thanks, Simon, that is positive feedback that I treasure. Although you don’t hear much from me now, I’m a regular reader and value your blogs.
With a couple of days off, you’re getting a splurge from me. Expect radio silence after today.
Now, recruitment.
I think we’re now back at a level where new arrivals can slowly find their way into the squad and win the fans over. It isn’t like in the Premier League where every point counts and you have to hit the ground running, something we paid the price for not doing.
Take Nsue. I don’t believe he was immediately embraced. It took time for him to formulate that understanding with Albert, score his first goal and earn his own song.
But what I admittedly failed to realise was that this was the amount of time that we could no longer afford to give our players once we were at a higher level.
I used to repeatedly use the argument which AK no doubt would have used too – that being, Cech and Drogba came in for popular players and Chelsea won a title, Vidic and Evra looked off the pace in the second half of 2005-06 yet became key
cogs in Fergie’s third great team once they’d found their way, and C. Ronaldo took three years to become the player we all know today.
But when you’re Chelsea and United, and not Boro, you can give players that sort of time because you’ve enough of the requisite quality around them.
That was a problem.
I also applaud NikeBoro’s comment on Eric McMordie.
I’m slowly finding that the best commentators and analysts, in other words, the ones whose views stay with you, are those that can see and hear things that we don’t want to see and hear while riding the crest of the wave, but are eventually found to be true at least in part.
Misfires, I have read, are often most revealing. When the results don’t come, the team doesn’t flow and the happy memories don’t arise, we are left to stare at a kind of naked wreckage. This “wreckage” is often what the manager’s tenure is about – you just don’t notice, or don’t want to notice (or in the manager’s case, don’t want anyone to notice) when the ride’s working.
There is a commenter on the Guardian with the ID of Sivori10 who would rival Spartak for soothsaying. His critical comment on Spain’s World Cup winners of 2010 – four years before their supremacy ended – turned out to be most prescient indeed.
“I feel the final (of 2010) adds to the suspicion that Spain is two players short of being a great team. The football is nice. It’s pretty. However, the lack of a cutting edge, and the inability to change tempo makes them one-dimensional. Their contribution to the sterility of the final was this inability to “do something else”… Can you imagine this Spain playing against a competent and complete opponent? Both previous (simultaneous) holders of the European Championship and the World Cup (West Germany and France – Si) would have happily allowed them to weave pretty patterns in the centre of the field, but then struck – zack-zack – when the opportunities arose (as they surely would). In a fantasy game I can seen Beckenbauer cutting through the dilettantism and bringing the ball forward to Netzer; the blonde one sending one of those booming front foot passes through to Heynckes (or Hoeness), who would easily outpace the square Spanish rearguard, and have a clear run on goal. Casillas would save the shot, but (Gerd) Muller would be on hand to tap in the rebound. Game over!”
Lack of a cutting edge, inability to change tempo, one-dimensional, sterility… those words are frighteningly familiar.
Simon
cannot argue with any of that, and do not want to.
But, I do hope that we do not revert to our utterly hopeless attempts at trading in the market.
I am dismayed at the idiotic price being quoted for Gibson, twenty five million? They are fools.
The blogs are full of players, late twenties, and older, their clubs are quoting 50- 60- 70 million and sound as though they mean It.
Spurs quoting 200 million for Kane, surely we are not going to give him away, are we?
Is de Sart dead wood or a bad apple, or Fischer come to that. What has Monk based his opinion on, that these two are not up to it??
Looking like last season, with possible 10 or more new players coming in. And as I said in my last post, waiting for the leftovers from the lower EPL teams, may leave us with little time to get real improvements to “smash the League”
A risky business at the moment, though as Jarkko would say, “in Monk we trust”
Monk will have watched all the video performances of the Boro players including De Sart who was at Derby
He also has performance analyst who can provide statistical data for every player in any league in any county
There ain’t any hiding place these day s
OFB
I agree, many a time I have posted that other clubs have conditioning coaches, sport scientists, analysts and that we were not unique.
Many clubs are looking for next superstar to develop and sell on, they have academies – some even produce first team players. Our academy had its golden generation but has not produced the same numbers since the youth cup winning team. We are not unique in that regard.
We tend to live in a Boro bubble but out there are coaches, players, boards trying their best. Not everybody can win every week.
It seems that Barragan is leaving less than a year after he arrived in July. On Untypical I posted:
“July 11, 2016 at 3:03 pm
I see we are being linked with Antonio Barragan from Valencia, maybe as a “bogof” offer. I’m not sure he adds value to the squad and certainly not what I was expecting for competion at RB.
I’d rather we put a bid in for Kalas than Barragan or look elsewhere altogether. At 29 he is what he is and not likely to improve or be a revelation. His career seems to be one of not getting many games at clubs and being pushed out. It has the look of a Kike Sola type deal leaving us scratching our heads wondering por qué.”
Fast forward 11 months and I wonder what was involved in that deal (and a few others) that made it/them so appealing at the time? When unqualified mere fans can spot a dud before a ball was kicked its worrying that somebody within MFC was conned into sanctioning the payments for such dross.
Hopefully now that Monk is a “Manager” apparently and not a mere “Coach” we will see an end to such absurdity (I euphemistically use the word “absurdity” to avoid what I really thought at the time and what I’m convinced of now).
Rumour of Brentford keeper Bentley to Boro for 3m….
Did Alan Kernaghan play for Charlton v Boro and Colin Walsh, Boro v Charlton when on a loan swap at the Valley?
The middle of summer approaches and it is good to see some staples of the English summer prevail.
Hot sunny weather during exams, longest day followed by cooler wet weather as Wimbledon and test matches approach, football fans scratch their heads at players linked with their clubs.
Every now and then we have the truly defining moment, an England team lose to Germany on penalties.
Middlesbrough are poised to add ex-Liverpool defender Tom Brewitt to their Under-23 ranks, The Gazette understands.
The 20-year-old, who was released from Anfield this summer, will join up with Boro’s development side as he looks to impress club staff and forge a career in the Football League.
Liverpool-born Brewitt has been at the Reds’ Academy for the last decade, and upon leaving the Merseysiders earlier this month, he admitted he was ready to take “the next step” in his career.
That step is set to be in the North-east with Boro, after undergoing a medical on Tuesday, and he’ll now be hoping to help his new side hit the ground running in the upcoming 2017/18 Premier League 2 campaign.
Writing on his Instagram page , Brewitt said: “It’s time to announce that I’ll be leaving LFC after 10 years.
“From joining as a 10-year-old, I have had countless unforgettable experiences making a lot of special memories and some real friends in both players and coaches along the way.
“My goal when I joined was and always will be to play at the highest level, whatever path that takes me down.
“Now it’s time to take the next step in my senior career. Hopefully one day I’ll be back.”
Brewitt joined the Liverpool ranks at Under-11 level and progressed through the age groups, eventually captaining the Reds’ Under-18 side after impressing the club’s staff with his leadership qualities and unrelenting high standards.
The versatile defender made his international debut with England’s Under-17s in the 2012 Victory Shield, and was part of the same Young Lions squad as Boro-born centre-back Dael Fry.
It is a pre-requisite in the laws of football that Germany must never lose a match in a penalty shoot-out.
Ian, as the first day of Summer was 21st June, and Midsummer day was 24th June, is Summer only a six day season?
Seems about right to me, but I do love rhetorical questions!
Ian
Ironic that pre-match talk was of England preparing for penalties and Germany not.
Talk of Mcmordie and no end product, is how I rate Ross Barkley, all show for ten minutes a game, then nothing, for a so called top player, he makes horrendous decisions, on the ball,
Ken
I could never reconcile the football season starting in warm sunny weather on hard, bouncy pitches and half the cricket matches off due to rain stopped play.
Team TalK News
Middlesbrough launch bid to beat Villa to Man Utd keeper
Date published: Wednesday 28th June 2017 11:57
Sam Johnstone: Signed for Villa
Middlesbrough have launched a bid to land Manchester United goalkeeper Sam Johnstone, TEAMtalk understands.
Boro currently have Connor Ripley and Dimitrios Konstantopoulos ready to battle it out for their number one jersey next season, but new boss Garry Monk clearly wants to improve this department.
ADVERTISING
The 24-year-old Johnstone had looked set to join Aston Villa on a permanent deal, the club he finished last season on loan at and impressed hugely.
A number of clubs, including Monk’s former club Leeds, are reported to have made approaches to United in recent weeks – but it was Villa who looked to be nearing a deal.
But now Boro have come in and are ready to offer a £5million package to United, which includes an initial £2.5million payment and the rest made up in add-ons.
Sam Johnstone: Moves to Deepdale for a month
Despite never playing for United, Johnstone has a lot of experience with over 100 games after over half-a-dozen loan spells in recent seasons with the likes of Villa, Scunthorpe, Preston and Doncaster.
Reports are suggesting that one of Manchester United`s goalkeepers could be set to leave the club on a permanent basis.
After spending time out on loan last season, at Aston Villa, reports in The Sun suggest that Sam Johnstone is set to call time on his Old Trafford career.
Our aforementioned source is championing the fact that Johnstone will be joining Middlesbrough.
Johnstone is set to sign a two-year deal with Manchester United receiving a fee of £2.2 million.
Middlesbrough are in urgent need of a decent goalkeeper, the Teeside side lost their Premier League status last season with the subsequent knock-on effect that their two top-keepers, Victor Valdes and Brad Guzan have moved on.
Here at Vital Manchester United we`d like to take this opportunity to wish Sam all the best at Middlesbrough as he pursues his career elsewhere on a permanent basis.
Click here to join in the debate on the club forum.
Read more: http://www.manchesterunited.vitalfootball.co.uk/article.asp?a=496139#ixzz4lIrZiS00
Ian
It looks like the pink ball Cricket day/night matches will be a flop with the wet weather.
I remember when the first Japanese golfer (possibly Isao Aoki) played in the British Open some 40 years ago, he asked in all seriousness why it wasn’t played in the Summer.
Mildly surprised about the queries around the de Sart decision. Monk would hardly have needed to do much research on the lad’s abilities. De Sart put in two very public televised performances against Norwich and Brighton in which he revealed himself to be so far out of his depth that he was hooked at half-time on both occasions. Gary Rowett made a very public statement that he would not be considering him for selection because he was a loan player who would be leaving at the end of the season. I suspect this “explanation” may have been concocted to save the lad’s blushes.
I agree Len. The probability of De Sart having a future 20M transfer I would have thought is slim.
The only concern I have about rumoured outgoings is Fischer. He was a genuine “wonderkid” and looked to have something about him, although confidence seemed an issue. He takes a decent set piece and has decent pace. Of any of the players rumoured to be leaving he is the one where I feel we would make a deal now at a fraction of his potential worth.
The De Pena’s and the De Sart’s of this world aren’t going to be causing me any sleepless nights in missed transfer fees.
Smoggy, I’m not so confident that Fischer will become a valuable asset despite his “wonderkid” reputation. He can show some good skills but for me he too often goes missing for lengthy periods in matches. It may be that the Championship will suit him better but I guess we have to trust Monk to make the right decision about both him and De Sart.
http://www.gazettelive.co.uk/sport/football/transfer-news/middlesbrough-winger-viktor-fischer-vows-13252784
Watching de Sart he reminds me of a de Roon Lite, a years loan would do him no harm at all.
The initial thoughts from Derby fans were that he could play a bit and they were pleased with him, later on the concerns were where any pass was likely to end up.
De pena is another matter, I cant see a role for him at Boro, he doesn’t star at anything at the moment.
Fischer I would like to keep and see how he gets on especially as Downing, Ramirez and possibly Traore look to be on the way out. In that situation he is likely to be given opportunities in pre season and that will be a chance to impress.
It may also be opportunity knocks for the likes of Harry Chapman and Callum Cooke.
The young lad coming in from Liverpool intrigues me, didn’t really get a chance at Liverpool at U23 level. May turn out to be a shrewd move.
I agree about Fischer; don’t think he was given enough chances by Karanka. I would also give Chapman, Cooke and Fry chances, possibly at first in the League Cup.
Well Fischer has joined de Sart out the door. Only hope we recouped our monies on these two players.
Monk is not letting the grass grow under his feet is he…..only hope he has some good replacements / players ready to sign for Boro.
Bury have rejected two bids from Middlesbrough for 18-year-old striker George Miller.
Sorry to see Fischer has been sold.
Another in a long line of purchases who have not been given a fair chance to hold down a position in the team.
Word will soon get around if this keeps happening and players will not want to come to us.
Assuming that SD, GR and AT move on then GM is going to have to do a lot of rebuilding at the front end. Not forgetting we are now light at full back following AB’s departure.
Does not bode well for smashing the league. 😎
I would have thought that Fischer was worth retaining for the Championship both for the clubs benefit and the Players giving him an opportunity to rebuild his career. He has jumped from a top Championship club with the opportunity to perhaps become established and back in the Premiership to a Bundesliga relegation battle.
As perhaps one of the very few Players I had an open mind on it just highlights how poor our recruitment was under Orta. I’m a little uncomfortable at his departure but perhaps his wages were Premiership and he didn’t fancy a Championship salary. I have no problem with him going so long as we bring in “better” as “better” is where we went wrong last Season. The only problem is that “better” should ultimately mean that lower Prem clubs are chasing the same targets (like Assombalonga).
Clearing out is no bad thing as it blows cobwebs away but I’m becoming just a little concerned that we are maybe entering throwing babies out with the bath water territory?
I’ve mentioned before a lot of these players have escape clauses in their contracts in the event of relegation i would suspect his was one of them
Fischer is now history, hope he does well.
We are certainly seeing the fruits of our famed recruitment teams labours, those supposedly succulent Orange Pippins have turned in to crab apples.
As a person with scientific training my concern is the number of changes that will be taking place. You need something to measure against.
Last summer I described it as a squad rebuild whilst some said tweaks, it seems we are heading the same way.
The problem is we don’t really know whether some of those leaving could have done a job, what we don’t know is the information available to Monk and his merry men. They may have looked at videos and stats that has driven their judgements.
Very little is secret in the industry, we brought a player in several years ago and a Derby player told me all about his stats.
I see that the two leading clubs are now trying to sign Ben Gibson. Both these clubs think in terms of 40-50-60million when trying to sign someone from any other club. So to suggest that putting 25 mill on his head is going to put them off is , frankly, silly. That sum is small change to these people, indeed, we are getting bids from the bottom feeders, and they would certainly make a good turn on him within a year.
Sadly, we are still in the dark when it comes to business.
The going rate is 40million, but you must be brave and set the price then shut up.
I notice that we set a price for De Roon far too low, in fact, making a loss on him. We definitely have no idea.
If Ben goes then de Roon and like as not Traore we are definitely not “tweaking” or even “refining” but totally rebuilding. Maybe Fischer’s injury record is what put Monk off and in fairness I can’t blame him on that score. The lad has been plagued and his time at Boro wasn’t injury free either. What I find a little concerning is that no money is mentioned and I’m getting twitchy that our Premiership Parachute payment is maybe looking a bit tattered already!
So we are needing the following:
Keeper (an experienced Championship Keeper by the looks of it) (1)
Right Back (at least one maybe two) (2)
Left Back (Husband I think needs to resurrect his career elsewhere and I can’t even contemplate if Friend goes) (1)
Centre Back (two or maybe three, to replace Chambers, maybe Gibson and is Ayala fit again after his bout of Karankaitis?) (2)
Defensive Midfield (should be OK with Grant, Clayts and Forshaw) (0)
Attacking Midfield (depends who you count but Ramirez and Downing are both out so that makes at least two to come in maybe three?) (2)
Wingers (seems likely Traore is going and that leaves us with ermm, ehhh, mmmm? so probably at least three then) (3)
Strikers (Stuani is OK for me as a Striker, same for Bamford, Gestede is Plan “B” although it never worked, so as a minimum we need a Negredo replacement) (1)
That is a minimum of 12 new Players to come in and we know what happened last season. That will take some gelling, building and bonding. Now I know the recruits last year were all wrong for too many various reasons but if we don’t get it right this time we could find ourselves being smashed or at best struggling Villa style wondering what happened and why? A bad start and a spluttering unconvincing Autumn and things could take a turn for the worse.
The club needs a few new convincing faces brought in and by that I don’t mean a Northern Counties double glazed windscreen league starlet with “potential” or even Sam Johnstone for that matter (not that I have an issue if that particular lad does arrive). I know it all takes time, negotiations and discussions don’t happen overnight but I hope we are not trying to “smash” this league on a budget whilst flogging the family jewels. Barragan seems to have slipped away (almost) quietly as has de Sart and now Fischer, hopefully we can bring a few in the same way.
Redcar red
If newcomers slip in quietly it generally means they left elsewhere quietly. There is generally a reason for the silence around such deals.
Valdez, Guzan, Barragan, Chambers, de Sart, Fischer, Negredo, Downing and like as not Ramirez all gone, sold or told to go. Thats nine pretty much definitely out of the door with six of them regular starters in the Premiership.
Add the links and paper talk on Gibson, Friend, de Roon, Traore and Sheffield Wednesday continually linked with Ayala and that could be fourteen players (and I haven’t even mentioned Rhodes) possibly exiting. I’m well aware that some of those mentioned in the first paragraph are garbage and I’d personally be happy to drive them to the nearest Airport but there is a tipping point and fourteen players out of a squad of say 26 or 27 is too close a shave.
Espinosa, Husband, Mejias, Guedioura, Gestede and de Pena, are amongst those not included in the above outgoings. My mattress is soaking as Borophil would likely say and its only one day into pre season. Meanwhile we seem to be replacing Villa with Bristol City as this season’s feeder club if rumours are correct.
SG is going to have to pull a few Rabbits out of the hat soon or the natives will be well and truly restless. Perhaps we are going to buy a complete team? Hope it’s Chelsea.
Redcar Red in response to your post at 5:54 regarding lack of information about Fischer fee, the Northern Echo reports that Boro recouped the vast majority of the £3.8m they paid Ajax 12 months ago.
Come on BORO.
I just read that Exmil in the Echo thanks but it seems to be the only reference and a bit vague. I guess if we got £2m for him that could be regarded as the “majority” of the fee back. Either way he’s another one of “Value Victor’s” great scouting network finds down the road. Talk about stealing a living, SG must be kicking himself he ever let Orta near the Club.
So Fischer and De Sart gone with Downing and Ramirez likely to follow, and the endless enigma that is Traore, who I think will go if any of the speculative interest materialises.
Once again we see that creative midfield is absolutely threadbare. I was pointing this out before when I thought Downing and De Sart would be in there as squad players, but as it is now, there are no obviously dominant first team starters and little back up either.
There certainly isn’t any safety-first policy of hanging onto players until their replacements are signed and through the door.
I suppose there is Guedioura, but Garry Monk seems to be decisive about who he wants and doesn’t want, so who knows if he will stay. Chapman may be more promising than we understand yet.
We must assume that there are some really good moves developing behind the scenes, because at the moment there is almost no-one to create goals and as such we couldn’t logically guarantee a mid-table finish, let alone promotion.
I too am slightly concerned at the wholesale changes that are taking place.
Not least because people will know we’re desperate and prices will be hiked astronomically.
I don’t think it’s physically possible to sign ten players, all ready to start in the team and to gel as well.
Think this season can almost already be written off as transitional. It will take some pretty inspiring signings to change my mind and I don’t think as a championship club that we are that attractive a proposition to the sort of player that would make me more optimistic about things.
On your signings rr I would agree we don’t need another defensive midfielder providing we only play with one. I wouldn’t be happy with two from three from forshaw, leadbitter and Clayton. Don’t think any of them are dynamic enough to create or take the chances that you need the midfielders to if you want to get out of this league. We only did it with ak by the skin of our teeth and that was with a rock solid defence. I don’t think we can rely solely on that again.
Paul
Re “the rock solid defence”
I would suggest that’s gone forever.
To be fair, an awful lot of people demanded that it be disappeared, as they say, when it was at it’s best. I never understood that view, because every Boro supporter has lived with a dicey defence for a very long time( 7-8-9 years) and it makes a very nice comfort blanket on a match to match basis
I have just been watching the video cassette “128 Years Later”, the Carling Cup Final of Boro’s great triumph at the Millenium Stadium in 2004.
The first thing that struck me is what an improvement has been made in recording techniques since the advent of DVDs.
As for the occasion itself it brought back happy memories as my late wife and I watched the match in a bar in the Algarve.
As for the match I had forgotten how, after Bolton scored they dominated most of the remainder of the first half. When I had watched the match live I had thought that Boro had been the dominant team in the first half.Strange how one’s memory sometimes plays tricks, although over the 90 minutes Boro were the better team.
The other thing was the mercurial form of Mark Schwartzer. He made some great saves, but seemed very tentative on crosses and made several handling errors especially in the first half.
Overall though Bolton’s defence was so poor whereas, apart from the handball in the penalty area by Ehiogu which the referee missed, Boro’s defence was generally untroubled. I also thought Mendieta was superb and that the final score flattered Bolton as Boro missed three or four real chances to score on the counter attack in the last ten minutes.
When I saw the match live in 2004 I had thought the margin of victory was about right, but having now seen the recording it seemed a much more comfortable win. I put that down to the tension at the time.
I was there Ken and the tension, anxiety, nerves and even collywobbles meant that I remember the two Boro goals, have no recollection of the Bolton goal. I recall the TLF running away towards the Bolton goal clean through and willing him to find a burst of adrenalin from somewhere but his tired legs couldn’t go any faster and his fairy tale opportunity gone with it.
I remember the final whistle and thinking that we had won a Cup but was I dreaming? There were cheers and screams all around, loud bangs and fireworks but it still didn’t seem possible and until I saw some dodgy dancing and the cup along with SG and Southgate holding it up parading round the pitch. I watched it when I got back home that night and never watched it back since. The feeling was so surreal that I feel even now watching it might water down and detract from those unbelievable memories.
I also liked Fischer so I was a bit surprised to see him go. But he was injured at Ajax and later at Boro. So perhaps there were concerns about his fitness and hence suitability to the Championship. There is a lot of matches this season. So not possibly best for a player like Fiscer.
I think we will try to hold on to de Roon and Gibson. If I remember correctly, neiher Burnler nor Hull sold many key players when the were last relagated. And Boro have the money to keep the players they want (of course the players must be comfortable with staying for a season in lower level, too).
But Ramirez and de Pena are more difficult to off-load than Fisher. I think Gaston must have a reputation now. Most clubs know what kind of player they will get – tallenteiden but not te best of attitude. And sensitive for injuries.
Well, the transfer window opens on Saturday and we all know that most of the business will be happening later in the summer. But we do need to get a few creative players in before the season will start.
So patience is needed again. But at least we are a month or two in front of our friends at the Stadium of Light. They do not know who is the owner nor manager.
Up the Boro!
£10m for de Roon would seem a bit low but probably not a loss as players are written down over the contract.
The irritating part would be the fact he has a year under his belt and should be a better player this time round so you would expect a better fee.
If he is going, a bidding war is preferable, someone exercising an exit clause would be a blow..
I think he has a Fee Clause in his contract, probably after relegation.
I voiced my concerns before the end of last season and before the “smash this league” comments, that we would need to keep the core of the team together and in fact preferably invest in players like Negredo and Chambers.
This does not appear to be happening and as RR has already said it is getting close to throwing the baby out with the bath water.
If De Roon is also allowed to go as has been mooted then it is probably a step to far unless the incomings add major value to the team which I doubt.
I understand Ian’s rationale on pricing and to a degree Boro’s hand may be being forced by a buy out clause but surely he is worth more than £10m given what we paid for him and his performance last season must have added to his value? Are we again being taken for a ride in the transfer market?
I suppose until we see who GM recruits it is difficult at this stage to form a view as to how the team are likely to perform. Quality is important but also getting them to gel is another and I have always been concerned about too many changes.
This all has the hallmarks of a two season rather than one project and i am beginning to feel uneasy despite my support for the appointment of GM.
It’s bide your time time and watch what unfolds. Certainly keeping me interested and watching for every snippet of news relating to MFC.
KP
Your concern over the dealing in players is justified, in my opinion.
How can you sign a player for twelve million(plus the cost of the deal) and put in a buyout clause at a lower price?
In any case the trigger price is not the determining factor, it just allows him to talk about going. Why don’t we get a friendly club to offer more? That would free up the market in a hurry. We could do the same for them in the future.
” we will not pay 80 million for a veteran.” great club
” We will not let him go for less than 80 million” (central defender) good dealers
” we are going to sign him for 20 million” best young English defender
Which player belongs to the Boro? Answers on a postcard.
I’m beginning to share your views KP. I too welcomed the appointment of Garry Monk, but this “asset stripping” is becoming alarming.
I personally hate all the speculation from the national press, and encouraged by the Gazette reporters, of which players Boro are interested in buying or have made an approach for. Most of it is absolute rubbish and not worthy of comment.
The club also would be well advised not to disclose its targets, as in my opinion it not only encourages a bidding war, but if Premier League clubs are also interested in the same targets, I would guess they would have a decided advantage.
No, it would be preferable to keep one’s counsel on such speculation. No doubt Garry Monk has his wish list, but am I the only person who can’t get excited until we actually sign such players? At the moment our squad is sparse and the team would be hard pressed to finish mid-table.
KP
I agree about the pricing, it was not my rationale, just a guesstimate at the situation.
As I posted, a year under his belt should add to his value but if someone has agreed the £10m get out clause then they should hang their head in shame.
The model was to recruit good players through our wonderful recruitment team and make a profit, even during the Ziege mess we got £2m more than we paid because of the clause.
That all presupposes the clause exists, if it does I could hardly blame de Roon if ManU came in for him and he left.
Option 1 – take a pay cut to battle for promotion at Boro in front of 23,000 crowds.
Option 2 – join ManU, get a pay rise and have a chance play in front of 75,000, in the premiership and Champions League.
Shall we have a poll on what we would do in his position?
If we must have a Poll can it be Lewandowski please?
No doubt if Orta was still here it would ultimately be an exit Poll.
The problem is not what the players want
This has happened and is happening every day at this club, this was an accident waiting to happen.
It is not just one way, Gibson is being treated Very badly by this level of incompetence.
The defender being sold by Southampton will be treated well by his new club, helped to adjust, not dropped, given a better contract, and longer.
By our stupidity Gibson could easily be bought by a lesser club and even if he is sold cheap to one of the giants, he will be paid less, dropped more and treated with less respect.
This matters, why would you try to turn Up a great player from your youth set up if you are going to give him away for washers.
Redcar Red
As de Roon comes from Holland maybe we can have a Dutch Auction.
”A Dutch auction is a type of auction in which the auctioneer begins with a high asking price which is lowered until some participant is willing to accept the auctioneer’s price, or a predetermined reserve price is reached. The winning participant pays the last announced price. This is also known as a clock auction or an open-outcry descending-price auction.”
Seems about right for us, buy at £14m and sell at £10m.
Ian, this is similar to house purchasing in Scotland, but not quite the same. A minimum figure is advertised and a time limit set for when the bids (made in secret) are opened, the highest offer is obliged to pay the sum offered.
Of course it would be difficult to administer with football players, as the player might not fancy the terms, location or status of the club winning the auction.
plato
It is an open goal
I think
Ball trickles across the box!
Redcar Red
Already tucked away.
🙂
Have we signed anyone yet?
I hesitate to talk about any players at the club, because the last time I did so (expressing my enthusiasm for keeping Fischer) the electronic ink was barely dry before he’d pitched up at Mainz and enthused about the opportunity to “enjoy his football again”. The Anti-AK crew amongst you will no doubt have attributed that as a direct dig against his former management team, however I am more prosaic in these matters.
I sense however some panic about the amount of player turnover. I think Paul, above, mentioned that this looks like a two season project. Well, perhaps it is? Perhaps Monk and Gibson are fully aligned that this is a two-season project. Objection #1 – Gibson’s vow to smash the league. As we all know, this was a passionate, reflexive outburst. Perhaps it was also made before he knew exactly how deep he would be wading through the crap at the club from The Spanish Experiment. It’s one thing thinking you’ve got an ankle deep splosh through a gentle ford to suddenly find yourself in a knee-deep raging torrent.
Objection #2 – Monk set himself the target of promotion this year. Well, yes he did. But he was bound to wasn’t he. After all, the Chairman said we were going to smash the league, it wouldn’t sit well with the armchair anger-brigade to come right out on Day 1 and say that he’s targeting a repeat of last season with Leeds, including ingloriously fading from Play Off contention. He has a new club, a squad of players who want to believe they will come back in one go – of course he would say that.
We have to be realistic. Clearly the problems at the club run deep. Clearly last year’s recruitment was poor and focussed on numbers and not quality. Clearly many of those recruits are unsuited to the Championship (Barragan, Valdez, Fischer…). Clearly we will also lose one or two key assets who have demonstrated some skills in the rarefied atmosphere of the PL (Gibson, Friend, Traore). Add in the malcontents (Ramirez, Downing) the failed projects (De Pena) and the “all filler, no killers” (Guediora, Espinosa, Guzan) and you’re already up to a dozen players.
We are seeing the quick dismantling of a two year project. I think we should in some ways be grateful for that. After all, it’s better than Valdez sitting around claiming a bumper wage for the next year and seeing out his semi-retirement on the Riviera del Hurworth.
Smoggy
Agree with all that apart from the “Clearly many of those recruits are unsuited to the Championship” I would say that they weren’t suited to the Premiership let alone the Championship!
Happy for us to be clearing out has beens on fat salaries, happy to be clearing out the no hopers and deadwood, happier still that by and large its pretty much the same individuals who would be on a collective list drawn up by the contributors on here. Fischer is perhaps the exception but as Jarkko rightly pointed out games coming thick and fast and the more brutal aspect of the Championship wasn’t maybe a best fit for an injury prone player.
Our collective hopes (nay expectations) are that the arrivals are better than the departures. I’m confident that Monk knows what he is doing and it may simply be that he figures that having Chapman means he doesn’t need or want Fischer. I’d reckon that he knew a fair bit about the personnel before he took the Job and will have spent an inordinate amount of time talking to and learning about his charges.
My biggest wish is that we don’t go down the path of signing a “particular type” again, I have had enough of the Spanish Inquisition and the Tartan Jocktification.
Redcar Red
Don’t forget Southgate’s wet lettuces.
The article OFB linked to a few weeks ago had our worst ever buys as Alves, Midough and Dong Goal Less. Add in Aliadioveragain, Euelluseless, Emnes, Digard, Hoyte, Marlon King, the Donkey St Ledger, Caleb Folan etc.
Plus clearing out Luke Young, Cattermole, Boat and Rochembach in a transfer window with no suitable replacements.
Downing, Huth, Tuncay fire sale.
All Strickens jocks added together cost two thirds of an Alves. The problems didn’t start with Jockification, it just didn’t solve the almighty mess created by the Unholy Trinity. That is where the true cause of the problems came from.
I am going for a lie down.
Ian
I’m still smiling at your description of utter dumbness in the trading and dealing in players.
Your group of Downing Huth and Tuncay shows in many ways the utter lack of knowledge of players, their place in the team structure, their importance, and the difficulty of replacing them.
The utter foolishness of selling Huth, just safely through a mystery foot injury, which had cost him his Chelsea career, young, powerful, with a nasty streak a mile wide. We of course never came near fielding anyone half as good as him since then.
Stoke stayed in the Prem. (easily)
We left the Prem. And the roof fell in (and that roof still hasn’t been repaired)
Well things are gettin juicy enough for a Spartak contribution, me thinks!
Woody gets the downward promo of being assistant to the U18’s. Hopefully he’ll keep the £20 notes in his wallet & not throw them around tellin ‘kids’ to go buy themselves a drink.
Drink culture at the Boro has been a disaster & should be stamped out. Though I dont believe the executive management cajones to raise their voice to an introverted hamster.
Strong shouts for the 2nd or 3rd place Man U keeper to be brought into the fold. Aston Villa wanted him but find themselves short of spondoolies. While, he who was once known as the ‘Special One’, seems very impressed with De Roon. If so very impressed we’d like £20 million for him thank you very much, the richest club in the world.
Finally, young chap from Forest on the radar & £10 million ort to do it. I’d say a big yeas to £7 million with a further £3 million based on performances and autopromo (slap an added bonus in there for the player & Bob’s yer Bono’s yer uncle).
Finally, finally, Snodgrass couldn’t make the grade at the Ammers so maybes he’s good for a season long loan with option to purchase given autopromo and we’ll split his wages 50/50.
That’s it from me for now sportsfans – its bloody hot here at the foot of the White Carpathians. Its been over 31ºC for 2 weeks and 19ºC at night. O for a lemontop and 15ºC stripped off to the waist whilst paddling in the paddlin pool on the stray at sunny Redcar.
UTB
Sunny Redcar? It hardly reached double figures yesterday. Rained solid for two days, even put the central heating on, and I usually have hot flushes with my hormone injections.
There’s a surprise, more than one club interested in Barragan’s services!
Hope it turns into a bidding war and we get our money back – fat chance!
PS
Spartak It’s 33 on the costa and 21 at night! 😎
I see the EG are reporting that JW has been appointed as the under 18 Academy coach.
Couldn’t find any confirmation on the fancy new club website!
Ramirez is not in Monk’s plans. I must admit I am starting to wonder who is, we may have Woodie at centre back and Beattie up front
Polish them boots, Ian. Your name could appear on the first team list sometime soon!
🙂
So , quite a few things happening at the club but we seem to be getting fed scraps every day . What has happened to Agnew for example , will that be announced in the next few days ? It seems to me that the club are still not communicating enough with the supporters and we are relying on small bits of info from unknown sources and people who say ” I know someone in the at the club and this is what is going to happen ” but never does . Also the EG ridiculous Premium service , does anybody really pay for that ? We all seem to be going round scratching our heads at the moment , so roll on the first game off the season and then we should know the answers we are currently desperately wondering about .
oops , pity we can’t edit….”in the at the club” and i have only had one had 1 can off lager !
I see Sunderland have appointed Grayson as their new manager, I just wonder if it is Simon or Larry.
Come on BORO.
Has the tranfer window closed already as there is some negativity around?
Me thinks it opens on Saturday, like.
Up the Boro!
You old cynic you 😉
Exmil
Depends if Grayson tells them to shut that door as the players leave.
If they give him time at Sunderland he will prove a steady manager to take the club forward.
Elsewhere Everton and Leicester added to the list of clubs looking to sign Gibson. More stories about de Roon off to ManU.
It looks like lots of cut and paste but there will be some substance with clubs interested.
Apart from the odd youngster, project or free agent It is fairly normal that bigger clubs lead the transfer activity. Just the nature of the food chain.
Forest wont suddenly let Assombalonga leave to us at the start of the window, they will try to keep hold of him and if he does leave they will want a bidding war with Premiership clubs involved as well as us.
We wont see any good players coming in until late in the window if at all.
With Borini and Defoe departing yesterday does Grayson have any players left to shut the door behind them?
We are concerned on here about the turnover in players but at least we acknowledge that by and large they are the ones that should be going. Sunderland are losing their best players either because their contracts or loans have lapsed (Anichebe, Januzaj) or sold like Jordan Pickford, worrying times for the Makem fans. Having said that I think Grayson is the ideal Manager for them so long as their fans and board are realistic and give him time to sort out a huge mess.
We on the other hand are merely worried about our squad becoming too small (or too drastic an overhaul) rather than who is going but at least confident that there will be signings and hopefully some impressive ones.
If de Roon is remotely good enough to get into a Manchester United team, then he should have been playing (fitness allowing) every minute of every game for Boro last season. Did he? And, rather than looking OK and a possible “one for the future” I would have expected him to shine amidst the relative gloom we saw on the field in a relegation season. I am not sure that he did.
I am not having a go at him. He performed better than several others but he hardly shone out like a beacon in the darkness. If he does go to Manchester United, and does well there and if, for example, Traore did something similar at another club, it must say something about how we are developing our players and progressing their careers.
Forever Domo
If you are trying to offload a so so player then you pray for an offer.
If your want away player is being chased by a couple of big boys then, in the real world you are in a position of power.
De Roon why are we even thinking of making a loss?
Downing three clubs want him, so why is he a free transfer?
Gibson, as the number of clubs interested in him rises, the fee does not budge.
Redcar Red
To some extent the overhaul is what it is. The footballing situation dictates what happens. We were relegated and the squad have taken a pay cut.
There are players who haven’t cut it, we all have views on who they are. There are players who want away be it Ramirez, Barragan wanting to return to Spain. Maybe Stuani would rather be back in Spain.
There are players who will attract good sized bids which may be too attractive to resist. By saying Gibson is £25m that’s sets the level for a left footed, young centre back in the England squad.
De Roon supposedly has a buy out clause of £10m, Jose knocks on the door with £10m plus what do you expect de Roon to say no.
No matter how well resourced you are if premiership clubs come knocking with offers of decent salaries and top flight football it will turn heads. Maybe no one leaves, may be a couple.
I don’t think we have a great deal of control over the situation, it could be like sand through the fingers, it could all be fine.
It seems that Gary Monk has really stirred up the water. As a group of loyal supporters we can’t see what’s going on, we can’t read his mind and the rumour mill is grinding while journalists seem to be reading their colleagues pieces and recycling furiously to look busy.
As for Mr Ramirez, I have a feeling that we will have to give him away plus a cash bonus for his new club before he rides his bike down the A1. In retrospect what a pity he didn’t go to Leicester… hindsight what a wonderful thing. He’s going to be wandering around like some malign spirit muttering ‘nobody loves me, everybody hates me’.
We all have to just keep watching as the water clears. It is torture though.
UTB,
John
Well, maybe Mr Ramirez’ Mum loves him, and whoever is helping him spend his munificent pay cheque each month. But yes, it would probably be accurate to say that most of the paying public at Boro do NOT love Ramirez. I’m not sure I’d go so far as to use the word “hate” used by Jarsue above, as that is a very strong word. But, yes, if he tripped up on a banana skin as he took to the football pitch, it would be hard to stifle a guffaw.
Perhaps we can get some money for Ramirez by putting him Ramsden’s window and then don’t redeem him.
Perhaps not.
UTB,
\John
jarsue
Ramirez, plenty on this blog said ” grab the money and run” when they could have done it. 16 million, being clueless about money is a killer.
That money would have made a good down payment on a block buster player.
On the 23rd May, I wrote:
“Boro’s tasks for this summer:
“1. Bring in a manager and backroom staff who know what the Championship is all about and have a record of success. This needs to happen in the next fortnight. My pick, if we can get him, is Jokanovic.
“2. Have him meet every player and get a firm answer on which want to stay and which want to go. Any that want to go should be allowed to for a reasonable fee.
“3. Assess those that want to stay and work out which are fit for purpose and which aren’t. Be honest with those who aren’t and inform them they will be moved on.
“4. Concurrently, start the recruitment process with the aim of assembling a quality, balanced squad clearly capable of winning promotion. I would urge against wholesale changes if that can be avoided, to avoid a lengthy settling-in period. The bulk of the new recruits should be, like their manager, players with Championship know-how.
“5. Erm, release a decent shirt??”
As we head towards the opening of the transfer window, I’m satisfied with the progress made so far and don’t (yet) share the worries several have confessed to above.
Clearly, Monk was not my first choice but he looks to have been the best of the available choices. Equally clearly, the clear out of those who want to leave or who Monk wants to leave is well underway. I’m even ok with the shift (though would have been very happy with a smaller sponsor’s logo, and arguably different sponsor altogether!).
The major factor remaining is recruiting and holding onto the right players. It is a big question given recent history.
Roll on July..
Forever
Some players shine when they move to a better club, some players don’t. A player may be bought for a specific role or for something a manager sees in him.
If I remember rightly, ignoring penalties, he scored more goals than Downing, Leadbetter, Forshaw, Ramirez, Fischer, Traore and Quedioura added together. That leaves our de Sart and de Pena.
It doesn’t tell us much other than how poor we were.
Jarsue. I think you could be right, I think we may have to give Ramirez away almost, just to off load his significant wages and decent signing-on fee, as he came on a FREE. Well not really as nothing in life is really free.
How many clubs will be willing to take a chance on him, even for nothing, as his wages and contract alone would pose a large risk.
And what is this about barragan going on loan now. why can´t we just sell him? Next year, another year older and worth less than he is now. Not even worth the 2mil plus we paid for him.
I think the loan will cover his wages and the club will just write down their losses on the spreadsheet. This is what happens when you buy players of questionable ability and at an age where reselling isn’t straightforward. Speaking of which I see we are now allegedly “favourites” to sign 29 year old Howson from Norwich. If he adds some much needed spark to our middle and we go straight back up then it constitutes a means to an end. Norwich are clearly adjusting to life in the Championship and selling off their “assets”.
Its maybe worth noting that de Roon is 26 years old and the club is maybe figuring cash in now rather than wait another two or so years for a “Championship” midfielder fee? Sell de Roon and bring in an experienced proven Championship level performer for half the price?
Redcar Red
If de Roon does have a get out clause we can think what we like, what will happen will happen. It is only an ‘if’.
Doesn’t make sense to buy a player for say £12m and agree a get out clause for £10m, there again our Recruitment since Orta arrived didn’t make a lot of sense full stop. Makes even less sense when the Player now has proven Premiership ability plus has won full international honours since procurement which would under normal circumstances push his value even higher. Regardless of clauses Ramirez illustrates the ultimate irrelevancy of such things.
Agree there RR, …some of these transfer contracts we have entered into appear to be one-sided. But may be when are newcomers to the EPl, getting players is harder than you think. Even under Robbo, we were paying over the top, especially in wages.
Still do not understand the “loan” for Barragan. If the want him next year at 1mil euros, then why not this year. Looks like another write off.
The way we are going at the moment with give-aways, loans and write downs there won´t be much left of the parachute, it will have a large hole in it.
Redcar Red
I did say ‘if’ in regards to the ‘possible’ sell on clause in de Roon’s contract, it could be paper talk. We have no way of knowing, it would be flawed logic, aka barmy, to buy a player for more than his sell on clause at his age.
If you go back through my posts I say the same as you regarding his experience etc.
But this is the Boro we are talking about, maybe they were basing it on how little we improve players.
Jonny Howson may be a “goal scoring” mid-fielder, but 5mil seems a lot for a 29 coming on 30 year old Championship player with no to little sell on value. plus we will probably have to give him a three year contract,as he has two left at Norwich.
Beggars belief.
Pedro
If we are going to chase thirty year old players, and pay five million for them, then we have learned nothing. We are still in the limbo land of the Southgate and after years.
It makes me feel sick, that we should be parading our utter shameless lack of knowledge of buying and selling players.
As for the fans saying that 25 million is a fair price for Gibson, hmm, I can only say that the buyer sets the price, always has done, always will do, notice that a thirty year old is not shovelled our way eagerly, they want five million. By the way, we are wanting to sign another player from some nondescript team, he missed whole wedges of last season with a badly damaged ankle.
Happy memories of our buying during the AK regime we seemed to sell them well.
I hear Forshaw may be used as bait for Britt. Warburton had him at Brentford
Paul Jenkins departed as Boro coach this afternoon
My quote of the day.
It’s from Ron In The Delta, from February 2015. The days when, if you can believe it, AK genuinely was untouchable at Boro and fans feared him leaving. Some paraphrasing, of course.
“The psyche of the Typical Boro supporter is surely a one off.
“Here we are, top of the Championship, odds on to at the very least make the play offs, with an inexperienced manager in only his second season in the English League who is proving he is definitely our chosen one.
“And (the UntypicalBoro comments section) spirals downwards into: When will he leave? We don’t deserve him. When the best offer comes, he’ll be off and what will we do? Who will take his place? Was Steve Agnew offered a sweetener to come here from, where… oh yes, Hull, who are really setting the Premiership on fire…
“Give me a break. Go and have a pint, make some tea, drink some exotic wine and get the heads back on straight.
“Of course sooner or later he’ll (possibly) move on. Doesn’t everyone these days. After all, in any line of work, money talks.
“When? Who cares. Enjoy this moment. Let’s face it, we, as fans, deserve it right now. We have served our time as the if only’s.
“Let’s just live for the moment and enjoy his and his team’s success, which is bringing sunshine into all our lives right now.”
AV’s response:
“It is in the Boro DNA to look ahead to where the wheels will come off.”
Remind me again Simon – when did the wheels come off? Couple of months later wasn’t it?
Just sayin like.
In Aitor we trust – really?
At the time it *looked* and *felt* right, Spartak. (Those words were written after Blackpool 1-2 Boro, not before Charltongate. That was a year away.)
Even later in the year, during the first half of 2015-16, we put runs of W7 D0 L0 and W8 D1 L0 together, with four goals conceded in those games.
That kind of run never usually happens for a club like Boro.
Of course, the negatives were stark, but when the positives overwhelm them, at least on paper…
Hence my stance at the time.
Just to say that the ‘nuances’ were howling right at me and the results meant little.
Past history now!
Simon
A new company, Wheelsonblocks’R’Us
Maybe a new song? ‘You’re getting sacked before you sign on!’
In the words of Mogga, it is what it is.
On a more amusing note, I saw highlights of Women’s Rugby Sevens series and there were a dozen New Zealand ladies doing the Haka. With he best will in the world it didn’t have the intensity of 23 huge, bearded hulks from the men’s game.
That isn’t a criticism of the women’s game because you shouldn’t compare them to the men but watch it as a sport in it’s own right. Same with cricket and football.
Article on Newsnow, Skybet says Leicester are 4-1 favourites to sign Ben Gibson
The logic is that both Morgan and Huth are 21 plus and Gibson would play.
Lets wait and see.
Sorry, make that 32 plus for Huth and Morgan.
Ian
I should add, GHW responded – very well – to AV, Ron and another guy who agreed with Ron.
“It is so important to get the club right from top to bottom.
“Who remembers this quote? ‘We didn’t see it coming.’
“We have a chance here to cement the club’s future and it can’t be left to chance…
“I want us to capitalise on this opportunity. I don’t want the occasional seat at the top table, getting scraps… The chairman can’t keep bailing us out. What happens when he no longer bankrolls the club? It’s the long term future I am concerned about.
“You may well be enjoying this season, but the attitude that we should enjoy it while we can is the reason why it doesn’t come along that often…
“I sometimes think that there is a tendency to wear the area’s history and deprivation as some kind of badge of honour. The same as the ‘small’ club up against the big boys.
“The days of past glories and history determining who is or isn’t a top club are long gone. The ones with the best business plans, academies and scouting networks will be the successful teams… When you have sound foundations, the rest follows.”
I see our home fixture against Wolves has been moved from Saturday to Friday March 30 at 19:45 to have an extra days rest before the Easter Monday game.
It looks like someone at the club is thinking ahead for once, I wonder who that could be.
Come on BORO.
Sheffield Wednesday are interested in signing Middlesbrough forward Gaston Ramirez.
How much are we paying them OFB!
UTB,
John
It’s a free to say sorry we sold you Rhodes who officially signed today !
Always look on the bright side. If he does go there that’ll be one promotion rival having crisis at a critical point. Now for a walk with the two terriers, the enforcers in the midfield!
UTB,
John
Ipswich have written to Championship clubs offering a reciprocal deal to cap the price of away tickets at £25
itfc.co.uk/news/2017/june…
Karanka burst into tears
The Spanish manager put all he had into Middlesbrough and it showed, with his emotions coming to the surface both in public and behind the scenes.
Karanka often found it hard to hide his frustration, whether that be at the club’s performance with transfers off the pitch, or what was happening on it. That almost led to the manager’s exit at least once, but when he did leave it looked to be a throw of the dice for salvation.
Speaking to Spanish newspaper Marca, Karanka was asked about Jose Mourinho’s backing of him. The Manchester United manager helped launched the idea of Middlesbrough Mutiny, with players getting their manager sacked, and Marca wanted to know more.
“No. Things were said that weren’t true. The best proof is what happened for my farewell. Assistants and analysts who have been in several teams were impressed that 18 players got up to say goodbye and thank me, and the other six called me. I have an extraordinary relationship with the majority.”
Asked for his best memory at Middlesbrough, Karanka obviously chose promotion and the feelings that gave him as a manager and as a man.
“Seeing 33,000 people so happy in an area that was having such a bad time because of the crisis was my best professional and personal moment. I locked myself in the office and burst into tears. The accumulated tension had to come out.”
Karanka wants to return to management again, and England is his preference, feeling it would help the stability of his family.
I burst into tears of joy when he left !
Never criticise the fans it’s our club nobody else’s
I see that the Northern Echo are now asking its readers to name their best eleven Boro players from a selected list in a 4-3-3 formation. Two surprises for me are the exclusion of Mick McNeil who won nine caps for England at left back despite having to play at right back because of the form of Gordon Jones.
The other surprise omission is Paul Merson who possibly played better for Boro than he did for Arsenal or Villa.
To be nit-picking, I’m certain George Hardwick scored at least two goals for Boro, not one as stated, I distinctly remember his scoring two penalties for Boro in a 3-2 win over Newcastle either Christmas Day or Boxing Day. That season I think Boro played Newcastle twice over Christmas and I think the 3-2 win was recorded after being 1-2 behind.
Unfortunately I can’t recall the year as I’m abroad on holiday and haven’t got my records to hand.
I didn’t. It didn’t have to end like that.
But it was his own bed that he made. As I suggested in my piece on cult managers, the better his statistics became, the more wrapped in his own cocoon he felt. More untouchable. So much so that the slightest dissension would cause derailment. Like in March 2016.
I think we had a Newcastle moment circa 1995-96. When we built up a healthy lead at the top of the table, there was something of a swagger to AKBoro that went hand in hand with their solidity.
The victories over Burnley, Brighton and Derby – all promotion rivals, note! – were testament to this. (Note to dissenters: how on earth could you be unhappy with that? On paper, at least.)
The catch was that the gravity of what we suddenly seemed destined to do – run away with the Championship – began to scare us. So, too, did the pressure. Aitor was losing his nerve. We needed a boost from somewhere. Cue Gaston – and Rhodes.
The second catch was that Rhodes was – can we definitely say this? – a Gibson intervention. Gibbo had seen the danger signs in a once imperious but now faltering collective, and had recognised it needed a goal boost. So fair play to him. But a goalscorer had no place in a hard-working, possession dominated unit modelled on, with little doubt, Spain’s much criticised Euro 2012 winners. (Great on paper, sterile on the pitch.)
Once Aitorgate had passed, tactical overthinking was generally thrown out the window and Rhodes enjoyed a purple patch before Aitor tried to assume full control again. The goals and appearances stopped, and the trouble started.
And now it’s time for my quote of the day!
First, some context. I was performing in a concert in Limavady, some twenty miles west of Derry. I’d had a great night, but whipping my phone out to check the Boro score (0-0 vs QPR, and the full time whistle was approaching) had put a dampener on it. I simply put the phone away and continued to enjoy the night.
Imagine my reaction at checking the score again once I returned home. What could have been dropped points at home had turned into another victory and clean sheet for the AKBoro book, with the promotion challenge right back on track. Joy unconfined.
But, as Len said in early February after the 0-0 draw at Leeds, there is a marked difference between supporting Boro from a distance and actually going to games.
“From half-way across the world, seeing the Boro at the top of the table and regularly picking up points is hunky-dory.
“Going to the games is a much more nuanced experience. And when you’ve travelled 400 miles to see us lose at home to Bristol City, or witnessed games against the likes of Preston or QPR when we scarcely had even a shot, then ‘nuanced’ doesn’t even cover it.
“Of course I still love going to the games and you can’t beat the match day experience, but I have, all too frequently this season, got back home often after a long trip, wondering whether it had all been worthwhile.”
The fun has now started with the appointment by Sunderland of Paul Grayson as manager. I think he will be a good choice, but some Boro fans are baiting the Mackems suggesting Larry Grayson would have been a better choice. Cruel?
I wonder, however, if older bloggers can remember Larry Grayson starting his career at Redcar’s New Pavilion, now a cinema. In those days he called himself Billy Breen in a seasonal summer show called “Radio Tymes”, and a lot of his catch-phrases originated there.
The New Pavilion was often called the “glass house” and was notoriously cold if the door behind the stage was left open, hence the first use of “shut that door”.
Also Slack Alice did actually exist; she was a coal merchant in Warrenby. Larry Grayson always acknowledged his rise to fame started at Redcar, and in his will bequeathed £2,000 to Redcar RNLI.
Whoops! I meant Simon Grayson, not Paul. I’m getting confused with the cricketer.
I attended as a youngen the Redcar Cinema Saturday morn kids show- it was anachy and appaulen in equal measure.
Saw Norman Wisdom in Gr Yarmouth once. He was billed with Mrs Mills. Wonder if she knew Slack Alice?
Me too, Spartak. Used to take my toy revolver to shoot at the screen. You’re right about anarchy. Many the time the manager used to come on the stage threatening to stop the film.
I worked at the Regent for ten years from 1967 to 1977….as senior film projectionist .and was involved in the sat morning matinees !
I worked at the Regent for ten years from 1967 to 1977….as senior film projectionist .and was involved in the sat morning matinees !
Then Braveheart, our paths have crossed like two ships in the night.
UTB
Whoops! Sorry, I meant to say Simon Grayson brother of the cricketer Paul.
Just read that Leicester think £25m is too much for Ben. Hope others feel the same and we might hang on to him.
As Ian has pointed out several times, he is a left footed CB on the brink of an England career, a rare combination in this day and age. That surely makes his minimum value £35m.
Sorry to disagree. I think £25,000,000 about right.
Ken
I don’t know, Nathan Ake has played 46 games nearly all in the lower leagues at age 22 and went for £20m to Bournemouth.
It is all subjective but the lower Premiership teams wont pay £25m, I would hate for him to go to Burnley or Stoke or the Baggies. It would not be a big upward step.
The Gazette reported that ten academy players are to train with the senior players. I hope that some will be chosen for the pre-season friendlies alongside probable first team players.
In the 1950s and possibly the early 1960s Boro’s pre-season friendlies consisted of the first team attack plus reserve defenders versus the reserve attackers plus the first team defence, with no thought given to substitutes. Then the next match would be Probables versus Possibles, and that was about it. Strangely though if Boro happened to be knocked out of the FA Cup in the third round they would often arrange a mid-season friendly against another first or second division team similarly eliminated. I remember attending two of these friendlies against Bolton and Newcastle.
Also Boro would do a seasons end tour often to Ireland, but once I recall to Australia. I often thought it would have made more sense to play i against Irish teams pre-season instead.
On another subject Boro have generally struggled to produce centre forwards/strikers from the academy, at least deemed worthy of keeping. For example, Dennis Windass, Chris Freestone who scored an abundance of goals for the reserves, Andy Campbell and lately Bradley Fewster.
Newcastle always had good centre forwards; if they didn’t produce them through their academy they went out and bought them.However Boro, wo had some of the greatest centre forwards before the War, struggled to produce any for 15 years or so after Mickey Fenton retired in 1950. For awhile they moved Johnny Spuhler (one of my favourite players in my youth) from right winger to centre forward, then were conned into buying Andy Donaldson from Newcastle (he only played about 16 matches), then Neil Mochan, Ken McPherson and Peter McKennan (these three all Scots) and this was when we were a First Division side.
After we were relegated we bought Charlie Wayman; he had been a brilliant player for Preston, but although he scored 16 goals for Boro, he was too old and passed his best and only lasted the one season. We then tried a local lad called Doug Cooper, who got injured “fortuitously” after about four matches. Now it wasn’t fortuitous for him as I don’t think he played for us again, but it was fortuitous for Boro because Cooper’s deputy was one Brian Clough, and lucky also that after Clough left for Sunderland, we had another fine centre forward who played in the World Cup for England – Alan Peacock, Clough’s former strike partner.
I admit since then we bought John Hickton from Sheffield Wednesday as a full back and converted him into a centre forward, but apart from Arthur Horsefield, we always had to buy centre forwards such as Hugh McIlmoyle, John O’Rourke, Hamilton Ricard, Ale Yakubu, Floyd Hasselbaink, Mark Viduka and Fabrizio Ravenelli, but wouldn’t it be nice if we could produce a First Team striker from our Academy?
Don’t forget Bernie!
Apologies to Bernie, and you Bob.
Chris Freestone’s second – and last – goal for Boro.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oC7MEF75q1k
The defender with not one but two lead legs!
Lol
Ken
It is a mystery why none of our Academy strikers has made it big.
We seem to have most success with Central Defenders but it would be nice to produce a modern day Clough or Peacock. A man can dream can’t he?
Who knows? Maybe Harry Chapman might be the one!
I would think by now Garry Monk is near the end of his list of players he has to talk to and explain that they are not in his plans. I wonder what he has said or is about to say to Guedioura, Baptiste and Husband? I would assume that De Pena and Mejias will be allowed to leave if there is an opening for them elsewhere, but the other three could be useful and it would leave rather less rebuilding to do if Monk feels they are up to the job.
Looking at Phil’s piece in the Gazette about our attacking midfield options, I think he is looking at the crucial question for next season. But we need to be realistic – how many chances or assists have Stuani, Adam Forshaw and Traore actually contributed in the past? Are they capable of consistently creating the weight of goals we would need to stand a hope of promotion?
Chapman is an unknown quantity at this level and it isn’t fair to load too much onto his shoulders. Grant Leadbitter may produce some valuable cameos but I’m not sure he still has the dynamism or stamina for a regular first-team place in the hard slog we face in the Championship.
In this context, I think we have to welcome the interest in Howson. I do not know much about his individual merits, but clearly he is regarded as an important player by Norwich, he has the right sort of experience and apparently Monk rates him. He even likes living in the north! Given that we need to recruit and bed in a whole new unit in that area of the park, we can’t get started too soon.
A part of me is a little underwhelmed by the links to McGeady and Howson but if the question is are they a slight improvement on what we have and do they offer different options and skill sets then the answer has to be a yes.
On Mark’s subject of what to say to Guedioura, Baptiste and Husband? For me they represent squad players who can plug a gap over a long arduous season. Guediora hasn’t impressed at all but he must have something as he has been earning a living at this level for a while and lets face it he came into a bit of a mess at the Riverside as Aggers was trying different things and everything was upended and tactics changed from game to game.
Husband I think has probably gone backwards and maybe needs a good loan spell somewhere or a move as he looked a bit lacking in match sharpness. Baptiste I believe can push for a starting place and one I would keep as he can do the Kalas role of either RB or CB if needed.
Flip side is if any decent offers came in then I have no doubt that the club would accept them. Personally though I would want to hang onto Baptiste.
I don’t know what it is, but I feel somewhat disappointed and let down by the club,I can’t get interested in anything about them, just another run of the mill lower league club pretending to be ambitious ,whilst gutting everything, and trying to sign hasbeens,not impressed at all,
Be patient and hope and all will a revealed
The only time to complain is when we are in fear of being relegated
Think Positive
As oddball said in Kelly’s heroes
“Stop making with the negative waves man”
OFB
Self generated euphoria can only take you so far, then the reality for whatever it is kicks in.
I for one are in a wait and see mode. That doesn’t mean I’m patient with a dull status quo, it just means I’m watching cat like for the first signs of foward momentum.
I prefer to see what GM comes up with. You could almost describe it as being ever so slightly intrigued.
Time will tell as there’s only a month to kick off for the new season.
Spartak
I agree with that, the window has only just opened and very little business has been done.
As a newly relegated team with a new management team we are in the process of sorting out who is leaving and looking at the gaps, bringing players in will take time.
Clubs will be holding on to their players looking for the best deal, hoping for a bidding war. As August approaches action will pick up, who comes in to our club does not just depend on us, you suspect we will be doing business up to the close of the window.
Fully agree Ian we will need to wait until the end of August to see what and who we end up with. Last year Nsue and Adomah were in the side against Stoke in the opener at the Riverside with Baptiste on the bench! and were gone come September!
Sides won’t sell players lightly without replacements lined up. If Forest for example were tempted by our Assombalonga offer they would need a suitable replacement lined up before agreeing to sell to us. Alternatively Clubs like Norwich may be wanting to offload to save on wages and generate some cash so will be prepared to speculate early doors and hope to have the time to plug gaps. Our alleged interest in Gunter from Reading will be interesting as i doubt Reading will be wanting to break up their side but cash talks so I would expect a few eyebrows raised over the amount we may be prepared to offer them to get them to play ball.
Gunter falls into the same category as McGeady and Howson, not breathtaking but solid, strong and dependable at this level (I think he had 100% appearance record last season for the Royals or very close to it). Very early days but it indicates we are after a RB, a Striker, a Winger and an attack minded Midfielder. which isn’t a great surprise. It also indicates we are looking for proven reliability, players of a certain age (mid twenties to early thirties), knowing what we are going to get rather than projects who may take the league by storm. All of those players can play at this level and know what its about and are consistent.
Wolves ! splasing the money ….
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-4659848/Wolves-agree-14m-deal-Ruben-Neves.html
splashing !!
And John Terry to Villa.
Terry’s off to Bournville!
Chocolate drops for the old dog!
And for the Oldies… Hope he remembers his Mackintosh.
Hope he can Nestle in, might need a Mackintosh, bit of a fruit and nut case but he will get the chance to put some crunchie tackles in. He could become one of their Heroes and come up smelling of Roses.
He certainly hasn’t gone there for buttons and may even get a chance to do the odd Twirl in the box.
Steely
Posts overlapped, another lost as conglomerates take over.
Conglomerate sounds like another form of confectionary! Frightening when you stop and think how many how many old brands have been swallowed up (apologies for that terrible pun).
If they bring in Dave Bassett he could give all sorts of advice.
Nay, he’d be hounded out the door before he opened his mouth.
Wonder if anyone will mussel Bernie?
The only BORO match to be moved for Sky coverage is our first home game of the season v Shef Utd on Aug 12, still on the same day but kick off moved to 5:30. We are not televised for any other matches before and including 9 Sep.
Come on BORO.
Enough of confectionary puns
back to football and here is an opportunity for 700 looming, over to you chaps
twenty minutes
Don’t blame me
Got a sandwich and ate it, you are like our midfield, just don’t get in the box between the posts enough.
Well, Ian, you did flag it up well in advance. Not your fault that everyone was at work (apart from Ken, who was having a nap).
And Jarsue who was in Hospital wishing he could have a sandwich.
UTB,
John
This is as bleak as untypical Boro, a thread to thread, Robbie Mustoe poster like myself shouldn’t be able to rack up tons without getting a sweat on.
So, I am going to float a discussion point to see if you are all sat on your hands or willing to join in.
Todays sharp stick at slumbering posters is the role of video evidence.
We saw the impact in the last test between the All Black dirties versus the gentle Lions. Sonny Boy Williamson was sent off for serious foul play after a review of the play.
Rugby Union, League and cricket play games with natural breaks but the dismissal of the All Black showed a benefit of video reviews.
We have debated the use of video evidence in games, retrospective use or just leaving it to the refs then deciding if the incidence is in his report or not.
On Saturday, when a break in play occurred the officials went back to review the challenge. It showed the situation where the English winger was tackled by an All Black and from the evidence Sonny Boy had his eyes on the player and shoulder charged him without using his arms. From my view as a watching fan it looked cowardly, the player couldn’t set himself and didn’t see it coming.
So Sonny Boy got a red card and departed proceedings.
So why have I raised this topic. Fairness and a vain attempt to engage with sleepy Diasboro.
Fairness? The punishment affected the offending team rather than a retrospective action where, in our sport, a player is punished after diving or serious challenge, your team suffers and someone down the line benefits.
Can it work in football? It doesn’t happen at every level of rugby or cricket so there is no reason it cant work in the higher levels of football. It is only an extension of the advantage law.
An unnoticed Kevin Davies challenged leaving a fractured cheekbone takes place, 30 seconds later the ball goes out or the game is stopped for treatment. There is no reason the 4th official cant look at the monitor and call the ref over or the ref initiates the review himself. It is easier in football than rugby because of the number of players involved, a dozen players in a ruck or maul is more difficult than a challenge on the centre forward or centre half.
A cricket review is long winded because of the number of issues involved.
There is always the fall back position of citing the player if the officials are uncertain after looking at the video evidence.
I think the key thing is that the evidence is judged on the day and the correct team gets punished. It is only view to prompt some level of discussion in the dog days of summer.
I hope I haven’t woken you all up, I can talk about the test match soon.
🙂
It’s going to take time and a lot of training sessions with referees
I know prem referee retired who doesn’t like it at all
Jarsue
Hope you are a bit better, at least you are pressing the keys, same as Forever.
It is the dog days of football, sadly I haven’t the skills of Werder to do graphics and long and clever articles.
I hope I prompt some debate.
Ian,
Well, after another two and a half hours of ‘procedure and being knocked out they finally know that there are no tears, leaks, fistulas, perforations and all looks good up there. The hospital and everyone who has dealt with me in there have been brilliant, for me the NHS is a bright star. It was my birthday on Monday. The nurses read the notes and properly and spotted that fact. The enema came with a gift tag and ribbon on the bottle! Especially even the 24year doing the job was laughing. On the way the theatre everyone said ‘Happy Birthday”. Brilliant.
Now it’s just Osteomyelitis in my Pelvic Bone. Next the Orthopaedic Consultant…
Dog-days indeed, just cut and paste news and loads of ads on the EG site, which I do not visit anymore. Something will happen soon. It will. Won’t it?
UTB,
John
John
It’s the knowing what’s wrong which helps to start the cure by momdnover matter
I had a similar experience 3 weeks ago operated on by Women surgeons anaesthetist sisters and nurses .They were brilliant I’ve never had so many women looking at my old man ever! You’ve got to laugh haven’t you ….
On another note the latest EG premium column is an article with an interview with Andy Campbell. I don’t subscribe so I don’t know what he said.
I’ll just have to pop next door and ask him!
It’s cheaper and there are no adverts ………
OFB,
You are not wrong about the knowing. It was all a mystery like the dark side of the moon. You know, any could be there, a London Bus, a German WW2 bomber. I’ve never stripped off in front of so many ladies before! After a while it begins to feels normal, the better half says that is a worrying development.
Andy Campbell, let me know what he says. I produced a set of prints on squad numbers a few years ago and one was of a massive ladle in the steel works with the number 18 on it. That print was titled “Andy Campbell’s ladle’, well it was a big Teesside link!
Thanks for your kind thoughts. Ihave been given two bottles of malt for my birthday but still no alcohol. Twelve weeks now…
UTB,
John
I have a Talking Point in mind, which I will mention to Werder once my workload dies down, a little.
For now… my quotes of the day. Two of them.
Jonathan Northcroft, in this week’s Sunday Times, discusses the current transfer market, focusing on theory of financial relativity and it’s relation to big money deals…
“Fee as percentage of turnover is one way to make sense of deals. United spent ‘less’ on £89m Paul Pogba, relative to their turnover, than Bournemouth on Jordon Ibe.
“One Premier League chairman confided: ‘It’s gone potty, both transfer fees and wages.’ And that seems right. The market is potty, but behaving as it has always done. Think TV money. If 2016 seemed a mad summer, when the Premier League splurged £1,116m on transfers, consider that this represented 111.3% of clubs’ annual domestic TV income (£1,003m) and was fractionally smaller than in 1992, when transfer spending was £42.7m — 111.8% of the £38.2m TV income.
“Forget former truths. Jermain Defoe, 35 in October, has just landed the payday of his career by joining Bournemouth on a deal worth £20m to him. Goalkeepers go for smaller sums? Not anymore, given the £34m for Ederson and Everton’s £30m purchase of Jordan Pickford, despite neither keeper being capped.
“Only special players go for special fees? Swansea want £40m for Gylfi Sigurdsson and this hasn’t put off Leicester. We’re a long way even from 2015, when Leicester bought N’Golo Kante for £5.6m and West Ham Dimitri Payet for £10.7m.”
Now, one from AV, discussing our financial situation post-Strachan and six months prior to Karanka’s arrival. This was penned in March 2013…
“(Steve Gibson) is supporting a club through a period of post-Premiership toxic shock of the type that has proved fatal for some clubs.
“The wage bill remains high. At £16m it is the third highest in the division… but it remains unbalanced with too much of that money concentrated in a handful of players, the legacy of an ill-judged spending spree under Gordon Strachan. Most of those high earners will leave in the summer, reducing the overall wage costs… and giving Mogga a bit of leeway.
“But it won’t herald a new golden age of recruitment.
“…Boro are spending far more than they are earning and are supporting a wage bill that eats up 119% of the turnover. That is unsustainable. Plenty of other owners in similar sitautions have pulled the plug and walked away leaving the club to plunge down another level and go into administration in order to shed the debt and regroup shell-shocked on a far lower base.”
As Anthony McCarthy once (wisely) illustrated in response to frustrated, angry but understandable hyperbole about the seeming “destruction” of Boro, our financial position is much, much healthier today.
Relativity, folks.
Ian
I watched the majority of the Confederations Cup Challenge Thingy competition and thus the regular use of VAR. So…
1. Infantino likes it therefore its suspect. I believe the innovation is an introduction coz crap corrupt executives need to be seen to be doing something/anything to justify the wheelbarrows full of cash they take home each month without even a blush on their porky chops.
2. Saw one VAR stoppage where a player had thrown himself to the ground inside the 18 yrd box. Result was no penalty. Player looked disconcerted. However, he received no yellow card for a blatent dive.
Conclusion is whatever happens on screen or off the interpretation of officials will still be uppermost in outcome and the bigger teams will always get the advantage regardless of ability on the day. The more money in the game suggests this ‘rule’ will be compounded.
Simon
Talking of the amount of money in the game. It always has been and always will be a sport that attracts the ruthless and ethically dubious because of the ever increasing amounts sloshing around.
It is the narcotic of the masses who will expend increasing amounts of their personal wealth for a hit. The more a player costs the bigger the high for ‘supporters’.
Here I introduce the South Sea bursting bubble effect and suggest at some point a ceiling will be reached and it will all implode. But, And, However, it ain’t necessarily so as long as the addicts can continue to a)afford the fix b) continue to feed their addiction ie. by watchin said mega teams on the goggle box in their tens of millions.
The general finacial feeding frenzy is set to continue and the transfer values will continue to get higher.
UTB
Sparta
Except for Gibson, everyone knows that he will be given away.
Even the Stokes of this world are getting on the old blower and saying ” look, if you are giving him away we are prepared to take him off your hands, and further more we will let you have our right back as part of the deal, he’s a good lad been with us for ten seasons, ten million? Can’t be bad. Shall we call it a deal.
And, But, However, Meanwhile the Northren Echo makes strong claim that De Roon is going nowhere and the Boro want him for the forthcoming ‘smashing’ of the Championship.
Super, smashing, great – lets see wot you coulda won.
That for me is thee best news of the summer. Under Monks tutoridge De Roon will bloom and withe Howson, Clayton and Forshaw in the ranks that for me looks the strongest midfield in the league.
So far so good.
UTB
Spartak
Hope you and the article are correct as I see that as a good investment and use of parachute monies. We need De Roon and Ben Gibson to stay if we are to have any chance of “smashing” the league.
😎
The only problem there is the one that I know I keep going on about, Spartak.
How many chances or assists did we get from De Roon, Forshaw and Clayton last season? Even if De Roon is happy to stay, even if there is no release clause in his contract, he is not a schemer or playmaker, and nor is Forshaw. They do not have the vision or guile or range of passing needed to open up defences. I accept that they would have more success at Championship level, but not at the level needed to compete for promotion.
I think Adam Clayton is better in this regard, he has some vision and accuracy (except when shooting) but he is also superb as the defensive shield and that is where I would keep him (if we get good offers for him and/or George as well as Ben from Premiership clubs we really are in serious trouble).
Gunter sounds like the right sort of signing, but for a year now we have not put together an attacking midfield unit which was fit for purpose, except on the days when Ramirez was in the groove. Let alone had cover for injuries and loss of form in that unit.
Tom Cairney or Conor Hourihane would more or less guarantee assists from midfield. But there is the issue of cost, and whether their respective teams would release them to us.
Mark
The thing that puzzles us all is Maurine, he has handled some good players, and he said DeRoon was an outstanding performer
Who to believe? Maurine, or ourselves.
I mean Gunter suggests that we are looking at the right level of player, not that he is an attacking midfielder!
You’re all forgetting about our attacking midfield ace Guediora !
OFB
Forgotten him already!
😎
Michael Keane has moved to Everton in a deal set to rise to £30m.
That now sets the bar, we either keep Ben or get big money for him. £15m to teams like Burnley (that is not an insult to Burnley, some months when we were doomed ago the talk was of Keane moving on and Gibson being his replacement) shouldn’t be an option.
Mark
De Roon did something the rest of our midfield players didn’t do, he got in to the box and kicked the round thing towards the trellis and sweet pea netting. Paired with Clayton he could give some oomph to midfield.
The key is the balance across midfield and attack, play that pairing and you need guile and speed amongst the rest of the attackers.
Ian
Your last paragraph – agree.
Mark
Note the most important change is that of manager. Monk can manage/coach & has ability to inspire players to raise their game and improve.
As Ian states we need forwards who can get forward. Ramirez could and did. We have Traore who can burn past Championship defenders then when we all holler STOP! both near and far, then Bamford can sweep the ball off his feet and score – Urrraaahhhh!
Mark & GT
Remember the promo season? The Championship is full of limited ability teams the Boro have a proven core of experienced achievers. Monk is no dud. I’m looking forward to positive results with the inclusion of Howson.
I honestly believe we’re headin for the right mix. God knows Gaston may not yet find another club and return all contrite. Everything is yet to play for.
UTB
Would someone please post another blog. Or are we waiting until we pass the 1,000 comments mark?
Patience, Teapot!
Or
Patience Teapot! lol
What a fantastic name. I shall suggest it to my daughter as the name for our first grand daughter.
🙂
I think Patience Teapot is a great name for a girl.
Absolutely Ian, I do have a high opinion of both De Roon and Forshaw, but my problem is they are not playmakers, they are not going to fill the number 10 role. And we are not looking for enough goals to hang on in the Prem, we are looking for enough goals to dominate the Championship.
Ideally we need a very capable number 10 and a back-up to cover for injuries.
Plus I just don’t see De Roon being here, although I would very much like to keep him…
I agree with you about Monk, Spartak. I hope that he is fully aware of the recruitment failures that made it impossible for us to compete last season once Ramirez downed tools. I hope that he knows the right names to fill the creative gaps we have.
I don’t think the squad would feel able to trust Ramirez again. Is he actually back training at the club?
Will Adama Traore stay? I love watching him, but he is so instinctive in what he does – can he be the sort of highly thoughtful player Monk likes?
Has Agnew gone missing ? Shall we raise the alarm ? Weird.
Mark
I don’t think de Roon will stay but he could be a Roy Keane lite if he did. Keane never really had a killer pass but a great motor, determination and an eye for goal.
All we have to do is find a Scholes, Giggs, Beckham plus two out of Hughes, Cantona, Sheringham, van Nistelroy, Yorke, Cole for £30m to play around him.
Simples! Over to Gary Gill.
As a PS, it looks like Monk is a bit of a roundhead like many coaches.
Possibly an AK with a softer side but when you listen to Dom Shaw interviewing Michael Calvin about him he is into the walk through the gates and it is business not pleasure.
He probably doesn’t have a naughty step but a scientifically designed chair for those out of favour.
Braveheart, I agree it is strange that nothing has been officially said about Agnew, I can just assume as someone previously posted that he has been offered a position out of the first team and he has been given time to consider his options. I do know that Leo is leaving and heading back to Spain.
In defence of de Roon, he scored 5 times for a Boro struggling side, in his first season in England, let alone in the Premiership. The fact that Premiership sides are looking to take him off our hands and Monk and Gibson are trying to hold on to him, tells me that people with more football knowledge and expertise than I have, rate the player. How many posters on here and other sites have said months or years later “we should not have let that player go, look how he has developed and now been sold for X amount of millions”. I for one will be disappointed if he is sold in this or January transfer window.
Come on BORO.
Agree!
Sky and the Eastern Daily Press sources confirming Boro have won the race to sign Howson.😎
KP
The story is starting to spread looking at Newsnow though how much is cut and paste is another matter, even the Gazette say we are closing in on Howson.
According to Sky, Burnley have bid £8m for Britt Assombalonga.
The wi-fi here in sunny Menorca is so intermittent I’m having trouble getting any sports news. I’ve just managed to get Cricket updates at 3.15 this morning during a restless night, so I’ve just caught up with this forum, so Dormo I wasn’t asleep!
First of all on the subject of video refs, I find particularly in Rugby League that in televised matches when a referee makes a decision on a try, he more often or not still refers the decision to the video referee who then has to have good evidence to overturn the decision. This is similar to umpires decisions in cricket.
The trouble is in Rugby televised matches are now overrunning by up to 20/25 minutes longer than untelevised matches.
In my opinion we should eithef have video referees in all matches be they televised or not, or not at all. I must say I would be inclined to do without them altogether as they can only give a decision on try/no try after often viewing onside/offside or whether there has been an obstruction; they can’t give a decision on a forward pass, only the referee can do that. The whole time awaiting a decision is so frustrating.
In all Rugby League matches however the referee does have the power to award a yeiiow card (ten minutes in the sin bin) for swearing at an official or for minor offences, and a red card for major offences (which have different categories) and these are judged by a review panel who administer the punishment. The referee can also place “on report” any suspected foul play to the review panel.
Obviously it is more difficult in Rugby to get a correct decision than in football because of the number of bodies that can be involved, but I am of the opinion that human error should be tolerated, and I would be averse to bringing in more technology for offside, etc.
What I would like to see in football though is the use of the sin bin for minor offences, and for the referee to “stop the clock” for injuries and time wasting instead of “Fergie Time”.
On the other subject or incoming/outgoing players like most people I would like Garry Monk to do all he can to keep De Roon and Friend. They would both be difficult to replace, and the former has the knack of getting into the box and shooting.We need goals from midfield, something we haven’t had for two seasons since Leadbitter, and I think he might be a ten goals a season player in the Championship.As for Friend I hope that the chance to make a big profit on him is resisted, especially if we lose Ben Gibson.
Finally I think that the problem of attracting new players is the lure of Premier League football will put us at a disadvantage in many cases. We must have two or three alternatives for all our targets; we don’t want to have another January.
Ken
I hope Menorca is great, as for having another January we can do without August as well..
When we got to the EPL play-off final two seasons ago our creativity largely came from Reach, Tomlin / Vossen and Adomah, the goals from Bamford / Kike, anchored defensively by Clayton and Leadbitter . . . none of which cost the earth. Last time out we got promo with creativity from Downing, Fabbrini (then Ramirez), Stuani / Adomah, the goals from Nugent / Kike (then Rhodes), anchored defensively by Clayton and Leadbitter again.
Monk played 4-2-3-1 with Leeds so I’m assuming he might expect to play Bamford up top, backed by Gestede. We still have Clayton & Leadbitter (& Forshaw) to anchor so expected departures aside we’re looking to find a new creative trident in the shape of a Downing, Ramirez and Adomah type. Recent transfer targets like McGeady / Mahony and Howson are along these lines but as ever it is still the creative No.10 Ramirez role that is the key. I wonder if Monk is thinking of playing Bamford there if he gets Assombalonga in up top. Plenty of in / outs expected, at least we have the funds available and a manager who knows the market so a good place to start from.
Funnily enough, the less expensive AKBoro were, the better they were to watch. Fabbrini and Downing scored a few stonkers, Rhodes and Stuani had their purple patches and there were outstanding team displays (Ipswich A, Brighton A) in 2015-16… But it wasn’t quite as memorable as the year before that.
Likely that heightened expectations and a bigger fear of messing it up led to a greater tightening of the safety screw. Which worked until Dyche’s mind games and Burnley’s cup victory rattled a seemingly confident facade.
But it’s not just AKBoro, it’s Boro per se. Even when we finished 7th under McClaren we’d actually been flirting with the Champions’ League spots around December, yet our UEFA Cup spot wasn’t confirmed until the final minute on the final day.
We never do things the easy way.
Simon, the 2014 / 15 team played some fantastic stuff at times, the slick interplay between Tomlin, Vossen, Adomah and Bamford was often sublime. There’s some great one-touch counter-attack goals in the highlights package of that season and those particular players cost us peanuts in todays terms. They played with a smile, a swagger and a dollop of arrogance until the pressure of possible promotion started to choke the creativity.
We did indeed, billog. As I said, 2014-15 was better. That opening goal against Millwall at home was and still is an absolute joy to watch. For example.
Middlesbrough are reportedly close to agreeing a deal for Derby County defender Cyrus Christie after missing out on Reading’s Chris Gunter, according to HITC Sport.
Boro triggered Reading right-back Chris Gunter’s £1 million release clause on Monday, and were hoping to get talks underway with the Welsh international yesterday, however the former Spurs and Cardiff City defender snubbed Garry Monk’s approach and signed a new 3-year deal with The Royals on Wednesday morning.
The news will come as a relief to Reading fans, who have seen Danny Williams’ move to Huddersfield confirmed and last year’s Player of the Season Ali Al-Habsi on the brink of a move to Saudi Arabian side Al-Hilal in the space of a couple of days.
However, for Boro fans, it’s more bad news in a disappointing summer so far, barring the appointment of former Swansea and Leeds manager Garry Monk.
Monk has reportedly switched his efforts to Derby right-back Cyrus Christie as an alternative to Gunter, and after talks progressed quickly, the deal is now reportedly nearing completion.
The Rams snapped up Liverpool defender Andre Wisdom earlier in the week after a drawn-out transfer saga and are now willing to let the 24-year-old Republic of Ireland international leave the club on a permanent basis.
Both Reading and QPR were interested in bringing in the former Coventry defender earlier in the window, but their interest has cooled in recent weeks and Boro are now expected to complete the signing of Christie as a replacement for Spain-bound defender Antonio Barragan
As long as it isn’t an electric chair, Ian. Mmmh… On the other hand…
I think we can say bye bye to Mr Assombalonga now that Burnley have entered the bidding. Hope Mr Monk has other smashing alternatives.
According to Club Call Boro have won the race to sign Howson from Norwich. Interestingly enough Norwich have also stated that Yanic Wildschut, who they only signed from Wigan this year, is “surplus to requirements”.
Apologies if this is old news but wi-fi is erratic in Menorca.
Pedro
Maybe, we cant offer top flight football. One saving grace is everyone knows how Burnley play and that may not suit what he wants. It is a slim saving grace.
Ken
Wildschutt is what he is. The same goes for Rhodes, Adomah, Reach, Carayol, no Premiership club came in for them.
Our problem is that we didn’t replace them at least with their equals.
Spurs are supposed to be sniffing around Gibson, what we do know is that Daniel Levy doesn’t like spending money, he is one shrewd cookie and drives a hard bargain. If one comes in I wouldn’t expect a generous offer for Ben.
Daniel Levy, I wouldn’t open me door if he knocked on it.
Best for us and Ben if he stays with the Boro for the promo push.
Breaking Newts Sportsfans!
Rob Green, well known ex-Eng-ger-lund international goalkeeper’s name linked with Boro via Monk.
I for one would be very happy to see him between the sticks for the Boro. Hundreds of games under his belt and still well capable according to descriptors from the dirty’s fans.
Its a good sign as he would add excellent experience to the spine of the new all conquering, smash the league, Boro team. And he’s out of contract as the dirty’s only signed him to a one year contract a year ago. IMHO great business by Monk if he can pull it off. A couple of squillions for Green’s pocket on the promise of promo outta fix it.
UTB
Spartak
He signed a new one year contract extension on the 18th of March 2017 so it looks like GM has stuffed himself and may have to pay a fee to prise him away – hopefully a nominal fee! 😎
KP
Thanks for that – I stand corrected!
Spartak
If Levy knocked on your door I would check the fittings were still on the door after he left, come to think of it, check if the door was still there. I would count your fingers if you shook hands.
A hard negotiator by all accounts.
Looks like the Mackems are the new Wigan as they seem to be linked with the same Transfer targets as us.
Latest Update…Agnew still missing !
Extended hols due to international duty. Maybe even on gardening leave!
🙂
Don’t be suprosed to see him at either Villa or coaching the younger players at Rockliffe
Morning everyone, hope you’re enjoying the summer break as much as I am – After a trip through the south of Germany and over the Austrian mountains I’m current sitting under a few shady trees with my laptop as we camp along the northern Italian coast just north of Venice – still another two weeks before we head home!
Anyway, I’ve managed to find a bit of internet access and thought I’d better provide you with a new blog before Ian starts contemplating getting his Diasboro 1000th post T-shirt printed!
https://diasboro.club/2017/07/05/monk-gets-ready-to-change-names-on-shirts/