Great anxiety and anticipation in equal measure in the Molineux sunshine for the much awaited smashing Boro inaugural line up which saw the team pretty much as predicted. Fletcher getting the nod over Bamford was perhaps the only debating point. No Traore on the bench yet Gestede warranted a seat, my guess as a last ten minute “Plan B” if things were going wrong. That logic flew in the face of Leeds fans who may question if Monk ever had a Plan B? Anyway over 2,000 of the Boro faithful turned up to see the new look side adorned in their white and blue away strip.
The game started lively enough but without great stress for either side. De Roon gave away a free kick central to the Boro goal but fortunately nothing came of it. As both sides soft shoe shuffled around the Molineux pitch sizing their opponents up neither really laying a glove on their opponent. That said Wolves had the lions share with Neves and Coady running the middle of the park and playing balls stretching us down the flanks. Wolves started looking the stronger growing in confidence and It took until 15 minutes when we had our first serious foray which ended up going out for a Boro corner.
Assombalonga broke five minutes later and the resultant foul could have ended up with a yellow card for the Wolves offender. The resultant Clayton free kick was almost deflected in for an own goal. Up the other end Neves then spared Boro blushes by fluffing his lines seconds later. Friend was being given a tough time by Enobakhare and a few crosses flew in from his flank. Perhaps the lack of a covering/defending wide player in the old AK format meant more exposure than previous. Assombalonga meanwhile battled and scrapped and was attracting a few fouls for his troubles and Miranda was finally booked for his troubles on 25 minutes.
On the half hour mark Wolves tried the opposite flank and went at Christie whose slip saw Wolves getting an attempt blocked out by Gibson with Randolph collecting. Just a minute or so later Ayala dropped a ridiculous clanger with a reckless soft pass to Gibson which left Bonatini with the easiest opportunity he will ever receive in his career. Up until that point Boro had been fairly strong defensively but it is impossible to legislate against the type of aberration Ayala committed. In fairness Wolves had been applying most of the pressure with us looking disjointed in midfield but Boro had looked fairly composed and comfortable at the back.
Boro started to clear their heads with Braithwaite busy along with Clayton and Friend trying to push up but the Wolves wing back was up for picking up any loose balls trying to get in behind Friend. Braithwaite came close with an even easier opportunity than last week against Augsburg missing a golden chance from the middle of the goalmouth when a Christie ball went begging as Boro pushed for the equaliser.
The whistle went on 45 with the score line probably a fair reflection but frustrating that it was unnecessarily gift wrapped from Ayala. De Roon had started the half busy but faded as the game progressed with Coady taking control, needless to say the Dutchman’s passing and distribution wasn’t exactly enthralling. Howson was nondescript almost anonymous compared with Clayton who was involved in just about everything for Boro. Being involved in everything didn’t always mean that it was beneficial. I have no idea why he has been selected as our set piece expert because he has shown nothing at all in his time at Boro to suggest otherwise, his attempts were somewhere between poor and embarrassing. At this level for a professional football club that is unacceptable.
Monk looked to have shuffled his midfield pack a little at the start of the second half but it didn’t make any difference with only Clayton impressing. Nothing changed up top with the same three of which Assombalonga was busy, Braithwaite frustrating and Fletcher very quiet so it wasn’t a surprise to see Bamford come on for Fletcher after being given ten minutes presumably to sort it out. Clayts then clattered into a challenge preventing Wolves breaking and picked up his first yellow of the season for his troubles. De Roon shortly afterwards blocked a ball to concede a corner which Clayton (who else) cleared from the near post as Wolves kept pushing and we still didn’t look like gelling collectively.
A clumsy challenge from Christie led to a free kick floated into the Boro box dealt with by Assombalonga with Bamford helping to clear. Seconds later Clayton played Braithwaite through in turn playing in Assombalonga to win a corner which only meant Clayton messing up the set piece with a wasted ball to the near post.
In a very unKaranka like decision Monk brought Forshaw on for De Roon on 60 minutes and almost immediately Assombalonga broke free as he tried to get past Ruddy with the suspicion of a hand ball from the Wolves Keeper just outside the box.
The arrival of Bamford coincided with Boro buzzing around a lot more, pushing forwards to get the equaliser and came close on a few occasions. Despite the pressure no breakthrough was imminent with Ruddy having a relatively quiet time. With ten minutes to go Plan B was about to be executed after all with Gestede coming on for the forlorn looking Howson. Let’s hope Jonny gets up to speed quickly and finds his bearings because we desperately need some spark from the middle. So Gestede, Braithwaite, Bamford and Assombalonga all up front in a desperate last throw of the dice.
A throw in near the Wolves box meant all four of our Strikers piling into the danger area for an anticipated long throw from Cyrus but it was bizarrely thrown out. Not as bad as a Barragan throw in admittedly but disappointing nonetheless. The lad then almost made amends with a driving run and shot from 20 yards out with five minutes left of normal time. Despite Gestede’s arrival there were no long balls being humped up to him thereby not really benefitting from his main threat.
As added time was announced Ayala gave away a free kick near the by-line on the edge of the 18 yard box which ended up being mishit and spectacularly sliced up to the half way line much to Dani’s relief. A flurry of desperate Boro attempts into the box ensued in the last few minutes during which Forshaw took a yellow for the team and then the whistle sounded and that was it 1-0 to the Wolves.
A mixed performance from Boro, you could see individual bits of something but there were one or two below par performances not helped by a glaring lack of creativity or spark in the middle. We need to find someone to pick up the Gaston gauntlet before the end of August, preferably someone that can take free kicks and corners.
I said beforehand that a defeat will not be the end of the world and that I fancied Wolves to be a real contender this season so we lick our wounds and move on. Not surprisingly we didn’t look fully joined up or connected yet, sloppy if anything but Assombalonga looked like he will be a handful and Clayts was MOM by a mile (just a shame that he or Monk misguidedly thinks that he can take
corners and free kicks). On the basis of last week and today, Bamford has to start, he was the stand out bright spark this afternoon.
A difficult away game between two sides that will be pushing for promotion separated only by a single careless mistake which cost us a point. Perhaps what was interesting was our two “prestige” midfield signings didn’t look any better than those longer serving at the club. There will be some more incomings and outgoings but as it stands Boro looked very much a work in progress which being fair is exactly what we felt would be the case.
Looking on the bright side at least we have that “unbeaten” monkey off our back! Early days yet and Monk has had his first real look at his charges in real life action. Whilst we didn’t do ourselves justice it has to be remembered that Randolph had very little to deal with and we will get better.
Great Redcar Red, thank you.
Great report, RR.
Pretty much agree with most of that RR
It’s going to take a while for these players to gel,Wolves didn’t have any real chances in the game apart from Ayalas howler we had a couple that we should have done better with.
No creativity in midfield Howson and De Roon anonymous and no width allowing Wolves attacking threats down the flanks.
Britt looks strong and will be a handful,and BraithwIte once up to speed with the English game will be useful. Bamford and Forshaw made a difference when they came on.
Thought Friend was poor kicking the ball past the defender and trying to run around him isn’t going to work for him anymore he hasn’t the legs for it
Despite praise for Christie me and a fair few people at the game thought he was poor,slow to react and pulled out of a few tackles,one bright moment in the 85th minute was his best effort. Personally I would rather see Fabio playing for either him or George!
Plenty to think about for Monk before the next game the team needs a settling in period with all the changes made
Yes. Thanks RR. You really are our answer to the pink!
Not the start we might have wanted, but not unexpected by many ( although not counting me ). Still, as you say, the unbeaten monkey is well off our backs now, so the only way is up.
Well at least we still have premier match reports (free!)
Pretty much the performance and result that I predicted – so why am I so gutted?
Great report RR. Thank you.
Disappointing result and despite my optimism it was, in a way, expected, or perhaps inevitable. A draw seemed fair but what is fair in a game of football?
Time for a glass of wine and a few philosophical musings.
UTB,
John
Like Nike the result I predicted and, like him I still feel somewhat disappointed. It was a very average performance but it is early days and I’ll reserve any further judgement until after the first five matches.
Redcar Red
Another great report, do we need the Trinity Mirror Group?
A surprise, I don’t know because I don’t know enough about Wolves and the relative strength of our squad.
What I will say, as usual, it is points dropped. Forget the 45 games still to go, every time you drop points it makes it harder.
Any other view is tosh.
Am I upset, not at all, it is football. A client of my mine has a son diagnosed with testicular cancer at the age of 12 months. That is horrid, losing at Wolves is a game of football.
Puts things into perspective doesn’t it?
The only consolation of the defeat is that media/fans etc will now realise that there is a long road ahead in terms of performances/players / management…..so in certain areas after only one game, we have been brought down to the reality of the championship and no ‘we won’t smash the league’
With a new team barely introduced to each other I would have gladly taken a point.
I’ve posted before about eliminating unforced errors being the easiest way to improve one game, I’m not about to hang Ayala for one mistake.
However with Monk seemingly intent on signing another CB, it could be Ayala he was looking to replace, and not Ben as many would have suspected.
Ayala may have inadvertently given Monk a great excuse to move him on.
Bamford starting would seem to be a neccesity.
There’s no need to panic and dampened expectations for the first home game may not be a bad thing.
Agree with everything RR says. Bamford changed the game and should have started. Offers so much more than fletcher who I think really should be an impact sub at this stage (albeit an expensive one).
Forshaw was an upgrade on de roon when he came on, so much better on the ball. De roon was poor and I would happily sell if a reasonable offer came in. George looked very rusty and not his usual self, I thought Christie was a much better attacking outlet on the other side.
Whoever decides Clayton should be on set pieces needs to think again, although it still amazes me that pro footballers sometimes can’t beat the first man at a corner. Apart from that he was his usual busy self. Howson very quiet.
Up top Britt caused problems and will be a handful, shame he didn’t score when bamford put him through. Braithwaite showed some good flashes of quality but was quiet at times. Should’ve scored first half.
All in all we had the better chances but wolves played better, at times we were chasing shadows as they were playing beat little triangles around us and then they’d spray it out to the flanks. Luckily they had no end product until we gifted it to them.
Not too disheartened but just puts pressure on Saturday to get a result. UTB
When a new manager comes in, it’s normally a clean slate for everyone, prove yourself?
This guy comes in ,and basically the first day decides half the squad must go, or was it his decision?
Brings in Braithwaite a Danish lad,gets rid of Fischer a Danish lad, now you would think that they could have helped each other.
Already For me this Fletcher looks an iffy signing, seems Gestede is now surplus, we needed a top midfielder with vision and strength that can dominate, we got Howson ,don’t think he is that type.
It’s the first game I know, but with the funds we had at the start of the window,once again our illustrious recruitment team, are signing players ,but are they the kind we need for this division,I only say this because ,if they are,then I expect us to dominate games,and over power other teams.
I can take losing if we did dominate but lost to say a jammy goal, but I don’t know with this lot.
UTB
Yes, I was able to see the match at Wolves TV. The quality of the signing in process was easy. The stream was ok in quality but not HD level. There was no commentary in any language (Augsburg YuoTube proadcast had a German commentator).
The match was a typical Championship match and as said it is still early season. I don’t recall Wolves having any real chances in the game, so pity about the Ayala howler. But other than that we defended well and Randolph was a spectator.
We had a few chances to at least equalize. But it did not happen. Britt was a handful but as Nevergiveup said, Howson was not very affective. Like said, this was only one game and it is work in progress.
Thank you for the report, RR. Very accurate. Let’s hope we see a slight improvement in the team work at Boro in the next match.
Up the Boro!
First of all, credit where it’s due – great report RR and well played Wolves.
Wolves had more debutants than us yesterday and were playing a new system. They were the better team on the day and look a decent side to me but let’s see how they, and particularly their expensive imports, do in the depths of winter in what we know is an attritional league. It was probably a bad time to play Wolves away.
Unfortunately, all of Howson, de Roon, Braithwaite and Fletcher had poor games. Even if the winning goal did come from an individual error (and Ayala has always had one or two of them in him per season – at least he got one out of the way early) you can rarely afford to have so many players off colour.
Was it rustiness or something more fundamental? We’ll know before too long.
Disappointed but not concerned.
Watching it again on Channel 5 last night I wondered if Dani had the Sun in his eyes and literally didn’t see Bonatini. He is prone to the odd eccentric lapse and hopefully next time if he is in two minds he will lamp it upfield to Assombalonga instead of passing sideways. Long term I’m sure it will do him good, just a shame it was so punitive to us. Had we come away 0-0 I think we would have been content.
The “earlyish” substitutions were a plus to see the Manager try and change things. He did take off the same players who most of us would have hooked as well which again was a positive. Monk even threw on more attack minded players which made a change from worrying about GD. So some positives to take although the Gestede sub was a puzzle as we didn’t utilise his aerial “prowess”.
Obvious proviso: this was the first game, new team, it takes time, too early to make firm judgements. On balance a draw would have been a fair reflection.
Randolph had nothing to do until Dani gifted them the goal, but we had done nothing much in attack either. So it was a steady start and maybe we could have won from there without the inexplicable howler.
GM is replacing wingers by having the back four switch to a three with wing backs when we attack – Clayts drops in with Ben and Dani, George and Christie press forwards. This worked better on the right and at times there was a huge gap between Ben and George on the left.
Our first really dangerous attack just before half-time was from some excellent wing play by Christie, who beat two men and put the ball on Braithwaite’s head, but he couldn’t even hit the target – disappointing. But it shows what wing play, trickery and crosses can achieve when nothing else is working. Second half Christie got in several crosses and was a thorn in their side. He looks promising, in spite of a couple of defensive lapses. George doesn’t look fully up to speed yet. Maybe Adama should have been on the bench – did we need both Forshaw and Leadbitter?
We were much better in the second half, especially when PB came on and lit up the game with his movement, deft touches and flicks. Suddenly there was some interplay and we could retain the ball around their box. Britt got in good positions and almost scored, he will get goals if we can get the ball to him.
Braithwaite and Howson did not manage to retain possession high up the pitch or orchestrate things or open up the opposing defence. This may improve, of course, but not too promising. Also the set pieces by Clayts were generally awful. Three corners totally wasted. Both these areas point to the need to spend a significant sum on a quality playmaker who can deliver these vital elements which were missing yesterday. I estimate our net spend so far is only £12m* give or take – time to invest the parachute money.
*My maths have been dodgy in the past, so I’m happy to accept correction on this!
It was a mistake to start with Fletcher rather than PB – Fletcher is a raw talent and further work is needed on his first touch and passing. However, GM did respond promptly with substitutions, bringing on PB after 10 minutes of the second half, and then Forshaw also came on reasonably early and make a difference. Forshaw is very good on the ball, moves fluidly with it, and was an influence. If only he had the killer pass in his locker…
GM then brought Gestede on and we tried throwing the kitchen sink at the end, so it was proactive management and not AK’s dead hand on the wheel as a game slips away.
Excellent match report.
I was at Molineux and not sure I agree with some of the negativity (not particularly on this site I should add) in the various comments sections. Wolves were gifted a goal with a error a schoolboy should not make, however cannot remember them having another chance. Boro created 4 very good chances and probably deserved at least a draw. You could also see the team improving as the game went on and we got acclimatised to the Championship.
However, it is now 7 games since I last saw Boro score live,although we probably created as many decent chances as we did in the previous 6 games.
It is not going to be easy this season and even in the very best case scenario we are going to have at least 6 or 7 days like yesterday. It does make the Sheffield United game crucial though.
.
Interesting thoughts from posts.
It appears we improved when Bamford came on, I think most of us expected him to start and Fletcher to be the sub. Food for thought for the boss.
Most of us believe we are short of creative midfield players, a problem area for a few windows.
Room for improvement and time to gel just don’t make it too long, you never get the points back.
The reporter on Talksport said Braithwaite was woefull?and we looked disjointed.
Once again well done to RR for capturing the game so brilliantly in his match report – it’s about time Boro gave him a victory to write about on Diasboro – though I notice we don’t play Sunderland until November!
It’s early days so we can’t start writing anyone off until they’ve had a chance to prove over a decent run of games that they’re not as good as we hoped or are not fit for purpose or just not fit. With all the changes made it was only going to to take time for some to get up to speed – though with Ayala and Friend looking a bit rusty and leggy Boro should maybe have made more changes. Ayala looked to me a little heavier than I’d remembered and didn’t look very smooth covering the ground – perhaps he’s bulked up in the gym and needs to loosen up a little. George hasn’t looked at his best for quite a while but we know he’s got plenty of enthusiasm and will want to perform to a better level – will it be enough?
Dead-ball specialist Clayton was the star man for his industry in the Gazette – but I’m of the view that someone who covers so much ground and picks up knocks doing his job is probably at a disadvantage in being chosen as the man to deliver accurately. I’d imagine it becomes harder to achieve that task with tired battered limbs – maybe he does better in training when fresh – well he must have shown something of a talent for delivering balls otherwise it looks a bit of a random choice by Monk – perhaps Christie should be given an opportunity?
Bamford actually surprised me with his cameo and looked back to his best of a couple of years ago, Fletcher maybe had what you’d expect with young players – an off day. We shouldn’t forget that talented Championship players are predominantly at this level because they lack the consistency to play in the PL – if they produced the goods week-in week-out then it’s highly likely they’d be elsewhere.
I’m probably looking at Boro to achieve around 21 points by the end of September over the next eleven games – just under two points per game – though anything under 18 points would be a worry.
Sleeping on it I was thinking that Christie may be the best for taking Corners and Free Kicks. If he can ping balls in whilst avoiding the attention of one or two defenders challenging having the time to deliver a ball calm and composed would likely be more productive than Clayton’s poor attempts.
So we have to win the next two matches to be back on the two points per game rate. That is the level needed for promo – two points per match.
We are not quite there yet and well behind Sunderland.
Up the Boro!
The Mail on Sunday report Man City are weighing up a move for Ben Gibson.
Come on BORO.
Would you rather have Gibson (of Boro) or Terry at our defence this season? Long term not a desision but how about the current season?
Just askin’, like. Up the Boro!
Don’t like Terry as a man or a footballer
Easy choice to make
Bob, exactly my thought, too. Just trying to hear if anyone thinks the other way… UTB!
I am with OFB on that one. No choice at all. I wouldn’t want Terry anywhere near my club, quite a horrible man.
Love the comments, all of them.
It’s strange but certain remarks send a chill down the spine.
Trying to balance out all the judgmental remarks about Wolves, I came to the conclusion that they will not do too well this season, and that is frightening for any Boro supporter.
They did not have a shot, we failed to get even a draw, we failed to play Bamford, last time I looked he was a player with some sort of pedigree who had scored nineteen goals in a full campaign for us in the championship. Not good.
We failed to play Fry as central defender. When are we going to play him?
If we play Traore strictly as a speedball (no dribbling) then the opposition will have to play nearer their own penalty area, because they cannot beat him in a foot race.(so they will never be on the halfway line, which would be good)
Just seen this photo that was tweeted to confirm the signing of Gaston by Sampdoria – he looks delighted and is giving the thumbs up on the deal – whereas the owner at the front appears to be giving a somewhat philosophical shrug in disbelief that he’s actual been persuaded to sign the Uruguayan…
I feel an early season caption competition coming on…
I don’t beleeeeve it
What’s-a matter you? Hey! Gotta no respect?
What-a you t’ink you do, why you look-a so sad?
It’s-a not so bad, it’s-a nice-a place
Ah shaddap-a you face!
I’ve got no strings
To hold me down
To make me fret, or make me frown
I had strings
But now I’m free
There are no strings on me
All of those books behind the team must be almost the full extent of the contractual arrangements Gaston made with Boro and Penarol.
Just a footnote.
The sheer torture of dead balls. We are not disappointing, we are awful, the percentage of goals which come from dead balls is frighteningly high throughout football. To score none as we do, means that we start one down in every game.
It is not one player, it is all of them. The blind smash into the wall is now expected, the smash high over the crossbar is routine.
Please, can we coach someone to perform.
Now who could act as a coach to take free kicks?
The little fella?
Thank you RR for your take on the match.
Well I got part of my thoughts correct and part wrong. Thought that the 30mil forward line would do well, but didn’t, and we could be suspect at the back, and we were.
The midfield, Clayton apart,were poor. De Roon back to his early form last season and little from Howson. The fullbacks defending was worring at times. It possibly looks like we will have to score two goals to win. It cetainly appears that we will not be as tight at the back as with AK. Hence the 30mil, but so few shot, on target and off.
As AndyR said and others, you cannot blame the numbers of new players, Wolves only had three in the starting line up from the final match last season, and did have some injuries including Costa.
Expectations too high, possibly. Time will tell of course.
After smashing the league and losing 1-0 I am amazed at the acceptance of it all. The team were rubbish, the tactics diabolical and the new signings unremarkable to say the least. Next 2 games have to deliver 6 points or else its Monk out for me.
In the past all the managers have regardless of the result brought something new. this one didn’t and I am almost at the stage of wishing AK was back to at least install some defensive order onto the whole show,
As a member of the most respected blog in football with its measure responses and cool analytical views and the acceptance of well its only Boro I am concerned that we take a defeat too easily with the well hackneyed phrases of its a long season, the team are only beginning to gel etc etc. What they hell are we paying them for!!
Wake up and smell the coffee guys this is another slow motion train wreck and its started with game no.1.
This is not rant, this an observation and a warning to you all.
BTW great report RR but for sure your rose tinted glasses were well and truly glued to your nose.
We were crepe and in my mind not shoeing we were the so called most expensive team in this league.
Just moaning like!!
It’s quite possible you may have gone a tad early on preparing to unwind the ‘Monk out’ banner – but at least you’ve avoided any accusation of jumping on the bandwagon as they’ve barely finished tuning up… btw has anyone even put the coffee on yet?
Nah not the coffee ..
Red Wine a nice Shiraz couple bottles of corona and a chilled gin and tonic with lime to finish
Hic !
Whoosh makeeng tje cofffeees?
It’s good to moan!
And I like my crepe with chocolat
Just started my second Campo Viejo Rioja (Tempranillo 2015).
OK I admit bottle not glass but hey its still half full!
After working amd living in Spain for over 2 years and 2 years in Argentina and a year in Paris I appreciate a heavy Red!
Jarkko
With 46+ league and cup games this season John Terry will be lucky to make 30 games for Aston Villa with his ageing legs.
And how many red cards will JT get?
One thing with his ageing legs he’ll be entitled to park in the blue badge car parking spots he’s quite fond of using !
Picture JT chasing Traore! 🙂
JT would have to use his Porsche Cayenne!
Like Allan, I have concerns.
Although, unlike Allan I believe it is yet too early to throw out the baby with the bath water. Still….
To keep it short. Monk had nothing to analyse in terms of opposition coz even more than Boro they had not played together before. So what’s a manager to do?
Problems.
Which way to set it up? The Boro that is? Rely on your own favorites- well after all you signed them on? But what’s missing? Where’s that crucial element the espirit de corps?
Wolves had little upfront. Yer Wolves manager knew that, so send yer troops out with a fighting spirit and hassel the opposition, Boro, so they can’t play their game and see if you can snatch a lucky goal. Then, all hands to the pumps and backs to the walls. Job done. Three points. Wolves fans a dancing. Yet, their manager will know it’s not going to work for the whole season. Wolves will be lucky to make the playoffs unless they get a striker or two.
As for GM, well the cotton fluffy stuff should be removed from his eyeses & he’ll needcto sort out exactly what he expects from his troops. Uncertainty around who may still leave doesn’t help. The bite has left the Boro. How do you get it back? Simply relying on your fullbacks to make hay down the wings is NOT enough. As Allan says you need more than that.
Conclusion
I want to see 6 games played before I start to sing a dirge. But improvements need to be seen and made. Hopefully, in front of the Boro home crowd the players will accept a collective sense of responsibility and crack on.
UTB
Might be better to drop De Roon, his value will drop with every poor performance.
Same with Ben
And please find a left back ,who can keep possession, for longer than one second.
UTB
Agree that De Roon looked like a £250K League II signing but in balance Howson looked worse and in fairness Howson does have proven pedigree at this level. How or why that could be is a strange one, perhaps its just fitness or perhaps its bedding in to new tactics and team mates. Whatever it is I expect Forshaw to start against the Blades and Leadbitter bumped up the pecking order or should that be picking order?
Bamford looked to be offering something in his Cameos in the Premiership. Against Augsburg he was my MOM. Yesterday he made too much of a significance difference for it to be coincidental. I suspect Monk is an uncomplicated individual and both will start next Saturday and if anyone has a problem then they had better up their game.
I see that Man City are being linked with Gibson. That is a concern as Ayala is clearly rusty after almost a full year lay off. Hopefully if fit he will return and respond in the right manner, remember Chambers last season took a few games to find his feet when he first arrived. Likewise George needs to prove quickly he is back fully fit and raring to go otherwise we may see another arrival. Regardless of Ben’s ultimate destination we need another CB. Bartley is the obvious candidate but at 26 and with one decent season in the Championship in his career to date the sort of money Swansea are talking isn’t realistic, same goes for Flint and please don’t start me on Shotton.
A big challenge awaits in sorting out our CB support act or perhaps main starter if Ben does depart but an even bigger one awaits in our midfield “playmaker” role. Why do I have that niggle that with three in front to pick from that maybe the answer is staring Monk in the face, did I mention the need for a set piece specialist previously?
“significance difference” should of course read “significant difference”. I blame the Rioja induced spell checker, even now the Spanish influence knows no bounds!
It is beyond me that the Ayala howler and defeat is blamed at Monk.
Other than that our goalkeeper did only one save (or was it a tricky back psaa by Ben) to make. We had the two best chances of the match and were muck better than Wolves as the game wear on.
We were not brilliant but we were away to one of the best teams in the championship.
We all wanted chances to the attackind, didn’t we? And now the club supplies, some are already questioning that.
As Si tweeted, Monk is the sixth successive #Boro permanent manager to lose his first game. Some things never change.
So patience, please. Up the Boro!
The point I was making is that this debut did not bring anything new. The next 2 games will tell.
No problem, Allan. BTW, awfull typing from me. We wanted CHANGES in attack to crate more chances. Got it? UTB!
PS. I wrote again to the club asking for possibility to buy access to a live stream for all Boro matches. I told about the service the Wolves TV provided for £5 and the interest in here.
They have not yet responded to my email of last week yet.
Please keep on knocking the door if you live outside the UK.
Up the Boro!
It’s a pity that Boro decided not to join iFollow as the price to watch 46 games on this platform (though not including games broadcast live) is £110 – if overseas Boro fans have to pay £5 each time to another club then this will work out at considerably more at potentially £230 (46×5) – though probably around £180 if we get around 10 live games.
As far as I understand you can only sign up to watch iFollow for one particular club’s games – so if your club is not part of the package you can’t sign up. It’s not clear if all clubs will provide a one-off access to a particular game like Wolves did either.
Our next game against Sheffield United is on sky so won’t be streamed – after that our Tuesday home game against Burton is in theory available by purchasing a single Match Pass from the Burton Albion website, which is priced at €6.
It sounded like MFC are planning something at some point regarding live streaming but when that will be has not been clarified yet – in the meantime overseas supporters will have to pay a premium on the current Boro service iFallLowInPriority…
This is what Villa have sais as to why they are not using iFollow.
“We didn’t go down that route because it required wholesale changes to our website and our app — and essentially involved giving ownership back to the league of those club assets… I think that iFollow is fantastic but doesn’t quite meet our needs whilst retaining independence. So we are now pilling through tenders and getting things aligned so we will be broadcasting our own games that aren’t picked by the broadcast partners, and we will not therefore use the EFL solution.”
The following clubs are also not using it: Accrington Stanley, Aston Villa, Birmingham City, Bristol City, Charlton Athletic, Derby County, Forest Green, Fulham, Hull City, Leeds United, Middlesbrough, QPR, Sunderland and Wolverhampton Wanderers.
So I assume Wolves had there own independent system.
Also has anyone been able sign up for the live radio commentary on the Boro website?
Yes I can understand that perhaps some clubs have decided to go there own way rather than cede control of essentially there own products to iFollow. With regards to Wolves who also opted out and were able to stream the game on their own platform- they state on their website that it took 7 months of development to get it ready, which given that Boro only really knew their fate in May in rejoining the EFL it must mean they are behind the curve.
Though we know they intended to stream the Augsburg friendly under their own system and it didn’t work out – perhaps they are still in the ‘beta’ phase and have eased back to make sure it works before charging money. Though at least with Villa they made it pretty clear what they intend to do and why – so better communication is needed from the club as everything still sounds a bit vague.
HI Werder
My investigations indicated that not all clubs are offering iFOLLOW on a match by match basis. Burton is one of them and they are only offering on their website at the moment either the free pass or the Season Pass at 130 euros unless they offer a single game nearer the time.
I agree that it costs more if you purchase individual games from each club and I would be happy to pay the extra cost to see my team but it appears that it may not be possible. From the sites I have visited so far Ipswich, Cardiff Burton and QPR appear to be only offering season passes.
Much as it grates with me I may have to pay the Boro for live radio commentary so I can listen to the matches which are either not available through iFOLLOW on a match by match basis or on Sky.
There does seems to be an option to get a €6 ‘Match Pass’ (along with ‘Free Pass’ and ‘Season Pass’) on the Burton site
https://www.burtonalbionfc.co.uk/ifollow/subscribe/
But it then says at the bottom it’s available from the ‘Match Centre’ and I can see on their fixture page there is a match centre link for the Boro game but I can’t see any details yet about how you purchase a match pass – maybe you have to subscribe to their site first?
https://www.burtonalbionfc.co.uk/matches/fixtures/
Possibly they have to wait until they are sure the match is available for streaming before selling a match pass – more a case of iHopeToFollow…
Watched the highlights, the good thing about the ten minutes rather than the old two minutes is that you do get a flavour of the match and they are produced independently so no club bias.
Luckily, it appears they missed out most of Clayts set pieces which received such a ‘ringing’ endorsement from RR.
When ten minutes of videonstruggles to get goal mouth action it says something about the match. The lowlight was Ayala’s pass, it wasn’t even a miss hit back pass – they can always happen.
Lets move on to next week.
I would have thought with a bit more creative editing of the highlights by the club Boro could have got a 0-0 draw…
Also looks like beIn sports are not showing the Championship this season here in Oz so won’t even see the Sky games either.
Werder
Sadly, no such luck, I would happily delete Ayala’s pass.
If I remember rightly, from what AV wrote some time ago the highlights are produced centrally so no chance of selectivity.
Well I did manage to see the ten minute highlights of the match here in sunny Salzburg, and read fairly good reports in the Yorkshire Post and Northern Echo on the internet.
I bow down to those who actually saw the match live, but I must say I have to disagree with those who thought Boro deserved a point. In my opinion on seeing the 10 minute cameo and on reading the reports, I thought that Wolves on the day were by far the better team. True they like Boro had only two attempts on goal, but did create much more than us, and their new recruits blended into a team better than Boro.
I was particularly disappointed with the performances of some of the players who appeared for us last season. I felt that Friend, De Roon and Alaya seem traumatised by their experiences in the Premier League. I admire George Friend as a person, but he is no attacking winger. Even in the Championship his runs rarely produced a telling cross, and I think that maybe Fabio would be a better option.
De Roon to me seems to have his thoughts elsewhere, maybe hoping for a transfer to a top club to enhance his now diminishing World Cup chances. I am not saying he is doing a Ramirez, but he is not the player he was last season.
As for Ayala, he always had one accident in him, but perhaps because of his past injuries, he’s not yet match fit and is lacking in confidence.
Clayton was certainly our best player, but because of his all- out play is bound to suffer future suspensions, if not injuries, but Forshaw should be an adequate replacement when required, but at the moment I would still have him in the squad instead of De Roon. As regarding corners and free kicks though, Clayton is worse than useless, and that’s why I would actually play Leadbitter instead of either De Roon or Forshaw in that capacity. We castigated Barragan last season for his inability to take throw-ins, and surely Clayton is almost as bad with dead balls, and should not be allowed to take corners. I have heard suggestions that Christie might be an alternative for dead balls, but until we replace Ramirez, I feel that Downing should be recalled. What is the point on bringing on Gestede for impact later on if we have nobody to centre a ball properly?
I know it’s early days yet for new players to gel, but I feel we must buy another two quality centre backs (three if we lose Ben Gibson), but absolutely essential to buy a playmaker. I am satisfied that our forwards have been good purchases, but Messi would struggle in our team without an adequate playmaker.
I’m moving on from Salzburg tomorrow, so not sure about WiFi connections, but will certainly not see the Sheffield United match, and having seen their highlights, I certainly don’t think a win for us is certain, but here’s hoping anyway.
Boro defender Alex Baptiste has joined QPR.
The club have confirmed that the defender’s contract at the Riverside has been mutually cancelled – and now he’ll be looking to kick-start his career at Loftus Road under Ian Holloway.
As Ken and RR have said, we urgently need an experienced centra back now. I think Fry is OK but we lack in numbers now. Up the Boro!
Ken
The way I read the reports Wolves were better first half then we came in to the game and should have equalised before half time. Second half we were better.
Watching the highlights (for want of a better word), they rarely got in to our box, we were no better.
I think we are still suffering from PPP, parallel passing paralysis.
You could also use the 6P’s, piss poor passing prevents perfect penentration!
Well the Northern Echo gave only Clayton and Assomalonga 7. Ayala 4 and some others 5, whilst Wolves had several 7s. Make of that if you will. Just saying like.
Aufwiedersehen.
Ken
I thought it was a tight match, if Ayala hadn’t passed to their striker we could still be playing at 0-0.
The best chance fell to Braithwaite, I say that because it was created rather than gifted.
Both keepers had little to do. Draw possibly fair but Ayala’s mistake means we lost.
The paper says 1-0 therefore that is the result.
Alex Baptiste has joined back up with Ian Holloway at QPR. I Think its a good move for him as his former boss from their time together at Blackpool knows him well and it was under Holloway he played his best football. A shame that fate decreed to scupper his Boro career before it even got going but I wish him all the best and hope he goes on to have a great career with the hoops.
What it does do however is further highlights the shortfall we have in defensive cover as Alex could cover at Full Back and Centre Back. I’m guessing that there will be some imminent incomings this week as a freak training ground accident or a £35m offer for Ben could leave us threadbare. Apart from Fry the only other option would be to put Friend in at CB with Fabio (if he is still here) at LB. There was a rumour that the Shotton interest is as a squad back up player rather than a nailed on starter in which case I’m wondering why we didn’t retain Baptste.
For every player that leaves I’m hoping to see an upgrade in whoever comes in otherwise whats the point. I do however accept that if we sell Ben for silly money then getting an “upgrade” on those circumstances will be nigh on impossible which is all the more reason why any interest in CB’s have to be top drawer or as near to it as possible.
Is it endemic?
Can you be rid of it?
Has it got terminal consequences?
“Wot you on about, Spartak?”
Well, I’m glad you asked!
Espirit de corps – that’s what! It’s the thing no amount of individual improved performance can touch. It’s almost unquantifiable, yet everyone can say they know it when they see it. It’s that ingredient that makes good teams great and allows lesser teams to overcome seemingly greater teams.
When I consider the Boro team- I said TEAM! I don’t get so much of a hint of it either pre match, during or after. Now considering how important it is and what a great impact it can have, why has no one mentioned it???
Just askin like!
At the present moment there is very little synergy on display. Understandable considering that Christie is new and Ben and Dani have been strangers for almost a year whilst George struggled with injury last season restricting his appearances not to mention the return to somewhere in Iberia of the tallest Midget in Riverside history and the emergence of yet another newbie between the sticks with Guzan gone and Dimi dumped.
In the middle we had De Roon dreaming of the Riviera (allegedly) alongside Howson (who perhaps confused canary yellow with old gold in the Black Country sunshine) with Clayts the filler in the sandwich in a new look central threesome. In front of them where Ash, Britt and the one Danish Braithwaite so hardly surprising the link up play was somewhat disjointed.
Interestingly when Bamford came on he did seem to operate with a greater level of intuitive understanding which I can only put down to intelligence aided by an extra yard of pace through coming back to training a few weeks early.
RR
Have to agree with your diagnosis. Where are the Gazette articles on the introduction of team performance management (other publications are available)? What’s been done? What’s being done? Anything? God forbid, nothing!
Spartak
I did say after the game that during the warm up Wolves were doing some impressive drills while Boro were just passing it about like a pub team and that Wolves looked up for it and wanted it more.
Good news with Ripley signing a new three year deal and likely to be going out on loan to Burton Albion in the Championship. Hopefully in a few months we will all be decrying Monk and Co. as to why he wasn’t given an opportunity as he picks up at this level where he left off at Oldham.
Agree RR. Good to have Ripley still on our books. I think we all want him to be given a chance to establish himself and going to a Champioship club will give him the opportunity to show what he can do at this level.
Spartak is spot on with his comment about esprit de corps which is something that has been lacking in the Boro team for some time. No team can smash anything without it.
I said above that while I was disappointed with the performance and result at Wolves, I would wait for five games before commenting further. However, Spartak’s comment struck a chord and, on reflection, it was esprit de corps that was most lacking at Wolves. The first game in any season is a unique opportunity to make a statement of intent for the season and the performance at Wolves was nothing of the sort. I doubt that the rest of the Championship will be worrying much about the Boro based on what they saw at Wolves.
Monk needs to get the team to realise that they need to get stuck-in and show some real passion, motivation and determination if they are to get anywhere near the objective of promotion. Plenty of those qualities gives the team a head start in most games. Lack of it contributes to lack-lustre displays like the one at Wolves. We shall see next weekend.
11 Claytons might work.
Sorry, 10 Claytons and a dead ball specialist
A goalie might be useful, too!
Regarding creativity, anyone fancy spending the Ramirez cash on Jota?
Old Billy
Indeed I did note your comment and like Allan’s it rings warning bells. Too much technical considerations including strategy analysis ensures that the player and the team are forgotten. Did we get a yellow card the whole game? A red one?
No leader with fire in his belly. Where’s Roy Keane when you need him?
Clayton picked up a yellow as did Forshaw in the dying minutes to stop a Wolves breakout.
I think we are missing Grant shouting and barking at those around him. Ben’s a nice lad and so is George, Ayala doesn’t strike me as the demanding type and nor does Clayts who is probably the nearest we have to a firebrand in the side and lets face it he isn’t a Barry Robson. Maybe there is more to Villa signing JT than just his dwindling footballing skills.
We need someone to glue the Team together, a leader on the pitch. Ben does bark instructions but we need a real snarly fighter. Someone who screams, rattles and upsets. A real driver, demanding of his colleagues to up their game, a relentless, never say die spirit. We didn’t have one last season and so far the squad doesn’t look like we have one this season unless of course Grant has another season left in him. Certainly De Roon looked a shadow of himself and Howson clearly hasn’t slotted into whatever it is he was purchased to do.
It will also be difficult to start a bonding process when there are a few who won’t be here in a few weeks or at least in doubt and many of those were included in the 18 man squad.
Or Jamie Pollock for that matter.
I hope Monk is smart enough to recognise the problem and determined enough to do something about it. It is his responsibility.
He would fill the role of three players now !
As many of you will know I have been venting my feelings not only on this website but also on the MFC website about the lack of an iFOLLOW service for Boro supporters abroad and also about problems I have had with the new site involving login and video playback.
I have today received a response from Bob Tait, Head of Digital and Marketing Development MFC, who has said that he will be happy to chat to me and hear my views and share his thoughts on the iFOLLOW service and also discuss how MFC can keep overseas members more involved with what is happening at the club.
I have given him my phone number and will hopefully be speaking later this week. If anyone has anything they wish me to raise the please let me know. I will provide feedback as soon as I am able.
Well done KP, and also well done to Bob Tait for being prepared to put his head over the parapet.
I am in Scotland, so even though I am not in the country of the football association or league of which Boro are involved, we are always treated as if we were when it comes to audio and visual media rights. It has always struck me a little odd that even though in footballing terms Scotland has nothing to do with England (and vice versa) all the TV and radio deals impact at the UK consumer level, rather than the regional or home-national consumer level. After all we have separate BBC Scotland, commercial STV and Sky and BT and Virgin all control which programs are diffused in which region. It would be interesting to hear if Bob Tait has any ideas about treating Scottish residents on the same basis as other expats…
Powmill……I wonder if IFOLLOW would work in Scotland through a VPN??
Powmill
It is Sky and the EPL who dictate the broadcasting terms and presently Scotland is part of the UK and as such is not able to watch the live streams being made available to overseas supporters.
Not sure if Pedro’s solution will work. I have a VPN connection in Spain which effectively gives me a UK IP address and allows me to have Sky catch up, box sets etc which would not be available through my Spanish IP address. So it may be worth exploring.
I did hear from a friend in Spain who had problems paying for the service with a UK credit card which was not registered to his Spanish address so you need to be aware of this potential problem.
A VPN does provide a way around regional restrictions but if there is a demand then surely it makes more sense for those interested parties to find a win/win. A product which is both acceptable and affordable to those with a desire to sample their wares. iFollow it appears meets many of those needs and at a not unreasonable price. In what other Commercial field does a business try and prevent sales?
The fact that Wolves set an attendance record and also sold their product “overseas” for a fiver shows that the demand is there without affecting the attendance drastically. I fully accept that there may be a slightly different outcome against say Burton on a wet and windy Tuesday night when slumped in 15th place but penalising overseas fans seems a bit trite when the club could perhaps organise beam backs for those on Teesside who may be tempted to circumnavigate the interweb thingy.
Well done KP for keeping on the case. I think for me the issues is about whether the club are going to provide a similar service of their own or not – given that there is now a legitimate product for overseas supporters it would be a lost opportunity for the club to exclude Boro supporters from this kind of service. In the end we will end up paying our money to whoever offers the game and as I said earlier it will likely mean having to pay a premium for single games.
It would be interesting to know what are the obstacles to providing such a service – plus would a club service be able to include away games too? I suspect not but perhaps there are reciprocal deals to be done with other clubs who aim to provide their own service.
In the end supporters would rather give the club their money rather than other clubs – or even be forced to use some of the dodgy sites, which we don’t know where there advertising revenue is going and I presume many are quite possibly run by those involved in organised crime.
Thanks for the tip about a VPN Pedro and KP. If not thought about that, but I have just the son that will know how to set that up for me to experiment with.
I know the rights are agreed between the broadcasters and the league, but I was really only expressing a frustration at how illogical it is when UK’s constituent nations’ FAs insist on keeping everything to do with professional football in each of the home nations separate so as to maintain their independent places on FIFA and UEFA, at the same time agreeing to share their rights across the whole of the UK.
Certainly will see what we can do via a VPN.
Interesting tripe supper where they highlighted something we had discussed and to be fair they have mentioned the subject before.
Were we undercooked, did we need another game or two before the season?
It becomes even more pertinent when you consider Gaston had been playing so much in a 4231 line up and then we change to 433 with little match time before the season start.
No doubt there was time spent on the training pitch but you cant beat match action even if it is a friendly.
Just a thought.
Although Saturday’s result and performance were not unexpected, my disappointment has abated slightly. We always knew that Boro were a work in progress. Then again, that applied even more to Wolves and, at least in the first half, they looked the better team.
No, Ayala’s aberration was not representative of our play, mediocre though it was, so on another day we would have got a 0-0. Actually at least one of our chances was easier to score than miss so I can almost convince myself we could have won 1-0 and will on another day.
We didn’t play well but even that sub-standard performance will collect points in this division.
As others have noted, the MF didn’t work. As we all suspected, we still lack a creative Midfielder who can hit a killer pass; we have no wide players other than Downing and Traore, who are out of the picture; and despite SG’s assurances, I see little evidence of pace in the team. However the latter may be related to the excessive sideways passing (yet again).
One welcome development is the fluidity and exchanges in the front line and the number of players pushing forwards. The challenge will be in keeping things tight while doing this. I always thought AK’s defensive record owed much more to defensive quantity (I.e. defending in numbers) than quality so it will be interesting to see if we become porous as a result of pushing forward. Tricky balancing act.
One unwelcome aspect in our play at Wolves, probably a symptom of this, was how open we were. I saw no evidence of the pressing game of the last 3 years, none of the ‘defend from the front’. If we are to abandon that and push players forwards with only Clayton covering, we will be welcome opposition to everybody.
I’m worried about Friend and Ayala. They are part of the Boro core and were expected to form the nucleus of the new team. However they’ve had injury problems for a year and both looked rusty on Saturday.
If that’s all it was then a few games will see them back to their best. However, thinking back, neither player had many games last season and both struggled. George in particular had a stellar promotion season and had been widely anticipated to kick on and show PL form. Instead he looked out of his depth, especially in the first quarter of the season.
Has age and/or injuries caught up with them?
Anyone else considered Boro bringing back Lee Cattermole???
Any other suggestions?
If Clattermole is the answer then the question must be truly too terrifying for words!
An injury prone marginally talented psychotic head case is not the same as a leader. Taking someone out, getting sent off and doing your own hamstring in the process isn’t what I had in mind. At least Robson and Grant had some talent and ability to add to the mix plus Grant is still here and based on Howson and De Roon’s performances should be starting come Saturday teatime.
Don’t!
Ripley gone,we must have a goalie on trial no one is saying?
Just noticed a few less than friendly remarks about John Terry at Aston villa.
For a team in the Champ, which wishes to be in the Prem, I would think he is the best signing one could make.
Consider the following.
He wants to move into management(at they top level)
He is observably a very authorative personality.
Any player in his dressing room who does not care about the result will be in grave danger of missing some important body part.
He knows the benefit of paying close personal attention to the best player on the opposition side (and they rarely have more than one)
His manager will have made it clear to the team that he is the managers personal representative in any situation.
Still find him an unpleasant individual….
Could be a bit of a distraction when the first team squad keep texting their wives and girlfriends when he turns up late for training!
Taps it home
I’m gonna be upfront ,I didn’t want Monk and I still don’t want him.
Just an opinion based on , he got sacked at Swansea for a reason,and Leeds didn’t try very hard to keep him.
If he gets rid of Traore ,I’m done.
We get what Traore is but he scares the living day lights of defenders at this level.
Forget expecting full backs to be wingers and burning out at the sixty fifth minute .
You allow Traore to do his thing and put a stay at home defensive full back behind him.
Stop over thinking the game Monk.
GT
But scaring the living daylights out of defenders does not win matches – good quality ball and finishing does. AT has been playing football since his early teens and been involved with major clubs/coaches non of whom have been able to get the best out of him and I just do not see it happening. He lacks a footballing brain and an inability to deliver a final ball/choose the correct option and I do not believe this will change.
I am in agreement with you on the full back scenario and posted a while back that in my view we would be better off having people doing their main job first and foremost ie defenders defend, midfielders break up the play and create and forwards shoot and hopefully score. Very simplistic but it works and it worked for Jack’s team albeit with a great work ethic from back to front.
The current squad will struggle this season if we do not find a creative midfielder(s) and forward based wide men rather than full backs whose final ball is often woeful. We saw on Saturday what we will see throughout this season, given our status as favourites to go up, teams raising their game and packing the defence and midfield when we have the ball. We struggled previously to break teams down and it will be the same. We have more players in a striking role but that’s not much use if they are starved of quality ball.
I think as far as GM is concerned you really need to give him time. We would probably not be able to employ anyone if you only want a manager who has not been sacked or one whom a club did not fight to keep when others are offering opportunities.
Just managing to post before continuing my travels.
It appears to me there is a lot of bias from Boro fans on this forum, and indeed by our manager regarding the performance against Wolves which I suppose is understandable to some extent.
Philip Tallentire in his report says “A tale of two halves – it wasn’t that simple. There’s no doubt Wolves were the superior side overall and they were worth their victory”. The Northern Echo ratings of the match gave total ratings of each team’s starting eleven – Wolves 72/110, Boro 62/110.
I, like most of you didn’t see the whole match, and based my opinions on the ten minute cameo and reports in the Yorkshire Post and Northern Echo, so now having read a Gazette reporter giving a similar opinion, I tend to agree with the general overall national opinion that Boro were poor but will improve.
We all want Boro to do well, and I’m sure Boro WILL improve with the purchase of a good playmaker and when our new acquisitions have settled down, but let’s not kid ourselves that Boro deserved at least a point last Saturday. Let’s show some perception of what really happened whilst anticipating and hoping that things will improve!
RR
I understand your reservations with regards to the character of Lee Cattermole and given the alcohol abuse at SAFC amongst a number of players who would go near such a transfer. However, the world is such that the pure and clean living are very much in the minority. So I ask you this, if the introduction of LC meant promo as Champions to the EPL or the emmission meant missing out on the playoffs, would you settle for the latter on principle? And please don’t forget the amount of money that has been spent already is wasted if we don’t go up.
Just askin like!
Spartak
If signing Clattermole guaranteed us (or at least a good attempt at) Promotion then its a no brainer. I personally scratch my head at how he has managed a career in football for so long. I think he is possibly the most one dimensional, unfit and unskilled player to ever grace the Premiership.
Grant is 31 and Lee is 29, there is only two years between them (surprisingly) but I would rather have a 40 year old Grant than a 29 year old Lee. I’m in full agreement that we need a leader on the pitch but for me Lee is just a nut job walking around adding little value waiting to explode and I wouldn’t want him anywhere near the club. At present we need a spark in the middle who will also direct and lead and at this level I think Grant is it unless we can recruit better. We also need some positivity and hopefully once bedded in Howson will add that.
Defensively we are heading for a crisis at CB, if as rumoured the Saints are willing to part with half of the Virgil van Dyke money for Ben and with City hovering also then like as not a bid will likely be accepted leaving us with Ayala and Fry and nobody else. The links with Shotton and Flint do not inspire me and are more reminiscent of the St Ledger and Bikey era’s.
If Ben goes for £30m and say De Roon for £10m or thereabouts then our actual spend will be a minus with our squad starting to look a little suspect in key areas. Not that I think De Roon will be a huge loss based on Saturday’s performance admittedly. I realise and am grateful that we have spent big up front but its a fools paradise if we then negate that by buying journeymen bang average to lower level Championship players to replace key positions elsewhere in the side.
At the moment the squad looks a little lopsided and unbalanced in some areas (no real width apart from Traore if he stays or gets back in favour) and overloaded (up front) in some areas. We also seem to lack a Merson/Ramirez (Forestieri bid to FFP strapped Wednesday?). Defensively as mentioned CB is a major worry and if Fabio departs then do we go after Bryan at Bristol and then there is Goalkeeper cover, are we OK with Dimi and Mejias?
Like a kid in a sweet shop with a fiver burning a hole in his pocket am I the only one thinking that we have gorged far too much up front at the expense of other crucial areas so far?
Grant is on the shelf.
Howson is yet to establish himself and De Roon is dreaming of a ship that will take him to better shores.
The phrase ‘a bit of a doggies din dins’ comes to mind.*
*See comment on lack of footballin common sense.
RR
We may be short on wide players, but I do not think traore should play there.
His place is in the centre of the field, moving between the three opposition defenders waiting for the ball to be played into the dead ground, never mind the dribbling, just win the foot race and the opposition are in big trouble.
When some big team manages to get him on their books they will show us exactly how he should be used.
KP
Traore is that bad ,that premiership teams had to use three men to mark him,and stop his influence?
He is erretic at times ,but how many free kicks will he cause in dangerous areas.
A good manager sets his players up and teams in order to give them an advantage, and at the same time hide their own weaknesses.!
KP
No bias here, I wasn’t impressed by what I saw from either side, four shots on target between you isn’t great especially when one was created by a blooper.
We can hope for improvement, as I posted above we prepared as if we had Gaston then changed just before the season started.
It is early days but points dropped have gone forever, we don’t want to take too long to get up to speed.
And now, from Belfast, it’s my Quote Of The Day.
“…The more things change, the more they stay the same.
“Once again we left the game full of if onlys.
“If only Ayala hadn’t made that mistake. If only Braithwaite could hit the target when a ball is put on his forehead six yards from goal. If only the Wolves keeper hadn’t gone and Ruddy well saved from Assombalonga. Stop me if you’ve heard this one before, but it all felt very similar to senor Karanka’s reign.
“Boro were competitive and managed to limit the chances of the opposition but once again going a goal down became a mountain we could not climb.
“Let’s not be too harsh on Ayala… all defenders and goalkeepers can and will make mistakes.
“The more worrying thing was how often did Boro actually test Ruddy other than the save from Assombalonga. Despite spending a fortune on attacking talent, Monk’s new dawn felt a lot like a Karanka performance.”
— Paul Ahdal, writing for The Good, The Bad, The Boro
Yes, quite so. We were all wishing for a brave new world under Monk and we might get one yet but the Wolves game was not an encouraging start.
There was some talk about the signings for this season being of a quality that would be required in the EPL in the event that we were promoted. It is only one game but I didn’t see any EPL quality in any of the new boys.
Maybe Wolves was just the usual first game of the season damp squib. The team will need to be on the ball and motivated come Saturday because the opposition is no pushover.
Simon
We all recognise the ‘illness’, but what is it’s cause and therefore once identified how do we ‘cure’ it?
I think one problem is the length of the transfer window. Why allow transfers when the season is up and running? A blind polecat on a bad day can see it has a unstabilising effect on the team dynamic.
In addition, why in the name of God’s teeth was Gaston played in friendlies only for us to see him smiling like a Cheshire cat from another country hours before the season kicks off.
Sorry to say this folks but I think there’s a collective lack of footballin common sense at MFC and the bottomline takes presedence uber alles.
But if I remember rightly Spartak, Burnley left it late to bring in Andre Gray in 2015 and Jeff Hendrick in 2016.
Didn’t stop them winning the league and surviving for two seasons running, did it? I’d argue instead that the right transfers at the right time gave them a massive boost.
Similarly, Sunderland lost their first four games in 2006-07 before Roy Keane’s sister sent him that season changing text: “Did you see Niall Quinn? You need to help him out.”
Rudderless Sunderland had a leader again. By the end of the season, they were champions.
As you would say – just sayin’ like.
Simon
Perhaps Roy Keane’s sister is the answer to our problem- you wouldn’t have her number by any chance?
😉
Middlesbrough make offer for 24-year-old DR Congo defender Marcel Tisserand according to an article yesterday by Tom Coast in Sports Witness
After reports of bids from Watford and Everton for Ingolstadt’s Marcel Tisserand, it appears Middlesbrough have stepped forward with an offer of their own, according to L’Equipe on Tuesday.
The Championship side haven’t held back this transfer window, as they try and return to the Premier League as quickly as possible, and a new centre-back still appears to be on Garry Monk’s list.
Unfortunately for all the clubs interested in the 24-year-old, Ingolstadt have been blocking an exit despite the player making it very clear he wants to leave the 2.Bundesliga side this summer.
L’Equipe explain that Middlesbrough, Watford and Saint-Etienne have all made bids of €5.5m, which is what the German side are said to have paid for Tisserand last year.
In mid July, claims from France credited Everton with making an offer for Tisserand. The offer from Everton was said to stand at €3m, less than the other bids, and it’s apparent Ronald Koeman’s side are pushing strongly for this.
Not taking part in the first two weeks of the new season, the DR Congo international has been training away from the first-team, pushed to one side, and assigned his own fitness coach for now.
Unable to help Ingolstadt avoid relegation from Bundesliga last season, Tisserand made 28 league appearances, assisting teammates twice.
: Sunderland targeting Middlesbrough midfielder Grant Leadbitter
Sunderland are keen to bring Middlesbrough midfielder Grant Leadbitter back to the Stadium of Light this summer.
According to a report from The Sun, Sunderland are interested in trying to bring Middlesbrough midfielder Grant Leadbitter back to the Stadium of Light.
Leadbitter came through the ranks with the Black Cats, spending around seven years on the club’s books and making over 100 league appearances for the side before departing for Ipswich in 2009.
Sparta
Too true,
One win out of the last nine opening fixtures tells you that it is endemic.
Enjoy your hols, have a prolonged jolly playing unknown teams from nowhere,
Play people who are not part of your plans and will not be here when it all kicks off.
Employ a watching brief for the first game(always a good idea)
Find you are playing a team that would have great difficulty scoring in a house of ill repute,
Decide, in the interests of sportsmanship to tee one up for the opposition,
When that wasn’t enough, manage to miss one that simply was not mislabel.
Its always nice to state an opinion about future performance before the event
So here goes, Wolves will struggle(and how)
What does that say about us?
Two home matches to come, a safety blanket? Or a bed of nettles?
In my view, BoroExile, the team is a hodgepodge. It hasn’t clicked yet.
A reason AKBoro worked so well for so long was because when they clicked as a collective, when they functioned as a unit, they really clicked. When things were good, they were good. Hence my calls for patience.
It was its inability to transcend itself to the needs of certain individuals that was its stumbling block. Sometimes the needs of the one (or the few) really do outweigh the needs of the many, with apologies to Mr Spock.
There will come a time when not everyone will want to go to the cinema or the pub together, go for a walk together or go on holiday together, regardless of the proposed and promised importance to “team bonding”. And at a club like Boro, where we don’t have a quality replacement for that special someone the manager doesn’t want to make special allowances for, this is hugely problematic.
The ideal team should at least aspire to gel as a team without subverting their individual qualities. I am hoping that happens with MonksBoro, much sooner rather than later.
Like!
🙂
It’s way too early to attempt to form any kind of strong opinion on whether the current set of players or system are fit for purpose or not – or for that matter try to draw any comparison’s with previous Boro teams in regard to how they perform as a unit.
Ten games is usually a good period to allow for settling in and iron out freak results (good or bad) – plus Monk has only had ONE game and is still dealing with matters off the pitch too until the end of August. Most of our new players have barely had a full 90 minutes in a pre-season friendly before Wolves so we maybe shouldn’t be surprised if they still look a little disjointed.
Wolves looked a little tidier with their passing on Saturday but Boro looked the most threatening for the last quarter and showed some promising interplay. Remember it was Steve Gibson who suggested Boro would like to smash the league – Garry Monk, I think said he knew what was expected of him and that the objective was promotion.
Boro have made a lot of changes but I don’t think there was much choice in doing that – which players that have left or are about to leave would many have preferred to have kept? Perhaps Fischer but I don’t think he was that keen on staying and still had to prove himself – indeed it sounds like most people want more changes with Friend and de Roon looking under pressure to perform. Boro will probably add to their squad in the coming weeks and then maybe we’ll know what is at our disposal.
Building a fully functioning team will take time – let’s hope it’s less time than we should normally expect.
Werder…….Always the voice of reason.
RR, I do not rhink we have spent too much money upfront at the expense of the deficiences at the back.
We have the money to put that right, if hopefully they have identified quality additions, (possibly not Shotton)
I do find it odd and agree with where I think you are coming from. We are light in CB’s. Baptiste would I believe, have been an adequate squad reserve. Did Gary not agree or did Alex want regular football at this time in his career? Will Fry be OK as a squad player, I do not think he is ready for regular first team selection.
Then there is Ben and Dani. One EPL player who we may not be able to hold onto, one who has injuries built in. I think we need at least one top class Championship, lower level EPL CB, certainly two if Ben goes. Are they waiting on Bartley….its a gamble if Swansea keep him. Who else is available or could be available on loan once the 25’s are put in?
However I am with you RR, Monk and MFC had better get a move on or be certain of somebody we do not know about. And of course this does not include the FB’s.
I also believe they played Gaston to keep him in the shop window and get rid at a decent price. But we do need to replace him as near as like for like in ability if not character.
And that’s my point, Pedro.
MFC put Gaston in the window (not as if he was an unknown quantity with a lazy agent) to get the best price for him to the detriment of the team’s future performance.
TFN*
*Total Footballin Nonsense – just ask Roy Keane’s sister, she’d tell yer!
He can certainly pass a ball better than what we have now. See the two balls played to Fletcher against Augsburg, one resulting in a goal, with credit to Fletcher of course.
See AV playing the victim card for the EG online-
‘We’ve done nowt wrong us like!’
Big bad Boro wont let two journo’s play so its one out all out lads. Then, he plays the martyrs card and says they’ll still do their job.
Sorry to inform you AV but maybes you’ve been stitched up & its been coming months ago eg. SG’s interview with the Times!
End of the day, regardless of the reason, the Boro command the driving seat not the local paper.
UTB
Do we need the Gazette? Do we need the Tripe Supper? After all, the latter is just a discussion between four reporters whose opinions mount for no more value than any of us bloggers on this forum, and I would suggest our variable opinions are far more valid and interesting.
I would hazard a guess that if a random selection of bloggers from this forum were sat around a table there would be a wider variance of opinions, and I doubt that there would be a 100% opinion that Boro would get automatic promotion this season. Of course we would all HOPE that that would be the case, but 100% forecast? Yet the reporters all know how attritional the Championship is, and accept there are possibly 8 or 10 teams who might make the playoffs, yet all seem to think Boro are one of the top two teams in this league. Maybe reporters of Villa, Fulham, Wednesday, etc have similar views about their teams; it’s called bias.
Some supporters think because the bookies make us favourites, then we must be. No, the reason why bookies make us favourites is because so many Boro fans have placed bets on us, that the bookies have had to shorten the odds. That’s how bookmakers work.
Is it time for an Ex-mill challenge? My opinion for what it’s worth is that Boro will finish in the playoffs, possibly 4th and win at Wembley. However, I HOPE we finish at least 2nd, and maybe we will, but it may be the following season before that happens. Spending millions of pounds is not a panacea for success. It helps, but retaining a hardcore of players like Burnley have done in my opinion is the better option. Yes, improvements to our attacking options was necessary, but six new signings with more to come, I suggest will take a long time to perfect.
Ken, I see you point on too many changes. I just hope you are not right and we finally smash the league. At least SG and GM think so. So there is hope….
Up the Boro!
Ken, your last paragraph sums up the position perfectly. Personally, if you offered me now 4th place guaranteed now I would bite your hand off.
I agree with you Ken about integrating so many players to form a team
It could take until Xmas before they all gel and start producing the goods
I think we will still sign another two and probably more if we let Leadbitter go to Sunderland and send DeRoon back to Serie A
Ben I have always said we would keep until at least Xmas and I still think that will be the case or our defence will be in trouble
A bit harsh, I think, Spartak.
I don’t know what has caused Boro to refuse Press Passes to two Gazette journalists, and refuse interviews to certain players, whilst indicating that other Gazette journos are welcome. If the Gazette says it has been given no explanation, then unless we are given some information that says otherwise, I think we should take what AV (and the Gazette) says at face value.
It should have been sorted out by a phone call from someone high up at Boro (SG or Bauser?) and someone high up at the Gazette (the Editor?). “Can you pop along for a chat over a cup of tea tomorrow afternoon, before this gets out of hand?” And then a friendly, or frank if you prefer it, discussion in which the club explains why it feels upset and in which the Gazette can respond – maybe even settle their differences?
There may have been a genuine misunderstanding over information the club thought had been given on a “keep this under your hat for the moment basis”, but which the journalists thought was OK for immediate general dissemination. Having said which, I can’t remember reading anything I thought seemed like a secret being broken but, then again, I don’t get the Gazette every day, just some days.
In general terms I disapprove of clubs “banning” papers or journalists. It smacks too much of Russia, North Korea etc (or Newcastle United with some of the Tyneside papers, and I thought we’d be above that) and it is clearly an affront in a free society. I don’t want newspapers to print something that is untrue, a lie, but neither do I want a situation in which journalists cannot comment “as they see it”. Clubs are very happy to have good publicity but that comes with the risk of criticism which they might regard as bad publicity, when things don’t turn out well.
I guess in some clubs, and with some papers, there may be a close relationship. “We’ll give you first access to this story, and a first interview, if our bid for Player X is successful, and some inside information as to the background to how the deal came about, but only on the basis that you keep it embargoed until the deal has been completed, because we fear that publicity may scupper the deal or cause us to have to pay more….” Or “If you can try to show what we are doing here in a positive light, then we can try to provide you with the interviews you’ve been asking for with Player Z and we can give you some information about A, B and C….” Such goings on, I could understand..
At the end of the day, I think a local football club and a local newspaper both benefit from friendly relations. The paper is the club’s conduit for conveying information to the people who should most matter to the club – it’s supporters and those who might become supporters. The paper’s stories are free publicity and advertising, the like of which would cost a lot of money to buy. A friendly paper can explain a story in way which is sympathetic to the club, and keep supporters “onside”. Photos in the paper show players wearing their sponsored shirts which will be seen by many. Sponsors pay for publicity and will not be happy to find it is cut off.
On the other hand it may be said that big news about the club will sell newspapers, that a big purchase or some breaking news splashed across the front page as well as the back, will see the papers go like hotcakes. I am not sure, in this world of immediate news via internet etc, that people first buy a paper for that reason, but many will want later to get a paper to read the considered account given the next day or later.
Finally, if they cannot sort things out, there is the risk that a paper will send people to the game, not with Press passes, but having bought tickets and sitting with the rest of the fans. That brings risks to the club. The journalists and the paper no longer feel the need to be diplomatic about the club as it no longer receives any favours from the club anyway. The journos may well give an “unvarnished” account of the game, warts and all, much more likely to be critical and in fact echoing many of the comments that might very well being made by the paying fans who have been sitting around and about the journos in the ground. The paying supporter might very well agree with what the journalists write. The club, if things are not going quite so “smashingly” well, is not going to like that.
So come on, Boro and the Gazette. Get it sorted out. Before the Sheffield game would be quite nice, thank you very much. Then we can all kiss and make up, and get on with what we hope will be a successful season..The club wants to succeed; the supporters, the Gazette and probably most of its journalists all want the same thing. We should be pulling in the same direction, not against each other.
FD
That sounds like a great idea both sides talking face to face
Boro won’t though………..
The two parties are now internet media compeditors – not besties!
The situation has changed for whatever reason & MFC are moving on – see their brand spanking new website.
UTB
Sky report the Baggies are preparing another bid for Gibson, Southampton looking to offer £30m for him.
As for the Gazette Two, it looks no closer to resolution. How will PT and Vic report on the match? Will it be in the stands or listening to Radio Tees?
Oh the drama, I must admit I agree with Spartak, I think the drift may have been going on for some time and it has just come to a head.
Both parties need their heads bashing together. I suspect both sides want the other to be reasonable and do what they want.
I reckon £35 milion ort t tip the scales, Ian.
Unfortuately, I dont believe we can replace Ben with whatever else is available.
Even more galling, it took 20 minutes to sell the tickets for the Forest match.
Typical Boro Ticket office mess. Thats a miserly 1.666 ticket sold every single second for twenty whole minutes. Surely they could work a bit quicker than that! 😉
According to the Nottingham Post we only sold them because of Assombalonga’s return. Ignorant, ill informed journalists, don’t you just love them!
Regarding AV’s Gazette statement – if that is how it actually is (i.e. Dom and Jon banned without explanation) then the club are out of order and need to just accept the press or anyone else is entitled to give an opinion or a view that they may not like. If there is any other reason for the ban then they owe it to the two journalists to inform them why they are being restricted from carrying out an essential part of their job.
I really don’t think Trump or Putin style tactics against the press are appropriate for any public organisation that is supposed to represent their town or area – if you can’t accept criticism then you shouldn’t expect praise either – even if you believe it’s either unfair or unwarranted, as that surely goes with the territory of being in the business of professional football. So if you don’t like the message then give your side of the argument – not shoot the messenger and shut down the discussion. Imagine what the club would say if the press decided they wouldn’t speak to certain players after a game?
Last time I looked, Werder, MFC were a privately owned company not a public service – like!
Trinity Mirror closed the Untypical Blog without a by your leave to us. Cant be expecting more from others than that which you dish out yerselves – no?
I’m just wondering if SG saw the Untypical blog demise as lettin down stalwart Boro fans in the interests of private company profits. Wonder if Ian’s comments on the use of ads and ‘Premier’ content as witness to exploitation.
Are you surprised that the MFC site is free to access? I’m not! The largesse of MFC (it costs money to set up the site and run it) is given to the fans. On EG you have to pay, not once with ad views but twice with Premium subscription.
All’s fair in love and media wars.
True MFC are a private company – it’s almost getting a bit like Rollerball in the PL where us public are being given a distraction to cheer by the elite corporate owners 🙂 As each football brand name goes global perhaps we gradually become disconnected from our local club of expensive mercenaries…
But banning the press is not the best way to show you’re on the people’s side – even if it’s what Trump’s template is.
Sparta
You have laid out the situation as it is.
There is no mystery in my opinion.
The club(any club) give the local paper unlimited access for a very good reason.
So that the local populace can always check on events concerning their team. Even people who do not attend the match will be very well informed, by gossip, rumour and invention(that’s what supporting your local team means) .
The local paper decided to monetise that information, by capturing it on a pay as you go website.
Cheeky, or what?
The club, said no you don’t,
The paper said, try to stop us.
Now, Boro win the cup, the paper says, click onto our web site and you can read all about it, as long as you pay.
Ian
I do not consider either Baggies or Saints as top six sides and would try to hang onto our prized asset a bit longer albeit I accept money and Ben’s wishes will have a big say in the decision.
If we get that sort of money then I wonder if we could tempt Callum Chambers back or if not we need someone with the experience of Kyle Bartley. 😎
We need two experienced CB’s in now let alone if or when Ben goes!
If Shotton is one of them I would have preferred to have kept Baptiste but I do accept the call of his former Manager allied to a difficult time up here may have played a big part in his thinking and wanted a fresh start. I hope to be suitably impressed by whoever the club does bring in just so long as we do not endure another period of dire defenders like when we had Rav and Co. up front and leaked like a sieve at the back.
KP
I wouldn’t advise Ben to go to the Baggies or Saints, Wheaters slither with Bolton is a lesson, same goes for Cat’s eventual return to Championship football.
Werder
I wish I knew what is going between MFC and Gazette. MFC are not saying and Gazette are playing the aggrieved party – I think it was RR who likened it to a marriage where you should know what you have done wrong!
I suspect both sides know but wont admit it.
It reminds me a bit of Rangers and Celtic where each set of fans want to sing its own songs because it is ‘heritage’. If Celtic fans are stopped Rangers fans will gloat and vice versa.
Both sides wait for the other to make the move.
Perhaps they’re just having a trial separation…
BTW, any idea how many tickets sold for the first home match? No exact numbers needed but what is the anticipated attendance?
Both away match allowances sold out. Let’s hope a decent crowd for the first home match and good atmosphere.
I cannot see the match as I am abroad with friends. We play some footy in Estonia.
Up the Boro!
I hope you bump into Tarmo Kink, Jarkko!
If it’s Tallin I envy you. Beautiful city and so clean with no graffiti.
Pärnu, a spa town, Ken. BTW the Boro have a Brazilian chap on loan in Tallin who scored a hat trick last weekend. I will miss that, too.
I wonder where Tarmo is now. UTB!
jarkko as at this morning MFC report over 25,000 tickets sold so far.
Come on BORO.
One feature of the game at Wolves was the way the home team approached it. They harried our midfield and forwards relentlessly, and that was their focus to the point that Randolph had nothing to do before we gave them the goal. Potentially a main rival, but their first priority on their own ground was to contain us. Not only that, but my sons and I had to get tickets in a home area, and there was no impatience or grumbling there.
I think we have to accept that we will play against this approach almost every game, even perhaps away against some of our main rivals, and that the opposing supporters will not easily lose patience with it. It will be hard to get the opposition fans to turn, unless we actually score first.
The only things which worked in the first half were a set piece which nearly resulted in a goal, and a brilliant piece of individual wing play. In the second, we only became able to hold the ball and play around their penalty area when the quality, touch and vision of PB was introduced. Fair enough, their side may have been tiring a little by then, but essentially the game changed because of quality. Braithwaite suddenly showed a couple of clever touches, as getting quality players together means they can play off each other.
I imagine GM is working very hard this week to resolve the set-piece issue in training, because we are very capable of scoring if only we can get the ball into the right areas. But in the end, it may simply be a function of quality, and without a player with high skills of delivery we will continue to struggle there.
We may already have enough to perform really well with no further midfield signings, we should improve with game time, and maybe we will start breaking teams down comfortably – I very much hope that’s what happens.
BUT: Wing play quality and skillset. Playmaker quality and skillset. Set piece expertise. Do we have enough of these? Do we have cover for what we already have?
Mark
The question is do we have those quality and skill sets never mind cover?
‘If you know not the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.’
Sun Tzu ‘Art of War’.
How much did GM know about the Wolves team last Saturday? I guess not a lot. How did he prepare his charges for a game where he was in info deficit? What were his expectations and if he had any did he convey them to his team? I guess he didn’t give much out at all coz he, in this instance, had nothing to give. Only the analysis after 60 mins allowed for changes.
No number 2 to work with? Then he’s very much on his own and the result was a loss. Might/Should have been a draw and a point but wasn’t.
In deficit- Monk!
Next game please 🙂
We may have the set piece accuracy in a certain member of the U23 group, Ian!
But I accept the need for pace and dynamism, and with the right quality additions in midfield we could set up Britt, PB and Fletcher to score a hatful of goals.
It’s brilliant to see PB getting back to his best. He had one long shot where he showed the power he can get though his excellent co-ordination, it went a bit too near the keeper, but a sign of what he can do. He has the coolness to go round a keeper, he places his headers well and can can get a shot away in tight situations.
I think Fletcher will come good, but maybe this fixture was too big an ask at this stage. Britt looks very hungry.
A thought on Fabio, I think he is a liability because of his height as a defender.
But I’m surprised , he as never been tried in midfielder either holding or attacking,his energy level is their to see,so he can get up to support.
Just a thought.
As at this morning, MFC report over 25,000 tickets sold for Saturday.
Come on BORO.
Though I expect a fair few of those are probably for Gazette journalists…
Sky news reporting that Kyle Bartley has just signed a new four year contract at .Swansea so that looks like a CB off our wanted list! ☹️
KP
Unless they send him out on loan again.
If he does well he can step up in to the Swans first team or be sold with a longer contract hence enhancing his sale price. The other alternative is that he is now a serious contender at Swansea.
Ian
Very fair points you make – hope your right about the loan deal and that it is with us.
I would prefer KB as opposed to the two other Championship CBs we have been linked with.
“Happy the man, and happy he alone, who in all honesty can call today his own. He who has life and strength enough to say: ‘Yesterday’s dead and gone, I’m going to live today.'”
Happy Booklovers’ Day all.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPzS91gGzLM
And now, from Belfast, it’s Si’s Quote Of The Day.
From Boro fan Ian Smith. He’s said what I have been repeatedly insinuating for an age. Here goes.
“I no longer pass judgement on someone until I’ve seen enough of them in my teams’ colours. Whatever went before is forgotten, he wasn’t our man then so it makes no odds to me whether he scored three own goals in a season, or couldn’t hit a barn door for his former club.
“Our manager has clearly seen something in him to think he’ll be a positive addition to the playing squad, that’s enough for me. You have to feel that he’s in a better position to make that kind of decision than I or any other fan is.
“I can still form an opinion, however passing judgement and writing them off as a bad purchase just isn’t something you’ll find me doing. I’m not the manager so who am I to decide who should and shouldn’t be signed?
“I realise the level headed and sensible among us will always take the same approach, welcoming them player to the club and wishing him well, but I can’t help but feel embarrassment when I come across some of the dross comments from so called experts that support my club too.
I guess it’ll never change and we’ll always have that element of supporter displeasure when a transfer story pops up that might not be to their liking, but if you’re thinking of judging a player before he signs, please think twice.
“Who knows, they might actually prove you wrong.”
Thank you, Ian.
Si
I hope any Boro signings that create doubt prove the fans wrong but as with last season certain players were called out back in August and spectacularly underwhelmed as predicted. Previous to that we had Mejias then on De Pena’s debut I was less than complimentary when in reality deep down I desperately wanted to be extolling his virtues and hailing him as the next “Little Fella”.
Speaking of a “Little Fella”, Valdes did eventually improve before a toy throwing session (or Spanish sciatica) but not enough to convince. Guzan, well less said there the better and everything I said about Barragan would actually have been an upgrade on what we actually got. Swapping Adomah for Traore and signing a crocked Espinosa didn’t exactly end well and as for Guedioura and Gestede………………
Fans by and large are not stupid, Karanka was rumbled before Christmas (arguably before promotion even) when they started to turn and was tactically “challenged”. See also Southgate and Trashcan/Stricken etc.
Ian’s piece feels more like a romantic novel from a West Stand Upper Season Card holder (sorry OFB) rather than a seasoned, Chicken Run diehard.
RR
I’ll have you know I was a fully paid up member
Of the chicken run for many years with Mrs OFB amd sons of OFB. I used to squawk with the rest of them especially Bernie’s offsides !
We all moved to the Holgate when they put seats in the South Stand and we still wanted to retain the true supporters atmosphere.
Moving to the Riverside we adopted the East Upper for a few years but old age and the need to have a bit of comfort necessitated the move to the West Stand.
But
I’m still an old Rooster at heart!!
Cock a Doodle Doooo…..
RR
If AK was rumbled before promotion, then it’s a good job he was not fired.
That promotion was the only thing that is acting as an after burner to the club.
Without it, no gallant buying and selling, no players with selling power, no manager of the class of Monk.
I notice no regret for the passing of a great defence , in fact no regret for the continued existence of an attack which could not find it’s own behind with both hands.
Whatever AK proved, it was certainly that any team which could be described as, at best average, had to have a very good defence to compete in the Champ.
As for getting promotion( a dream at best, and a fantasy to achieve it)
From where we are at the moment, one can only hope, so I guess that is the situation as it stands.
Still, we have the satisfaction of putting AK in his place, and we haven’t won a match since October ’16
Oct ’17 is six weeks away so that could be some anniversary.
Sky news and EG now reporting that Marten de Roon is returning to Atalanta for a fee rumored in the region of 13M euros.
Good profit but sad to see him go – didn’t have a great game last Saturday but could have been influential in the Championship.
I suspect that his wish to play international football has been a big driver in the move, with MdR feeling that his chances may diminish playing at Championship level.
If the move is finalised then I wish him well, he came across as an nice person and a footballer who always gave of his best during his time at Boro.
KP
From what I have since read Bartley may well be given his chance at Swansea. It is wait and see.
Sad to see de Roon leave, I wish him well, I don’t think anyone could fault his efforts.
Apart from his efforts on Saturday !
On a completely different topic, it was very sad to hear of the passing of Glen Campbell a great C&W singer from a dreadful affliction of Alzheimer’s.
It’s also sad to reflect that in a way it was probably a blessing for his family who had helped care for him but whom he could no longer remember who they were.
We will always hear him singing in the wires. RIP.
If de Roon leaves for around £10m, with Gaston having recently left for around £8m – then I make that £40m in sales (including Rhodes). So far total purchases are £35m plus undisclosed fees for Christie and Howson – which probably means we’re not that far off breaking even on the current spend.
All of which may mean the Boro kitty is replenished and we may expect to see a few decent signings before August is out – it also means that the club have actually cashed in their assets pretty well and have probably reduced their wage bill quite significantly.
It also means Boro have absolutely no need to cash in on Ben Gibson this season – plus Boro still have the option of making quite a few loan deals to fill in the gaps. If I was a betting man I’d expect perhaps at least three more major signings.
Werdermouth
I agree with your maths and from an income and expenditure and wages point of view it’s probably an accountant’s delight.
My concern still remains in that rather than a tweaking of the core of the team we are very close to a complete rebuild. This clearly impacts upon continuity and esprit de cor which are all going to take time to re-establish. We looked disjointed last week and undercooked. If we don’t get up to speed quickly then we could be playing catch up for the rest of the season and that’s assuming that we have recruited the correct personnel.
As you have said, give it ten games to evaluate and hope we are on track. Some have suggested that they would be happy making a play off spot but to my mind that is failure given SG’s objective. 😎
CoB
I really don’t think Monk had much choice in undertaking a complete rebuild as those who have left either needed to leave or no longer wanted to stay. As for ‘esprit de cor’ – well that sounded like it was well and truly shot as last season took its toll. I think we’ve on the whole recruited ambitious young players this time round who will bring something to the table in the dressing room – I don’t think many in the Boro squad that finished the relegation season were capable of being repaired either physically or mentally.
Though all that does mean we’re starting again and it’s by no means certain that it will work as planned – we definitely have a chance with the overall quality of players that have arrived but it’s now down to Monk to blend and give them focus. I’ll remain optimistic at this point until proved otherwise – but I think it should at least be an interesting season but perhaps not the cautious steady approach we got used to experiencing – probably bigger highs and bigger lows await.
Weder, I don’t think that those that got us relagated could have got us promoted if we had been able/ wanted to retain all the players.
I am still hopeful of getting one if not both of the Liverpool players on loan, Ojo and Kent.
Come on BORO.
Reports say 15m euros for de Roon, in addition Lewis Baker coming in on a two year loan deal.
http://readchelsea.com/2017/08/09/baker-set-to-join-middlesbrough-on-two-year-loan/
Werder
Financially your numbers tally but there is an big deficit when you count heads.
Correct me if I am wrong, we have despatched Valdez guzan chambers negredo barrahan Fischer espinosa husband de sart stuani de Pena ramirez baptiste.
You call also include Rhodes and Ripley. TOTAL 15.
We have so far recruited 7.
There may be a lot more incoming yet as it looks like de roon and stewy will go. Possibly Leadbelter and Traora. This would leave us up to 12 short of last season and a very thin squad.
A tall order to find that many battle hardened, focused and fit for purpose players in three weeks.
Just worrying like
I guess it all depends whether the heads that get counted previously had any significant role – though the goalkeeping situation at Boro seems to have been a bit in flux over the last 12 months and there seem to be quite a few comings and goings in that department.
But if you look at outfield players, I would say four of those such as Husband and De Pena were out of the picture, with Baptiste and Rhodes out on loan – So at present, in terms of those who played, we have lost or are losing:
Chambers
Espinosa
Barragan
de Roon
Gaston
Downing
Fischer
Negredo
As it currently stands we have recruited:
Christie
Roberts
Howson
Braithwaite
Fletcher
Assombalonga
You could perhaps add Fry to that list as he’s probably being promoted to a full-squad member.
So I would argue in terms of those who actually were likely to play, then we are probably only one or two players light – which looks more to be in defence, though we probably in need of a couple of creative midfielders as Adama looks also to be more peripheral under Monk.
Though given the number of games in Championship we do probably need more squad players to provide cover – perhaps we will see another five players arrive, more if others leave.
http://www.footballnewshound.com/View.aspx?Si=11&Ap=Common&Al=newsview.html&Un=Middlesbrough&NI=3267007
Thanks for putting me at ease Werder.
I just hope all the new signings can kick on. We cannot afford fringe players and I don’t want to see the naughty step this season.
I still believe we will run out of recruitment time if anyone else leaves.
I handnt even considered Ben
UTB
It looks like 5-6 who would normally start a game have left and have been replaced by 3-4 who may start – though Bamford has now probably been promoted to a possible starter rather than squad player and Adama has been demoted. We probably therefore need 2 more players who will be starters – maybe one defender, and one creative midfielder.
It is reported that MFC have accepted a bid of £13m (not Euro) for de Roon, which will not be a bad bit of business but I liked him and it would have been interesting to see how he played in a second season in England. I hope we included a sell on clause in the deal.
Come on BORO.
Exmil
Just bought some euro’s. The exchange rate seems to be even Steven, which is good news for the accountants.
Read AV’s article about DomJonnoGate.
Despite the Manuel approach
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nX7CeTXoxyU
It certainly hinted at a build up over time, maybe internet linked.
It still should be sorted out.
The escalation of the situation is worrying – with our glorious leader threatening to launch an internet bombshell close to the muddied waters around Gazette Towers – in response The Dom has signaled any such act of aggression will be met by a Twitter storm of Fire and Fury like Teesside has never seen before. Let’s just hope the whole thing can be sorted out by diplomacy and MFC decide not to go nuclear.
More like unclear!
I see we are on Bein Channel 12 here in the middle east so thats good news. It will be good to watch with replays and a commentary in English. I hope it s the same world wide for our Aussie and American friends.
I am surprised that we are still allowed to watch Bein following the Arab boycott against Qatar and Al Jazeera but it really does seem that football transcends all national disputes.
I really am rooting for a big win to blow away my GM blues…!
Unfortunately not on her in Oz. We have a French Ligue 1 game.
Breaking newts, Sportsfans!!
As reported on Sky Sports website on Garry Monk is quoted agreeing with our very own Diasboro’ Spartakboro, in that he believes the transfer window is too long and should not encrouch on the season once it begins.
When asked for comment, our very own Spartakboro replied that it didn’t surprise him coz the Diasboro blog has long been a cutting edge source of opinion and information to the footballing fraternity & long may it continue to be so- free of charge, of course!
🙂
And the other supporters groups didn’t want us to be involved with them!
Whatever happened to that proposal?
A committee is best when it consists of three people two of whom are absent which from what I gather is not far from the truth. Still, waiting for the non attendees does fill in time!
I think MFC just wanted to show how “transparent” and inclusive they are but heaven forbid that in doing so they attracted any Dom and Jonno type questions or worse still any about he who cannot be mentioned. The very thought of someone taking it seriously would have them running for Eston Hills.
From what I have seen the minutes from said meetings would make paint drying an Olympic event by comparison.
I don’t know, RR. I still get the feeling that too much judging of players before they’ve kicked a ball for Boro is taking place, whereas the Bournemouths and Burnleys appear to be chopping, changing and moving on more efficiently. They’ve sold Matt Ritchie, Andre Gray and Michael Keane for a combined total of over £50 million if I’m right.
As I said – transition. It happens. Even Emilio Nsue took a season to find his way.
We cannot think any signing or any Championship game is beneath us. It is part of moving forward.
Maybe the Burnley’s and the Bournemouth’s just buy better which their league position and recent history would suggest is the case. This morphs into an area that Spartak has touched upon many times which is the level of competence in core areas of the business which has been questionable and recent events dictate that it still is.
It’s nothing to do with a signing being beneath us whether its an Alves, Dong Gook Lee, Reiziger or Victor Valdes if they aren’t what we need or are just not good enough then it is what it is as Mogga would say no matter how much gold leaf the clubs and players agents put on it. Nsue didn’t cost a Kings ransom, nor George for that matter and Adomah was chicken feed compared to the last two summers outlay. There was a clamour last season for Dimi to be given a chance and this summer Ripley. I don’t think fans are being unrealistic or unreasonable they are just simply forming opinions about players based upon what they have seen and/or what the general consensus is from fans of the selling club.
Take right now, we are linked with Shotton who appears to have raised concerns (and not just with myself) and also Lewis Baker whom it would seem has the complete opposite fan reaction to Shotton. When the club sign players at a cost of several million like Guedioura and Gestede and the playing style and obvious “player types” required were a million miles apart then fans are rightly going to condemn. When a RB who has never been renowned for his swashbuckling wing play is signed to play that very role in the toughest league in the world then fans will ask questions. Was it just sheer incompetence or were there unjoined “connections” or were the fans just coincidentally right?
A genuine and open question to all of us on here to give a shout out to a player who was a Boro concern but turned into a fans favourite. I’m talking players who were derided before even kicking a ball and I don’t mean the likes of Schawrzer who could shot stop but couldn’t kick or Bolo because he was up there in the approval ratings when signing prior to disappointing before then being reborn. But Players who were genuinely derided as rubbish but went on to deservedly achieve acclaim during their Boro tenures. I’m guessing we can think of a couple each over the decades yet if I asked how many of last seasons signings where questioned and lived down to prior misgivings the figures would be far higher.
The logic of Managers and those in the game know better than us fans because they are “experts” in their field has been dispelled at this club several times over the last few managers alone. Its like being served a poor meal in an expensive restaurant, we may not be chefs but we know if something looks or tastes disgusting despite a lack of culinary talent. Players are the footballing culinary feast upon which fans satiate their appetites or regurgitate their aperitifs.
I’ll eat to that !
RR
With all the gossip on the internet concerning football, it’s easy to get the idea that it is a closed world where anything can and will happen.
They all seem to be best buddies, players can move because some manager’s best mate want’s his son to get a move, or some player would like to go abroad, or down south, or up north.
As for the manager’s judgement of talent, hmm.
And now, from Belfast, it’s Si’s Random Video Clip Of The Day.
Peter Schmeichel hamming it up to bring home the bacon.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZCAmZ9cOaoc
Good luck to De Roon assuming all goes through as planned. He looked a decent player at Premiership Level once he found his feet and one of the very few incomings that were remotely good enough. He was always polite and courteous to the fans including his famed visit to one young lad and proved that manners cost nothing, something which can’t be said for many of today’s pampered professionals.
After the Augsburg game my youngest came home beaming as after the match he was invited to an area where the Players were and Marten walked past, smiled at him and said hello. Red Junior came in with a smile as wide as Tees Mouth. At the same event Clayts also posed for a selfie with him so again nice to see players who have time and patience for the fans it costs nothing yet means so much.
I think it’s a sure thing that team and individual performances will improve as players get used to each other and the system, and get full match fitness. It is too early to judge newly arrived players definitively. However, the mooted arrival of Lewis Baker as De Roon moves out does seem to show a welcome shift in the balance of the team towards more creative potential in midfield – although Marten was the surprise goal-scoring success last season, he and Adam Forshaw unfortunately struggled to create and that’s one of the things that doomed us.
There is a sign of class in the way players find a way to cope effectively in tight or very difficult moments, and that’s where Ben, PB, Christie and Clayts stood out at Wolves for me. Hopefully others will shine on Saturday and show more of their potential.
The De Roon transfer seems to place us with a slight surplus on transfer dealings in this window (if my maths is right). It is not going to make any difference as ‘Big-spending Boro’ has become the easy story and will be thrown at us for the rest of the season, including one alleged figure of £50m I’ve seen, and it will motivate our opponents.
Excellent comments RR ,regarding the clubs history of signing players without regard for structure or impact on the division or team needs.
One thing you will find is very good players love playing with very good players, they love the ease of thought and compatibility between each other,it’s easier for poor players to drag good players down rather than the other way,
You will notice that the very good player will only ,with good intension help the poor player for a period before it becomes an impossible task for him.
Hence it’s important the so called experts on recruitment are talented enough to understand and spot the the right kind.
UTB
Like your comment GT.
A point I find interesting is the plethora of styles of play that can be found to be successful.
We all know about the Burnley of today. Then their was the Wimbleton of yesteryear. We’ve seen Docherty’s FA Cup winning side and the Arsenal Invincibles. All teams with different styles and levels of success. Lest we forget, of course there was Big Jack’s Boro and Bryan Robson’s ‘Galacticoes’.
The beauty of it all is of course how one size or shape doesn’t fit all. Most importantly for me is the necessity to evolve and change, so as to keep the opposition guessing.
Fergie did it his own way, naturally. Instead of change he said how every team manager knew how they played but it was up to them to stop MUFC- few could.
Remind me, how much did Beckham cost them? Scholes? The Neville brothers? Looks like the easy route is to buy success in the modern game, unfortunately.
Redcar Red
Just like Albert at the Bristol City match? Have a huff and take it out on the fans.
🙂
Lost me there Ian?
Do you not remember Albert ignoring Boro fans and going to applaud the Bristol City fans followed by then ignoring Boro fans outside the ground to go and talk to Bristol players? I spoke to a Boro fan at the Burton League Cup match who was livid when Albert ignored his son (amongst others) outside the Riverside.
I do indeed remember the Bristol incident Ian (and the behind the scenes shenanigans that accompanied it), I didn’t make the connection with the earlier discussion with Si hence my confusion.
As a balance to that Bristol incident I remember AA’s last ever appearance at the Riverside (exactly this time last year against Stoke) when he hit a stray ball during practice and a young lad about four years old was hit by it in the North Stand. At the end of the warm up he was being ushered off the pitch by the Coaches when he beckoned to them they would have to wait a minute. He ran over to the North Stand, leapt over the advertising hoardings (or advertising screen as its probably called now) ran up the steps to the the little lad, gave him a hug, ruffled his hair and handed his training top to the lads father as a keepsake.
Eyeballing and remembering exactly where the lad was sat after ten or fifteen minutes completing his warm up and then picking him out in a packed Stadium just before our first game back in the Premiership tells another story about the man.
While I was away
Any Trabbies given out
On a serious note, I watched the Garry Monk presser on MFC website.
A stark contrast to the fare offered by the Gazette replete with its pop ups, ads, stalling, lack of synchronisation, selfie sticks etc.
Had similar thoughts, Ian.
Spartak
To offer people a pitiful product unless they pay extra is double standards. We all understand the need to pay for journalists and the paper to provide local news but the level it has sunk to is very poor.
Sorry Vic, stooped as low as Murdoch.
The Torygraph has a Premium service but the free part is readable and not an assault on your staying power or senses.
I made a joke about more videos with articles, when you click on the article up comes a video that often bears no resemblance to the article plus of course you cant even skip the advert.
Very poor indeed.
Its exactly the same with all “local” papers now not just the Gazette with drab identikit web layouts, a plethora of irrelevant ads and videos slowing things down to a crawl although I’m not certain I have seen a “Premium” section in the Birmingham Mail, Derby Telegraph, Nottingham Post etc.
Submitted my next talking point. Stay tuned…
Redcar Red
Good shout, the measure is what you do when things are not going well. Google Albert thanking Boro fans after his move to Villa.
I have no problem with Albert. In my view, I think we would have done better with him at the club. The worst part is ignoring the good to stick the boot in!
I do not like deification and selective viewpoints. I am not accusing you of that, people just tend to airbrush the parts they want gone and focus on the good points.
Gaston and left without a thank you and get opprobrium – whatever it means.
As Garry Monk makes his Riverside league debut, Simon has provided us with a pre-match Talking Point – which he’s titled ‘Home is where the heart should be’.
https://diasboro.club/2017/08/10/match-preview-boro-v-sheff-utd/