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Middlesbrough		Rochdale
Johnson Hugill	37′ 53′	Delaney	83′
Possession Shots On target Corners Fouls	47% 13 5 5 11	Possession Shots On target Corners Fouls	52% 20 10 3 11

Boro avoid Rochdale upset

Tonight’s tie was the first time both clubs have met in a competitive fixture despite having a pre-season “Friendly Relationship” of late. If it was questionable what sort of side Dale’s Keith Hill would put out tonight it was considered fairly straightforward that TP would once again turn to his bench and to youth. The big dilemma for Boro’s Manager however was commercial constraints and who he would risk as a fair few of them had been linked during the day with various loans before Friday’s looming deadline. Chapman has once again been linked to Mogga’s Rovers, Fletcher and Johnson has been linked with the Blades and Leadbitter linked with the Lions along with Fletcher and Johnson again as part of a Saville deal. The injured Gestede had also been linked to AK’s Forest this week but a return from injury was unlikely for this evening.

Would TP curtail his use of those who had been “linked” in an effort to reduce the Boro wage bill or would he give them an opportunity to put themselves in the shop window and in doing so further Boro’s progress in the Carabao Cup? Additionally it was a possible opportunity to give Ayala another 45 minutes of fitness programming along with Hugill to help regain his match sharpness. Rochdale are the holders of two unenviable records of 36 consecutive seasons in the Football League’s bottom division from 1974 to 2010 and also the lowest average League position of all the clubs which have existed continuously in the Football League. With respect to tonight’s opposition there are many in the wider Boro conurbation in particular near neighbours Darlington and Hartlepool who would be grateful for such “stability”. Needless to say Rochdale do not have many “glory” supporters numbered amongst their ranks and in common with Boro the erstwhile “League Cup” is the Clubs highest achievement in the Footballing spotlight having graced the final in 1962 when they lost to Norwich in the final.

TP made ten changes from Friday night and went with with a selection of new arrivals, fitness returnees, fringe players and under 23’s. Lonergan returned in goal after a minor injury and Ayala anchored a back three alongside Mahmutovic and Woods. Despite allegedly being in talks with Sheffield United Marvin Johnson started along with Besic and Hugill supported by Fletcher captained by Grant.

McNair on the right earned an early corner after being put through by Besic. Early formation indications looked like Johnson was playing Left Wing Back on the opposite flank to McNair. Besic once again was alert and lobbed a ball through for Fletcher who was offside as both Boro and Besic looked lively early on. Mahmutovic playing on the right of a back three was cleaning up early Rochdale pressure comfortably.

First real chance came to Fletcher from a Hugill and Tav worked opportunity that he couldn’t convert and came to nothing. A Rochdale Free Kick to the back post saw an acrobatic overhead kick which was pulled back by the Ref for offside. A rare slip by Leadbitter allowed Rochdale to nip in and test Lonergan as the Visitors started to build in confidence. That lazy passage of play fired Boro up who responded with a left footed shot that deflected out for a corner which Grant took and Mahmutovic met well but it went out for a goal kick. The opening 15 minutes were a bit low key after a quick start gave us false hope.

Rochdale were attacking intermittently and Boro seemed a bit hesitant in dealing with things and the game as a spectacle was reminiscent of those pre-season friendlies used for getting fit that these sides normally contest. Besic who was our main creator put a ball in between the Rochdale Centre Back and Wing Back for Johnson to miss the target. The game was very scrappy and messy, the only excuse for Boro was that the Players were all familiar with one another as individuals but not as a combined unit and things clearly lacked a degree of understanding and intuitive movement. A swift one-two between Tav and Hugill created momentary excitement but offside was the only result as ultimately the move was over complicated and overplayed. Enes Mahmutovic drove forward from defence and played in Fletcher who fired in a near post shot which was tipped round for a corner which was in itself eventually headed clear.

The next stirring moment to wake up the ten thousand onlookers was when Paddy McNair drove past a few defenders to let loose a shot at the Rochdale goal. In the 37th minute a Johnson ball from the left flew across the Rochdale box which Tav put back in to Hugill who hit the post with Marvin Johnson following up and fired it home at an angle for the opener on the night and for the season for Johnson. Rochdale then responded with an effort of their own a few minutes later as they broke on the break, cutting through the Boro defence but fortunately for us missed the chance as the ball flew across the face of Lonergan’s goal.

Up the other end Mo Besic played a well weighted pass through to Fletcher who curled his shot past the far post just minutes before the half time whistle brought proceedings to a close in what was a poor game for the hardy souls watching. McNair and Johnson had both been lively and Besic was instrumental in a lot of our play. Tav was running around a lot, some might say buzzing but I’m not sure TP would have described it in such generous terms as he seemed to be the focus of TP’s “Adama like” attention on many occasions.

TP made two changes for the second half with Ayala and Besic having done enough in terms of fitness and no doubt with one eye on Friday night at Elland Road. Spence and Brahimi came on in place of them with Brahimi making his debut. The second half started off with a half-hearted Penalty claim for Dale as Boro resumed in the same low key mode as Rochdale tried to get something early on and put Boro under some pressure. Andrew then tried his luck with a shot at Lonergan who had to tip it over the bar. The resulting corner created a bit of mayhem in the rearranged Boro defence giving the visitors some belief and Boro fans nervous anxiety.

Boro seemingly cleared their heads and as if to confirm their renewed authority a Hugill goal to open his Boro account was very welcome. Marvin Johnson put in one of those inviting crosses for the Teesside Striker to rise and power home giving Norman in Goal for Dale no chance. Billal Brahimi was starting to settle into the game and was asking questions of the Rochdale defence winning a free kick (which unfortunately was wasted) just before Hugill was taken off by TP to preserve him also for Friday night with Chapman taking his place. Meanwhile Keith Hill brought on Dooley for Inman.

Fletcher then went up front to become the focus of Boro attacks. Rochdale with nothing to lose were still in the game forcing a save out of Lonergan and missing an even better chance just a minute after Hugill went off. Rochdale were now going for it and Boro had some serious resolute defending to do. In a breakout a Brahimi ball played in from the right saw a McNair effort blocked by Cannon then Chapman hit the upright from the rebound much to the relief of the two hundred and fifty or so travelling fans who knew that a third goal would have been game over and for Boro a chance to breathe easy.

A flicked on cross in the Boro box had Lonergan once again coming to save Boro blushes bravely diving at the feet of Andrew just after the Rochdale Captain Henderson had gone off for Gillam. With a little under fifteen minutes remaining Gillam was then clearly held in the box as valid claims for a Rochdale penalty were waved away.

Boro were becoming hopeful (or desperate) that Rochdale would start to tire but their endeavour was still there on full display finding a second wind in the last seven or eight minutes, launching attacks that were scrappily repelled with blocks and challenges. Then an effort from an initial set piece that was palmed out by Lonergen came straight back and was side footed in by Delaney at the back post to make it two one.

Rochdale were now sensing blood and two blocked shots in quick succession after McNair lost possession led to a daft free kick given away rashly by Chapman. It presented Dooley the chance to float the ball into the Boro box and now bereft of Ayala and Hugill’s aerial prowess we witnessed a mad scramble in the Boro goal area cleared off the line by Mahmutovic. Boro were literally hanging on and there were still two or three minutes left.

After looking comfortable at one stage in the first half things were now looking very ragged with Boro literally clinging on to their slender one goal lead. Another save by Lonergan this time from Camps saw Mahmutovic again clearing his lines as the fourth Official held up the board with five minutes. Another Dale ball to the back post saw a header come in and Lonergan once again saving our evening. Things were getting increasingly desperate and Ashley Fletcher was now back clearing his lines as a make-shift centre-back.

Again a low Rochdale cross to the back post needed Lonergan intervening to claim the ball. In the last seconds of the game Wood made a rare hash of a clearance gifting Delaney who sliced his shot over when scoring would have been easier. The final whistle then pierced the Riverside bringing respite and relief and to save a late upset and penalties. In balance Rochdale have had a few good Cup displays of late and they certainly will feel unlucky tonight as Lonergan was the undisputable Boro MOM.

So some fitness levels are further improved, Lonergan looks match sharp and a few of the youngsters got another opportunity to impress but it was far from enjoyable and best described as functional but on the positive we are into Thursday night’s draw for the next round of the Cup.

Championship 2018-19: Week 5

Tue 28 Aug – 19:45: Boro v Rochdale (EFL Cup)
Fri 31 Aug – 17:00: Transfer Loan Window Closes
Fri 31 Aug – 19:45: Leeds v Boro

Having pushed his players to the top of the mountain in an attempt to gain the potential energy required to achieve peak fitness, Tony Pulis’s team have now shaken off any apparent pre-season legginess in their limbs and are now seemingly on a roll as they start to gather momentum in the embryonic promotion race. As yet no signs of the Boro hardened promotion stone gathering any of that Monk moss that lead to repeated fluffing of lines as the progress up the table was hindered. It seems the sum of the compact squad’s re-invigorated parts have so far added up to something a whole lot greater than many had anticipated following key departures – especially if the supposedly unmovable obstacle waiting in our path in West Yorkshire can also be negotiated ahead of the international break.

With Boro dropping just two points from their first five games, it’s got the statisticians trawling through the records to measure the achievement in the prerequisite ‘best since’ bracket – with the counter currently standing at best since 1994-95, when the club also managed 13 points at this stage. You may recall that season was Bryan Robson’s first in charge as Boro’s player-manager and he opened with four straight wins against Burnley, Southend, Bolton and Derby, before drawing at Watford. A 2-2 draw against Sunderland was then followed by victory over West Brom before the first defeat of the season away at Port Vale, which was the only loss in the opening ten games as Boro sat on 23 points at the first significant milestone. The omens may be good as Boro went up as champions that season – though it was with the relatively low total of just 80 points. That was just one point ahead of Reading in second, who missed out in the play-offs as only one automatic slot was made available when the Premier League was reduced to 20 teams from 22. In the end, despite only losing one of their last ten games, Boro just managed to hang on to top spot after drawing four of the last five games.

Nearly a quarter of a century later, Boro are still facing the age-old problem of how to attract players to the club. Perhaps the main reason Steve Gibson chose the untested former Manchester United and England captain, Bryan Robson, as manager was to add some glamour and pulling power to Teesside. After joining the club, Robbo brought with him Viv Anderson and Clayton Blackmore from Old Trafford – also arriving was cult hero Uwe Fuchs from Germany and then later in March (in those nostalgic pre-transfer window days) came Jan Åge Fjørtoft for £1.3m to score some vital late goals. Of course not all the glamour came from abroad and big clubs like Man Utd, some of it was home grown too and perhaps the epitome of it was in the shape of Jamie Pollock, who emulated Gary Lineker as he went on to play in La Liga on his strict regime of Tudor crisps – albeit in the second tier in Pamplona for a couple of outings before returning to wet and windy Wednesday evenings with the Trotters after failing to take the bull by the horns in Navarre. Nevertheless, Robson’s arrival that season heralded the start of the transformation of Boro from an unglamorous club in a remote corner of England to an unglamorous destination for some of the biggest names in the game.

Unfortunately, the game has moved on and Steve Gibson’s financial clout is nothing more than a clip round the ear in today’s game dominated by billionaires and super-agents. The model developed back then is no longer viable for a small Brexit town in Europe who are now currently looking for value for money and the club have instead reverted to the no-nonsense common-sense approach of veteran manager Tony Pulis. The Boro faithful on Teesside don’t expect to be competing for the signatures of those who play regularly for the big Champions League clubs any time soon. In fact, this transfer window has shown that unless Boro decide to throw money around, they have to wait orderly in the queue until the likes of Villa have finished trying to impress our potential targets with their past glories.

Having said that, the irony is that it’s self-styled ‘big clubs’ trading on former glories signing players who are also trading on the past when they were going to be the next big thing. Yannick Bolasie turned down Boro after declaring “I looked around both Villa Park and the training ground, and me and my family just said, ‘wow’. It’s Premier League everywhere you look.” – though presumably they neglected to look at the fixture list on the wall that said loud and clear that the West Midlands club are still most definitely a Championship outfit and have been for the last three seasons. Incidentally, Stewart Downing is still Villa’s second biggest signing at £12m after moving from Boro back in 2009 – he sits behind Darren Bent who apparently cost somewhere between £18-24m from Sunderland and managed just 20 goals in four seasons before heading off on loan to Fulham, Derby and Brighton. You would suspect that the price of returning to challenge at the top of the pyramid is going to take very serious investment indeed before they can once again be taken serious as a ‘big club’.

At least Tony Pulis finally persuaded Mo Besic that his future in the short term lay on Teesside – though perhaps in the end both parties knew the best financial package on offer would need to include a contribution from the deeper pockets of Everton if the player wasn’t going to have to take a pay cut. Whether his agent did indeed ask for around a couple of million quid at the last minute to seal the deal doesn’t seemed to have affected the move. It may have even been a tactic designed to push it beyond the permanent move deadline – or at worse pocket a huge wad from a club desperate enough to pay.

With still a few days to go in the loan market, we may be about to enter a frenetic stage of transfer activity with some incomings leading to possible outgoings. The fact that loan deals can have buy-on clauses inserted that get triggered in January only makes a nonsense of the system. It will make little difference to the clubs once their accountants have sliced up the spending on the playing assets and spread them over the contract duration or added loan fees. Clubs will buy if they have the opportunity or means to do so, otherwise it will be a matter of making the numbers work for all parties with a loan deal. Joe Hart made the point that older players favour a permanent deal over loans as they are looking to settle in a club rather than move their families around – whereas younger players are looking for a chance to impress and get regular football. However, for the club paying for a player, they would most likely prefer the opposite – buying an older player with limited sell-on value and wanting a bigger contract is an expensive risk but young talent offers the possibility of profits down the line. Both sides will no doubt have to settle for something in the middle.

The Boro manager indicated last week that he owed it to his chairman to try and bring in players at the right age who would be assets for the club. By which he probably means ones in their mid-twenties rather than those looking for their last contract. There are reports that Boro are getting close to persuading Millwall to part with George Saville to add to their increasing row of midfielders. Hopefully he’s the tailor-made box-to-box midfielder that will be well suited to Tony Pullis’s new pressing style of play. Saville has spent 18 months at the Den and scored 10 goals last season – which is something the Boro engine room has lacked in recent seasons. We are also told he can play as a false number ten, which may have a few people who have been waiting for a real number ten wondering what that actually means. Apparently a false number ten lines up behind the striker but moves out wide when receiving the ball to overload the wings with a regular wide player or full-back. There are even discussions of how a false number ten can play with a false number nine but it may require more chalk and arrows than my virtual blackboard can cope with. The main issue at Boro is having teams with false dawns. Incidentally, Saville was also at the Chelsea academy before being sold to Wolves for £1m – with many on the message boards claiming they were “done” by Chelsea at that  modest price.

Tony Pulis’s effective tactical variations have seemingly been foisted upon him by his limited options and recently claimed of the 3-5-2 formation: “It’s a system that we are playing at the moment because we haven’t got the wide players that we would like to have. If we can get a couple of wide players then we can be adaptable.” all of which may make some wonder whether Boro’s better than expected standing in the table was an accident that could have been avoided. Though the switch to a kind of 3-4-3 against West Brom certainly stopped the Baggies scoring spree in its tracks – though that came at the expense of dropping Lewis Wing and playing Downing in a more central playmaker role – actually similar to the one he enjoyed at West Ham. It seems Pulis still wants those wide players and the usual suspects of Sheyi Ojo and Robert Snodgrass are still being linked. Though latest reports suggest Ojo is to trade his number 54 Liverpool shirt for a loan to Belgium – with Snodgrass being challenged by Pellegrini to resurrect his or indeed both of their careers at the rock-bottom West Ham and has turned down a call-up by Scotland to focus on retaining his place at the Hammers.

Perhaps the biggest factor in Boro’s improvement is that the process of de-Karankifaction of the midfield mindset looks to be almost complete as the team now moves forward with purpose rather than reluctance. It appears that purpose is no longer focused on simply retaining possession by playing the ball in areas that the opposition are happy to let Boro boost their pass completion stats in. Thankfully, Boro now play with just one holding midfielder instead of three and even Clayton in that holding role has improved his distribution with Howson suddenly looking like the player he was sold as in a full-energy driving role. It may well be that with this extreme pressing game, Boro will need to have a couple of central midfielders available on the bench to freshen up tiring limbs in the final 20-30 minutes – especially with regular midweek games.

There are also suggestions that Boro still lack a goal scorer who can put away the chances that make automatic promotion a real possibility and it may be an outside chance we get a surprise striker before Friday. It will no doubt mean a couple will be heading for a Riverside exit – with interest in Fletcher and Gestede being muted from former Boro managers at Birmingham and Forest. Also expected to leave are those on the fringes like Marvin Johnson, who is wanted by the Blades and Julian De Sart, who has become less visible than the invisible man on Teesside.

Tuesday sees the second round of the Caraboa Cup, with Rochdale riding into town to take on Boro’s young guns. For many of the youngsters the prospect of being part of the senior squad seems to be slipping away with each signing and one hopes their enthusiasm to impress won’t be diminished as a result. Perhaps we’ll see a young defence again but with the likes of Leadbitter, McNair and Besic needing some pitch time it could be an experienced midfield. Up front Gestede, Hugill and Fletcher may also get an outing with Tavernier and Wing offering the pace.

Much will depend on Pulis’s plans for the main event on Friday as Boro will be looking to go into the International break in good spirits. Avoiding defeat against Leeds in the first 32Red derby of the season is probably the preference for most Boro followers. The prospect of having to wait two weeks to get it out of our system will perhaps leave many by day 11 predicting relegation as the likely impact of this setback. Of course win and we won’t want the break to end as staring at the top of the table becomes the pass-time of choice on Teesside – with some possibly opting for cutting out as many newspaper copies as they can find to fill in the hours of the international snooze-fest. At least the worst-case scenario is that only Bolton can equal our points total providing they win at Preston. In addition, with only four clubs on nine points, two of whom play each other in Sheffield United and Villa, plus Derby and Blackburn play away too – then three points on Friday holds the intriguing prospect of opening up a five point gap on third spot for the winners.

We know Tony Pulis has confessed to preferring not to lose over winning, so it’s possible he’ll employ similar tactics to those on show against West Brom last Friday. Although, he has tended towards a back four when playing away from home and has gone for the extra midfielder instead. Leeds are the Championship’s top scorers and perhaps that will drive his thinking on tactics – though Boro have the meanest defence and have not conceded for over 400 minutes. It will be the biggest test so far but we shouldn’t overlook that if either Sheffield United, Bristol City or West Brom had beaten us then they would be sitting one place above us in second spot. It should be a good encounter between the Championship form sides and perhaps not for the faint-hearted. Let’s hope the cracks don’t appear on Boro’s free-wheeling promotion stone as it continues to keep on rolling!

Middlesbrough		West Brom
Ayala	90′ +1
Possession Shots On target Corners Fouls	38% 18 4 10 12	Possession Shots On target Corners Fouls	52% 13 2 4 11

Dan dare deflates Baggies

Tonight’s televised clash saw TP come up against his former employers for the first time since departing the Hawthorns. There was plenty of media interest for a change and a lot of hype about how Darren Moore has changed the Footballing philosophy since Pulis and then Pardew departed West Bromwich. Presumably that means no more “Pulis style” of football, the style that kept clubs in the Premiership as long as he remained with them. I understand the feelings of long suffering Football Fans and that hearts do inevitably rule minds which is why eventually even “successful” Managers try the patience of those who are emotionally invested in their clubs and endurance rather than enjoyment tips the emotions.

West Brom like Bristol last weekend have been a bogey team of late for Boro. We hadn’t beaten them in our last eight games, since 2006 in fact and some of those defeats were comprehensive. The last one living long in the memory being on the receiving end of a Di Matteo inspired 5-0 thrashing against a castrated Gareth Southgate Championship side. To put things into context Caleb Folan made his debut for Boro in that game for Hardlyeverthere who went off injured.

WBA arrived tonight as the Championship’s top scorers with thirteen goals in the Goals For column due largely to an unprofessional second half implosion from our erstwhile boss’s QPR which severely skewed the figures and perhaps would lead to an over inflation of Baggie confidence. Of perhaps greater significance was that only Norwich, Rotherham, Stoke and of course QPR had conceded more goals than the Baggies as they enjoyed their more expansive, open and entertaining brand of Darren Moore football.

Boro had the lowest Goals Against stat in the Championship prior to tonight with only those two opening day Millwall goals blighting our copybook. Could the visitors breach the Championships tightest backline or could Boro take advantage of the Throstles seemingly soft underbelly? Robson Kanu was a doubt for Moore whilst TP had no fresh injury concerns and indeed it was even mooted that both Ayala and Hugill could be in contention for Boro along with the returning Besic. Prior to Kick Off most had presumed that neither side would be changed or tweaked and those that had routed QPR and had broken Bristol last weekend would remain in-situ.

When the teams were announced Ayala surprisingly was starting at the expense of Lewis Wing with TP reverting to three at the back again and with Shotton and Friend acting as wide men come five at the back. Kanu was fit enough for the bench for West Brom with both Besic and Hugill there for Boro. The return of Ayala was very tough on Wing but we now know that Lewis can perform and hold his own at this level although seeing Besic sat alongside him will have reinforced how difficult it will be for a start going forward.

The Baggies started well, keeping the ball and moving it around, slick and accurate and with more precision than we are used to seeing in the Championship. You could tell that most of these Players had been playing Premiership football not so long ago and oozed confidence and belief. An early attack saw George Friend drop into the three at the back instead of keeping wide with Downing screaming at him to close down the Leicester loanee Harvey Barnes to prevent a cross into the danger zone. In fairness to George there were three versus two but nobody picked up Barnes. Apart from that hiccup Boro started to settle down afterwards with Dael Fry in particular looking very assured, cleaning up and heading balls away with authority. Braithwaite had Boro’s opening attempt but his shot was well below recent standards and didn’t trouble Johnstone in the Baggies net for his first Riverside return since the Villa Play Off.

Livermore was guilty of a few strong challenges but Ref John Brooks seemed reluctant to get his cards out so early in the game. Boro were holding their own as West Brom continued to dominate possession then after ten minutes or so Boro finally found a few opening to relieve pressure and to let West Brom know this wasn’t QPR they were facing and had a game on their hands. Once the Baggies visibly wobbled Boro’s confidence surged with a series of chances and opportunities that had the visitors defending doggedly and literally hanging on. Boro could quite easily have put two or three chances away but always seemed to take a touch too much or a block came in to clear last minute.

Jonny Howson set up Friend who put a cross in which Howson himself met with a header which deflected off battling Britt Assombalonga. The only real threat to Darren Randolph in the first half came from a sliced Flint clearance that hit off the underside of the crossbar but fortunately was cleared. Other than that Boro were content to let West Brom pass the ball around and pick them off. Defensively we just didn’t look like conceding despite Aden’s horrific moment.

From the North Stand a George Friend cross on the by-line seemed to be clearly handled by Adarabioyo inside the box. TV replays may prove differently but it looked a nailed on penalty not that we were biased of course but any 50/50 decisions did seem to be going against us and when we were awarded a free kick a round of ironic jeers broke out. Flint had been manhandled by Bartley from a corner but nothing was given. Britt was being bustled and pulled with nothing given but as soon as Britt gave as good back the whistle seemingly went immediately. The injustice wasn’t exactly palpable but it was annoying.

Another Howson effort failed to break the deadlock then a Downing shot from range had Johnstone tested to the full. Downing and Howson were excellent and were the drive behind Boro with Shotton and Friend providing width. Clayts was constantly hustling and breaking things up, really grafting.

The early misplaced belief that West Brom had carried over from QPR now seemed like a bad hangover as the first half whistle went much to Darren Moore’s relief.

Apart from the Flint moment which he recovered from, alongside Fry and Ayala (who had looked a little rusty) we were comfortable and solid. Chris Brunt was the only threat that the Throstles could muster but his long range efforts were more of a threat to the incoming KLM Amsterdam flight than to Darren Randolph. Unsurprisingly TP made no changes to an excellent Boro side at half time that had performed as asked and shown that we can compete with the best in the League. Boro had restricted them to Karanka style possession passing with no real threat despite Rodriguez and Gayle running and chasing, jockeying in front of the Boro defence but they couldn’t find the door let alone the key to it.

As the second half started battling Britt worked an opportunity on the Baggies right and managed to get the better of his marker by twisting and turning him, getting a cross in over and beyond Johnstone but Gibbs again just done enough to get under Shotton this time as he headed over after bursting a lung to get up and support. Shortly after with Boro again having the visitors pegged back they broke out and Boro hearts sank as Gayle ran free closing in on Randolph’s goal supported by Rodriguez. This was the moment we all dreaded, the moment we feared when we would pay the price for all the profligacy in front of goal in the first half and then was it a bird? Was it a Plane? No it was SuperClayts who had secreted a jet pack presumably under his shirt and blasted half the length of the pitch to get in a challenge he had no right to get even close to ensuring in the process Gayle fluffed his lines and with it West Brom’s only real opportunity of the evening.

With no goals it wasn’t a game for the neutrals although I’m sure, Leeds, Villa and Bolton fans were happy how it was panning out as fatigue started settling in. West Brom had found a little bit of a purple patch to match Johnstone’s Goalkeeping outfit as Barnes broke on the edge of the box requiring a half fit Ayala to shove him off the ball taking a yellow for his troubles. We withstood the free kick as we had all evening as the ball went out for a goal kick albeit suspiciously to me off a Red shirt.

The game was now very tired looking as the energy levels and intensity took its toll. Frustrations mounted and a challenge by Gayle in the middle of the park was judged to have been too hard although to be fair I saw it just as a strong but legal one. The complaining and mouthing to the Ref saw Gayle booked although I later understood it to be Rodriguez presumably for taking the dissension too far. The booking certainly angered Rodriguez as not long after he hit a 35 yard volley which had Randolph scrambling across his net to palm away. As glamourous as it looked the Irish Keeper saw it coming and positioned himself perfectly though hurriedly.

Howson was running himself into the ground and nearly set up Braithwaite who likewise was still testing and teasing. That was the moment that made Moore’s mind up as he brought on Dawson and Morrison for Adarabioyo and Barnes. I was surprised to see Barnes go off as he was the one that looked most likely to get past the Boro defence especially with Ayala already on a yellow.

Besic and Hugill had been warming up on a few occasions to appreciative applause for Besic to which he responded and for Hugill as a Tee, Tee, Teessider! TP was now readying changes of his own realising there were some tired limbs out there. Mo came on for Stewy who went off to a deserved standing ovation and “he’s one of our own” echoing round the Riverside. Besic almost immediately made a poor pass and nearly ruined his second coming but again our defence was imperious. The second half was more balanced than the first but again despite dominating possession West Brom were seemingly going nowhere whilst Jonny Howson was going everywhere.

Britt was next to be relieved of his duties and looked less than pleased, disappointed not to have grabbed a goal and now wouldn’t be but again he received a standing ovation and the Assombalonga song softened the impact as Jordan Hugill made his bow to Tee, Tee, Teessider once again. Both sides were starting to flag as it entered the last ten minutes looking to have accepted that a draw perhaps wasn’t a bad result after all. Desperately Chris Brunt once again hit one that was picked up by amateur ham radar trackers as Livermore had just ran out of ideas seconds earlier in the Boro box.

Paddy McNair then came on for Braithwaite who had ran himself into the ground all night. The plan seemed to be to just offer some height and a threat of sorts in supporting Hugill who was roughing them up and making sure wantaway Craig Dawson and his fellow defenders were kept occupied. Four minutes added time went up on the fourth Officials board as the game was drawing to a close. Besic gave away a dangerous free kick in front of the box and picked up a yellow as enthusiasm got the better of him and the minutes ticked down.

The Sky Camerman in front of the North Stand had packed his bags up, dismantled his camera and scarpered to get an early start down the A19. Then just as everyone else was thinking that a draw was probably a fair result a cleverly won free kick by Hugill provided a “Putopian” moment from Dani Ayala when he met Besic’s long, arched, floated in free kick to chest down (suspiciously assisted by a fortuitous right arm perhaps) to lash the ball into the far corner. One nil to the Boro with three minutes of added time left. EIO EIO EIO EIO EIO EIO EIO, repeat as many times as necessary!

An intense game finally broken by last season’s goal machine on his return and boy did he enjoy it. There were no poor performances in Red so picking the MOM was really difficult, Downing was instrumental all game, George had a great match as did Fry, Clayts was superb, Britt played probably his best game from a team perspective and Braithwaite was entertaining and unlucky not to get a brace but for his determined never say die spirit and running it has to be Howson for me although I feel that Clayts also put on a great show. Top of the league once more, at least until five o’clock Saturday afternoon depending on what the dirties manage at Norwich.

The latest in a series of profiles and interviews, Orginal Fat Bob gives his personal view on the life and career of a footballing guest, before sitting down for a chat and asking a few questions. Our Diasboro special guest this week is David ‘Hodgy’ Hodgson.

1. The Overview – the man and his career

David, James, Hodgson, known to the Boro fans as “Hodgy”, was born on the 6th August 1960 in Gateshead. He played in the Junior MFC team with his best pal Mark Proctor and is another of the lads that I used to referee for Harold Shepherson, better known to all, simply as; “Shep”.

“Shep” acted as the England trainer under Sir Alf Ramsey and was also Jack Charlton’s Assistant Manager, responsible for bringing through all the young lads and apprentices into the first team. “Hodgy” scored a lot of goals in that Boro junior forward line which also included Stan Cummins and Craig Johnson.

David Hodgson came through the ranks as a Boro junior and made his first-team debut in 1978 and quickly became a crowd favourite with his pace

‘Hodgy’ and I, after being in contact for a few weeks, had arranged to meet in a little café/restaurant in Yarm on Tees, at the rear of a trendy designer clothes boutique. It’s a place that is not unfamiliar to footballers and their wives, from the current Boro first team and an ideal place to talk, prior to it getting busy for lunchtime. When he strode into the rear of the coffee shop it was like meeting an old friend, as he hasn’t changed much over the years. I hadn’t realized how tall he was, and he still looks athletic and very fit. He told me still works out and goes cycling for miles with another ex-Boro player, Steve Vickers.

We reminisced about all the great players that had emerged from that young Boro junior side that he had played with and that I had refereed at the time, Mark Proctor, Craig Johnson, himself, Graeme Hedley. We paused for a moment and I said to him,

“Do you know who I thought was going to be the best of that bunch of players and really make it to the big time?” He looked at me and without hesitation, we both said it together and laughed, sharing the knowledge. “Little Stan!”

Stan Cummins was one of the most skillful footballers we had both seen as a junior and Jack Charlton once famously said that Stan was going to be the first £1 million-pound footballer. He wasn’t of course, as that accolade went to Trevor Francis. Some people felt that after Jack had made that comment it was like a millstone around Stan’s neck.

We also agreed that Craig Johnson was also the player who was the hardest working apprentice. At that time, he played up front, alongside Hodgy, who was always shouting out “Roo pass, pass.” (CJ was known as Roo, short for Kangaroo, due to his Australian Heritage! OFB)

We talked about players that we both knew and where they were now. He mentioned that Kelham O’Hanlon our former goalkeeper, is now running a soccer academy in Atlanta Georgia USA and I told Hodgy that Kelham’s father used to be my form master at school and had taught me to swim. It’s a small world in planet Boro. Hodgy and I, when we were talking, found out that we also lived near each other when in Southern Spain, he was playing for Seville and I was working in Cadiz. We were also nearby, when we were both working in Argentina in Buenos Aires, he still in football and myself in the Oil Industry.

David Hodgson left Boro to join Liverpool in 1982, though he said the move was his biggest regret as he was happy playing with his mates at the Boro

Hodgy played for Middlesbrough’s first team from 1978 to 1982, making 125 appearances, scoring 16 goals. His other clubs included, Liverpool from 1982 to 1984 where he made 28 appearances and scored 4 goals. During our discussions, he told me that after leaving Middlesbrough, which was his biggest regret, that another one of his greatest regrets during his playing career, was leaving Liverpool to go to Sunderland. He told me with a grin that when he was just about to leave Liverpool Joe Fagan had said to him at that time, “Go and talk to them, but don’t sign yet, come back and talk to me first.”

Hodgy ruefully smirked at me and said he didn’t do that, he just signed on the dotted line for Sunderland. He went back to Liverpool to collect his kit and belongings and Fagan called him over and angrily said to him. “Son, you’ve just made the biggest mistake of your life.” Bemused by this, Hodgy walked away, then later found out that Joe Fagan was planning to play him in the right sided midfield position, to replace the aging Sammy Lee. So, it was a missed opportunity for him to stay and be successful with a world class team.

He also played for Norwich City, Sunderland and Sheffield Wednesday. His overseas career also encompassed clubs and teams in France, Japan, and Spain.

His list of achievements and trophies whilst playing for Liverpool F.C include; FA Charity Shield winner: 1982, First Division Title winner: 1982–83,1984. FA Charity Shield runner-up: 1983, 1984 and of course most notable as European Cup winners during the season 1983–84

His closest to getting a trophy at Sunderland, was when they were the Milk Cup runners-up in1984–85.

He played for England U-21s and was a member of the team that won the UEFA Under-21 Football Championship in 1982.

He was also manager of Darlington and achieved a runner up award in the Division Three final during the season 1999-2000.

He was Director of Sport at bhpsport a division of Blackett Hart & Pratt LLP after he left his post as Darlington manager in October 2006, where he was in his third spell in charge of the team. In 2004, he wrote a book titled Three Times A Quaker: My World of Football and Passion for Darlington F.C. (published by Speakeasy Publishing).

2. The Interview – a (not so quick) quick chat

OFB: What year did you join Boro as a professional footballer?

DH: I joined in 1976 as an apprentice professional.

OFB: Where did you stay? Did you rent, or did you live in digs?

DH: I stayed in the Meadhurst Hotel at Linthorpe, which was owned by the Boro, but was nearly kicked out of the club at seventeen when I trashed the room! My mum had died a sudden death at the age of 42 and I was devastated, but I didn’t grieve. Proc (Mark Proctor OFB), though everyone calls him Charlie, saw the change in my character. He arrived at the hotel one night and told me to pack my bags. He said that Micky, his mum had heard what had happened and said, “Get a bed ready in your room he’s coming to live with us.” So, he did, and I stayed there for years, even when Proc had moved out to go to Nottingham Forest. She mollycoddled me and Proc was my alarm clock, making me get up in the morning for training.

OFB: Who were your favourite Boro and Liverpool players and others that you have played with?

DH: Graeme Souness was a great player for both Middlesbrough and Liverpool. I also loved playing with Craig Johnson at Boro and then at Liverpool. Craig was nearly sold to Stoke when he was at Liverpool but overcame all his doubters through sheer hard work and became a star player. Technically the most gifted player I played with was Kenny (Now Sir Kenny! OFB) Dalgleish. He was a genius and a great guy. He once trained with me at Darlington and played in a charity game, as I say a great guy.

OFB: Who were the best and worst trainers in the team?

DH: We all had to train hard and the years between 16 and 18 were the hardest. You had to grow up at 18 and those two years meant if you didn’t work hard, you weren’t kept on at the club and you would be out of the game. At Boro and Liverpool the hardest worker was Craig Johnson he outshone everybody.

The worst trainer I shared a training session with was; Ian Rush. He hardly moved and was so poor in training that he often in winter had to be helped off the pitch, because he was so cold and hadn’t run around. Yet come match day, he was dynamite!

OFB: Who did you room with for away matches?

DH: At the Boro it was always Proc. At Liverpool it varied between; Michael Robinson, Paul Walsh and Kenny Dalgleish. For a short time, Craig Johnson roomed with me as well.

OFB: Who was the joker in the team?

DH: I’m afraid it was me!

OFB: Can you tell us any amusing anecdotes or pranks that were played?

DH: When I was at Liverpool, we went on a tour of South America and it was very hot. After one game we went back to the hotel and I was at the bar and we had to sit with a lady who was one of the organizers. I ended up pouring a bucket of ice over her and she was soaked. The lads thought it was hilarious and were grateful that we would never have to play there again as we weren’t invited back!

Another time before the 1984 world cup, we travelled to Israel to strengthen team spirit. We started playing “fizzbuzz” one night which is a drinking game. There was myself, Alan Hanson, Kenny, Bruce, Steve Nick and Ian Rush all drinking and then a fight started. Me and Rushie were good mates and it was backs to the wall. It calmed down after a while and Rushie and I went back to the hotel with Alan Kennedy, who then lay on the floor and couldn’t get up. I went to pick him up and also fell down on the floor, just as Mr Moss an old-school Liverpool Director was walking past.

“Gentlemen this is Liverpool Football Club” he frowned. I pulled myself upright by grabbing his trousers and replied close to his face. “Mossy you old bugger, you might be a Director, but I think you’re a great fella.” The next day after breakfast we were called upstairs and there was Bob Paisley and all the staff and Mr Moss waiting for us all.

Mr Moss stood up and said. “Gentlemen, I’ve been with this club for over 20 years and never witnessed anything like I saw last night. I’ve received many accolades but non-so touching as that given by David Hodgson.” Then all the coaching staff lifted the table cloth off the table to reveal- that it was piled high with beer! Bob Paisley turned to me and winked before saying: “You’re a good Geordie son, that’s what you are.”

OFB: Whose boots did you clean as an apprentice and who cleaned yours?

DH: I used to clean various boots; Jim Platt, David Armstrong, Colin Cooper.

OFB: Did you try and emulate your style of play, on any individual player who played in your position?

DH: I started out at Redheugh Boys Club who played in the Gateshead Youth League and just wanted to score goals. I moved to Boro Boys then the Juniors and still think how I nearly blew it! I never tried to be like any other player, but Bobby Murdoch was a great coach and he showed me how to turn like Kenny Dalgleish.

OFB: What was your most memorable game, your own individual performance and best experience with the fans?

DH: Boro away to Swansea in the cup in January 1981. We won 5 0 and I scored 2, we were brilliant that day. I remember I was only 19 years old and the players were saying “Just give Hodgy the Ball.”

OFB: What was your worst game or experience and why?

DH: When I played for Liverpool and we were away to Burnley. I had too many issues and my head was all over the place and I was dreadful.

OFB: Is there a game that you wished you had played in, either for Boro or another team?

DH: The European cup Final when I was at Liverpool and sat on the bench and just watched.

OFB: Who was in your opinion the best manager that Boro have ever had and why?

DH: I like Tony Pulis, he’s a throwback to the old school manager, very thorough, a straight talker and regimental. Look how he changed the way Traore plays football, to make something out of his game and give an end product. John Neal was one of the Boro’s most underrated managers. He drilled into me forty or fifty times a training session, where I needed to be and how to hit the byline and find somebody in the box. I also though Aitor Karanka would have kept Boro in the Premiership. The only game I thought was the most difficult during that season when they were outplayed, was when they played at home against Liverpool.

Jack Charlton has to be the best manager we have ever had, although I did like John Neal. I went to John’s Funeral and Proc drove me as I was ill and had a bad throat at the time. Tony McAndrew was there, and we went to support Beverly, John’s wife.

OFB: Who was in your opinion the manager that had the greatest influence on your career and why?

DH: John Neal, Bob Paisley and a special mention to Bobby Murdoch who helped me so much.

OFB: Who didn’t you like as your manager?

DH: I fell out with Joe Fagan at Liverpool and absolutely hated Lawrie McMenemy at Sunderland, I didn’t like him at all. I should have been more selfish and believed in myself as a player and stood up to them.

Yet things weren’t really all that bad at Liverpool, because after I left them for Sunderland, Roy Evans sent me a glass trophy decanter for winning the treble and they had it engraved with the message;

“Good luck you old buzzer!”

OFB: Which opposing team and which player did you fear playing against?

DH: I didn’t fear anyone. I remember playing at home against Leeds and Brian Greenhaugh kicked me and I fell on my knee. I got him back though the next time we played them, two weeks later and smacked him in the ribs. I also flattened Norman Hunter once, he was surprised!

I also hated playing against Portsmouth, in particular the big centre back Steve Foster. He was all arms and legs and it was tough playing against him. He wasn’t particularly quick, but he was a real pain in the arse!

OFB: Which opposing team and which player did you like playing against?

DH: Let me say first, that when you played at home you had to play well, or you would get it in the neck from the chicken run. (Ayresome Park South Stand – I was a member OFB). So, you had to make your mark to get the praise because these guys knew their football.

I always loved playing against Spurs. When I was at Boro, I scored a hat-trick against them. I also scored against them whilst playing for Liverpool and Sunderland. I just enjoyed playing them and nobody was quicker on that pitch than me.

OFB: Who is your favourite Boro player of all time and why?

DH: Graeme Souness, he had it all. Skill, Determination, Steel, Grit and above all leadership.

OFB: Who is your current favourite Boro player and why?

DH: I like Adam Clayton, he is a steady player and very consistent. I also think Ben Gibson is great, but I do wonder that if he has to progress to the next level, whether he needs to move to another club. I would hate that if he did by the way!

OFB: Do you think Boro will get promoted?

DH: Definitely! Yes! I would put a bet on it. I would put them up against anybody in the playoffs with Tony Pulis in charge with his own team.

OFB: How do you think the match day has changed from the time that you played professional football to the present day?

DH: I don’t think it’s faster or the players are quicker, but I do think its slicker these days. The positioning of all the TV cameras, means you can see all the action and how certain players perform, so it’s better for the fans.

OFB: If you could be a fly on the wall, is there any dressing room you would wish to eavesdrop on?

DH: Over the years I have seen how Howard Wilkinson and Graeme Souness who were strict disciplinarians and knew how they wanted football to be played. I had three spells as manager of Darlington between 1995 to 2006 and I could have done better, although we did get to the Division 3 play-off final in 2003.

I also wish I could have seen how the late great Sir Bobby Robson set up his team talks. Today, I would love to hear how Mourinho goes about his pre and half-time team talks.

David Hodgson had three spells as Darlington manager between 1995 and 2003, including once resigning at half-time before being re-instated at full-time

 

OFB: Do you have any regrets in your career, or missed opportunities?

DH: When I was the manager at Darlington we were playing Rochdale in the cup and I resigned at half time when things weren’t going so well. Fortunately, I saw sense and was reinstated at full time. When I left Darlington the first time I ran BHP Sports Division and went to South America and was based in Argentina. I followed the career of every under 15 male footballers in all South America. I spotted a young guy called Kenedy who went to Chelsea and was on loan at Newcastle last season. I would have stayed in South America because I loved the life style and only left because my girls had to get good schooling.

My biggest regret was that I listened to one of the Boro Directors telling me I had to leave the club to go to Liverpool because Boro needed the money. I just wanted to be happy and I was happy there at the Boro with my mates and the fans who loved me.

OFB: Do you still follow the Boro and their results

DH: Of course, I do. Why do you think I agreed to this Interview? I love everything about the club!

OFB: Whereabouts in the Country do you live these days and what do you do?

DH: I live in Denton just outside Newcastle Upon Tyne and my friend and near neighbour is Michael Dods, a leading Racehorse Trainer. (Hodgie gave me a strong tip and I put a bet on it – It came nowhere! OFB). I’ve set my two daughters who are aged in their twenties up in business. I also work as a football consultant, so I’m still involved with football.

OFB: Whom have you made a lifelong friend through football?

DH: I’ve made many: Proc, Steve Vickers who I go cycling with, Bryan Gunn the ex-Norwich City goalkeeper and Kelham O’Hanlon. There are lots more. Football, its that kind of a game, where you make so many friends. I’ve worked with Gary Gill, Gary Bennett and Colin Todd at BHP and we still keep in touch.

OFB: Finally, if you hadn’t had a professional career as a footballer, what do you think you would have as a career?

DH: Probably what I’m doing now. I use Wyscout, which is a software programme for football videos, data, statistics and tools. I analyze teams, matches and players; discover new talents. I can watch every game in the world and allocate players to leagues and see if I can interest clubs in players, or managers to clubs.

I remember a few years ago, I was at a meeting with Birmingham and Karen Brady who was the Chief Executive was there with David Sullivan the owner. They were looking for a new manager and were going to replace Trevor Francis. We were all sat in the Board Room, I suggested the name of a young guy who I thought was right for the English scene after working abroad for many years. They had never heard of him and asked for a reference from an English Manager if possible. I rang Sir Bobby Robson, explained that I needed a reference for this guy and handed the phone over to David Sullivan.

After five minutes talking, David said goodbye and turned to me. “Bobby doesn’t think he’s experienced enough.” “I don’t agree” I replied – “I think this guy, Jose Mourinho is going to be a big name!”

I now work with Base Soccer in London, which is a highly reputed agency for professional footballers. They are providing a service that is dedicated to the ongoing development and management of its clients’ careers in football and beyond. I travel two weeks in every month and go to Japan and Africa and all over the world. I really enjoy it.

OFB: A huge thank you David, for taking the time to talk to Diasboro and our readers it was a real pleasure meeting you.

Championship 2018-19: Week 4

Fri 24 Aug – 19:45: Boro v West Brom

As Boro hope to add to their portfolio of newly acquired live performing artwork, it appears few of our recent signings have left some available real estate on their body canvas for the Middlesbrough crest – although it may still not be a deal breaker if some insist that there may be issues around fitting that particular school of design into their eclectic tastes. As we speak, rumours that Yannick Bolasie is at Rockliffe having a cubist version of Tony Pulis’s face immortalised on his back may appear a little premature. Still it’s possible the club have missed a trick by not employing a resident team of tattoo artists as a unique selling point – who are on call should any player be in immediate need of expressing themselves with a permanent abstract doodle or profound piece of text that embodies their soul.

Tony Pulis said this week that he is confident his leading targets want to move to the Riverside and gave a rare inside view of this certainty: “Without going into too much detail, I think the players know about our interest, and from everything that’s been said or not been said, I think the players would like to come”. Is this the breakthrough the Boro manager has been waiting for? Has he taken off his cap and looked the player in the eyes and made a positive connection? Well it appears not, as he quickly added “That’s not me having spoken to them, but it’s other people telling me stuff.” Interesting yet somewhat vague for the Boro faithful eagerly awaiting news – though he did say he didn’t want to go into too much detail and “other people telling me stuff” does certainly fall into that category.

Whether that ‘other person’ means Neil Bausor and he’s given feedback on his cold-calling opening gambit of “Hi, I’m calling on behalf of a colleague of mine, let’s call him Anthony, who wants to know if someone asked you to go and play for the team at the top of the league would you rule it out?” – which may well have brought the response “No probably not, especially if the money was right – but I’d have to see what my agent thinks first”. The Boro Chief Executive proudly places another tick in the ‘keen to come to the club’ box and passes on this snippet of ‘stuff’ back to an impatient Tony.

Though Pulis is pretty down to earth and understands some people may have reservations about heading all the way up north further than even the M1 dares to venture. He would no doubt expect that his recruitment team had tested the water on any geographical misgivings though. The Boro manager, who’s currently still holed up alone in a suite at Rockliffe Hall as his wife apparently prefers the comforts of their Bournemouth home, told the press conference this week that “I’ve not had anybody being disrespectful or saying they don’t want to join Middlesbrough or move up to the North-East. The response I’ve had from other clubs, and if we are given the opportunity to speak to players, is that people are very keen to come up here if a deal could be sorted out.”

Incidentally, his wife Debs has visited him in the north-east a couple of times – he once recalled a day out with her at Whitby: “The wind was blowing, her poor face, with a bobble hat on, was red raw when we got off the beach. I told her she had caught the sun but I think it was the cold weather!” Apparently love is never having to say “I’m heading back to the south coast before I need a bloody face lift and a skin graft!”

As to whether some targets have been dissing the area is hard to say – perhaps again Neil Bausor has also ticked the ‘wants to come to Teesside’ box during his brief informal sounding out calls to friends of the player: “How do think he’d feel about joining a club north of London? Would that be an issue?” The response of “Well bro it all depends what you call north” was usually met cagily with “I think you’d find Middlesbrough is named thus because it’s in the middle.” – though without adding the UK and not England. No doubt the caveat of “His agent says the price goes up the further north he has to travel so if you want the deal it’s gonna cost you” didn’t make it into the report in exactly those words but “very keen if a deal can be sorted” was written instead.

As Boro sit at the the top of the table after three successive league victories, Pulis has slightly adjusted his desperate plea for reinforcements after earlier claiming he’s “six players down” and “the squad is not good enough to get promoted”. He’s now using Boro’s unexpected lofty position to shed doubt on whether they can remain as pace setters: “We’ve got expectations to be at the top of the table and to be at the top of the table you can’t afford to lose the players we’ve lost and not replace them.” Clearly his stay on Teesside has allowed him to fully absorb the pessimism wafting through the air and he’s already seemingly become imbued with the general feeling that disaster is just around the corner – should any self respecting Teesider imagine surviving long enough to make it to the end of the road to turn the corner. “The quality in the group has to be improved and the depth has to be improved otherwise I’m absolutely convinced we’ll just fall away.” said the glass-half-empty Boro manager from his Rockliffe window ledge.

Though the Boro manager has said he’s not alone in calling for reinforcements and there appears to be a cacophony of noise emanating from the gathering protesters in the Boro dressing room according to the gaffer. As the disgruntled squad marches past the chairman’s office carrying their placards, Steve Gibson will be no doubt disturbed by the chants of: “What do we want? Players! When do we want them? Now… or preferably before the 31 August”. Tony Pulis declared: “It’s not me shouting and saying, ‘We need players in’ – the players in the dressing room know that we need players in as well. They are not stupid, they understand the situation, they understand what this level’s like and what it needs and what it takes so they are waiting as well for players to come in. It’s not me moaning as a manager, it’s the group.”

Pulis must be tired of hearing Lewis Wing moaning as the team-sheet gets pinned up and he’s disappointedly told that he going to have to play again because Mo Besic still hasn’t persuaded his agent to settle for something below lottery-winning proportions. Even Stewart Downing must have contemplated throwing the odd chair after being told he must continue to play on the right as the Toffees are still chewing over the idea of loaning out the unwanted Bolasie on reduced wages. Adam Clayton is so annoyed that reinforcements haven’t arrived that he’s working to rule and has refused to take one for the team until he’s convinced that his personal target of 15 yellow cards can be successfully managed by the club. As September arrives, many of the players start to anticipate the arrival of the Teesside winter and know that several of the squad will soon start seeking a warm hole in close proximity to the Rockliffe treatment room to hibernate in. Historically, Boro’s central midfielders are most prone to becoming sluggish as the evenings shorten and they begin entering a state of torpor, though sometimes it’s difficult to notice the change in behaviour until they get caught napping on the pitch.

Talking of hibernating and waking up to find nothing new has sprung, many of the Boro faithful may be getting a sense of Groundhog Day with rumours that Robert Snodgrass is once again being target by the club. Who said that the Boro recruitment doesn’t get their man! It’s just a matter of waiting sometimes. Blowing the dust off the dossiers of former targets may be where we’re at just now as there is little movement in the market. At least the Scottish winger shouldn’t have problems heading so far north after stints at Hull and Leeds, though he’ll be 31 in a few weeks but still scored 7 goals and made 14 assists last season on loan with Villa, who are also interested in having him back. Hopefully, West Ham have Boro on speed-dial given their lucrative recent business with the Teessiders – with Downing, Randolph, Fletcher and Hugill all netting the Hammers some decent returns.

Though why wait for old targets to see the error of their ways and change their minds on not choosing Teesside – there are far more recently linked players possibly regretting deciding not pulling on a Boro shirt. When Patrick Bamford joined Leeds, he said in his unveiling interview after being handed the number nine shirt that he was pleased to finally be the main man at a club – “I’ve been wanting to be the main man somewhere for a long time and Leeds have offered me that opportunity so it really is something I grabbed with both hands”. Well he seems to have discovered that being the ‘main man’ in West Yorkshire may have been lost in translation as he once again started on the bench, only coming on in the time-wasting 87th minute slot – just like when he was not quite the main man under Garry Monk at Boro. He was perhaps already beginning to suspect something was not quite right when he was selected to play in the Caraboa Cup in midweek, while all the other apparent less important subordinate strikers were being rested for the game at the weekend. He may soon come to the realisation that only Boro have given him anything like the pitch time he desired – all he’s had elsewhere is a promising future before taking up his usual seat on the bench.

Desperate times call for desperate measures and Tony Pulis has already indicated that he is indeed desperate for new players. We can only imagine some of the left-field thinking possibly emerging from the recruitment team in a bid to help with the apparent difficulty in persuading players to come to Boro. You may recall how Fulham manager, Slaviša Jokanović, thwarted Boro’s planned loan deal of Mitrovic from Newcastle last January after he sent a Snapchat message to the player. Well maybe it’s time to browse through those carefully prepared dossiers for little snippets of personal information and unleash Tony Pulis on Instagram with a carefully targeted video message to swing the deal.

Whether the Boro manager has been pitched with such ideas is not known, though I suspect it’s only a matter of time before it will be tried. “OK Tony we understand Besic’s agent is a big fan of Debbie Harry so we thought if you could maybe sing a bit of ‘Call Me’ and then make the telephone hand gesture it could hopefully break the ice.” This would no doubt be met rather sceptically by Pulis with a reluctant: “Look, I’ll be honest, it’s not really what I’m about but if you think it’s going to help revive the deal then I’ll give it a go… but is this blonde wig really necessary?” With the message sent Boro are momentarily back in the game until the reply of “who is this transvestite you insult me with?” gets posted shortly after. Closer inspection of the dossier revealed it was actually Dirty Harry and not Debbie – but before the recruitment team could run the ‘Do I feel lucky’ idea past Tony, he rather exasperatedly left muttering something about them not being able to organise a certain event in a brewery.

Anyway, no midweek match for Boro and therefore a chance to catch breath before Friday’s TV encounter with West Brom. That will give most of the other teams in the Championship a chance to play catch-up this week, though the only team capable of bettering Boro’s points total is a Leeds side that have won their opening three games and knocked in ten goals. Perhaps it’s a little premature for the Teessiders to start looking over their shoulder but Argentinian manager, Marcelo Bielsa, takes his dangerous looking team to newly relegated Swansea in search of a fourth successive victory. Among this loveless triangle of Garry Monk’s former employers are half of the early season’s unbeaten clubs – two more of them, Villa and Brentford, go head-to-head on Wednesday and the other team yet to taste defeat is Bolton, who host Monk’s latest squeeze Birmingham.

Tony Pulis will be welcoming the club that sacked him last season after they cast doubt on his ability to continue his record of not getting relegated as a manager. He’ll perhaps try to resist that ‘I told you so’ moment after his replacement Alan Pardew won only one of his 18 games, before he himself was ejected in favour of caretaker Darren Moore, who has now been given the job on permanent basis. No doubt Pulis will be keen to make his point by collecting all three on offer but after a slow start the Baggies have bounced back and are now starting to boing. West Brom hit a magnificent (as Schteve might say) seven past the hapless Hoops at the weekend and will be in buoyant mood. Whether the QPR result flattered to deceive is not something that should be taken for granted but 11 goals in the last two games (nine of which arrived in the second half) should focus the Boro defenders minds.

Pulis declared Flint and Fry are a great centre-back pairing after the Bristol game and claimed that the big defender bought from the Robins for £7m is probably now worth £4-5m more in the current market. In fact central defence is one area he’s not looking to recruit in, even though he has so far favoured a back three at home. Indeed, with still five strikers on the books in Britt, Braithwaite, Gestede, Hugill and Fletcher, it looks like that he’ll mainly intend to beef up the pace down the flanks with a collection of full-backs, wing-backs and wingers – plus the odd progressive central midfielder with decent tattoos.

So will it be deal or no deal this week as the Boro manager starts whittling down some of the recruitment team’s ticked boxes containing potential loan targets? Much will depend if the banker upstairs running the club calls and makes an decent offer that is eventually accepted. Tony Pulis will not be a happy contestant if he doesn’t land the big prize he’s been hoping for this transfer window. Nevertheless, I suspect it will probably take more than a consoling arm around the shoulder from Noel Edmonds if all he takes home is a penny – even if it is for his thoughts on how good he thinks the whole recruitment process went.

Bristol City		Middlesbrough
		Braithwaite Assombalonga	13′ (pen) 32′
Possession Shots On target Corners Fouls	67% 18 4 4 9	Possession Shots On target Corners Fouls	33% 13 3 4 11

Boro Pair Better Bristol

This half of Bristol shared similar eighties historical drama to Boro having gone bankrupt in 1982 and fortunate to have a new BCFC (1982) Ltd pick up players contracts keeping the club alive. Fortunately things for both clubs are a bit healthier now financially with both clubs having sold the family silver in the summer. TP had a short stint as Manager at Bristol City (having started his playing career at Rovers) which didn’t end well with the Home fans questioning his loyalty and vocally encouraging his departure to Pompey after only six months in charge in January 2000.

The backdrop to this afternoon’s game was both Managers bemoaning their lack of options. Lee Johnson had several defenders in the treatment room for most of the week meaning that Baker, Wright, Hegeler and Moore were likely to miss this one along with Keeper Fielding and 6ft 3” ex Scunthorpe winger Hakeeb Adelakun. I made the point of Hakeeb’s height as we have a bit of a habit coveting players at Ashton Gate of late and it certainly would have been interesting to see if they had uncovered another gem which potentially ticked a few TP boxes.

At yesterday’s press conference Tony Pulis was bemoaning how thin his squad was and how they will fall away if he doesn’t get reinforcements in which was highlighted by giving seven debuts on Tuesday evening against Notts County. The only regular first team starter involved then was Dael Fry who as luck would have it went off injured with an ankle knock but was apparently among the walking wounded and able to take part if required. Dani Ayala also played a part in that match so it was expected that one or either would get the nod with the unlucky one on the bench.

As bogey teams go the Robins certainly fell into that category pre kick off with Boro having had only one win in the last seven games against the Bristolians. City had also had three straight wins against Boro at the Gate so this was going to be a challenge even with Aden Flint having switched sides in the summer. The positives were that City were currently on a poor run of form, having not won in six games and that TP had won three out of his four games as a Manager against them.

As the sides came out it was a bit of a strange mental picture as here was Boro except that it was Bristol City wearing the Red Boro Shirts with the famous (on Teesside anyway) white band with the real Boro in their Dark Navy away strip.

Team news saw Ayala on the bench in place of new injury victim Chapman and it was a case of as you were from the last Championship game with a preferred settled eleven now seemingly established in TP’s mind. Main difference was in how we lined up with a switch to a more traditional four at the back presumably with an emphasis on keeping things tight away at a ground where we don’t usually get much joy from. Downing was wide right with Braithwaite occupying the left side and Britt up front. Clayton was in front of the back four with Wing and Howson just in front of him.

Bristol started the opening few minutes trying to compose and dictate things with Paterson getting the home fans out of their seats on five minutes. Boro’s first foray was a trademark Shotton throw in shortly afterwards which didn’t trouble the Robins Keeper Maenpaa. City were next to threaten with a speculative Brownhill shot which was little threat to Randolph.

A mix up in the City defence on thirteen minutes when a ball delivered in from Randolph from wide right in his own half was flicked on by Assombalonga on the edge of the box which first deceived and was then misjudged by Hunt, consequently affording Braithwaite the opportunity to carefully side-foot a shot from ten yards out past Maenpaa to put Boro one up for a dream start.

The feat was nearly repeated a few minutes later when another hopeful punt up field from Randolph was again miscued by a City defender, allowing Britt this time a chance but it was charged down. The pressure was building and Flint was up next to nearly head home on his return to his former club after showing no emotion when Braithwaite had scored minutes earlier. Clearly Shotton’s and now Friend’s long throws were causing anxiety in the Bristol box, which was made even worse by Randolph’s long punts.

The next main talking point was Ryan Shotton laid out after colliding and possibly clashing heads and then crashing into the turf on landing. Fortunately he managed to clear his head and continue, though for a moment it looked a lot worse than perhaps it was. No doubt he will have a few aches and pains when he wakes up on Sunday morning.

City then mounted a few concerted assaults in an effort to draw level, with Paterson finding Wiemann but the ex-Derby man fired well over. A fierce Hunt ball in was pushed away by Randolph, much to Boro’s relief as Bristol pressure was building. The visitors were now looking nervy with bodies being laid on the line to repel the assaults. Then a rash challenge by Dael Fry on Watkins led to a yellow card and a dangerous free kick being awarded, but when taken the free kick thankfully flew into the stand. Hunt then put in a cross for Watkins which was headed over and with it ending a period of sustained pressure for the Robins.

Boro responded in the best way possible with a break down the right after another Boro long throw attempt was cleared, and with Flint still in the Bristol box, Downing pinged in a perfect cross over Flint to which Assombalonga seemed to manhandle his marker to head home and make it two nil, which broke the hearts of the home fans who had been genuinely sensing a way back into the game.

The difference between the two sides was simply in the quality of the finishing and perhaps aided by Bristol being overly concerned about that man Flint.

City once again started to pressure Randolph’s goal with Howson having to clear a Webster cross. Another chance for Wiemann after he was played in by Brownhill but he couldn’t make contact with it properly. It was the turn of Flint now to do some defending as he kept out Paterson and then just on forty-five minutes Wiemann was flagged offside as Boro went into the half time break two up serenaded by a cacophony of despondent boos from the Home fans at another fruitless City performance this season.

As much as Bristol were having plenty of possession and at times almost dominance, there was an air of confident belief about Boro. All the Bristol efforts had been blocked and cleared with their best chances being long range affairs. TP will have certainly been the happier of the two Managers.

There were no changes at the interval and understandably Bristol came out all fired up, determined to try and get one back quickly. Pisano had a sliced shot which was well wide after a scramble in the Boro box. Patterson forced Randolph into a save and then George Friend found his way in the Ref’s notebook for taking too long over a throw-in as he tried to stifle Bristol’s momentum in a frantic first five minutes of the second half.

A few minutes later, Downing with a shoot to kill mentality, hit a fierce shot from outside the box that just went over Maenpaa’s bar to remind the Robins that Boro hadn’t finished for the day just yet. Friend was involved again as this time he headed over from a corner. City responded with Paterson again firing over Randolph’s goal as they repeatedly fluffed their lines in the Boro half. A minute later, the Travelling Army momentarily thought the game was put to bed by our marauding Dane after being put through by Howson to beat the offside trap but unfortunately the side netting was the end result. A goal at that point in the game would have effectively finished this as a contest.

Despite a lot of possession Bristol were ineffective and Lee Johnson needed some fresh impetus in the form of Taylor who came on for Smith near the seventy minute mark. It seemed to have the opposite effect as once again Maenpaa was busy dealing with Flint connecting with a Downing free kick from which Assombalonga nearly pounced. Johnson then made a double substitution as O’Dowda and Da Silva came on for Hunt and Patterson with fifteen minutes remaining.

The changes seemed to add some spark as Fry had to clear from Wiemann and a Pisano header came off Randolph’s crossbar with Randolph then forced to pull off a great save from Wieman’s follow up. TP then removed Braithwaite for Tavernier in an effort to run the clock down and break up play. Bristol continued their onslaught and this time Brownhill’s free kick smashed off the underside of Randolph’s crossbar.

After looking calm and disciplined all game, things were now getting very anxious as Bristol twice hit the woodwork. TP then brought his second goal scorer off with Fletcher coming on for Britt. Five minutes added time came up on the fourth official’s board and TP this time withdrew Downing for Paddy McNair to shore things up and of course disrupt play. The whistle went and Boro remained top of the league thanks to some well taken opportunities but in the main some sterling defensive work. MOM is difficult as Britt and Braithwaite were both very good but then so was Downing, Wing and Clayton but I think Dael Fry just slightly edged it, no doubt helped by the thought of a fit Dani Ayala breathing down his neck.

A long day out but well worth the long drive back north, looking forward to seeing Leeds and Derby on the EFL highlights show and tucked somewhere in-between middling Championship sides will no doubt be those party spoiling table topping Northerners.

Middlesbrough		Notts County
Fletcher Mahmutovic	27′, 74′ 44′	Crawford Stead	20′ 34′, 63′
Possession Shots On target Corners Fouls	50% 16 6 6 12	Possession Shots On target Corners Fouls	62% 6 3 2 6

Four for the Boys penalise Magpies

A game that could be the start of a wonderful romantic Cup run to Wembley or a pointless get it out of the way fixture that seriously put at risk a Middlesbrough squad that’s already numerically challenged. Whatever your point of view, tonight saw the visit of one of the Leagues oldest Football Clubs to the Riverside to compete in a match that in all likelihood neither Manager regarded as a “must win”. In the case of Tony Pulis however I’m sure it was secretly regarded as a preferably “not lose” game by the same token. The Magpies from the Trent do have form at the Riverside but I doubt there are many on Teesside who still harbour a revenge psyche from 2006 when they beat a Premiership Boro side 1-0. The most memorable event from a Boro perspective on that September evening was a debut from Robert Huth in the defeat.

Magpies Midfielder Andy Kellet was already announced as a definite starter 24 hours before Kick-off in a bold proclamation by Kevin Nolan who will also have had his eye on their forthcoming Friday night fixture against Yeovil who faced Villa tonight. Both sides were expected to rest the bulk of their starting eleven from recent games but with TP you equally knew that he could do what Bernie Slaven wanted and start with his best eleven, go three up, bring on Subs and as a Birmingham Journalist described Boro’s Saturday victory then go into “Sleeper Mode” to conserve and protect, seeing the game out.

The sides as expected were unrecognisable from the league campaigns to date and in Boro’s case ten changes made from Saturday with the welcome news that Dani Ayala was starting alongside the only survivor from the Brum game Dael Fry. As well as the fringe players and this seasons usual bench warmers Nathan McGinley and Enes Mahmutovic got a breakthrough start along with the younger of our two Veteran Goalkeepers; Andy Lonergen. As expected Grant was captaining this motley crew. No sight of Dimi surprisingly as Randolph was on the bench along with De Sart and Wood who if he made an appearance would become Boro’s youngest ever Player, that record currently resides with a certain Thomas Murray I believe from way back in 1905.

County’s game preparations didn’t exactly go to plan with their Keeper Pindroch who was one of eight changes made by Nolan injured himself during the warm up meaning that regular Goalie Fitzsimons had to take his place between the sticks. A slightly chillier Riverside than of late hosted a very sparse evening crowd of around 9,500 with the South Stand drummer echoing more than usual. County started steadily and looked composed without overstretching themselves whilst Boro themselves seemingly content to attempt to just build up some familiarity between themselves.

The first bit of real activity saw Harry Chapman crossing to Marvin Johnson whose header missed the intended target and then the injury prone wide man found himself upended, crashing to the ground painfully on his shoulder and earning a Yellow card for County Captain Duffy. Neither side were really controlling things but considering they both probably had a team list tucked in their socks to identify team mates it was hardly surprising. Most of Boro’s attacking intent was coming down the right with Mahmutovic overlapping Chapman.

First corner of the game came as a result of a rare Boro foray down the left with a move involving Johnson and Tavernier with Tav’s attempt tipped over for a corner. An immediate second corner saw Mahmutovic have a shot at Fitzsimons which was blocked. A County corner at the other end had to be retaken but whatever the tactic was it failed miserably as County’s players seem to bunch up England style but without the finesse. The set piece didn’t work on that occasion but it only took a few minutes later for another County set piece via a free kick to come in and Tom Crawford found himself free to direct the ball unmarked past Andy Lonergen to put the visitors one up on twenty minutes.

Boro had the wakeup call that they clearly needed as TP looked rather unimpressed on the touchline. Regrouped and refocussed Boro needed to up the stakes and a Johnson shot went out for a corner from which an Ayala goal bound effort was adjudged to have been handball. If at first you don’t succeed so the next Boro Corner saw Ayala again but this time flick the ball on to Ashley Fletcher who pulled the sides level with a tap in 1-1. Despite the goal TP was clearly unhappy with what was happening on the left side of the pitch with very articulate instructions for Johnson and McGinley.

Mahmutovic was linking up well with Chapman and the big lad was making his presence known and causing County plenty of problems. Just as Boro looked to have started to settle into the game County veteran Jon Stead swivelled and hit a low ball at Lonergen from the edge of the box which saw the Boro keeper creaking to the ground to no avail as the visitors went two one up in the 34th minute. An immediate response by Chapman nearly saw a quick equalising opportunity open up for Johnson who hit a volley which ended up awkwardly for Fletcher who couldn’t take advantage.

Chapman went down again clutching the same shoulder indicating that his game was up, a great shame for Harry who seems to be cursed with bad luck. Stephen Walker came on in place of the hapless winger to stake a claim up front with Fletcher with just a few minutes of the half remaining. In Harry’s absence his former right sided partner Mahmutovic who was now seemingly operating in a Ryan Shotton type role, drove into the box to meet a Johnson cross to pull the sides back level again 2-2.

County were certainly not in awe of the two league difference in the sides and Ashley Fletcher rescued Boro blushes by conceding a corner from another County set piece as the first half ran down. The Ref’s whistle went to bring a conclusion to the first 45 minutes in what looked more like a frantic, hectic and ragged pre-season friendly rather than a Cup Tie. High point for me was Enes Mahmutovic who looked like he wanted to make an impression on Pulis.

The second half kicked off with the remaining daylight diminishing and the floodlights to the fore except that the Ref seemed to have a problem with either an earpiece or a whistle as the kick off was momentarily delayed. Grant indicated the general tone of the half time team talk with a succession of challenges that saw a familiar yellow card for the Boro Captain. Walker and Tavernier were the main threats for Boro in the opening stages as both sides continued as they ended the first half.

Nolan was first to blink as he took his carded Captain Duffy off for Brisley either through a knock or more likely with an eye on Friday night. The game entered a stodgy phase with neither side seriously looking to get a stranglehold in the game and as much as some of Boro’s move’s looked classy there was nothing to show for it. With sixty minutes gone TP was warming up his Subs with the intention either to motivate or to make changes. After seeing Johnson miss another half chance TP used the gap in play to make Boro history as 16 years and 75 days old Wood came on to replace Dani Ayala. Just a few minutes into Woods arrival he headed clear but the follow up from Jon Stead lead to another goal for the blue shirted visitors to make it 3-2 with claims for offside from the red faced red shirts.

Dael Fry then went off seemingly and worryingly carrying a knock for ex Fulham lad Djed Spence to come on for Boro and take a place on the right side of defence with Mahmutovic now moving to CB. Nolan also made a change of his own with Husin coming off for Patching. Walker was lively since his introduction and along with McNair added some hope for Boro. A low ball came in towards Walker but he just missed to connect with it much to the angst of the home fans. Boro were starting to apply some pressure now and with just over fifteen minutes remaining McNair and Walker were still upping the tempo and a cleared ball out from the back by Wood eventually arrived at Walker who with a clever drag over sent the County defender the wrong way and set Ashley Fletcher up to hit the back of the net 3-3.

A planned substitution by Nolan was temporarily delayed in the immediate aftermath of the goal much to the annoyance of Pulis who wanted the game to get started again quickly sensing his side were in the ascendency. With his confidence levels high a twenty yard shot from Fletcher had Fitzsimons scurrying and then the ball immediately went down the opposite end only for Mahmutovic to get a well-timed challenge in as the game hung in the balance.

A well worked series of play between McGinley, Johnson, Tavernier and Walker set up McNair whose shot went out for a corner. Grant whipped the corner ball in which went immediately out for another corner which saw Johnson crash in a shot which hit the bar. Walker and Tavernier again applied pressure and won another corner for their endeavours with McGinley just missing the resultant Grants ball in. With the clock ticking down and now less than five minutes remaining penalties were now looking the likely finish to the evening despite a long range Johnson effort which was well covered by Ross Fitzsimons in the County goal.

Another desperate McNair effort flew across the six yard box after Spence and Walker had set the Northern Irishman up. Bizarrely six minutes were flashed up on the fourth official’s board presumably because of all the substitutions rather than the game being stopped. A late corner cleverly won by Stead off Wood saw a volley bravely blocked by McGinley. Another County corner came in from the left by Jones which found Brisley but his header was poor and went out for a Goal Kick. Ex Poolie Lewis Alessandra then had a half opportunity in the dying moments when Boro broke again with McNair and Spence but the final whistle sounded meaning penalties were looming.

Penalties

County were first up with Andy Lonergen playing mind games and pointing to Stead’s preferred side and rolling back the years he saved from ex Makem Jon Stead. Grant next to coolly fire the ball past Fitzsimons to put Boro 1-0 up. Now Alessandra sent Lonergen in the opposite direction 1-1. McNair hit the same spot as Grant had just scored from 2-1. That’s four penalties with three ex Makems and one Poolie involved.

County up next and scored with Hawkridge 2-2. Walker stepped up for Boro who despatched with aplomb making it 3-2 to Boro. Patching then calmly put it into the corner for County making it 3-3 with Tav up next. A little bit of gamesmanship from Fitzsimons in goal didn’t work as the youngster blasted it high into the roof of the net, 4-3 to Boro and now with a penalty advantage. Jones was up next for County knowing that a miss was curtains, Lonergen got down to the bottom right, getting a hand to it to keep it 4-3, sealing the evening and snatching the victory.

The game was definitely not one for the purist but it was entertaining and one that you couldn’t take your eyes off. Leaving the tactical error strewn car crash out of it for a moment, Mahmutovic for me was outstanding in the first half and very good in the second. McGinley grew into the game and Tav was a constant threat along with Johnson (once the WD40 started to seep in). Walker when he came on was superb and will have given TP the right sort of headache. Wood’s appearance was a fairy tale and Lonergen saved two penalties but overall I think Fletcher just edged things for his two goals.

Championship 2018-19: Week 3

Tue 14 Aug – 19:45: Boro v Notts County (EFL Cup)
Sat 18 Aug – 15:00: Bristol City v Boro

They say good things come to those who wait, well Tony Pulis has waited, stared out the window and waited some more, but all that has come was local lad on loan who unfortunately arrived injured. On the pitch everything looks Hunky Dory, the sheer power of Boro’s will has effortlessly levitated them to the top of the table, leaving most Boro followers in an unexpected state of bliss. However, Tony Pulis seems in a different kind of state altogether following the disappointment of the transfer window. It may well be enlightenment but in the true Buddhist sense of the meaning in that a “full comprehension of a situation” has been reached. The Boro boss had earlier in the week declared his squad is probably missing around five players if it is to be considered good enough for a promotion challenge. However, despite overseeing three unbeaten Championship games with his ‘bare bones’ outfit, Tony has failed to hide his disappointment that the performance of the club off the pitch has not remotely matched the one he’s been instrumental in helping his team produce on it.

After such an intense opening to the season, Tony Pulis will probably be rolling out his freebie 32Red yoga mat as a means to keep calm and focus on his breathing as he contemplates his navel. Online gambling addicts may even be able to get odds on which yoga poses the Boro manager opts to strike as he flicks through his beginners guide. The smart money being placed suggests he’ll possibly be drawn to Tadasana, or the mountain pose – although he may possibly be inspired by Neil Bausor to go with Shavasana, or the Corpse pose, which the novice is informed involves essentially laying down and doing nothing as the practitioner concentrate on relaxing, forgetting about time pressures and placing those deadlines to the back of their mind.

Like an expensive striker who flops on arrival on the burden of expectation, the Boro recruitment team have glaringly missed their targets – with no doubt most of the glaring coming from Tony Pulis. Most disappointed will perhaps be Neil Bausor’s dentist, who will sadly not get the opportunity to showcase his latest work as the Boro chief executive misses out on having his grinning photo taken with his brand new bestie at Hurworth. Whether this has caused any friction behind the scenes is open to conjecture, but Pulis seemed to suggest he kept his side of the bargain by selling some of his best players to raise the cash needed to get those identified replacements in. At least we know Steve Gibson hasn’t been stashing all the unspent cash to make a late bid for House of Fraser and happily that particular accolade of sequestering his manager’s transfer kitty belongs to Newcastle’s Mike Ashley – though the sight of a football chairman throwing his money into Binns could be seen as a somewhat poignant analogy.

It’s certainly tough at the top and the still relatively young head in charge of Boro has also seemingly got a lot of stress to work out of his burdened old shoulders as he tries to keep everyone happy. It may be hard for fellow chairman in the Championship to relate to his problems as they look enviously up at his table-topping club and its rather healthy bank balance. Perhaps Steve Gibson has sussed that spending big in the second tier doesn’t get you the equivalent amount of quality for all the millions spent (or wasted). Maybe the tightening of the purse strings is aimed at building a Fulham-type war chest to be used once promotion has been secured. Maybe he just fancies have some cash left when he finally decides to retire.

The Cottagers were regarded as one of the best sides last season but most of the players were still deemed inadequate to bridge the gap to the top tier by their club. They instead spent over £100m on transfers in the summer to build a squad capable of surviving and one can only imagine the wage bill too. The gulf between the Championship and Premier League is widely accepted now and the recent trend to spend big to gain promotion has probably not meant getting value for money. The fact that Boro lost out on many of their targets was possibly down to not being willing to be drawn into paying over the odds for players that were let’s face it just average. As for reports that the Besic deal fell through because his agent wanted a million quid for the trouble of getting a pen out of his jacket pocket to sign it off – well I suspect Steve Gibson may have suggested a better place where he could place that pen when he declined and returned it. Spending big only makes sense if you end up with the real deal and some of those being touted for many millions were 12 months earlier valued in the hundreds of thousands – which all sounds a trifle excessive.

Though you may recall that we’ve been here before, the beginning of the end of Karanka was probably that January transfer window that failed to sign any of the targets he so desperately wanted – widely believed to be PSG’s playmaker Jese Rodriguez, midfielder Robert Snodgrass of Hull and winger Bojan Krkic of Stoke. Perhaps they weren’t realistic, but instead the club brought in a Patrick Bamford who had hardly played any football in 12 month, a Championship-level Rudy Gestede and the much maligned ‘lad from Watford’ Guedioura. Needless to say Karanka was non-plussed and made his thoughts pretty clear: “We needed to improve the team, and the club knew a month and a half ago the players that I wanted.” In a less than subtle snipe at those who had arrived instead he added: “Teams in our position are signing players for £14m – we are signing players that didn’t play in the Championship.” He then concluded his venting with echoes of Tony Pulis’s sentiments: “I don’t know why we haven’t signed our targets. That is not my job. I am the coach.”

Last summer the club tried to make amends by letting Garry Monk go on a spending splurge and threw money at his targets until he had so many forwards that he didn’t know who to choose from. With Pulis deciding against spending in his first window, then dutifully selling his prize assets this summer, he no doubt expected to be given all the resources to sign his preferred targets. It appear it went wrong somewhere and now he’s feeling short-changed, much in the same way Karanka was. Whilst we shouldn’t condemn the club for refusing to give in to excessive demands from sellers and agents, we shouldn’t also forget that last summer Boro’s strategy was to force the market by making offers that were hard to refuse. In some ways, Boro were actually instrumental in inflating the Championship transfer market by paying £15m for Britt Assombalonga – a price-tag surely not easily justified based on his overall ability. Incidentally, Sean Dyche had an £8m bid a few weeks before he signed for Boro turned down after the then Forest manager, Mark Warburton, claimed he was potentially a £50m player and compared him to Eden Hazard and Ronaldo. All of which convinced Boro’s bargain hunters to quickly steal him away for less than a third of that price before the big boys stepped in. While some still think he could yet be a hazard for Boro, perhaps like Bamford (also suggested by some in the local media he could soon be in the £40-50m bracket) we may not be making a killing when selling him on.

With nearly three weeks left for Boro to make loan signings, Tony Pulis may need to remain patient for a bit longer before he can legitimately start melting down like another former manager. Perhaps Pulis is still getting over the departure of what he claimed the other players had jokingly called ‘his son’ in Adama Traore. Before heading to Wolves, Adama left a parting gift of 50 signed Boro shirts that will be randomly awarded to season card holders. It’s unclear whether Pulis will be seen wearing his own custom Adama T-Shirt that the club shop possibly produced for him after downing the bottles of Champagne that were given to them as a parting present from Ben Gibson. The carefully ironed-on letters apparently read: “Boro sold Adama Traore for £18m and all I got was this lousy T-Shirt”.

One player the Boro manger will be keen to hang on to will doubtless be Martin Braithwaite, who’s showed some of his best form for the club in the opening three games. However, there’s a sense of having that Déjà vu feeling again as the Danish forward is once again linked with a move to France. It would be a big loss if he said au revoir to his team-mates at the Stade Riverain on the Côtes du Nord-Est. He’s not really an out-and-out striker but offers the team a certain je ne sais quoi and is probably the closest we have to a number ten (he even wears it on the back of his shirt) unless the loan market brings someone special. Anyway, it’s hard to say if Pulis expects him to swap the agreeable climate of the Tees for that of the Dordogne and the Garone as he heads back to Bordeaux. The grapes on Teesside may be mainly of the sour variety if he leaves again, but Braithwaite appears to have blended well this season and seems to have the right attitude. Pulis has said any player who doesn’t want to be at the club can leave if they receive the right offer – adding that “Martin’s the same as all of the players, they are welcome to stay”. That didn’t sound like his manager was particularly determined to hang on to him – more like what you tell unexpected late guests when you answer the door in your dressing gown. Whether the sentiment of allowing any player to leave if the right offer arrives is the best way to build a top quality team at a club like Boro is debatable – it would mean in theory that anyone who catches the eye of a Premier League club could be off in January if they fancied it.

All the talk of missed targets and those who may still be leaving the club has thrown recruitment and planning into the spotlight once more. Buying and bringing in players is never an exact science and it’s a process that appears increasingly out of the control of the club. If Boro are now determined to get value for money rather than the traditional method of spending what it takes to get their man, then quiet transfer windows may be the norm. In such circumstance we should ask the pertinent question, what is the academy for? Surely it would be much better to bring youngsters through the ranks as ready replacements for those who will inevitably leave or need an upgrade. One of the things that Tony Pulis did when he arrived was to make sure the players at all levels trained and played in the same way as the senior side. It makes sense and in theory should provide a production line of new talent that can be more easily integrated into the squad. With Lewis Wing showing that he more than fits the shirt and Fry looking just as composed and promising as he did this time last season before that one error that exiled him, then that should be two players less to buy. Also Marcus Tavernier has surely shown enough to prevent him being loaned out and has some of that much needed pace and quick feet we’re sadly lacking.

It seems all too easy to overlook youngsters if your chairman will sign big cheques instead. Maybe this transfer window will be a wake-up call on how the club can best use their resources and what it is that attracts players to come to Boro over other choices. Apparently we missed out on our targets for “all kinds of reasons” – though the main reason was that none of them chose Boro. Of course Jordan Hugill chose to join Boro on loan from West Ham, but he was born in Middlesbrough, which no doubt was the main attraction. If we put to one side the burning ambition to play for Tony Pulis, it appears that looking in from the outside that there are possibly three reasons a player may join Boro – 1. They’re local, 2. It’s a step up in their careers or 3. The money. With regard to our missed targets, if the answer to the first two questions was ‘no’ then I suspect the problem may have been question three.

It seems the youngsters will get a further chance to impress on Tuesday as Boro enter the EFL Cup with a home tie against League Two side Notts County. It’s become a tradition in the early rounds of Mr Caraboa’s energy drink cup to rest your tired players and make as many changes as possible. Last season it gave some players the opportunity to remind Garry Monk that he’d signed them or were still at the club. In fact the performance of the so-called second-string appeared to be better than the team being selected for League games. I expect we’ll see starts from some of those yet to feature in this campaign, like Julien de Sart, Marvin Johnson, Harry Chapman and Nathan Wood – with likely starts for the under-employed Ashley Fletcher and Grant Leadbitter too. Dimi may get a run out in goal but in terms of defence there aren’t many options left other than those who are currently regular starter. Ayala is back in training but probably not ready to play and perhaps Paddy McNair will get some pitch time under his belt. No doubt Tavernier will also get a start but you would expect Lewis Wing to be rested after three games in a week. I suspect Tony Pulis will be minded to not risk anyone that he regards as a key player – though in some cases he may not have a choice. For those who can’t make it to the Riverside (and that may be quite a few regulars), it will be more or less the invisible game that is little more than a pre-season friendly in terms of importance – though there is a Wednesday night highlights show on Quest TV at 11.30pm should anyone be tempted to catch probably 20 seconds worth of Boro sometime after midnight. The show is as expected presented by Colin Murray, who is apparently deemed by law the only person allowed to present Football League highlights after moving from the BBC to Channel 5 and now Quest TV.

Then on Saturday, Boro will aim to continue their early stint at the top of the table as they travel to Ashton Gate to take on Bristol City. The Robins have drawn their opening two games, with a 1-1 at home to Forest on the opening day, and then coming back from 2-0 down to get a point at Bolton. Their new signing from Derby, the Austrian international Andreas Weimann has scored in both games – which may or may not be down to growing up in those favoured mountains. It will be a quick return for Boro’s new towering defender Aden Flint, so let’s hope he can reach the heights by making it a happy return with a goal and a clean sheet. Garry Monk’s team were not so fortunate last season as they ended up having to settle for a 2-1 defeat, with summer target Joe Bryan opening the scoring early in the second half before Aden Flint crossed three minutes later for Jamie Paterson give them a two-goal cushion. That win for Bristol City took them up to third, eight points ahead of Boro in 9th, who were now 15 points behind Wolves after less than half a season.

As the post-match interviewer from Radio Bristol nervously held out the microphone, manager Lee Johnson declared “If you’d told me we’d be eight points clear of Middlesbrough after 20 games I would have bitten your hand off” – thankfully the interviewer hadn’t made such a bold prediction and is still continues to work with a full complement of fingers. Though one person who would shortly be out of work in a few weeks was Garry Monk and he wasn’t at all happy with his players. He said after the poor display “I can only apologise to our travelling fans, they have spent a lot of hard-earned cash to follow the team tonight and that performance wasn’t good enough at all” – in fact one disgruntled fan had spent close to £50m in the hope of following his team all the way to the Premier League and was beginning to run out of patience.

So time for another busy week in the Championship and with three games down Boro have given the pessimists on Teesside some of that dreaded hope as the club sit on top of the mountain in not so quiet contemplation. Whether Tony Pulis will be given some hope from the recruitment team that he’ll be getting his promised new arrivals is anyone’s guess. Whatever happens in the next seven days, being asked to be patient may start to wear a bit thin – especially if Boro pick up any new injuries in the dead buffalo cup.

Middlesbrough		Birmingham City
Assombalonga	12′	▮ Gardner	83′
Possession Shots On target Corners Fouls	52% 10 2 3 9	Possession Shots On target Corners Fouls	48% 11 4 9 11

Britt gives ex-Boss the Blues

The “Return of the Monk” possibly didn’t have the same blockbuster ring as the “Return of the Jedi” in terms of posteriors on seats and Global awareness but nevertheless on Teesside there was an extra edge to this afternoons proceedings down at the Riverside. The Monkbot was back in town albeit showing at a Stadium near us for a couple of hours only. To some in Middlesbrough he was the scoundrel who wasted millions on mediocre to poor talent whilst to others he was unfortunate to not be given the full season to complete whatever it was he was conjuring and therein lay his problem.

One word sums up his Teesside tenure “confusion”. His Players on the pitch seemed confused, his team selections seemed at odds with one another at times and his penchant for changes which were simply coming too often just seemed to leave most of us confused and in the end losing confidence. There were doubts about whether or not he actually knew what he was doing or was just winging it, his subsequent relative success with saving the Blues from the drop would indicate that something lay deep within but far too deep to be revealed in any of his press conferences that was certain.

For Tony Pulis and Boro it was a frustrating end to the week when the window closed to put it mildly. Regardless of which side of the great Bamford divide fans sat there was mutual concern that the anticipated and arguably much needed four or five recruits did not materialise at all. The known targets seemed a few weeks short of negotiation time to have any chance of success with opposition Managers and Directors determined to have and to hold as the 5.00pm deadline came and went on Thursday. Perhaps fittingly those in charge of such things had gone from negotiators to masked Loan Arrangers to protect their identity/ies.

Ayala and Gestede were joined by new local lad Hugill on the treatment table as it was declared on Friday that our new Striker was in fact “Knacked” to use a Teesside colloquialism. Apart from that TP could muster a squad of 18 match day squad numbered players to select from or just about with maybe one sixteen year old spare plus an ancient goalkeeping relic. The good news was that Howson was fit and Tuesday night’s concern was only a kick on the knee rather than a sprain or strain. Of course we learned from last season that what TP says in these “pressers” can often be taken as mind games and or with a generous spoonful of salt.

The Gods it appeared pre kick off at least were all in our favour as TP had never lost against GM and in fact Boro were unbeaten in our last eight games against Birmingham. As the Coaches from St. Andrews parked up the travelling bluenoses were looking forward to perhaps seeing the Gardner brothers (Gary and Craig) make an appearance together along with the physically formidable Omar Bogle on loan from Cardiff to provide former Boro striker Lukas Jutkiewicz with competition.

TP went with the same again although with the limitations on his squad he doesn’t have many options to permit tinkering and so it was 3F’s at the back again with Shotton and Downing on the flanks and Howson, Clayton and Wing central and Braithwaite just behind Assombalonga. The Red Faction unfurled a new “Reservoir Dogs” banner with “Let’s go to work” underneath as the sides took to the pitch. There were a few low key boos directed at the Birmingham manager but most Boro fans like myself were kind of “Meh” towards him and not really bothered either way.

The early exchanges saw Cheikh N’Doye and Aden Flint strike up a relationship that was to last the entire afternoon. Boro had the better of then opening exchanges with Shotton looking lively in his more penetrative role on the right. Former Boro target Jota was looking lively in the opening minutes as the visitors passed the ball around posing problems but not really asking questions of the Boro defence. Neither keeper had much to do with most of the action being played outside of the 18 yard box areas until Howson played a beautiful forty five yard cross field lob to Britt just inside the Blues box who brought it down, jinked to his right and despatched an equally beautiful arced ball into the far side of Trueman’s goal putting Boro one goal up.

The goal settled Boro and stung Birmingham whose supporters had been quite vociferous up until that point. Britt nearly doubled his tally just a few minutes later but this time firing across Trueman’s goal. The signs were there that today could be a repeat of Tuesday night’s score line. This seemed to be a wakeup call as Friend had to be alert to deny Jota with a block. Adams was next to try his luck but Randolph was alert to the danger. It was clear that Birmingham still had belief and were not going to be rolled over as easily as Sheffield United had been just a few days previously.

Braithwaite was lively up front linking well with Downing and Britt and was starting to receive special treatment for his troubles with a few strong challenges coming his direction. On the half hour mark the Danish International was scythed down from behind by N’Doye who picked up a yellow card for his troubles. Downing lined up to take the free kick with the big lads all circling on the far side of the box but Stewy rolled back the years with a clever free kick that caught everyone unaware hitting the nearside upright. So close but the Blues (resplendent in Yellow) survived and regrouped to take the game to Boro again with another former Boro target Maghoma and Jota both causing problems and providing ammunition for Che Adams and inevitably ex Boro lad Jutkiewicz.

Downing again had another effort that was skyed this time as he was set up by Friend but his effort fell on his right foot much to Monk’s men’s relief. Just before the half time whistle another long ball was cleverly flicked on by Braithwaite to Britt who shot but it was now his turn to hit the post and the half finished 1-0.

Understandably there were no changes for Boro at half time as the same eleven re-entered the pitch which had now cooled a little as the Summer Sun had its West Stand shadow now covering the pitch. Birmingham seemed to enjoy the cooler climatic conditions more than Boro as they applied pressure searching for an equaliser and Randolph had to be reactive to palm away a Jutkiewicz header. Boro responded and soon had another effort which somehow stayed out of the Birmingham net when Shotton launched a throw in which was fumbled by Trueman as the trajectory confused him leaving Britt and Harlee dean contesting the ball which somehow hit the underside of the crossbar only to rebound back out with Trueman flapping at it and somehow the chance had gone with the North Stand uniformly lowering their hands from their heads in slow motion disbelief.

Garry Monk’s charges were enjoying possession and were probing and testing Boro resolve but not really looking like they were going to get past the 3F’s who were heading and clearing everything that was launched at them. On the hour mark Howson picked up on a loose ball and placed an accurate shot which beat Trueman but Morrison was on the line to head clear. Lewis Wing then played in Britt with a tempting ball across the six yard box but despite an outstretched foot his toe was just a few inches short to poke it home.

Birmingham were very much still in the game and Boro were now sitting too deep. As the game entered the last half hour we struggled to get the ball out of our own half as Gardner cracked in a long range effort forcing Randolph to dive to spare our blushes. Monk then threw on new arrival Bogle as Birmingham laid siege to the Boro 18 yard box. Solomon-Otobar and Mahoney were added to try and get something from the game for the visitors. This period was very similar to Tuesday evening except that we didn’t have the comfort of a three goal cushion.

We were camped just outside of our own box and any clearances were mostly hopeful hoofs that Britt and Braithwaite were struggling to chase after with three games in intense heat starting to sap their energy levels. In response TP freshened things up with Tavernier coming on for the equally exhausted Wing and then a few minutes later Fletcher came on for Britt and on 88 minutes McNair came on for the depleted Braithwaite whose race was run.

In between the Fletcher and McNair substitutions a frustrated Gardner picked up a straight Red for a ludicrous challenge on MOM Howson as Boro were starting to see the game out. Boro held on in a nervy final few minutes as the fourth official held up an additional four minutes. Consecutive victories in a week are not to be sniffed at but the manner of both victories had an element of hanging on desperately rather than comfortably. Three goals on Tuesday made it an insurmountable task for Tuesday’s visitors but the solitary goal today made for less comfortable viewing in the second half despite Boro having by far the better opportunities.

The lack of a Traore type outlet was noticeable as clearances were coming straight back at us for large parts of the second half. Looking at the bench TP didn’t have many options and played the hand that was dealt to him. Like on Tuesday night there were no bad performances and in fact Shotton and Howson in particular are playing their best Boro football, likewise a few others like Downing and Braithwaite are worthy of mentions. The back three are looking more solid as the games progress and Randolph never looked seriously troubled. Clayts was magnificent in shielding and protecting and we witnessed another good game from Lewis Wing who didn’t look out of place. All that said let’s be under no illusions that as good as it is to be top of the league it’s not viable to stay there unless our recruitment team unlearn the habit of a lifetime and get some credible loans in and quickly.

Middlesbrough		Sheffield United
Braithwaite Flint Downing	7′ 18′ 25′
Possession Shots On target Corners Fouls	41% 13 5 7 10	Possession Shots On target Corners Fouls	59% 17 4 6 13

Swashbuckling Boro Foil Blades

Well after a Lazarus type performance on Saturday away to Millwall and all the subsequent comings and goings Tony Pulis will have hardly had time to draw breath as he prepared his side for the visit of Sheffield United whose fans are more accurate with stones and coins than their strikers were against newly relegated Swansea on Saturday tea time. Both Managers are trying to put the finishing touches to their respective squads or perhaps more aptly in Boro’s case trying to add five or six new starters before Thursday. Both Mangers were supposedly interested in Martyn Waghorn but Sheffield couldn’t pay up front and Derby nipped in at the last minute to sign the Striker from under both our noses.

The big question for Boro fans was would TP abandon the old guard after the poor showing in the opening 70 minutes on Saturday or go with those who salvaged a seemingly unassailable point in the Lion’s Den? The manner of the change of tempo was so marked that it would be difficult to justify the inclusion of some of those Saturday starters. Additional complications however were that with an indecisive and jittery defence behind the mono paced midfield approaching this game in a cautious manner could hardly be dismissed especially when he knows that he has the potential to up the ante in the closing stages if required.

A hot and muggy Riverside played host to the first home game of the season where fans expectations were certainly a lot lower than this time last year. No talk of smashing anything other than the two outgoing transfer fees with low hopes rather than high expectations. The stats were on our side however as Boro had won our second league fixture of the season in six of the last seven seasons, (losing to Leeds in 2014-15) and of course last season our second league fixture was a 1-0 home win against Sheffield United. Searching for any optimism at all for Boro fans, United had lost their first away league match of the season in each of their last five campaigns hopefully it would be six after tonight.

On the team front Paddy McNair was fit and on the bench as Nathan Wood dropped out for the experienced Ulsterman. Lewis Wing was given the opportunity to start where he left off with Grant benched. When we lined up we surprisingly went with a 3F back three of Fry, Flint and Friend to match Sheffield. Downing was wing back on the left with Shotton operating the right flank with Howson and Wing supported by Clayton leaving Britt and Braithwaite providing the main attacking thrust.

Almost immediately Boro were on the offensive with Shotton being surprisingly sprightly setting up Howson who saw his attempt blocked. As poor as Boro were on Saturday in the opening 70 minutes the opening 7 minutes of this game saw far more endeavour as the altered Boro shape outmatched and outplayed the Blades adorned in a kit presumably borrowed from the Highways agency. That foreboding sense of Teesside inevitability which had pervaded the concourses was replaced by oohs and aaahs as Boro stroked the ball about and looked a totally different proposition to that dishevelled and aged bunch which started at the Den.

It didn’t take long for the pressure to tell and a Corner delivered from Wing via Dael Fry’s head allowed Braithwaite to somehow poke the ball over the line to put us one nil up with the Great Dane grabbing his second goal in as many games. The Riverside erupted as the evening Sun’s West Stand shadow had just covered the pitch and the warm basking glow certainly made everything feel a little more special after the net bulged. This was a great start and a well-deserved lead appropriately involving two of the best players on the pitch at that juncture. Boro never really looked back from that point. The early goal had clearly disturbed the Sheffield game plan and we started to pass the ball really well with Downing enjoying his best game for a long time in a Boro shirt as he martialled the left flank.

On 18 minutes Shotton’s cross was deflected out for a corner by Egan and another Lewis Wing corner was delivered with aplomb this time to the head of Aden Flint who powered home his header leaving Henderson in the Sheffield goal absolutely no chance to make it two nil and the away fans looking as sick as their sides’ shirts. The game looked just about over as a contest at this stage, Boro playing with total composure and not a single poor or weak performance anywhere. Clayts was scrapping, tackling and battling, protecting his backline, Howson had probably his best game to date in a Boro shirt but then so did Braithwiate who was a class above anything the United defenders had to offer. A special mention though has to go to Wing, apart from his corners leading to goals he was strong in the tackle, willing to dribble and take players on and quick to get back and defend but it was noticeable that the United players couldn’t shake him off the ball. He was standing firm and looking every inch the part and in no way looked like a reserve player taking a step up. He was head and shoulders literally over anything that United had to take him on.

As mentioned both Shotton and Downing were running the flanks and in total control and with twenty five minutes just ticking over on the scoreboard a deep Shotton cross from the right evaded everyone except Stewy homing in from the left to stick out a leg sending the ball back across the goal and past the despairing Henderson into the net. It looked a bit flukey and fortuitous in real time but who cared as we were three nil up and still had sixty five minutes to play! Downing’s celebration indicated as much and it seemed just then that everything we touched would turn to goal.

That was it really, no seriously we kind of retrenched a little knowing that the job was done and United had little option but to try and save their blushes and managed to get themselves into the game albeit too little far too late. The Police presence was a little more than the corresponding fixture last season when the event turned nasty with the South Yorkshire supporters throwing coins and stones. That increased security was perhaps just as well to prevent the 1,000 or so away fans this time throwing themselves under buses. The whistle went for half time just as a Braithwaite shot went narrowly wide of the post. The players trotted off to a well-deserved (and if truth be told unexpected) standing ovation.

The second half started with the Liverpool Welsh Whiz Kid Ben Woodburn brought on to try and work some magic. The lad did OK but as a side United just couldn’t make any build up count. At this stage Boro were happy to contain them with Randolph being called into action only twice during the evening from memory, one of which was however a full length effort to ensure a clean sheet was kept whilst the other was an up close fantastic reflex save. There were a few nervy moments with messy, scrambled defending which will need to be improved upon against better opposition than this (judging by TP’s histrionics on the touchline I suspect there is a strong possibility he agrees) but despite Sheffield trying to throw everything including the Kitchen sink at us they rarely troubled the Boro goal thanks in no small part to simply awful finishing in particular from last season’s goal machine Leon Clarke.

Wing fired in a few more corners, some of them not so good, low efforts that were either miss hit or routines that didn’t come off but another peach found Flint’s head again as he brushed aside his marker but couldn’t get the same power on it and straight at the relieved Dean Henderson. It could and probably should have been five or six but after the departures and anxieties I think all of us would have settled with three nil and as it happens that was pretty much what did happen as we seemingly settled for the three goals.

Apart from a little period of rushed clearances and nervy defending in the second half there wasn’t a single complaint to be made from the Home fans. Every single player raised their game and I can’t single out a poor performance or weak link. Britt ran himself selflessly into the ground before coming off for Fletcher with just over ten minutes remaining, Clayts came off for Grant to get a run out and shore things up and Howson eventually hobbled off after bravely attempting to carry on after a knock on his left knee which gave McNair his Boro Championship debut. The subs all did OK but the starting eleven had done themselves proud with no exceptions. As the game wore on United were losing composure with a few feisty tackles which saw three yellow cards for them and one in particular was lucky not to see a red. MOM for me was Braithwaite who simply looked a class above and like a few others possibly had his best game for Boro. I heard Radio Tees gave it to Lewis Wing and I can’t argue against that and indeed had Stewy or Fry, or Shotton, or Clayts or, or, or, or… it was just one of those nights when it all worked, well at least for the first twenty five minutes which in fairness was all that was needed.

That late, last gasp George Friend equaliser on Saturday will have had a massive psychological boost as will the manner of this victory and along with the league table who knows it may even sway the minds of a few players and their agents that perhaps the Riverside is the place to be headed over the