Will the seeds of revolution fall on a rocky Riverside ground

by Diasboro, posted in Uncategorized

Championship 2018-19: Week 30

Wed 23 Feb – 15:00: Boro v QPR

Werdermouth looks ahead to the start of a Riverside revolution…

The Riverside in recent months has been witnessing something of a footballing famine and the poor harvest of points at home has started to blight the club’s promotion prospects. The seeds of doubt planted in the minds of Boro followers has perhaps been bourne out of the frustration of witnessing another crop failure of ineffective tactics on the field. Nevertheless, Tony Pulis has continued to plough on with his low-yield subsistence formations and has grimly reaped what he has sown. However, with injuries and suspensions forcing the manager’s hand at Blackburn it demonstrated there is now a real prospect of cultivating some more effective displays with a switch to a less agricultural approach.

While Steve Gibson may firmly believe his manager is outstanding in his field, the same can also be said of a scarecrow – whether the Boro manager is the former or the latter may depend on whether he ultimately prevents the early-bird renewals from venturing back to the fallow piece of land that is the Riverside. Although, just as Tony Pulis has begun to be written off as a man of straw by many of the Boro faithful, they’ve been given a fleeting glimpse of a team that could play an exciting brand of football. The question being asked is whether Blackburn has become a turning point for the team as the manager has been serendipitously handed a spade to dig himself out of a hole and unearth a new positive way forward on the field.

It seems Tony Pulis is at his best when he has to improvise as it shifts his gaze away from his tried and tested defence-focused strategy and is perhaps an attempt to pose the opposition problems to distract them from a perceived weakness. The Boro manager may be stubborn but he’s not stupid and must have seen what nearly everyone else did at Ewood Park. However, the manager’s post-match comments seemed to indicate that he’s not necessarily convinced it’s the way to go. Pulis simply said “It was the right system to play against Blackburn, whether it is the right system to play against QPR, or in other games, but that system suited us today.”

While it may have convinced most of the onlookers, it will perhaps be much harder to convince Tony Pulis himself. Playing with two strikers has been muted by plenty of those who have grown tired of a lack of cutting edge. Indeed, many were starting to call for change as they lost their appetite for the unpalatable diet of watching wayward long balls floated in the general direction of a lone striker preoccupied with demonstrating his physical prowess with his back to goal in case he remembered why he was there. Although, the Boro manager appears primarily more impressed by work rate and commitment over invention and ability – he holds Hugill in high regard as he claimed: “Jordan has carried the team at times with his effort and commitment.”

OK, there’s no denying Hugill’s effort and commitment but at some point you have to take the overview that if you play a lone striker who rarely shoots then where do your goals come from? The West Ham loanee had 35 touches against the Blades but only one of them was a shot on goal. With Assombalonga and Fletcher playing as an attacking partnership they proved capable of providing more than just a target for long balls or a means to acquiring a free kick. What they did provide with their runs and movement were options for the midfield instead of a reason for defenders to launch a hopeful ball.

The other issue addressed against Blackburn has been a long-standing problem over the team’s lack of width. Boro have persisted with the idea that a full-back and essentially a converted central defender can be effective wing-backs but the level of service provided this season has been erratic at best. Ironically, it was possibly Pulis’s first act as manager in removing the wing-backs of Christie and Fabio from his team as his preference for a nice row of big units at the back was implemented. His admirable rehabilitation of Traore kept this switch from being a major handicap but the club have consistently failed to recruit the pacey wide players Pulis has seemingly demanded he needs. So in the absence of these missing wingers, Friend and Shotton have essentially become a permanent ‘makeshift’ solution that has not solved the problem. OK, what of Rajiv van La Parra you may ask? Yes you may ask but after two months without a start we can possibly brush that one under the same magic carpet that Carlos de Pena and the lad from Watford disappeared under – the so-called “leg beater” it seems doesn’t have legs.

If finding pacey players has proved problematic, Boro have been very good at recruiting central midfielders under Pulis and one wonders what formation that was meant to accommodate with so many high-ticket acquisitions. McNair, Besic, Saville and Mikel have been added to Howson, Clayton and the emergence of Lewis Wing. The defensive crisis has at least forced Pulis to consider the attributes of what is required at wing-back and while Howson has occasionally filled in on the right and Saville has sometimes ended up playing left-midfield, it appeared a very good fit at Blackburn. As well as supporting the strikers, both players can tackle, they have good engines to get up-and-down the pitch and have ability on the ball and can pass. It still leaves Pulis with five central midfielders for the remaining two or three slots. With the Mikel-Wing partnership in the centre looking as good as anything else in the division.

While American Jazz artist Gil Scott-Heron claimed in his 1970s song that “The revolution will not be televised”, the live broadcast of the game at Blackburn may turn out to have proved him wrong in the eyes of Boro supporters. The fear is that the revolution will simply be cancelled when Ayala returns from suspension and George recovers from his hamstring – not exactly the kind of mood music that will be greeted with much enthusiasm should that prevail at the weekend. Perhaps the only yellow vests we’re likely to see mobilised at the Riverside will be Adam Clayton and Paddy McNair warming up on the touchline as a cautious Tony Pulis prepares to protect a 1-0 lead on the hour mark.

It’s not even clear if the Boro manager sees a problem with business as usual as, when he spoke last week following the disappointing defeat at Sheffield United, Pulis declared of his team: “It’s a good group. It’s a very committed group and they give it their best, maybe just lack a bit of icing on the cake.” While many baked-off Boro followers may struggle to recall even seeing the cake, it’s a sign perhaps that the hunger of the entertainment-starved masses has gone unnoticed by the tactical absolutist ruling over them. At least a somewhat aloof-sounding Marie-Antionette Pulis stopped short of saying “let them eat cake” but that was mainly because he’d assumed that they’d already had their cake and all that was missing was the icing before they were prepared to eat it.

Despite the lack of a cutting edge this season, Tony Pulis has seemingly no intention of losing his head and is determined to keep calm and carry on as he still genuinely believes Boro are just “a couple of players short of being a very, very good team”. This was bold statement from the manager, especially on the back of the Newport no-show, the Leeds second-half retreat and the blunt Blades performance. This lead to many speculating as to which couple of players he was thinking of. As the debate raged, some Boro followers suggested Eden Hazard and Lionel Messi before realising they’d misread the quote as being we were “a couple of very short players from being a very good team” – a schoolboy error when it comes to the sizeist predilections of Mr Pulis.

If failing to win over the hearts, if not minds, of the Boro supporters has proved to be difficult for Tony Pulis, then he’ll be in good company this weekend as the Riverside welcomes back Steve ‘the magnificent’ McClaren. Despite winning the club’s only major trophy it was an uneasy relationship that regarded him as a man ambitious to advance his career on Teesside and he has failed to be given due credit for his achievements. In truth, despite being showered with money from Steve Gibson and barring those unbelievable UEFA Cup comebacks, he was often damned for producing mainly dull football and many were glad if not surprised to see their manager being snatched away by the FA . Though to be fair there was a very short list for the position of England manager and the job had become something of a poison chalice due to the tabloid hounding of Sven – McClaren got the post after Scolari had first turned it down, with Sam Allardyce and Martin O’Neill being viewed as loose canons by the suits.

Of course, the press almost destroyed McClaren and his career for taking on the thankless task of becoming national coach and after the infamous brolly departure he actually briefly coached Darlington before heading off to Holland to try and rebuild his career with Twente. As it turned out McClaren got lucky again and in his second season won the Eredivisie as Twente became Dutch champions for the first time in their history in 2010 – he had adapted so well to life in Holland that he even picked up the accent when speaking English and became the first Englishman since Bobby Robson to win a European league.

Sadly that was probably his high point and it’s been a familiar story of attempts to advance his career that have ended in disappointment before sheepish returns to the clubs he ditched. After winning the title with Twente he joined Wolfsburg in Germany but only survived six months – next came Forest but he resigned after just ten games – a misjudged return to Twente ended after just over a year as the ‘We love Steve McClaren’ T-shirts were discretely burned. After taking over at Derby he looked to be heading for promotion but his table-topping side suddenly nose-dived and as rumours of links with the Newcastle job emerged he was sacked. His stint with the Magpies began badly and never lasted a season but he surprisingly returned to Derby but it only lasted six months before once more being dismissed.

McClaren took up his latest and tenth managerial position at cash-struck QPR last summer after Ian Holloway was dismissed from the post. He got off to his usual bad start after losing his first four games, which included that 7-1 hammering at West Brom – but his team recovered and at were at one point one of the form teams in the Championship. The reverse fixture against Boro at Loftus road saw a rare defeat on the road for Tony Pulis’s team as the Hoops won 2-1. However, QPR have not won in the Championship since defeating Ipswich 3-0 on Boxing Day and Tuesday’s 3-2 defeat at the Hawthorns was their sixth successive defeat – so I’m sure Boro supporters will be hoping to pay homage to their former manager by making it a “magnificent” seven.

As to whether Tony Pulis will deem it suitable to play with two strikers at the Riverside against a team that has conceded 15 goals in their last five games is uncertain. We don’t know what videos or statistics have been compiled to justify whether or not Saville and Howson are suited to being his chosen wing-backs this Saturday. All the evidence and data will need to be weighed up before assessing whether the team should be set up as it was against Blackburn. My only advice to the Boro manager would be to Google the last time his Boro side had 26 attempts on goal and then try to imagine the mood at the Riverside if his team selection announces that the revolution has been cancelled.

294 thoughts on “Will the seeds of revolution fall on a rocky Riverside ground”

  2. Another belter of an article, thank you Werder. I particularly liked the Agricultural themes having lived in Suffolk for 20+ years and been responsible for reviewing the financial performances of many farming enterprises during that time.

    If TP is listening then I would go for a back three of Shotton, Ayala & Fry and play JOM in front of the back three, then a midfield of Howson, Wing, Besic and Saville with Howson and Saville in the wingback roles. Assombalonga and Fletcher as strikers. Basically the team against Blackburn but with Ayala restored and Friend either injured or on the bench.

    It has to be the way to go as we now need a run of wins if we are to remain in a top six spot. I am also hoping that Norwich and Bristol will draw and that we can take three points.

    It won’t be easy against QPR but we should have enough to win and will go for 1-0 (Howson) it’s about time he scored!

    CoB 😎

  3. Very well written, Werder.

    A terrific opening, but consistently witty and imaginative all the way through.

    And such good sense too. It expresses very clearly what seems to be the overwhelming view of supporters.

    Top post by a top man.

  4. Werder,

    Loved the scarecrow line, very witty. If Boro do a Riverside ‘usual’ on Saturday there’ll be a few black and gloomy birds in the form of supporters ready to pick over bones of the Blackburn revolution, well more of a ‘Blackburn Spring’ because I have no doubt that the artillery and tanks will roll on to the pitch on Saturday.

    UTB,

    John

  5. Spot on

    You can’t blame the home crowd for their impatience though

    I’ve been to 10 matches so far this season – the 4 home games have been awful but for the Leeds match. Only QPR way was dross that I saw.

    Surely he’s got to stick to the same system but old habits and all that…

    BTW did you hear about the scarecrow that got an OBE? For being outstanding in his field….

  6. Werder, Really good post and busy or not right up there with the best of them. SG might like TP’s Spuds are Us but we fans think TP is half baked.
    Anyway Boro to win 2-1.
    UTB
    Bri

  10. I’ve a lot that I could say in response to this, especially about McClaren. But for now, I’ll stick to this.

    In a way McClaren was unlucky during his first spell at Derby. Rams fans have noted that the team actually played excellent attacking football, but couldn’t adequately replace the likes of George Thorne and Chris Martin when they got injured. That led to a collective loss of confidence.

    As an aside: Compare that, and Eddie Howe’s then more direct and open style, to Clement and Karanka’s Spanish-influenced possession-and-shape over everything else and you understand why fans, and certain players, were disgruntled by the Eurocrats. The Eurocrats were even more disenchanted in return, as we know… Darren Bent thought that it was inevitable that Clement would crumble, Clement responded by calling Bent “overweight” and “lazy”, sensing the player was simply bitter over his lack of opportunities.

    Back to McClaren. Injuries were a problem, but I don’t believe it was all down to bad luck. An alternative point-of-view, which we at Boro will be all too familiar with, is that the “McClaren To Newcastle” fiasco which we had to go through ourselves was a factor. It’s been said that McClaren turned down Newcastle because he wasn’t willing to drop into a relegation scrap (and we know how well that turned out when he *did* go to Newcastle in the end) and that his commitment to Derby, so to speak, didn’t include a direct confirmation when asked about the Newcastle job by the media – all they heard was “mmms” and “ahhhs”. Only by the end of the season did he make a full commitment to stay, but by then he’d apparently lost Mel Morris’s trust, so that was that.

  11. Love the comments on here about the way forward after the great Blackburn reveal, and I am talking about “attacking football”.
    Lots of the bloggers on here had that damascene moment, after our hero changed the plot following the Leeds match, and it has never been knowingly restored since, this person is not for changing, and has already given us all fair warning that, amusing though it was ( twenty six shots, come on, get serious) there will be no fiesta football on Saturday. He has a few midfielders in mind who deliver entertainment in bucketful’s, and it’s his ball, so there, take that, you bounders.

  13. Another great read over lunch, thanks Werder. Several little Gems in there, not least the short boys line that made me chuckle aloud.

    Noticing your Les Miserables introduction I was expecting a piece steeped in West End history and musical greatness and immediately thought of one of the rabble rousing numbers from the musical of the same name as the voice of the mighty Boro faithful rise up as one in defiance of the tyrannical rule of their leader…

    Do you hear the people sing
    Singing the song of angry men
    It is the music of a fan base you may never hear again

    When you play to lose no goals
    Keeping it tight with upright poles
    Silence will fill the stands you’re making bereft of souls

    Will you not play two up front to score the goals you know we need
    If you started Wing and Tav we’re sure the strikers they will feed
    And the team should keep trying to score once we’ve taken the lead

    Do you hear the people sing
    Singing the song we’re Boro men
    We’ll all be here when you’re gone and we’re top of the league again

    1. Thanks Powmill, It’s probably now over 15 years since I was at a West End show so probably wise to leave it to the experts 🙂 Though I enjoyed your verses of the miserables of Boro. btw Just been thinking it’s actually been a while since your La La Land piece now!

      I wasn’t too sure if Les Miserables quite fitted around the French revolution reference and a bit of research showed it was based on the 1832 June Rebellion in Paris, which was long after the French Revolution of 1789 – which incidentally was triggered by a series of bad harvests after the deregulation of the grain industry. So I could at least tie in the “Let them eat cake” myth to the wider metaphorical ramblings.

      1. Thanks Werder. I’ve had several other ideas of topics to do a piece on since the La La Land one, but my problem is always trying to find the time as I am notoriously slow writing any paper. So I take my hat off to you and Redcar and OFB and Simon for managing to turn things around and always a of you to the highest quality. I promise to contribute something over the coming months, though it may get to summer before I’ve finished writing!

        1. Yes you should try to put them down and see where it goes. Out of necessity, I usually give myself 24 hours to get a piece done but I generally always sit down with very little idea of what to write and it may just start with a funny line. Thankfully one sentence generally leads to another and then a paragraph and before you know it’s a page. The real work comes with tying it all together into something reasonably coherent and adding a few embellishments and references here and there.

      2. Werder
        “Let them eat cake”
        Was it a myth? A few of the triggers of the French revolution have since been repeatedly chipped away at by revisionists.
        It’s an old story, every time a corrupt regime is toppled, the questions start.
        The refuting of the cake story is based on the fact that nobody could be that stupid as to say such a thing. But consider the following, when a French Princess gave birth to a mixed race child at court, they all said it was caused by her insistence on having an African page, as it was well known that having them around the place caused precisely that sort of thing to happen.
        As for the fall of the Bastile, followed by its complete destruction, the revisionists say it was not the most hated and feared place in the world, not at all, it contained only a few unimportant prisoners, so what was the fuss about?
        The fact that any noble could have any serf committed to the Bastile for life, by writing a chit, giving it to the victim, and telling him to take it to the Bastile and hand it to the Governor, might just have had something to do with it.

        1. I wouldn’t claim to know a great deal about the history of the French revolution but from what I have read it seems there is no real evidence to support whether Marie-Antionette said the famous phrase “let them eat cake” or even brioche as it more accurately was. The source of the quote has been attributed to the philosopher Rousseau in one of his books but he didn’t mention Marie Antionette by name but only said a “great princess” – in fact others claim the famous phrase was originally said by the wife of Louis XIV (The Sun King), Maria Theresa of Spain a 100 years earlier. In fact, at the time the Rousseau book was written Marie Antionette was still a young girl and not even living in France.

  14. Although there are still 13 to 15 games to go for the top 6 teams and so still a lot of points to play for I think the league gives a clear picture to the likely top 7 teams.
    May I explain my logic.

    If the top 4 teams gather points in their remaining games at the average points so far achieved then their total points will be in the order of 83,84, 87 and 88

    So for Boro to finish in the 2nd spot would need another 34 points or say10 wins and 4 draws in their remaining games. To achieve this is extremely unlikely. Of course some of the top 4 could slip up, possibly 1 or 2 but most unlikely 3 to open the door for Boro.
    So it is looking likely that Boro, Bristol City and Derby ( despite their defeat last night ) will be contesting 2 of the top 6 places.

    This assumes that one or more of the teams below Derby do not come on a late charge. Is this likely for these teams – Forest, Birmingham, Villa, Preston, Hull and Swansea – to nick 5th or 6th spot?
    Using the above logic that requires Boro to win 10 and draw 4 of their remaining games would mean that the above teams would have to achieve a similar outstanding form of winning 9 or 10 games with the remainder being drawn. Again extremely unlikely.

    So , in my view all the Boro have to do is to continue to chug along and match what Bristol City and Derby do to clinch 5th or 6th position.

    Does this demonstrate what people
    always say , that football is a simple game !!
    Philip

    1. I agree that it’s going to be hard to close the gap and it’s even harder if it’s 2 or 3 teams that need chasing down as perhaps one team go go on a bad run but to overhaul all of them requires Boro to go on a very good run that means winning 2-3 games more than your opponents. Not impossible but we’ve so far seen no evidence that Boro under Pulis are that kind of team and we probably draw too many games. Teams that tend to go on winning runs usually are ones that regularly win big and are not putting together a series of 1-0 victories.

    1. Thanks Martin, and I didn’t know that about Gil Scott Heron’s father – quite an interesting addition and was just reading he was the first black player to play for Celtic. I first heard of Gil Scott Heron from a Jazz guitarist friend of mine in the early eighties when I lived in Sheffield and remember he played ‘The revolution will not be televised’ to me – it’s actually quite a humorous piece given the subject matter and the time it was written.

  16. Mmmagnificent Werder

    You’ve certainly sowed the seeds for discussion and we will reap the results and plough on regardless.

    Hopefully we will be able to sort the weed from the chiff chaff and drill right down to the basics

    If any brows are furrowed by this post never mind I shall plough on regardless!

    Hope Pulis blooming picks some blossoming players which results in a hot bed performance and bouquets all round

    I must confess I didn’t like McClaren as a man but have to respect his results as our most successful manager

    Thank you For the post Werder and I’ll and ill go for

    Wait for it

    1 0 to Boro!!!!

    OFB

  17. Making a piece flow and making it concise and complete enough so that people won’t lose interest is the hardest part for me. In the case of football and the arts I’ve a very loose style of writing, where I come up with lots of ideas but finding a beginning and an end is hardest, and once you do there’s only so much you can put in the middle. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve lost a good idea to length.

    1. How writers shape an article and try to get across their ideas or point seem so variable that what works for one will not for another. Deciding what needs to be added or edited out will no doubt be a matter of personal choice. I guess much will depend on whether you wish to come to a conclusion at the end and how much is driven by substance or style. The opening generally draws in the reader and then it’s probably often about trying to flow together some of the ideas without wandering off too far and ending up with a different article. Other than tryig to find a new angle every week, my problem is often keeping within the fine line of satire and trying to keep the counter-argument within reach.

    2. Strange that to me Simon. When writing poems or verses I always started with the opening verse, then the last verse. It was always the in between verses that gave me the most trouble.

      1. What was it Jean Luc Godard, divisive though he is, once said? Films should have a beginning, middle and an end – but not necessarily in that order.

        Take the structure of Forrest Gump. The majority of his life is chronicled in flashback to bring us up to speed before he makes off (at top speed) to meet Jenny after the kindly old lady tells him he doesn’t need to take a bus. Essentially the new story is meeting his son and marrying his childhood sweetheart, but the extended reflections were required to give it the necessary depth.

        Now the arts reviewer in me takes over. I think Tom Hanks was once told how divisive Gump is over here… some see it as a satire cum fairytale, others believe it reinforces reactionary values. Miss Experimental dies, Mr. Play-It-Safe And Conform thrives. That kind of thing.

        I can’t remember Hanks’ response, in full, but I do remember him raising the point that Quentin Tarantino thought Gump was, in a way, a black comedy. He reminds us that Forrest’s Mama *censored*s the headmaster just so that her son won’t have to go to a special school. You then think, he’s on to something here.

        That said, I didn’t appreciate Robert Zemeckis taking his flippancy with history to another level. The Chuck Berry thing in Back To The Future was a nice joke, but to have Forrest inspire not only Elvis’ dance but the lyrics to Imagine… it was too much.

        1. So do we want back to the future with world class stars playing in Europe and winning trophies 🏆?

          Of course we do and that is why a lot of supporters who started to follow the Boro at this times have now walked it thinking of walking awaY

          OFB

  18. Werder
    It’s about time you upped your game.
    Only joking, of course.
    I owe you a few “the usuals”, so here they are. I am, as ever, in awe of your genius.

  21. Going briefly back to the club finances and having read AV’s recent article on the matter, it’s quite interesting or even worrying that non-TV based income is almost the same as the general running costs of the club, which doesn’t include player wages or transfers.

    Whilst it costs £8.9m to operate the Riverside, the club only received £7.1m in gate receipts by those who used it last season – although that figure rose to £8.7m during the season in the PL. I guess the object of the exercise must to try and match those two figures as closely as possible.

    Also operating the Rockliffe training complex costs the club £6.2m with the Academy I think representing nearly half of that figure. It appears that the income generated from the club’s commercial activities just about cover those costs.

    All of which means that if the club aren’t promoted then they will only receive £4.5m from the Championship prize and TV money next season to go towards wages and transfers. The current wage bill was estimated in the Northern Echo to be around £30m so that will need to be further reduced to perhaps something around £20m max. The shortfall will be made up from player sales, including those already made. Braithwaite will also be hopefully sold and of course Downing’s wages will be gone.

    I expect therefore all incoming transfers next season will need to be balanced with sales – though it does put into question why the club spent £5m on McNair and the £7m paid for Flint was perhaps a little extravagant.

    Ultimately, the state of the art training facilities, Category One academy are not really sustainable in the Championship unless they do indeed produce players for the first team and pay their way. Hopefully Steve Gibson will encourage his manager to supplement his squad from the new batch of up-and-coming youngsters. Why bother having an extra wage of VLP on the bench when it could block Tavernier from developing into a first-teamer.

    1. I couldn’t agree more about the arrival of VLP and blocking Tavernier’s route to the team making no sense at all, especially in light of the costs of running the football club. I could understand VLP’s arrival if Tavernier hadn’t been performing when on the pitch but, on the whole, he does.

      VLP arrived shortly I think after the announcement that the future of the club depended on developing players from within.

      1. Good Post

        It’s also apparent that VLP is totally unfit and at the moment not capable of prolonged first team football

        Wing and Tavernier appear to have an almost telepathic understanding and whilst Tav has looked a bit lost on occasions he should be used as an impact sub at least

        Interesting that Friend is probably unfit tomorrow which means probably Fry will move over to the left as Downing won’t start unless we have sorted his contract out.

        OFB

    1. ExMil – I also read that article published in both the Hartlepool Mail and Yorkshire Post but unfortunately posted to it on the previous Week 29 discussion blog. There were some interesting historical points I referred to if any one is interested. Here’s what I wrote…

      For those of you like me who are interested in the history of football, there is an interesting article on the Hartlepool Mail web-site listing the birth of all the current 92 league clubs and in some cases how they merged with other local clubs and the previous names they adopted.

      It lists Notts County as the oldest league club formed in 1862, followed by Stoke City, Nottingham Forest, Sheffield Wednesday, Reading, Aston Villa, Bolton Wanderers, Macclesfield Town, Blackburn Rovers, Birmingham City and Middlesbrough in 11th place formed in 1876 and the oldest club in the North-East. However some clubs were formed as Boro through cricket clubs, some through rugby clubs, and many from religious organisations such as Southampton who were formed by members of the local St. Mary’s Church.

      Many were well known to me, for example Birmingham being formerly known as Small Heath Alliance, Manchester United as Newton Heath, and Manchester City as Ardwick, but I didn’t know that City were originally formed as plain St. Mark‘s then Gorton FC before being known as Ardwick. Nor was I aware that Everton were formed as plain St. Domingo’s. The fact that Bolton had the name Wanderers suffixed to the club was because they had no settled abode, and Sheffield Wednesday from members of the local cricket team wished to keep fit midweek (imagine they might have been formed as The Tuesday instead of The Wednesday, Sheffield being prefixed to their name many years later.

      Incidentally tomorrow’s visitors Queen’s Park Rangers were formed in 1882 by the merger of St, Jude’s Institute and Christ Church Rangers, and had Middlesbrough Cricket Club not decided to keep fit in the winter months by adopting football as their means, Boro might well have become a rugby club instead.

  24. Good to see Tony Pulis has embraced the agricultural theme in his press conference today after he said “I’ll keep ploughing on and doing what I think is right. I’ll always try and do it the best way possible financially and on the field.”

  25. While reading all the posts on here and other sites it astounds me how easily people give up on automatic promotion, for example after this weekend fixtures Boro could be 6 points behind second place with a game in hand.

    Come on BORO.

  26. I came to that conclusion by the following feasible results :

    WBA v Shef Utd draw
    Bristol City beat Norwich
    Boro beat QPR
    Which would leave Norwich at least second with 63 points and Boro with 57 points and a game in hand, maybe I am not as pessimistic as others as I always see my glass as half full.

    Come on BORO

  27. I would say it was just being realistic as to overhaul the gap Boro will need to win 3 more games than two of the top three teams, which becomes harder the fewer games that are left.

    It’s not impossible but Boro need to go on a winning run – since August (28 games) Boro have only won two successive games on just one occasion (Wigan and Brentford) and those games were actually separated by a two-week international break.

    If Tony Pulis is interested in a top two finish then he will need to be more positive – Boro drew eleven of those 28 games and it may be that lack of adventure that will ultimately cost us. I think barring a disaster the top six looks likely but why not go for it and if you lose one and win the next it still gives you more points than drawing them both.

    Boro have only scored more than one goal in 8 of those 28 games – with West Brom being the first occasion since the opening home game that the team netted 3 goals in a game. Let’s see what happens if Pulis applies the Blackburn tactics.

  28. ExMil
    I see your point, but games in hand should never be taken into consideration. It’s much more advantageous to have points already earned in my opinion

  29. Just been away for three days, so only now have read Werder’s Headliner.

    Brilliant and how you achieve such consistency is beyond me. As normal lots of very funny lines.

    I truly hope that Exmil is correct and Mr Pulis can indeed inspire the Boro the greater things, playing on the front foot with a little panache. Consistency and goals will be the key to gaining those extra points needed, not a full on defensive set up.
    As Werder stated wins are needed, quite a few. I just cannot see three of Leeds, Sheffield, Norwich and WBA all falling off their perch.

  30. Ken I agree about games in hand but I was using it back my optimism, I also didn’t presume that we would win it, besides we don’t play that game in hand until 2 April, by which time a lot of things could have changed.

    Come on BORO.

    1. In the last 10 Away games Bristol are second behind WBA in the Championship Form Table. In the last ten games Boro are fourth from bottom for Home form. That game in hand favours Bristol far more than Boro on paper.

      Of course if TP now realises that he is fifteen games short from drawing his way to promotion then a few positive performances at Home may change things. There again there is probably more chance of OFB getting his round in.

  32. Whilst Boro would have a chance of finishing 2nd by winning 2 or 3 games more than the teams above them, it is something out of their control as we can’t predict how the teams above them will do.

    I still tend to think they need something like 10 wins and 4 draws in their remaining games.
    I’m confident of achieving the draws but not the wins!

    Interestingly the locals here are saying that they enjoyed being near the top of the Championship rather than their present position which is blamed on a poor recruitment campaign last season.
    Their top recruitment guy left to go to Norwich where he has made some cheap excellent young signings .
    Philip

  33. Philip, I understand where they are coming from, a couple of seasons before we were relegated a friend of mine stopped going to matches saying “he would rather Boro play all the time in the championship and win some games than be in the Premiership and hardly ever winning, just surviving” maybe a lot of people would prefer that.

    Come on BORO.

  34. Exmil
    I’m with your friend. There’s no joy in struggling for survival.
    Ultimately, real fans want to be entertained which usually means accepting the defeats which accompany the exciting wins.

    1. I have to agree with that sentiment. I’d rather see Boro winning matches, especially home matches in the Championship than struggling to win half a dozen matches in the Premier League, but few today would agree with my sentiments. Throughout most of the time when Boro were a Second Division club, they didn’t lose many matches at Ayresome Park, yet away wins were like gold dust. However, I for one enjoyed those times rather than what we’re being served up today.

  35. Yes torn between winning matches and being entertained and the lure of riches from promotion.

    After seeing once more the MFC accounts and also reading AV’s article on just the running costs of the business, ultimately there is only one goal unless you want to settle for mediocrety or hope for success on a shoestring.

    1. Happily, winning matches and being entertained doesn’t have to be mutually exclusive. As for success on a shoestring – it seems to get to the Premier League clubs must first incur large debts unless they can actually achieve a business model of producing players (either through the academy or buying cheap) and sell them on at a decent profit.

      If Boro’s accounts are typical for Championship clubs not receiving parachute payments then any club spending over £4.5m on wages and transfers is accumulating debt. As ever, the business of football is not sustainable without an owner who is prepared to pump in £10m a year or so.

    1. I imagine if Steve Gibson went on Dragons Den to ask for investment for MFC they’d probably laugh and probably just say “you haven’t got a business”. It seems if any club wants the ambition of being in the Premier League then they have to be prepared to lose a lot of money. The market is out of control and skewed by foreign investors who either use football as a PR arm of their wider business dealings or are simply billionaires looking for some high-profile kudos.

      Clearly the step up and down between the PL and Championship is not bridgeable as within two years your TV income drops from a minimum £100m to £4.5m – especially as the wage bill will easily exceed £50m in the PL. OK, Boro ditched most of the players they bought when in the top flight but the ones who got promoted were given enhanced contracts to match their new status.

      Perhaps we need two divisions of the Premier League to smooth out the huge gap in income to allow clubs to think more long term instead of being in a permanent state of upsizing and downsizing. Incidentally, an annual wage budget of £4.5m works out for a squad of 22 at an average of just under 4 grand a week – perhaps that would make some players like Downing wonder if they think they deserve a pay rise.

  38. Having said all that, £4 grand a week is still £200k a year and tell me any other profession where someone in their twenties could expect to earn that kind of money? Most people at the top of their profession after 20-30 years of working would be lucky to be on a third of that.

    Perhaps football should just stop living in the fantasy of denial and live within what in the end is still a lucrative business. Why is spending money you don’t have in football seen as being ambitious rather than just stupid or reckless. Time to bring football into the public sector and give the players a real-terms ten-year pay freeze like doctors and nurses have endured…

  39. If only that were possible Werder.
    The world of football is so far removed from reality but the day must surely come when it all implodes.
    Oh for those days that Ken refers to when home advantage was just that and match days were generally, not always I accept, an enjoyable experience.
    I’m not sure what I’m expecting today.

      1. Well spotted. Indeed, inflation has to be considered – back in 1993 £3.75 million was the transfer record. Re: today’s tickets I was merely comparing them to the £25-40 I have had to pay from the noughties onwards. I heard a Riverside ticket in 1997 was £17, which now seems relatively cheap.

        1. While the price of second class stamp maybe a good indicator there is a little online widget for calculating what UK inflation has been between any 2 particular years. One pound in 1997 is now equivalent to £1.79 so a £17 ticket should actually cost £30.43 if it had risen by inflation. Incidentally the 20p stamp should only be 36p if it had risen by inflation – the Royal Mail is robbing us all!

          Here’s a link to the widget if you want to have some fun – a pound in the year I was born (1964) is now equivalent to £19.90 – I wish I had £19.90 for every time I’ve said that…

          http://inflation.iamkate.com/

  41. In Ireland we’ve got this… term. Probably the best Dunphyism ever. “Official Ireland”. Refers to the media and cultural elite, the untouchables, the sacred cows in a country that needs its sacred cows, its heroes to believe in. Because nobody flatters like the Irish. (Not a criticism – just an observation.)

    A dark side of this in football is that a select group of figures are turned into stars while others aren’t so fortunate.

    A consequence of Big Jack’s success is that people want a national manager for more than his ability to manage – he’s got to look good in the media. Jack was king of this. Shredded Wheat commercials, after dinner speaking, fishing, you name it. But no one can do it like he did because… he was just being himself. There were, I believe, no serious affectations despite accusations of disingenuousness.

    So, as I implied, you got showbiz figures in Euro 88, Italia 90 and USA 94. The heroes who took Ireland out of a recession and made money for the FAI. Lots.

    Yet the quality of the domestic product and the amount who watch it at the grounds down south is relatively pitiful.

    It may not be an Irish thing, though… it may be a football thing. That it takes the prospect of the spotlight or glamour for the game and a team to show what we know they can be.

    Too often over here, north or south, we’ve had our big parties, our moments in the sun, and never built on them. Look at Derry post the City Of Culture year in 2013.

    The best thing I can say is that the budget cuts are challenging NI artists to produce better work on stage. Might they do the same for football at the top while the money is spread out more evenly?

    Naive and wishful thinking. I know.

    1. Simon
      These are the official minimum cost figures of attending football matches through the ages until 1960:-

      Pre-War 1 shilling (hence the name given to the Bob end at Ayresome Park) = 5 pence in today’s currency.
      1946 increased to 1 shilling and 3 pence (6.25 pence today)
      1950 increased to 1 shilling and 9 pence (8.75 pence today)
      1955 increased to 2 shillings (10 pence today)
      1960 increased to 2 shillings and 6 pence (12,5 pence today)

      I don’t know the inflationary rates, but my salary in the 1960’s as a married man was £550 per annum (take home pay of £37.50 per month with a monthly mortgage of £12.10 on a nice semi-detached house valued at £2,350).

      I’ll let others decide if that was cheaper than today

  42. Mike Ashley comes in for a lot of stick for his Newcastle model but the reality is that if he gambled (lets face it in Football that is what it essentially is) say £300M in signing top players with eye watering salaries to match it is unlikely to get him anywhere near to breaking into the Champions League.

    As we have found with the GM spending spree and the Spanish Inquisition beforehand (and Stricken) it doesn’t guarantee to improve your team one iota (perhaps the opposite in fact). Is it worth placing any Club in huge debt for what at best will only be a modicum of improvement? Ashley certainly isn’t popular but he is astute when it comes to business acumen, his head always rules his heart.

    1. Ashley doesn’t have any emotional ties to NUFC, this means for him it is at best a hobby. He runs it as he would any of his business ventures.

      This is where the problem arises for Steve Gibson, he is at heart a fan, and often his heart overrules his head. He wants the best for the club as a fan and his personal wealth means he can invest in his hopes. Unfortunately as has been proven, investment doesn’t necessarily grant results.

  43. In 1993, 30 p got you 90 minutes in a new Derry multi-storey. Nowadays you pay nearly thrice that for a bar of chocolate.

    That said, £2.50 for three hours today in a multi storey that opened in 1995 still isn’t bad at all. I had visitors from the Boro in 2008 and they were astonished by the lowness of said prices.

    Maybe it’s NI. Or maybe not. Because I’ve heard you pay ridiculous prices in the Victoria Square car park, though I’ve never needed to use it. Yet.

    Fun with money.

    1. Werder, it all changed at the GPO as it was known then, when they brought in First and Second class Mail. Now I’m not that old to remember postage ever being 1d although I did possess a penny red though not a penny black, however in my youth I seem to remember a postage stamp costing 2 and a half pence for many years, that’s just over one new penny by my calculation.

  44. Difficult to know what to expect this afternoon. I’d like to think TP will follow on from the positive performance at Blackburn with more of the same. After all, why meddle with something that appears to be working. The problem is that so far in his tenure TP has been reluctant to stick by a promising (successful) line up and tactic, and I don’t expect him to change his ways today.
    I think it will revert to being dull, unimaginative fare again this afternoon with TP setting the boys up to go out and defend that point we get for not being beaten. So, an unconvincing 1-0 win to us on the day.
    COB

    1. Just read KP’s entry below to see the team is the same again (injured GF excepted)… Can I change my unconvincing 1-0 prediction into a convincing 4-1 prediction ? COB

  46. Yes thankfully it looks like the same team and shape as Blackburn but with Ayala in for Friend.

    Randolph, Howson, Shotton, Ayala, Fry, Saville, Mikel, Besic, Wing, Fletcher, Assombalonga

    Subs: Dimi, McNair, Clayton, Downing, Tavernier, VLP, Hugill

    On that basis I’ll go 3-0 to Boro: Britt, Wing and Saville.

  47. I correctly predicted the team yesterday and also went for a Boro win so fingers crossed I get that right.

    A few goals would be nice but I will take 1-0 as long as we are positive and play with tempo and intent.

    CoB 😎🤞

  48. The only worry I have is that QPR will sit deep.
    Last week was a revelation but the onus was on Blackburn being the home team.
    Cant see QPR setting up the same as Blackburn did so we may have to be patient.
    Of course I hope I am wrong and at this stage of the season we have to go for it.
    Is Freeman playing?
    Come on Boro!

  50. Thanks for your preview Werder. Perhaps if TP made all the players read it before the game they would start with a smile and it would inspire them to play attractive winning football.
    I couldn’t get to today’s match but will be following on Radio Tees, Diasboro, Borolive, Gazette live, and BBC Sports. At least I will have a bottle of Malbec at hand if needed!

  52. Ha. Just looked at The Guardian’s live feed on the action across the league’s to see, quote…”Goals galore. The floodgates have opened at the Riverside as Adam Reach puts Boro 2-0 up against QPR…”
    Quality reporting there 😂

  53. I actually replied to Old Billy’s comment but just realised he had posted it on the previous blog – so….

    Old Billy said: Besic 2 assists. I take back all I said. Sign him up!

    I replied: He’s been the best performer in the first half but Boro started quickly, scored the goal from a great Besic ball, then seemed to sit back for the next 20 minutes. Fletcher’s well taken goal has made it comfortable but Britt should have made it three. Can’t complain and looking good for three points.

  54. Virtually unchanged line-up for the second game in a row & a second win – at home this time. Dare we hope that TP has had his Damascene moment & finally seen the light? *prays*

  55. Despite the same set up, Boro weren’t as fluid as against Blackburn and in the end only managed 10 attempts on goal with four on target. I think there were some good performances though with Howson MOM for me, just ahead of Besic who was probably taken off after an hour after two risky tackles that could have given him his second yellow.

    Although, it was still an enjoyable game with much more football being played – it looks like Saville and Howson as wing-backs is looking like it will get better. Plus Fletcher and Britt provide us with more of a threat. Fletcher did well today and good to see him get his goal and leave to a standing ovation – Britt worked hard and made some good runs but was let down by his finishing and should have scored two. Tavernier actually looked quite lively and useful when he came on too.

    Wing was his usual positive self and went close with a couple of efforts but Mikel got caught on the ball a few times. Ayala was also a little shaky on occasions too. Still a deserved win and we will only get better as the understanding on the pitch improves with games.

    2. Dael Fry was immense at the left of the back 3 and certainly looked a clsss above. One 40 yard crossfield pass to a Boro player would have had the TV pundits drooling

      OFB

  56. Fry, then 17, was easily the highlight of Preston A at the start of 2015-16. He looked good enough to be Ayala’s successor, I felt… at AKBoro we had a succession of composed centre-backs who could bring it out from the back, on loan or otherwise, to partner Ben. Omeruo, Kalas, Chambers etc.

    Tied in with the ball-playing, composed centre-half that AK was himself at Real Madrid alongside Campo, Hierro or Helguera.

    If I remember rightly, though, Man. United scouts were watching at Preston that day and it served us better to keep young Dael under the radar… perhaps.

  58. “again the question has to be asked is whether having two strikers and overlapping wing backs was providing him forward options thereby limiting his need for those circular dribbles into trouble from earlier in the season”.

    Exactly right RR.

  59. One thing that struck me was that the team seemed to play with a new found confidence, personified by Young Fry, who revelled in a role that let him play his natural game.

    Barring injuries and suspensions this looks like a solid unit that can go on a run from here to the end of the season.

  61. A bit of support for Exmil’s stance. 13 games left and only two against teams in the top six. Both ay home against Norwich and Bristol.

    If we can perform at home there is no reason not to expect a decent finish to the season. Play offs should be a reasonable expectation. Top two looks to be beyond us but I dont know the permutations for other teams in the top seven or eight teams.

  62. Thanks RR – couldn’t follow the game today as I’m on holiday, but was pleasantly surprised when I got on public wi-fi and saw the score after a few minutes! Your report made good reading.

    I’m going to Anderlecht v Brugge tomorrow, so might see our old friend Vossen.

  63. I’ll rule nothing out – even the theoretical impossibility of the top two – until it is mathematically impossible.

    Time for RR’s report. Went to see Can You Ever Forgive Me? tonight – profound and thoughtful for something so breezy but on a more literate than emotional level.

  64. Ian just had a look at the fixture list and a top six place should be achievable.

    However I think Exmil is being very optimistic if he thinks Norwich, Leeds or Sheffield will drop sufficient points and we will win sufficient games. WBA slipping up somwhat is a surprise. May be a miracle can come to pass.

  65. Another cracking report RR.
    Just looking at the fixtures, the next few games look winnable on paper and then we have a 4 game tester that may determine our fate.
    Away to Villa ( with incontinence pads)
    Home to Norwich
    Home to Bristol
    Away to Swansea ( remember the last trip to Wales)
    Will our new shape be able to cope with that lot. At least we have a few games to bed it in before the 4 game crunch.
    If we are in with a shout of top two after these games I will admit I was wrong

  66. Right team. Right result and a decent performance too. Credit to TP for sticking with it and hope he continues to. Will be interesting to see which way he goes when Friend and Flint are available again.

  67. First off, thanks to RR for his alternative match report, splendid as usual.

    Good result especially for the home crowd at last, although we should may have got at least another goal, perhaps two, but then may be QPR could have made more of their early first half chances?

    I thought Besic had a great first half and especially after his 14 minute booking which then did limit him a little in the reclaiming ball role. He was certainly missed when subbed for SD and I would have preferred to see McNair given the chance there, as we lost out somewhat as Mikel tired in the latter stages. Nice to see Tav get some minutes also. But as the saying goes, every cloud has a silver lining, and that showed in Fry´s performance, a far better all round CB than Flint, who is limited when not scoring the goals he was bought for.

    It will be interesting to see what Mr Pulis does with this more expansive and flexible line up when we play Wigan on Saturday, especially if George is fit?

  68. Thanks for another great match report RR.
    Despite that TP went same again yesterday, to a large extent that was still a team selection influenced by availability. Doubting Thomas I may be, but I need to see him picking this kind of line up regularly and particularly when he has a full squad to choose from. I’m not saying TP hasn’t changed his thinking, just that I think it is too early after two selections without all his usual picks being available, for us to get too carried away with the possibilities.
    Here’s hoping….

  69. Thanks RR for another excellent summary of the day’s proceedings.

    Pleased for once that not only did I predict the team correctly but also the win, albeit I did go for 1-0 with Howson to score. It was a pity that Britt could not capitalise on two clear cut opportunities. Fletcher’s was a great strike and he now needs to be given a permanent starting berth for the rest of the season.

    A much better home performance albeit not as commanding and fluid as the Blackburn display last week but we did at least see what Besic is capable of producing. He now needs to keep doing it until the end of the season.

    TP spoke in glowing terms of Fry’s performance which probably means he will get the hook as soon as Flint is fit with some spurious reason that as he is only a youngster he needs to be handled with care!

    The bad news of the day (England result apart) was that all of the teams above us barring West Brom won. It would appear on this occasion that the realists prevailed over the optimists. Consequently, whilst top two is still mathematically possible it becomes harder to achieve as each week passes if those above us keep matching or bettering our results. Unless our form falls off a cliff then top six should be odds on. 😎

      2. Always the realist Exmil.

        GHW, well that could always depend on which team has more points than some of the others, or in this case the Boro.

        Don’t remember us all saying that under Big Jack.

  70. It seems to me that we have a distinct chance of a top two finish. With a home game against Norwich, I believe it comes down to one result and with 13 to play it is definitely on.
    The reasons for the optimism are not difficult to spot. After an interminable wait we are finally able to watch Wing in every match, plus the pure class of Mikel as a partner, plus two strikers, plus the idea of attacking at home, plus actually shooting at goal. I will refrain from comment on Tavernier actually getting on the pitch,( it took two minutes for him to be heavily involved in giving Brit the sitter to end all sitters).
    In conclusion, nailed on for playoffs, even money for top two.

  71. RR

    Great report RR I read yours first before trying to look at the Gazette and gave up after all the adverts kept popping up and reloading

    I thought also that our “third “ goal should have stood but you blamed the wrong referee. The officials were changed at half time

    Excellent report as usual and much appreciated

    OFB

      2. I had no idea that the Ref had been changed but also admit to not watching the Ref as the sides came out for the second half. The QPR Sub was put up on the big screen at the start of the second half but I guess there isn’t a precedent for the Ref being subbed. There again maybe MMP did announce it but that would have meant actually listening which I find nigh on impossible, besides Yusuf was in the NW corner leading the kids in a sing-along of Boro songs which was far more entertaining during the break.

        https://youtu.be/9vUlea5ZPqo

        1. RR

          No one spotted it in the media and even the MOTD reporter got it wrong

          She gave the name of the original ref who disallowed the “third goal”

          OFB

  72. Just a point about changing they ref they had to also change the 4th official and used a local referee to stand in for the second half.

    Hugill and the new local 4th official obviously new each other well and had a good chat and laugh together.

    Sport should be like that a game where there is friendship and no animosity.

    OFB

  73. Looking at current points it will probably require a total of 87+ to get into second place. That means 10 wins out of 13 games. There are certainly 10 winnable games in there. If we win the next 3, which is an absolute must, that becomes winning 7 games out of 10. You would expect that from a promotion winning team.

  74. Selective recall.

    Caught the very end of ManU v Liverpool. Listened to Klopp talking about injuries spoiling the flow of their game.

    Then I read the report Liverpool lost Salah early in the second half, Manu lost three players in the first half and Rashford had to play with an injury following an early challenge, effectively ten and a half players against eleven.

  75. I think I know why Tony Pulis has now transformed the tactics of the Boro
    He was sat at his desk at Rockliffe a couple of weeks ago and thought how can I communicate my wishes to the team?

    “ I’VE JUST GOTTA GET A MESSAGE TO YOU”

    because it’s going to be a

    “RED LETTER YEAR”

    “PLEASE READ THE LETTER”

    Otherwise I’ll be shouting out

    “FRIEND IS A FOUR LETTER WORD”

    Because of you don’t perform it will be a

    “LETTER TO THE FUTURE”

    So when I sent the letter to Ryan on Saturday I addressed it.

    “LETTER TO B I G”

    and if you don’t play well today I’ll sent you a note with a

    “SEVEN LETTER WORD”

    and if we lose it will be a

    “TEAR STAINED LETTER”

    I know I won’t have to send a note to Mikel but I’ve got one ready

    “A LETTER TO JOHN”

    So if things don’t work out this season Tony will be at Rockliffe and say…..

    “I’M GONNA SIT RIGHT DOWN AND WRITE MYSELF A LETTER”

    Then Tony will have a think about it and work out how much his contract has been worth in money to him and grins. It won’t be….

    “A TEAR-STAINED LETTER

    OFB

  76. Just to flag up that it’s probably not going to be sensible to dedicate much time to writing an article in the next few weeks as I’ve got my German citizenship test next week and I’ve got quite a lot of studying to do. I may put up a brief article this week unless someone fancies writing something at short notice but next week won’t be possible – So any takers?

    As the Brexit omnishambles continues the prospect of a no deal and the UK leaving without any suitable arrangements in place is still a distinct possibility. What that means for me personally is that if I don’t pass the test and have to repeat it at a future date, it could mean I won’t be able to retain dual nationality if the UK is no longer an EU country.

    It would mean giving up my UK passport and at a price as the government have since Brexit put the price up of doing so to around £400. Maybe people will ultimately see sense and agree to arrangements that facilitate at the very least an organised and orderly exit from the EU. Although far too many people on all sides seem so entrenched that it’s hard to see any agreement.

    Although read this morning the EU are thinking of ditching the transition period altogether and give themselves and the UK 21 months to agree on an exit deal or at least plan for an orderly ‘no deal’ exit. Sounds extremely sensible to me but no doubt the hard core Brexiteers will demand 29 March exit whatever and to hell with the consequences.

    Anyway, Brexit has become in the minds of so many people either the answer to all their problems or the ruin of their children’s future. It’s almost taken on mass hysteria proportions where the other side is clearly deluded. OK, we have had a narrow result in a referendum and unfortunately nobody seems to have a clue what to do next so that it will work. Surely it’s now the job of those who are in charge to implement a non-damaging orderly exit if that is what the majority still want – the fact that many supposedly sensible and educated politicians would rather just leave without a plan and ‘see what happens’ in a populist nod to the whipped-up masses is quite shocking.

    Unfortunately the media is just full of belligerence after the population have taken their sides and it seems the will of the people has become a contest between the loudest and most ignorant. I can’t even watch programmes like Question Time any more as it just gives a platform to the kind of people who only seem to know what they know – whether it makes any sense or not. My particular favourite this weekend was a woman who called into Any Answers to proclaim “we didn’t vote to be ruled by another continent” – sadly the host failed to ask her which continent she was phoning from.

    It’s a mess that is in danger of getting ugly and will continue to be so for years to come – perhaps a lesson for anyone contemplating a referendum that if you ask people a question they’ll unfortunately give you an answer – even the one you didn’t want. Even a year before the referendum, leaving the EU wasn’t a particular pressing issue for the UK population. UKIP got 13% of the vote in the General Election and weren’t gathering momentum. People are arguing like they’ve been fighting for independence for years but for the vast majority the issue hadn’t really entered their mind – or indeed what the wider reasons for wanting to leave or stay in the EU other than they now “believe” their lives will be better or worse.

    OK time to study if I want to remain in the EU!

    1. As I said about two years ago, there were three options for the UK.
      1. Stay in the EU like the rest of Western Countries in Europe
      2. Leave with a deal – a situation like Norway has in place now (or Switzerland)
      3. Be outsider like Russia (=hard Brexit)

      After two years there is no decision made by the UK Parliament. Are they sleeping over there? They are looking a bit like Trump and his gang in the UK now, too. People make themselves laughable for us in the rest of Europe. Both the USA and the UK, like.

      Just saying. Up the Boro!

    2. Best wishes for your studying and your exam Werder, I am sure you will pass with flying colours. 😎🤞 Will miss your article but your citizenship has to be priority.

      Wish I had the ability to produce what you do but sadly not, so I will have to leave it to more talented diasboro colleagues to deputise for you.

    3. Best of luck Werder with the exam. Hope that it all falls into place and the answers you have remembered are the questions that are asked.

      Asregards the blog, we can just talk amongst ourselves, throw the odd hand Grenada in to spark a debate. On football and the Boro of course, not Brexit and the dumbo politicians.

      1. Yes thanks Pedro and KP I shall do my best – though after a four-week break from studying due to work projects I’ve just revisited the lists of technical words that I had previously ‘learnt’ and discovered I’ve now forgotten nearly 90%. The place in my head for obscure German words is not long-term storage 🙁

  77. werdermouth, reading your post above reference brexit, it came to my mind whether you wrote it as a Brit or as a German because I think both would have a different point of view and even as a Brit, it would depend if you were pro or con. To my mind, once the vote was cast it will be as someone once said “it will be what it will be” and in the end we will all survive one way or the other.

    Come on BORO.

    1. Exmil

      The day after the referendum the sun still rose. On the 1st April 2019 the same will happen.

      Come October 2020 Mercedes, BMW and Audi will not stop selling cars here, Spain, Italy and Greece wont turn our tourists away. France will still send their wine and cheese across and under the channel, Jarkko will still be a Boro fan.

    2. I’m not German yet 🙂 but have always been a keen European. Although as an expat wasn’t allowed a vote during the referendum and neither were EU nationals living in the UK so that probably skewed the result somewhat. Nevertheless even though traditionally a referendum was usually advisory, Cameron clearly said the wishes of the people would be acted upon so that is the result the UK has to work with now. He gambled and lost and left the mess behind him.

      Whether you’d get the same result tomorrow after all what has since occurred is debatable but the genie is out of the bottle now and I don’t think you will get the increasingly angry mob to calm down if Brexit is cancelled. The only way forward is to find a orderly solution that can broadly be accepted – though I fear if the UK has a no-deal Brexit and it goes wrong then many will still blame the EU and particularly the Germans for not giving them the ‘good deal’ they believed they deserve.

      Anyway, as tensions are being ratcheted up we’ve decided against our Easter visit this year as the tone of many of the more fervent independence seekers has become quite hostile to Europe – plus Mrs Werder wasn’t particularly keen on risking driving around in a car with German number plates in case Brexit was cancelled a few weeks before our visit – especially after a work colleague of her’s twice suffered verbal abuse driving his German car last year. OK, you always get a few nutters but they seem to have been embolden since Brexit and think they now speak for the 51.9%.

      So that’s democracy for you, the only civilised way to settle an argument – though it appears to have been a blunt instrument to find an answer to a problem that wasn’t really of major concern to the majority of the population before Cameron decided it was a good idea to strengthen his grip on the right of his party and see off good old Nigel from stealing 10% of Tory votes.

      I suspect Brexit will become an endless argument for at least the next 5 years – while the problems of the people will continue to be ignored by the hapless politicians.

      1. Werder

        The demographics were interesting because once UKIP collapsed the labour vote grew hugely. At the time my view was in the minority in that I said ignore the leave vote at your peril. If you sit back and wait for internal Tory battles you might get the result you dont want.

        I argued it was a much bigger issue than just Tory infighting. The smug establishment sat and smirked, the labour party sat and smirked, the EU sat and smirked, they all knew better and they all got a bloody nose.

        That is what happens when you ignore people. The problem we have is that remain is a simple concept but one mans leave deal is another man’s poison.

        I voted remain but it should be borne in mind I voted for a trade agreement 40+ years ago not for the likes of the bloated EU bureaucrats.

        1. I believe the UK has never really embraced the EU project and was clearly not keen on further integration or joining the Euro – There is also probably not the coalition culture that most countries have in their political systems. Nevertheless 40 odd years of integration can’t be separated overnight without fallout and consequences and we shouldn’t believe that just walking out of the door is a sensible option rather than organising a phased withdrawal.

      2. I discussed the Brexit debate over quite a few beers on Friday night with a few mates and the shambolic mess Politicians of all persuasions, Brussels, Tory, Labour, Lib Dems (do they still exist), UKIP, Monster Raving Loonies (of which unofficially there does appear to be a growing number of raving loonies in Westminster) have made of it all with only days remaining.

        What Theresa has nobody voted for from either camp yet she seems hell bent on delivering what she deems to be her version and interpretation of Brexit and therein lies the problem. There isn’t a definitive definition of what Brexit actually is apart from an extremist element most of whom have their Passports revoked when England play away.

        When asked who I would vote for at the next election I thought long and hard and concluded Guy Fawkes! He may not solve anything but would clear up a huge mess at one fell swoop.

      3. Werder,

        I think the whole thing is going to end up with lawyers and civil servants working away like Jarndyce and Jarndyce in Charles Dicken’s Bleak House. If anyone has read the book there parallels with the whole Brexit fiasco.

        UTB,

        John

  78. On to football matters and MFC, I have read an article this morning that failing promotion and TP leaving, then Woodgate is lined up to become manager at the end of this season. To give further food for thought this is when players contracts are up in the next few years:

    2019
    Loans – Hugill, Besic, Van La Parra,
    Contracts – Mikel, Downing, Dimi

    2020
    Gestede,Howson,Shotton, Ayala, Friend

    2021
    Assombalonga, Randolph, Clayton, Fletcher, Fry, Tavernier

    2022
    Flint, Wing, Saville, McNair

    Come on BORO.

    1. Surely Woodgate won’t offer a new contract to Stewie, will he? He is biased to make the decision, anyway.

      I would bring back Mogga and Mark Venus – the moon man and his off spring. And continue with Woodgate as a coach. A home grown brigade after Brexit!

      Up the Boro!

      1. it does seem like jobs for the boys Jarkko. I would like to see Mogga back at some point but if it were to be next season, his brief would be as before, cost cutting and searching in the remnants bin.
        That would be ironic after the money burned by the 3 managers since he left.

  79. I did the The Updated Promotion Predictor of the Gazette. I admit I am an optimist but I had WBA and Boro in top two in May.

    WBA as champions on 89 points
    Boro second on 86
    And Norwich third at 83
    Leeds at 81

    What I try to say is that we have an easier set of fixtures than most as both Norwich and Bristol need to visit Riverside. So a lot of play for and Boro have looked a different team since John Obi Mikel joined. But we need to beat Norwich at home :).

    So there is hope. Up the Boro!

  80. werdermouth, I am sorry to hear German nationals getting abuse in the UK because of Brexit (or any other reason), having spent 17 years of my army career in Germany I met a lot of wonderful people there, I just don’t understand the need for it, the same as people going to football matches looking for fights but having seen a lot of violence in my life maybe that’s why I have a “live and let live” attitude. Some people just look for a reason to be anti and if they were asked to give their stance on Brexit, they wouldn’t know what you are talking about.

    Come on BORO.

    1. Unfortunately, I think it’s all part of the abuse culture that blights social media and some comment sections and I think some of the tabloid press has also been guilty of stirring up sentiments with its ill-advised language. I believe the politicians and media should be minded to calm the rhetoric as all this talk of traitors, enemies of the people is unnecessarily inflammatory and some still seem stuck in the 1970s and think it’s amusing to trot out insulting WW2 anti-German nonsense.

      Then you have the likes of Tommy Robinson hijacking Brexit for his own agenda and joining a UKIP that even Nigel Farage now regards as far right extremists – others choose to intimidate MPs who are against Brexit and without irony label them nazis. Then we wonder why some idiots believe it’s OK that random foreigners are fair game.

  81. I’ll don my tin hat for a second: whether so go up or not, the best course of action may be to keep Pulis on (if he wants to stay) for a while yet.

    Regardless of how this season pans out, we look to be heading for a summer of change, whether it be to prepare for a very tough season in the Premier League or to continue cost cutting and managing Championship resources.

    Pulis is fully aware of the situation and knows the squad, the contract situations therein and, although it doesn’t quite fit the anti-TP narrative, has been increasingly prepared to play the younger players (certainly Fry and Wing with Fletcher and Tav now appearing to compete for a place up front with Britt).

    You could argue that Woodgate will be well aware of the club’s situation too but I would think another year or two under Pulis would be a good thing for him.

    There is plenty to be displeased about with Pulis, I admit, but sometimes it’s hetter the devil you know. Who could replace him and a do a better job if we continue to have to chop the wage bill?

    Gibson never appoints a manager who is already in a job. That rules our Mowbray. Who else is out there that isn’t working already? Wagner and Jokanovic spring to mind but would either fancy a job with limited financial clout? I doubt it.

    Werder – very best of luck with your residency test. No need to worry about us lot, you’ve far more important matters.

    2. Good post Andy R.
      Should we make it across the line at the end of the season, then I too just might be inclined to want to see TP retained for at least the first season. If TW is being lined up to replace him, another year, or even two with TP as a mentor with the right experience of keeping the team afloat in the premier league might not be a bad thing.

    3. Won’t Wagner and Jokanovic be deported on April 1st along with the rest of the millions of unemployed Europeans in the UK stealing our welfare and unemployment benefits, clogging up the NHS? 🙂

    4. Andy R
      You have said it all when you said “Gibson does not hire managers who are in work” I can only say, ” my head hurts” how can anyone run a professional organisation in that way?
      Any good manager will, by definition, be in work.
      Just like players, you search in the lower leagues for up and coming bosses, including abroad. Their bosses expect them to move upwards and onwards, as one would expect.

  84. Viel Glück Werder bei Ihrem Einbürgerungstest.
    Ich hoffe, dass diese Google-Übersetzung genau das gleiche ergibt, als ich sie auf Englisch eingegeben habe. Wenn nicht, tut es mir leid, wenn ich etwas Unhöfliches gesagt habe 🙂

  85. Woodgate lined up to be the next Boro Manager and here’s me thinking we’ve got enough problems with Theresa Mayhem and Brexit! That surely has to be a wind up and some sort of joke? Woody that is. Although come to think of it Theresa will be out of a Job by then and will be looking for a Consultative role somewhere. Mind you she wasn’t born within ten miles of Nunthorpe or drink in that well known establishment on the road out there so that rules that one out. No doubt Stewy will be his assistant and his Mother in Law Chief Scout (good shout possibly) and as Player Coach Stewy will award himself a new 5 year contract

  86. I’m getting worried as this Woodgate thing seems to be gaining momentum.
    I would like to see the end of this old boys network but SG seems to have a soft spot for the “one of our own” brigade, so I wouldn’t be surprised if it comes to pass.

    1. Does somebody seriously think a decision is made before summer. Seriously?

      We have a good season going and a possibility to get promoted automatically or via play-offs. So calm down. I take this as a joke so far.

      Up the Boro!

  87. At his QPR pre-match interview TP talked about the finances and the need to re-build the club and mentioned that in the past incoming managers were often given three years to sort things out. He did also say that currently some managers are lucky if they get three months.

    I just wonder if this was his way of indicating that perhaps he had agreed or was planning to agree to stay a further year even if promotion was not achieved this season.

    Watch this space! 😎

    1. Exmil

      I am a grown man beyond petty considerations but I cant go to a match I want both teams to lose. I have been to a few matches at Pride Park and the odd one by the Trent not involving Boro but I cant enjoy them.

      As it turned out it was a good result for us.

  89. I’ve seen comments recently from elsewhere about TP and his liking for bigger players etc.
    Watched the Fulham v W.Ham game and it was obvious Fulham could not live with West Hams size and physical attributes, The Hammers allowed Fulham most of the ball and they looked nice and tidy, but anytime they got into the last faze
    They lost 90% of the one on ones or any serious contact , I can see how promoted teams struggle if you don’t have those necessary qualities , over a full season,you may have players with skills but once the good weather turns you need the other side of the game.
    The top teams are different their players are so quick at what they do, although they can look after themselves ,they are not as obvious.
    Pulis knows this ,and that’s what you get.
    On a personal request, any hints of politics , for me is not good on this blog,it doesn’t lead to a pleasant ending as we know,we can all have our opinion , and at the end of the day, if your vote meant anything ,they wouldn’t allow you to have one.
    Let’s stick to what really gives us an ulcers, COB

    1. Bring me sunshine in your smile,
      Bring me Laughter, all the while,
      In this world where we live, there should be more happiness,
      So much joy you can give, to each brand new bright tomorrow,
      Make me happy, through the years,
      Never bring me, any tears,
      Let your arms be as warm as the sun from up above,
      Bring me fun, bring me sunshine, bring me love.
      Bring me Sunshine, in your eyes,
      Bring me rainbows, from the skies,
      Life’s too short to be spent having anything but fun,
      We can be so content, if we gather little sunbeams,
      Be light-hearted, all day long,
      Keep me singing, happy songs,
      Let your arms be as warm as the sun from up above,
      Bring me fun, bring me sunshine, bring me love.

      COB

  92. As much I did not want Mr Pulis, I would prefer another season with him, especially he he could become a little more flexible.

    As for Woodgate, NEVER. I still remember his antics when at Leeds.

  94. Pedro,

    I agree. Pulis isn’t perfect but he’s made a lot of right decisions and he seems to fit in psychologically with the kind of club that Middlesbrough is. He’s also shown an eye for a player particularly if we separate the player from the cost. Frankly, I have no idea what represents value these days but having the nous to bring in Flint, Shotton, Saville and Mikel shows a good eye. Hugill has certainly worked hard. The jury is still well out on McNair and Van La Parra clearly has some issues.

    All in all, the squad seems stronger now and everyone at the club seems to be pulling in the same direction. Having said that, its always hard to know writing from the other side of the world because you are prey to what the media and MFC put out. That’s why this blog is so valuable for us way out in the Diasboro.

    UTB

    1. Selwyn, I think Shotton was a Monk Pick, although he never got much game time before Pulis came along. Did score the winner at Sheff Wed that got Monk the sack.

  95. I can understand some of the previous comments regarding TP particularly as they are made following back to back wins.

    I confess that I was in favour of his appointment but have been disappointed by some of his choices and at times rigid style of play which have produced dire performances.

    I am also concerned that players are recruited but not given a decent run in the side or played out of their natural position e.g. Harrison, VLP McNair.

    It should not be forgotten that some results and better performances have been due to him being forced into making changes rather than a willingness to do so.

    Having been forced into playing Saville and Howson as Wing backs and two upfront, due to injuries and a suspension, it will be interesting to see what happens when everyone is fit again.

    All that being said I cannot think of an ideal replacement and would definitely not want Woodgate or even Mowbray as I am not in favour of turning the clock back as it rarely works.

    Perhaps Solskjaer may be available at the end of the season! 😎😜

    1. KP

      I think Pulis will stay for another year he’s only 62 not 75 like Roy Hodgson !

      Ref VDP he’s not fit hardly runs and doesn’t offer anything to the team at his present level of fitness

      Saville is doing a job which is not his familiar role but both him and Howson have good engines and get up and down the pitch effectively

      Fletcher has always shown promise and I think somewhere there is a good footballer trying to get out!

      Hugill has no skill and will be sent back to WHU at the end of this season

      Besic has started to play which as we know is down to the arrival of Mikel and I hope both are here next season

      Personally I think we are playing better without Clayton who slows the play down and still plays sideways and back and is not conducive to attacking football

      It looks like Derby have blown up and if we get a result on Saturday then I’ll start to believe we may do something good!

      Shall we all meet at Wembley for a party !!!

      ????

      OFB

      1. Unfortuanately OFB, unless we get promotion and Mr Pulis stays, then I think Mikel will be off to a lower, mid-table EPL club. Certainly if he continues as he is doing and proves his fitness / injury position.

        By the way, Exmil may know, when are we forced to make a decision on our early ST renewals? Not sure what I feel at the moment, with both the ST cost and the Video subscriptions to pay.

  96. I’m not sure that Pulis was totally forced to play the system he has in the last two games.

    Certainly at Blackburn he could, as a lot of people expected, have played a back four with McNair at right back (or Shotton or Fry with McNair at centre back) and Hugill up front on his own again.

    Credit where it’s due I think.

  97. Toon play Burnley tonight and it brought back memories of Pat Partridge – I am sure OFB remembers him. For younger posters he was a top referee in the 60’s and 70’s.

    He lived a few doors away from me and always brought me a programme back from the game he officiated in. One of those was a match at Turf Moor where Burnley hosted Toon, not a match of great significance but notable for the fact Burnley had ten Geordies in the team to Toon’s two. Burnley had a great scouting network in the North East.

    I think I have mentioned before, he gave me a programme signed by the ManU 1968 European championship winning team – they played Stoke City shortly afterwards.

    After my father died the programmes were looked after briefly by my sister in law, she showed them to a friend and lo and behold the ManU programme disappeared. She didn’t realise the significance but clearly someone did.

    Over to Ken and OFB for more memories of Pat.

    1. Pat Partridge was a great guy and I knew him well

      He worked at City Electrical Factors with a friend of my fathers and they used to go to games together when Pat was in the middle

      When I joined the RA the refs assoc he was one of the stalwarts on the committee and he helped me as a junior ref and all of us giving lectures and pointers all of which good common sense

      He gave me a set of his red and yellow cards which he autographed and I only gave them away last to a friend for a charity fund raising event so he was still contributing to the end

      I went to a few charity functions where Pat spoke raising money and forgoing his fee for good causes

      A very good referee and a very good person

      OFB

    2. I remember him well. Burnley v Sunderland or Newcastle was almost a local derby in the 1950s and 1960s. Some of the Burnley team ring off my tongue viz Strong, Chew and Mather, Attwell and Brown, Douglas, Morris, etc Bob Lord as chairman, and I haven’t googled that, so am speaking just from memory. Strange how recent memories pass me buy, but I do tend to remember the distant past easier.

  98. Never met Pat but watched many of the games he refereed and he was first class at what he did. He could teach the current crop a thing or two about letting the game flow and being inconspicious. 😎

    1. Leicester are in danger of losing structure and with it control of the club and consequently could free-fall out of the Premiership with all the changing and shuffling of Managers. We have recently seen with Strachan, Mowbray, Karanka, Monk and Pulis how different philosophies can be and how Players noses can be pushed out.

  100. I too remember Pat Partridge as I set out becoming a referee. I clearly remember my first match, a junior game, at Eston rec., mainly cos when I watched the last 10 minutes of a senior game on an adjoining pitch I realised that I must have blown my whistle about 100 times!

    When I joined the referees association the top referee was Kevin Howley with Pat becoming established and another much younger referee was also coming through, I think from Redcar, and if memory serves me right these 3 Middlesbrough referees all officiated on the football league at the same time.

    I have to say refereeing today at all levels of football is much harder than in my day. I used to do a bit of assessing referees for promotion but became fed up cos too many of them just didn’t do the basics.
    Eg
    Blow the whistle hard and quickly, give clear hand signals, clamp down early on fouls,keep up with play etc
    Philip

    1. In those days if a Referee or a Linesman got a decision wrong it was all opinion and here say and quickly forgotten. Nowadays the injustice of it all is replayed from five different angles in slow motion and freeze frame and then repeated on sports programmes, news articles and of course the Internet won’t ever let it die.

      Like it or not but VAR is necessary in the game today because of the advances and pressuring demands plus of course the cost of each result now often has huge financial implications. A side being relegated from the Premiership for example because of an incorrectly ruled offside for a point or even all three points could spell financial ruin for a club and decades in the doldrums. At the opposite end a Champions League spot may be at stake.

      I think there should be four “assistants” running the lines at games to give better coverage and accuracy plus all those retired Referees with years of experience could be sat in the West Stand upper with a monitor and a head piece giving the Referee an eye in the back of his head. Its also more likely to cut out the cynical and unsavoury “professional” aspect of the game. The more the merrier if it means more accuracy, for example the disallowed Boro goal for a raised foot on Saturday I reckon would have been given had there been VAR showing that both players went in with their feet at the same height. The drawback is that it may also penalise Ayala a lot more for playing the man rather than the ball at defending set pieces.

  102. Some intriguing fixtures coming up before we play Wigan on Saturday. Bristol City host Birmingham tonight and if the Robins win they will be just one point beneath us with both sides having played 33 games. Should Birmingham win they will be only three points behind the Robins putting serious pressure on them and in doing so boosting their own Play Off hopes. Should be a keenly fought contest considering Bristol have conceded goals in their last three games and Adams and the Juke are having a good season. It could get interesting form a Boro perspective.

    Then there are the Dirties who face QPR down at Loftus Road tonight in what will potentially be eight straight defeats for Steve McClaren. I doubt any Manager can survive that sort of run but I suspect his CV will be already emailed to Parkhead just in case. On Friday the Dirties have to battle again at home to WBA so a tough week for Bielsa’s boys. The Baggies need a result after their home loss to the Blades so that should be a blood and thunder game with no quarter given. Of course if all the results go against us it could look a little more daunting especially if Leeds go 13 points ahead of us.

  103. Phillip

    The only match that Pat Partridge was involved in was the League Cup replay between Liverpool and Notts Forest when he gave a penalty and it should have been outside the box for a free kick
    The defeat was a bitter pill, especially when replays of Thompson’s trip on John O’Hare showed the calculated foul happened outside the area but referee Pat Partridge pointed the spot.

    Thompson’s protests fell on deaf ears and John Robertson converted the spot-kick with Ray Clemence only a whisker away with his dive. Both games were bad-tempered contests and Ian Callaghan received the only booking of his Liverpool career in the replay.

    OFB

  104. Phillip

    You must have been at the RA the same time I was there 73 to 79 before my ref career was curtailed when I went to work in Holland for two years and then Spain for a further two.

    By which time it was the Red Revolution with Robbo and I became hooked again with the Boro

    I took my ref course run by Dave Bodley (football league ) with Fred Bond and Tommy Radigan who is now the North Riding FA Secretary.

    Our secretary was Stuart Loudon and he Tommy and I used to ref all Boro Junior games and trials for Harold Shepherdson

    Jeff Winter was an up and coming ref and ran a line for me when I was in the middle for the NR junior cup final at Hutton Road.

    I still see Jeff talked to him two weeks ago when he was at the match and he’s just recovered from a quadruple heart bypass!

    Last game I refereed was in Spain when I was 56 and still fit.!

    Now I watch the Boro and my grandson play football from the sidelines

    So we must know each other from those days when we were younger

    OFB

    1. Phillip

      Stuart Loudon was football league and I went to London with Jeff Winter when Stuart was on the line for the charity shield Liverpool v Everton 83/4 ?

      No doubt Ken will keep me right

      OFB

      1. Oh, I’m not much versed in all statistics, although I do recall that Kevin Howey was the youngest to referee an FA Cup Final at the age of 35 I believe. As I’m in Portugal at the moment I haven’t acess to all my records. lncidentally I worked with Philip at Eston UDC and we remain good friends. As well as a referee I believe he was also a local cricket umpire.

        1. Ken

          Kevin howley used to work at IcI in the civil section

          Kevin refereed a friendly at the start of the season between Boro v Sunderland

          Boro scored a goal but the ball went under the net and rolled into the track as it wasn’t fastened securely

          The quick thinking Sunderland keeper put the ball down on the 6 Yard box and took a goal kick which Kevin approved

          On the Monday morning Kevin went into work and all his workmates in his section were waiting for him waving welding goggles and safety spectacles at him. He never lived it down !

          OFB

  105. More inclined to agree with OFB than GHW about Rodgers, though there is a case for and against him. Another Mourinho protege, yes, but a more positive thinker – reversed the defensive-minded tiki-taka he used at Swansea into a more swashbuckling style at Liverpool which entranced the neutrals. I sense, alas, that a cult of Rodgers built up once broadsheets started hailing his “innovative” tactics, and the relentless desire to win his way found him out.

    One of my favourite topics – the manager often confusing the personal with the professional, the ideological with the pragmatic. Sort of hinted at in that brilliant line from The Damned United.

    “I hired you to do this job because I think you’re the best young manager in this country. (“Thank you. I’m the best old one, too.”) I also did it under the assumption that you would be coming here wanting the best for this club. For the city of Leeds. So why do I get the feeling this is all about you and Don?”

      1. We have, but having watched Rodgers’ teams play, Strachan he ain’t.

        On the other hand, people have praised Strachan’s training and methods at Southampton and Celtic, and they worked at Coventry for years.

        It could be as simple as saying that he was the wrong man for Boro.

  106. Another gem, here, from our own RR back in 2014.

    “Sticking to the well-documented game plan and set-up was fine. Unnecessary and detrimental square-pegging wasn’t.”

    Something I am trying to apply these days as my freelance business could really do with a lift, though I have been getting a few more breaks recently, thank heavens.

    Having a plan and the foundations in place to achieve it is fine, unnecessary and detrimental misuse, or underuse, of resources isn’t.

    Consistency and stability is great. Complacency and stagnancy is not.

    I think I’m onto something here.

  108. Today, twenty-two years ago… a Big Aussie made his Boro debut at Stockport. First time I’d ever watched Boro play live for ninety minutes, so it was a massive deal for me.

    I just looked at him and believed in him immediately. He went on to cement that belief with a command of his area and shot-stopping, not to mention synergy with the centre-backs, that looked a class above anything we’d seen so far at the back that season. Which, I suppose, considering that we were leaking almost two a game on average by the beginning of March, was not difficult, but still.

    Yeah, his kicking and punching (which he seemed to prefer to catching the ball) wasn’t the best, to be frank, and the transfer request / dummy spit post Newcastle A in 2006 leaves a bad taste. But… still enough good to outshine the bad, right?

    1. Great set of results with them both losing, what were the odds of Steve McClaren ending his losing streak and Garry Monk beating the Robins in their own nest. Ex Boro Managers, don’t you just love them!

  111. Results seem to have gone our way this evening: QPR beating the Dirties by 1-0, courtesy of a goal by one Luke Freeman, & Brum beating the Robins by 2-1. 🙂

    Off topic, even the Terriers managed a 0-0 with Wolves. 🙂

  112. Small world Bob. I was a bit before you at the referees association and I also remember Stuart as an up and coming referee. I think he started when about 16.

    I was the youngest umpire in the North Yorkshire and South Durham cricket league at 17 but left when 21 to come to West Yorkshire to referee locally and umpire in the Bradford cricket in the days when if Yorkshire players didn’t have a game they all played in the Bradford League. I have wonderful memories and respect for the Yorkshire players.
    Philip
    Ps some ‘good’ results tonight in the Championship!

  113. Well it appears it may all be about what we do now.

    April with only five matches then March is going to be a long hard slog with seven. Then the final match in May.

    Mr Pulis has found by default a winning formula, stick to it if injuries allow and see what happens.

  114. Well done to the ex managers tonight. A big thank you to Schteve for holding back Luke Freeman on Saturday so he would be fit and rested to sink the dirties. Oh, and a special thanks to our recruitment department for twice failing to secure the signing of Luke Freeman.
    Are the dirties and FL Derby starting their annual choke?

  116. As others have posted some good results so far this week. Automatic promotion is still a slim possibility but a possibility nonetheless. A play off place is entirely in our own hands now.

  117. After two good wins, can I put all you experts into the manager’s shoes and ask
    1. what formation will you pick on Saturday?
    2. what team will you pick to fill that formation if Friend and Flint are both fit?”

    UTB

    1. Personally I’d leave it the way it is

      Friends legs have gone and he’s not as mobile as Saville and Fry makes it so much better on the left hand side.

      Flint I’m afraid has yet to impress me

      OFB

  119. I see the Gazette have written an article on which players contracts are up in the next 18 months, I wonder where they got that idea from lol, they have included our players that are out on loan such as Braithwaite etc.

    Come on BORO.

    1. Exmil

      Last week the Gazette also did an Interview with Lewis Wing because they found out he was Ron Bones last signing. Now I wonder where they got that idea from ?

      OFB

    2. Exmil,….Once is a coincidence, twice is?? Well maybe having so much space to fill they run out of ideas. So where is the go to for them.
      i also mentioned in a recent post, the contract term lengths of our current squad, when we talking about the running of the club and its wage bill.

      When you still have the likes of Gestede with another season to go on possibly 25/30k a week, it brings tears to your eyes.

  120. Selwynoz…..do not change a winning team and a new found formula.

    As for George and Flint, I have to agree with OFB. The former has been an excellent servant to the club and although healways gives his all, he is not the player he was and gets caught out too many times when attacking leaving that flank vulnerable.

    Flint has never been the player we supposedly bought, at an inflated fee, possibly because of his goals last season. Not scoring from Mr Pulis´s set piece norm position, he is IMO just and ordinary 3Mil CB.

  121. I think we should go same again with the team, spreading the message that if you get in and perform you keep your place and its yours to lose. Who would you drop is another way of looking at it? Nobody has underwhelmed or underperformed so with suspensions and injuries there will undoubtedly be opportunities but two wins and two clean sheets is as good as anyone could hope for. Most importantly at present the current team and set up look like they are gelling, improving and getting better with more to come from them.

    Let it roll on and any changes should be enforced, its tough on Friend and Flint but two weeks ago we struggled to put out a defence. I don’t think Shotton is 100% so Flint may get a chance anyway at some point even if its just from the bench if we are well in front. Friend has been an ever-present and could probably do with a rest and some proper healing time so there is neither a point or a need to throw him back in too soon.

    On a separate note the below is an interesting read:

    https://footballeconomyv2.blogspot.com/2019/02/are-middlesbrough-ultimate-benefactor.html

  122. The final predicted table below has us in third place three points behind the Blades in second but drawing our games against Wigan, Villa, Norwich, Bristol, Swansea and Forest.

    I would hope that we could muster a few wins from those games starting with Wigan away on Saturday (Villa away would be nice as well as TP owes us a performance let alone a result against them). Norwich and Bristol at home are two big games and I would be disappointed if we didn’t at least put one of them to the sword. All ifs and buts and maybe’s and of course fans of the other clubs will no doubt have similar feelings.

    https://www.footballwebpages.co.uk/championship/league-table/predicted

    If you click on a tab beneath the table it shows all the results predicted until the end of the season game by game.

    1. I have just looked at the results predicted until the end of the season and see that they predict we will not score more than one goal in any of the games!

      I know we have struggled to score but is it really feasible that we won’t score more than one when we recently put three past the baggies and two past QPR.

      I appreciate that additional goals may not change the result but I cannot believe we can be that poor or am I displaying misplaced optimism. 😎

    2. It shows us getting 27 points from 13 games which would be our best sustained run of form for the season. win 8, draw 3 lose 2 is a decent record on a home stretch but not good enough. (Won 7 drawn 6 seems unlikely.)

      My personal feeling is that we need 30 points from the remaining games for automatic promotion. That’s massively better than anything we’ve done under Pulis so you have to think it’s very unlikely. However, Pulis’s teams can go on streaks so it’s not impossible.

    4. There seem to be some strange predictions in there. Looking at what they have suggested for Leeds, I think Leeds should accumulate at least 5 more points than that, the Blades perhaps 1 more point and I’m sure we will do better tat least against Wigan and Bristol City (both predicted as draws).

      I’m waiting for the definitive Exmil Challenge before I start to evaluate likely results and positions. However, what the BBC prediction does begin to show is how important goal difference might be in deciding who is in 2nd place. Currently we are worst off in that regard, so a turn around in goal scoring fortunes could be critical to us.

      1. Not impossible. But that’s the problem.

        I still remember when two wins out of two – also, incidentally, 2-0 and 1-0 – somehow put us right back in the play off mix after a season we looked to have written off. That was 2009-10.

        Victory at already promoted West Brom would have kept the pressure on Swansea and Blackpool. What happened was, we sleptwalked to a 2-0 defeat in the most apathy-inducing manner imaginable. Very close to being the worst performance I’ve ever seen from a Boro side – because there was nothing to build on whatsoever.

        I was livid. AV was livid. A fan implied, since we’d only the slimmest chance of going up, that we’d no need to be so glum, but AV’s answer summed it all up – the anger accumulated since relegation multiplied by the pain of having any illusions shattered is a real killer. Even if you know, or sense, that the final act is coming, it’s the hope that kills you.

  126. Here is an article about Northern Ireland that means a lot to me. Roisin Ingle did a marvellous job writing it, and I hope you enjoy it too.

    https://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/people/forget-brexit-borders-and-backstops-let-s-all-go-to-northern-ireland-1.3801946

    Because Northern Ireland is…

    Northern Ireland is…

    “…like Belfast, both grand and gritty at the same time, where wandering around shops is a joy just because of the smiles and witty chats with staff who seem always to be falling over themselves to help you out. It’s playing pool in Lavery’s Belfast and later discovering a great new cocktail bar modelled after a speakeasy. It’s catching a show at the Black Box or The MAC and strolling on the cobbles in the Cathedral Quarter.”

    Yeah.

    1. My parents lives in Belfast just after the war and my father worked at Harland & Wolf

      He was a catholic She a Protestant but had to appear to be Catholic and live in the Catholic housing sector.

      My father had to work in parts of the shipyard for catholics only and dine in a Catholic canteen.

      So that was sectarianism and division of the highest order and makes the argument of a back stop for Ireland look a bit nebulous if all the history of Ireland it’s poverty and violence and bloody history is not acknowledged by the gravy train leaders of the EU.

      My mother and Father returned to the UK only when a little fat bob was on the way !
      OFB

    2. I visited Belfast a few times on business in the mid 80s and I couldn’t believe how warm and friendly the people were who made friends with you instantly

      I hope they get this backstop sorted out for all Ireland
      OFB

      1. To say that most, if not everyone, around me have/has been very concerned since June 2016 is an understatement. A solution that maintains the level of open-mindedness which appears to have blossomed from the GFA onwards – I like Belfast, I like Derry, I like Dublin, I like what the north can learn from the south and vice versa – that’s what I’m hoping for. Balance.

      2. So what are the supposed benefits to be from Brexit? Heart might say something, but the head none.

        To me the idea of Brexit is very, very difficult to see. And I have tried to read and learn but still cannot see the point of Brexit.

        But I am not British. There is something I won’t ever be able to understand. Sounds just crazy. Up the Boro!

      3. It depends on what Brexit actually is Jarkko? A clean no deal, a half in and half out or perhaps all the financial commitment but none of the controls?

        What is absolutely certain is that nobody remotely gave a seconds thought to the Irish Border. Even now two years down the line the thinking is at a very primitive (or perhaps “Primate” is a better description) stage despite Europe’s finest minds (including the UK’s) being involved. Standing back from things the level of gross ignorance and incompetence from all the Politicians from all walks of life (EU included) is probably how we ended up in the situation that presently exists which is neither Brexit as described by Boris and Nigel and the 52% or Remain as wanted by David and Theresa and the 48%.

        Just as well there are more important things to occupy our minds on Teesside with Wigan coming up!

        1. RR

          I remember over 20 years ago stepping off an overnight flight from Argentina and hurrying through Heathrow Airport to get to my connecting flight to Teesside ( when we still had flights to and from London)

          I saw this big guy coming towards me with a huge smile on his face and I stopped to talk to him and shook his hand.

          We exchanged pleasantries the usual

          “How are you? Are the family OK?”

          I asked him what he was doing now whilst feverishly racking my mind where I knew him from and what project we had worked on together.

          “Oh dis and dat Oim doin foine”

          he said in his gentle Irish brogue.

          “I’ve got to go I’ve a plane to catch”

          I said picking up my bag and charging down the concourse to get my connecting flight.

          Safely sat on the plane waiting for take-off I was thinking where oh where did I know the Irish lad from ?

          Then I realised …..

          It was Pat Jennings !!

          He must have thought I was a mad man talking to him as if I was his best friend but I suppose he was used to it…..

          OFB

  127. Finally succumbed to the Gazette Predictor gizmo.

    Assisted by a bottle of Australian Malbec I have the following results:

    Norwich 94
    Boro 86
    Blades 84
    Leeds 84
    Baggies 82
    Bristol 75

    I’d happily settle for that but there may have just possibly been some slight bias as my head tells me that 29 points from the remaining 13 games is probably even off the Ali Brownlee rose tinted scale. I mean a 2.23 Points Per Game average just isn’t viable, is it?

    What it does definitively tell us is that draws are of no value, we need to now go out and win games even if it means we risk losing. Death or Glory and all that stuff!

        1. I must confess I’ve stopped drinking Australia red

          Gone back to French but for how long ?

          Lived and worked in Argentina for two years and loved their red wine and their steaks of course ….

          So a fat bob became an even fatter bob !

          OFB

  129. I was looking at the Premiership table and realised something that perfectly points up the difference between that division and the Championship. In the PL, seven clubs are on two points a game or better (giving Man U one point). In the Championship, no club has reached that level. That suggests to me that there will still be a lot of dropped points at the top as clubs fight to make the fringes of the playoffs or avoid relegation. I reckon that 26 points from here could take us close to automatic, particularly if we win the right games.

    UTB

  131. OK, I took a break from studying this morning to write an article as there is only so many technical German words that fit in my head – my plan is now to answer a thousand test questions in a week until they run out of obscure facts in their database.

    Anyway, this article is to cover the next two weeks (weeks 31-32) and it will hopefully see Boro bank another six points and continue their winning run. Tony Pulis this week has been talking up the value of his young guns at the club and looks set to bring even more into his squad. Will they join Lewis Wing in being thrust into the limelight by their manager or does history say Pulis will ultimately opt for more experience. Here’s my take with this (and next) week’s discussion blog.

    https://diasboro.club/2019/02/28/2018-19-weeks-31-32-brief-history-in-time/

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