Blog Posts

Today could have seen a few reunions for Muzzy, Bamford, Ayala and Assombalonga. Muzzy was on the bench but Ayala would miss out altogether as he didn’t make the squad despite rumours that he was close to fitness. Traore started but it wasn’t our flying Forrest instead it was the Forest wing back. Predictably Britt was treated to some “bants” from the home fans as the game started as a fairly open contest as both sides seemed intent on gaining the three points in front of the two thousand travelling Boro army. 

Opportunities presented themselves in the opening stages but nothing concrete. Bamford broke free but had the ball nicked from him as it looked like we might gain an early advantage, seconds later George pushed the ball past Dorikwa who clattered George and deservedly went into Referee Graham Scott’s note book. The resultant free kick was whipped in by Clayts but ended in a goal kick which saw a clearance straight out, Forest broke and a slide rule ball through the Boro defence saw McKay clean through and slide the ball into the net after a quarter of an hour opening his account after his £500k arrival from Raith Rovers.  

Just after the restart Traore (the Nottingham one) found himself joining Dorikwa in the Ref’s book. A goal down but with two of the Forest team already on yellows it was certainly anything but dull. Twenty five yards out Howson unleashed one of those trademark shots that Boro fans have been desperate to see. Forest then flew down our left hand side and a shot flew across that was another warning to those in white shirts with the unusual blue shorts and socks. Garry Monk will have been concerned at how inept our start was once again, fortunately their passages of play did not result in attempts on target yet we still found ourselves a goal down.  

Assombalonga clattered into a challenge that he was lucky to avoid a sending off for rather than just a Yellow. As it happens he escaped both but Ben was ushered over by the Ref in an attempt to diffuse things. Britt was eager, perhaps a little too eager on his return to the Trent and was lacking composure. 

Forest were in the ascendancy and Boro needed to get a grip pf things because the Tricky Trees were pushing the game and we needed to clear our heads and started dropping deep with 5 across the back at times. Assombalonga was still trying hard but he wasn’t being effective much to the joy of the home support. A brief bit of Boro possession led to the ball being passed around and inevitably Forshaw passing back, nothing was clicking for Boro and the Midfield again looked an alien unit. 

Friend gave away a corner which McKay took as the Forest players lined up on the edge of the box but in a strange, presumably overly complicated training ground move the set piece fizzled out going backwards. The pressure continued to build as Christie had to make two tackles to end another threat. Boro had started slowly yet again, Bamford was trying but with limited options with Britt full of adrenaline but little to show for it. On thirty five Assombalonga had left Mills floored as he held off the Forest defender, the home fans were screaming for blood but the Ref gave it Boro’s way. Boro were messy, scrappy and without any of their recent swagger in evidence.  

Paddy then made a run across Britt leaving space for the return ball but Britt decided to take it himself much to Paddy’s annoyance. Forest’s David Vaughan made way limping off, forcing Osborn to drop into midfield as Brereton came on and almost instantaneously forced Fry into making a brilliant sliding block tackle from Murphy. Brereton again ploughed forward forcing Clayts to take one for the team after the big unit stormed past Friend giving away a free kick right on the edge of the Boro box. 

The resultant dangerous whipped in free kick was flicked over for a corner by Assombalonga as Boro looked desperate for the half time whistle. Brereton again started to drive forward this time with Howson getting a challenge in to save blushes. Assombalonga was everywhere and chasing everything (more headless chicken than effective) but it just wasn’t happening for him. Then Howson set him up via a delightful lob for a one on one opportunity just 8 yards out, he repeated his feat of Tuesday night and from the right hand side of the box he missed the target putting it wide which was met with a rousing chorus of jeers. 

A right footed first time Bamford effort was turned around the post by Smith for an injury time corner from which Gestede clattered the Forest keeper Smith which was typical of the feisty nature of the half. Bamford pounced on a poor Traore ball from which Howson had a half chance which Jordan Smith got down to and that effectively ended the first half and an underwhelming 45 minutes from Boro. 

Monk had his work cut out at half time trying to reorganise and inspire his charges to come out in the second half and get a grip of the game. So much for the pre-match optimism as we so far had failed to live up to expectations. Something had to change and it looked like it might as Adama (as opposed to the Nottingham Traore) left the half time warm up and headed back down the tunnel early. It looked like Monk had decided to freshen things up and inject a bit of pace to counter the pressure Christie and Friend had faced throughout the first half. As we came out for the second half Forshaw was missing and Adama readied for the 4th Official as we lined up 442. 

A minute or so into the half Howson played in Gestede who in turn played in “our” Traore who burst through and his shot was turned off away for a corner. Adama had only been on for a few seconds but already lifted bums off their seats. Adama was facing his namesake Armand Traore on the same flank who had caused us problems in the first half and now had something to occupy him and push him back. Adama then won a free kick as Bouchalakis felled him but Clayts set piece came to nothing except Bamford getting crocked with Friend then ceremoniously upending Brereton. George was lucky to escape a booking probably as a result of the previous Bamford clattering likewise seeing no action. 

We were looking better but by no means turned the tide. Assombalonga then had another great opportunity with Gestede flicking it over the top for only him to collide with the keeper then almost immediately he had another half volley and sliced it. He should have had a hat trick but instead was on course for picking up the donkey tag recently vacated by Gestede. Surely by the law of averages Britt must bury the next one we all thought. 

Traore then tricked his way through a Forest of red shirts only to waste his hard work as those in white were screaming at him to feed Gestede. Bamford was hobbling on his right ankle with Baker warming up. Traore skipped past a few players played a one two with Gestede only for his effort to go wide. The inevitable Substitution then happened and Paddy forlornly went off with Baker on. The Forest Traore was abruptly halted by Dael Fry who received a yellow for his troubles. Fortunately the resultant Free Kick ended up in a goal kick for Boro.  

Mancienne was then introduced for McKay surprisingly instead of the anticipated Armand Traore as Warburton went with three CB’s. Almost immediately Murphy set up Brereton and Boro breathed a sigh of relief. The game was looking edgy and could go either way as Adama was giving Forest cause for concern. A blocked Friend cross went out for a throw which was then whipped in for Armand Traore to put it out for a Baker taken corner which ended with a scuffed Gestede attempt that broke for Adama who put a far cross in but without any Boro shirts to take advantage. The game was ebbing and flowing as Boro had attempt after attempt but still trailed. 

Britt’s next “attempt” saw him take out the Forest keeper with chants for him to be sent off, fortunately when the card came it was only yellow. Armand Traore then went off for Forest for Lichaj to come on as Sub with Clayts exiting for Fletcher as Monk went for it. The next passage of play saw Ben seemingly innocuously collide with Brereton in the box for a penalty to Forest which Murphy dispatched low into the right hand corner of the net leaving Randolph no chance despite guessing the right way on 79 minutes. 

Boro made hard work of this all afternoon, Forest despite making Boro look ordinary had only had two attempts on target with two goals. Britt had had three clear chances just to himself and the banjo and the cow’s derriere came to mind. Just as heads and hearts dipped a Baker ball hooked back into the box after an over hit corner gave Ben the chance to right his wrong with a prodded effort to make it 2-1. Moments later Gestede then went close with a header to the far side of the far post on 85. 

Forest responded by going up the other end and from a Gibson conceded corner Adama gave away the ball to Bouchalakis who played in Murphy who fortunately put it wide. As the game flew down the other end a flick on from Gestede from a Christie long throw saw Fletcher score only for it to be disallowed for off side. The frenzy continued as the ball then went out for a Boro corner which led to another Boro throw in which ended up via Mancienne into Smiths arms. Baker then broke with his shirt being tugged passing to Fletcher who presented it to Britt instead of shooting himself and you guessed, it still remained 2-1. 

Five minutes went up on the board as Forest started to wind the clock down killing the game. A poor pass from Baker to Assombalonga saw Forest break and nearly put the game to bed. Then it turned to the other end and in a last ditch effort Smith dived down from a Fletcher shot after Gestede had nodded it down to set up the former Hammer. A scramble ensued in the Forest box as Boro pinged balls towards the goal. Assombalonga was then brought down but stumbled onwards only to see the ball go out for a Forest throw in and that was to be the end of a disappointing wasteful afternoon as “what a waste of money” was directed from the home end to our misfiring £15m Striker who had fluffed his lines all afternoon. Traore had at least showed something to be positive about in a second half that should have delivered much more but for poor finishing. Lessons to be learnt for a few undoubtedly but that midfield still looks a work in progress, six points off top and suddenly smashing the league doesn’t look so likely. 

As Boro travel to the East Midlands looking to build on back-to-back home victories, Ian Gill looks forward to Saturday’s encounter by the Trent…

This weekend Boro face a difficult trip to Nottingham Forest or the ‘Tricky Trees’ as many prefer to call them. The actual origin of this nickname has become veiled in history, though it most likely has it’s roots from an early 90’s fanzine of the same name – others say it stems from the days when they played at the Forest Recreation Ground, which was surrounded by said trees. Either way, it’s normally a tricky encounter for Boro as Forest has been a barren wasteland over the years for us with many a dismal result – the lowlights being the 5-1 thrashing given to Big Jack’s team and an occasion when they put four past the unfortunate Officer Dibble (who sadly wasn’t a top cat between the sticks) in the late 90’s under Robbo. Despite that, and for all Aitor’s faults, his team got a win last time we played there – in fact the only time I have seen us beat them in over 50 years! Unfortunately it has mostly been endeavour with little end result.

So can we pull another trick on the Trees and have them running like Forrest Gump with little purpose? Who can say with Boro, as Gump’s mum nearly said, “Boro are like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get.” However, we head to Forest in high spirits fresh from our victory over Burton Albion after a second home win in a row with a striker notching two and another clean sheet. To rub salt into the wounds, we also leapfrogged them in the table on Tuesday too.

Looking at the team, Fry is doing his best to keep Ayala on the bench whilst he recovers from niggles (pick your own), Randolph is looking to be a decent keeper.  George and Christie are firing in patches, we were used to that with George over the last twelve months but in Christie’s case that would be no surprise to Rams fans. As we are lacking in wide, creative players it is up to the full-backs to provide the width so consistency is crucial, being regularly streaky is not the consistency we want. 

The engine room is in midfield, until they take a grip for the entire game we won’t truly dominate, getting the blend is crucial. We already know Clayton will sit so the other two partners in crime need to be pushing us on. I fear Forshaw will be more use away where his continuity play will be beneficial. That leaves Howson, Grant and Baker. Howson has not really delivered and Baker is settling in, Grant we know. More to come from there.

Traore got his cameo role as predicted, if we can get him firing he will be a useful addition, many managers have tried. Two out of our three strikers have scored, Bamford has been in a more withdrawn role and has shown deft touches. He is a better player than his last stay at the Riverside and looks like there’s also more to come.

What about our next opponents? The City Ground has been a graveyard over the years and they have started the season well despite Britt Assombalonga moving north. There was a blip on Tuesday as they lost at Barnsley in a game where two teams with a 100% record clashed, typical Championship as The Tykes were yet to pick up a point and Forest hadn’t dropped one before the match.

I garnered some thoughts from Forest fans. Defeat came after arguably their best performance of the season, in a lop-sided match in which Forest had 62% possession, 26 chances created with 7 on target!

They have a very good manager in Warburton who played good football at Brentford. Forest are very good going forward moving the ball with pace with a decent crop of hungry young players. However, their weakness is at the other end of the pitch where they are defensively poor and another two soft goals were conceded in the last game. They have tried both three at the back and a flat back four – neither is working. The manager wants to invest in a new goalkeeper and they have apparently been linked with four, though Saturday will probably be too soon for a new custodian. They are also short at the back and fans think a new centre-half is a must. 

Three league games in, Forest have two wins and one defeat, which is probably better than expectations. The fans think they will have a top half finish and will upset some of the bigger teams but they’re always liable to get beat away from home at lower division opposition. Their Saturday prediction: 2 – 2.

From our view point it will be interesting to see the reception Britt gets from Forest fans. Also here is something that some may have forgotten – Paddy Bamford is a Forest fan and went to their academy, he progressed through the ranks and made his first team debut at 17 but only made two appearances before he was hoovered up by the Chelsea Academy. His biggest sin was playing for Derby, a slight redeeming feature was him undermining the Rams playing for Boro.

In terms of selection, I wonder if Monk will pick Baker to start and instead of replacing one of the three midfielders he operates alongside Bamford with Assombalonga the focal point. Gestede, Fletcher and Traore can offer different attacking alternatives later on in the match from the bench. This would serve two purposes, it would give some tempo and guile further forward to unpick the Forest defence, it would also strengthen us centrally, it will be crucial to keep the ball to quieten the City Ground, keep their young bucks under control and free our full backs to spring forward.

A draw wouldn’t be a bad shout, a win a real statement of intent, not many will take three points from a visit to the Trent.

So will Boro employ their cutting edge to fell the Tricky Trees or will they be stumped by the task ahead and put in a wooden performance? As usual, give your predictions on score, scorers and team selection…

A warm summers evening on Teesside greeted Burton Albion to their first ever Riverside experience. Even the constabulary turned out in greater numbers than on Saturday to greet them adorned in the same colour as the Burton shirts. The three Police Transit vans at the rear of the South stand however could have been the mode of transport for the travelling Brewers army as there were more rioters on Saturday than travelling fans tonight. I think the official figure was around 230 or thereabouts. We needn’t have worried about an atmosphere though as the South and North stands combined to keep it going all night.

The line-up was unchanged from Saturday, still no Braithwaite or Ayala despite “fake news” from a local paper to the contrary about the former’s fitness. That wasn’t the only thing that was unchanged from Saturday, like Sheffield United the Brewers came at us from the off and for the first 5 to 10 minutes we were pretty much camped in our own half with the Midfield yet again looking irrelevant. Fortunately Monk saw the same game and changed his Diamond before the quarter hour mark before things got worse. Up until the formation change to what looked like a straight three in the middle we looked lost. Things didn’t that get much better but it seemed to steady the ship. Christie was very quiet and seemed to be under instruction to keep back although to be fair everything Burton threw at us came down our left side so inevitably that was the side were we eventually regained possession and broke from.

Burton had signalled intent from the off and Palmer came close before he blasted it high wide and over in a let off but early warning to Boro. They played with a big unit up top in Lucas Akins who was chasing onto long balls with Gibson comfortably dealing with them although sometimes via a throw in or a corner. It was from a corner that Randolph miss punched in his only nervous moment from which the ball seemed to take an eternity to clear before Clayton eventually got it up field. For the rest of the game Randolph looked comfortable, coming out for balls and catching them cleanly and with confidence reassuring his defenders in front of him in marked contrast to the early stages of last season.

As we approached the quarter hour Boro settled and started to play some neat stuff but again some unnecessary and nonsense passes put us back in trouble on occasions. Then Clayts was booked for a tackle that was even later than Saturdays Police reinforcements. This wasn’t going entirely to plan and it has to be said that Burton looked the more up for it. Clayton was committed to sweeping everything up but now had to be careful after his yellow. Howson seemed a bit better connected with his team mates but Forshaw would go from a brilliant piece of footwork to misplaced or just plain poor passes. This was almost déjà vu from the last game on Saturday but worse. Christie wasn’t getting down the flanks and delivering balls into the box at all. We were trying to play it though the middle but it wasn’t really coming off despite some clever and deft touches from Bamford who is carving out a role for himself in the team as the No.10 we have all been looking for.

Then as on Saturday a breakthrough when Assombalonga latched onto a ball played through by Gestede on the left hand side of the Burton box, cuts into a really tight angle and instead of passing it into the middle his left foot unleashed an unstoppable shot past his marker and between the Keeper Bywater and the near post, 1-0 Boro and you could see the Brewers droop. Again as on Saturday we revelled in the one goal cushion coming at almost the same time on 23 minutes (instead of 20) and then started to play some good football creating serious opportunities including one which saw a Bamford header flash wide from the middle of the box. During our purple patch Gestede also had a header in on target from a Christie cross who seemed to have sprung to life after the goal but Burton also came too close for comfort to an equaliser with a fierce cross come shot that fizzed wide of Randolph’s goal at the other end.

Assombalonga was everywhere and chasing everything, holding the ball up, twisting and turning defenders and linking up play, this was more like it but it didn’t last. Yet again we seemed to suffer from over confidence (or maybe a lack of belief) and Burton started creeping back in with some good build up play themselves. While Clough’s men could look pleasing on the eye they never really looked like getting the better of Gibson and Fry who again were solid and dependable at the back. I’m sure Garry Monk now sees Fry as a serious member of his side and not just a third or fourth choice back up CB. The injury to Ayala could not have come at a better time for young Dael as once again he put in a sterling and confident performance with well-timed challenges and good awareness around him. He also seems to have earned the trust and respect from Randolph who regularly played the ball out to him.

The half time whistle went and we went in one up but it should have been two and if we are going to break this league let alone smash it we need to make these spells of pressure and classy football count. The second half started with no changes from either bench but again like Saturday we just didn’t start as well as our opponents and again the middle of the park looked disconnected, scrappy and disjointed. George then had an Ayala moment as he short changed Randolph with a ridiculous back pass (remember a similar one at home early last season?) which had the ROI Keeper sprinting off his line to clear taking a clattering from man mountain Akins for his troubles. He was clearly winded and Dimi was sent out to warm up as a precaution and the applause and cheers were almost as loud as when Assombalonga had scored. The almost calamitous error seemed to be a wake-up call to our Friend George as he then played the rest of the half with renewed vigour and determination going on those old familiar mazy George runs and turning the Burton RB inside out and pinging crosses in. It was good to see him back to his best and maybe the back pass was the slap in the face he needed to give himself.

Boro then started to put another show together with Bamford again playing delightful balls and linking the play up between midfield and attack. The lad looks an even better player than his first time here and is starting to look a snip at the rumoured £5m or £6m we paid for him. Gestede also looked more effective by having other players to link up with presumably and losing the Donkey tag in the process, maybe not quite a thoroughbred but certainly a far more useful pack horse. Back to Bamford and he played a real peach of a ball through to Assombalonga and I’m talking the real Ferrero Rocher of balls here. Britt was clean through, twelve yards out with only Bywater in goal to beat and that’s where his shot almost ended up, by the water behind the back of the North Stand in the Tees. It was easier to score than miss. In fact I would go as far as to say that even Dong Gook Lee would have buried it, Britt will never have a better chance for the rest of his career. It should have been two up and the game out of sight much to the relief and incredulous looks on the faces of those in Yellow shirts.

Five minutes later Assombalonga collected the ball outside of the Burton box, he tried to muscle his way through three or four defenders who wouldn’t yield but he wouldn’t give up, he managed to get a half shot away which was blocked but it spun to Gestede unmarked from ten yards out who shot cleanly but straight at Bywater whom it bounced off but Assombalonga was still charging through only this time to despatch it into the middle of the net to make it 2-0. Not long after we thought Friend would nick the third as he ran through the Burton defence, turning the RB yet again, cutting inside beating three men only to see his efforts come to a crunching end as it took twenty men to stop him (OK it was probably only three who simultaneously body checked him), our Tails were up!

Boro were once again in the ascendancy and started to play clever football with neat pass and go movements. A ball played into the box to the newly arrived Baker (on as sub for Forshaw) saw him unselfishly leave the ball for Bamford who shot and scored but in his eager determination had strayed offside, a real shame as Paddy deserved his goal. Boro weren’t quite showboating but offering tantalising glimpses of what this side could really do once they all click. You got a feeling that this was a set of players really enjoying their football and whilst the belief seems to ebb and flow when it flows it really flows with clever dummies and back heels much to the despair of Burton who feared an avalanche I suspect but it just didn’t come. We reverted to safe balls played out from the back and building up slowly, trying to coax and tease the Burton Defence out but sometimes so slowly it was easily read or intercepted. Watching Boro at the moment is a bit like the Foxtrot, slow, slow, quick, quick, slow. The quick bits are tantalising but the slow bits at times were like a throwback to last season. Patience and time will be the key elements.

With about thirteen minutes plus stoppage time to go Burton found themselves down to 10 men after Baker was scythed down by Akpan who hadn’t been on the pitch long himself. For ourselves Traore had just been sent on for Bamford who was taken off to a standing ovation, how things must feel so much better for the lad after his Burnley sojourn. Adama’s arrival of course raised expectations; this was now his chance against tired and weary defenders in a lower league. Well Adama does what Adama does, some amazing headless runs and then standing and watching without anticipating and making movement into space. At one point Clayts had the ball and he literally walked over to him and stood about two feet away instead of making an opening. Despite that every time he got the ball he had everyone off their seats and did actually play a few decent balls and one in particular was a Malteser (not quite as flash as Ferroro Rocher you understand) for both Fletcher (who had come on for Gestede) and Assombalonga to chase. Fletcher arrived on it first with only the keeper to beat, lined up his shot but placed it perfectly into the outstretched arms of Bywater. Tellingly though Adama had taken the ball out of defence after a spell of pressure and burst up the pitch. I’m not sure what Monk would have made of him other than the lad has blistering pace, gets the fans going, some great but eclectic technique but what do I do with him and where to play him?

Overall you do get the feeling that one day these opportunities are all going to start going in and when that happens we will see six or seven in a game. It feels like there have been more attempts on and off target in these opening three games than I witnessed all last season. It finished 2-0 but could and should have been 4 or 5 nil, it is nice however to have a moan about us only winning 2-0, Typical Boro!

As Boro’s thirst for another three points hope to be quenched, Ian Gill has taken his seat in the Diasboro snug as he looks ahead to tomorrow night’s encounter at the Riverside…

Burton upon Trent is famous for it’s brewing industry hence Albion’s nickname of the Brewers. Marston’s Pedigree is my favourite brew but the aficionados swear by Bass which they like without the Mr Whippy much loved on Teesside.

Burton Albion are a bit of a fairy story, there were three teams in Burton but they all disappeared pre-1939, the current club came in to being in 1950 playing in the Birmingham League. They worked their way up the pyramid only getting in to the Conference in 2002. They moved to the purpose built Pirelli in 2005 and were promoted to the football league in 2009 and are in in the Championship.

They have had some famous managers, Neil Warnock in the early 80’s, Nigel Clough who oversaw their promotion to the league and is back there again, Gary Rowatt – now at Derby, Paul Pescisolido and of course our own Jimmy Floyd.

It is only a town of 72,000 people and historically the fans supported Derby and Burton, over recent years newer fans now treat Derby as rivals to the mild irritation of Rams fans. Within an hour’s drive are the two Sheffield clubs, Barnsley, Derby, Forest, Villa, Brum and Wolves. It is a great time to be a Burton fan.

But not on Saturday when they were thumped 4-1 at Hull though they were level at 1-1 with Irvine, their most influential player, equalising. Within five minutes he was sent off for a second bookable offence. Up until then the hosts had edged it but the Brewers had given a good account of themselves despite losing Warnock with an early injury (both Warnock and Irvine won’t be available for Tuesday) but after that they took a bit of a pasting.

They will be looking for a response at the Riverside but the best you can say is that they are workmanlike. Buxton is solid, Dyer has a bit about him but they are a typical Nigel Clough side. They regularly line up in 3-5-2 formation.

This will be their first trip to the Riverside with both our previous meetings being in cup competitions. The first match under Mogga in the third round of the FA Cup was probably one of the most one sided matches I have ever seen as we lost 2-1 to late, late goals. The other game saw us come from behind thanks to a Stuani braces with the winner coming in extra time.

Anyway, it takes two to tango so what about us? I suppose you could say we were workmanlike on Saturday, it certainly wasn’t a classic but even that level should see off Burton with the quality of players we have at the club. So let’s have a look at what we may expect to see from Boro tomorrow:

Same again defensively unless Ayala rises Lazarus like from the treatment table. It all depends whether his ankle/calf/knee/back/shoulder/hip/ribs/head (delete as appropriate) heal in time. Other injuries and illnesses are available.

Let’s look up front. Braithwaite looks to be out of contention for some while so you would assume same again. Bamford certainly looked happy as the link man of the three, Assombalonga looks to be able to bully most defenders in this division, Gestede is, well, Gestede. The one concern would be the fitness of Bamford, let’s hope it was just tiredness.

I don’t want us to go route one but repeating the throw in routine between Christie and Forshaw where we ended up retreating the length of the pitch to Randolph when you have three people in the box is tantamount to negligence. Play football by all mean but don’t ignore the assets we have.

We need to lift the tempo and play further up the pitch so it is the middle three that needs some thought. Clayton appears to be earmarked to sit deep and drop in between Gibson and Fry to make a three, giving free reign to Christie and Friend to bomb on. Who to play in front of him? We have Forshaw, Howson, Leadbitter and Baker. Forshaw and Leadbitter are known quantities, neither will regularly play the killer ball, their passing is more about continuity than creation.

Howson has disappointed so far but is only a couple of matches into his Boro career –  Baker we know little about though he didn’t come on a year’s loan to warm the bench. Against Burton you could play both Howson and Baker, it depends how risk averse Gary Monk will be. Also will Adama get a run out at some point? I suppose Monk will want to see him in a match situation, this may be the opportunity for a cameo late on.

As of this morning there are still away tickets available for the Burton fans!! I don’t think all police leave will need to be cancelled to control their fans.

So it should be a comfortable win, scoreline, if not the performance and the points should be there for the taking.

So will Boro claim all three pints or will it be a case of brewers droop after a flaccid performance on the pitch? As usual your predictions for score, scorers and attendance…

Just twelve short but very eventful months ago Boro were about to start their Premiership return against a team in red and white stripes albeit they played in a less familiar sky blue number to avoid a clash. This evening at the Riverside would see Boro host another red and white striped team but who those same twelve months ago were plying their trade in League one.

Last night Baker arrived on a loan deal from Chelsea to answer the need for a midfielder that can not only create but crucially can take set pieces. The like of his ilk was a glaring gap in the Boro set up against Wolves; hopefully he can settle in quickly but was unlikely to start today. Speaking of starting today only three players who had started against Stoke would be starting against the Blades, Gibson, Clayton and Friend. That is testimony to the massive overhaul that has gone on with the Boro squad and realistically that level of change will take time to settle and bed in let alone the backroom and management changes and it was proved to be.

Sheffield United on the other hand were settled and had largely kept intact their management team and squad. As others had done before them from League One they were hoping to emulate that feel good factor to drive them up the League let alone the A19. They dismissed Brentford 1-0 last week and sat joint top with 3 points. Today was never going to be easy and as the Championship team everyone wants to beat the perceived Middlesbrough Millionaires would be a very desirable scalp from a South Yorkshire perspective.

The Boro line-up was pretty much as expected based upon this week’s departures and the injury to Braithwaite. There was also a big question mark against Ayala regarding fitness (as oppose to any punishment for his aberration at Molineux) after he also hobbled off in training and was subsequently was deemed by Monk to be carrying a niggle. The one surprise perhaps was Gestede starting up front with Assombalonga and Bamford just behind them at the head of the Midfield diamond with Downing nowhere to be seen.

An early afternoon downpour ensured that the pristine Riverside pitch would be slick and quick, hopefully this would suit Boro who had upped their pace and skillsets over the summer more than the Blades who had a more functional aspect to their game plan. As predicted by Forever Dormo the Groundstaff however were indeed copiously watering the pitch presumably because of the sand based substrate was draining too quickly.

The game itself started with the Blades getting at Boro from the off and in no mood to play the underdogs or parking their team coach in front of Jamal Blackman’s goal. Boro looked a little hesitant and unsure of who was supposed to be picking up who and as a result everything seemed a bit chaotic between the half way line and Boro’s 18 yard box. The weak link you would have thought would have been Dael Fry but truth be told he was assured and confident throughout and a sliding interruption from the youngster (rather than a tackle) in the box saved our blushes from an early deficit as the Blades cut through with ease.

After around ten minutes we started to clear our heads as United settled down and the pressure eased a little. The turning point came when Dael headed a half way line clearance up field to Bamford who controlled it bringing it down and played a left footed lob over the top of the Sheffield defence where Basham headed it straight upwards instead of clear as he struggled to get behind the ball. The resultant straight up and down trajectory was the perfect gift for Gestede who outjumped said defender and looped his header over Blackman and into the gaping net from 12 yards out. The pressure hanging over the Riverside up until that point exploded sending barometers spinning off collective Teesside walls.

Boro now had belief and the “Perple” shirted lot from S. Yorks looked despondent and dejected as Boro started to strut their stuff with a series of attempts and clever build up play. Gestede nearly doubled his tally when another header hit the upright past a despairing Blackman. Elsewhere Clayts was having personal duels with Carruthers, the two of them continually clattering into one another with Clayts having the upper hand.

Up until the goal I have to say Monk’s diamond formation did not look as though it was working. Apart from Bamford having a good game up top Forshaw and Howson looked too far apart and isolated from their team mates allowing the midfield five from Sheffield to dominate causing Clayton to clear up and challenge or everything on his own. Maybe in time it may improve along with understanding but based on today’s showing Redcar Red’s jury is well and truly out and unimpressed with diamonds.

The second half saw a resurgent Blades come out fighting again with their wounds obviously well licked by a Wilder half time team talk. Boro however would assuredly wrestle control with their millions of talent on display; surely it was a foregone conclusion? As the half wore on it was looking increasingly desperate for Boro as a series of ridiculous and careless passes gave up what little possession we did have again and again. Baker came on and looked good in parts but equally looked a liability as his footballing brain in terms of keeping it tight, frustrating and recycling the ball when under pressure was seemingly compromised by a few flash harry showboats that nearly cost us on two occasions.

In the end Grant was thrown on to anchor things and cut out the nonsense passing and get back to basics. Grant snapped into tackles and didn’t let the Blades compose themselves but despite Fletcher being brought on a few minutes previously to provide an outlet we just couldn’t get the balls played through to make the difference despite his running. The error for me was in bringing Baker on first instead of Grant; Bamford was cream crackered and was stiffening up so anything that went up to Fletcher meant he was in isolation as Bamfords tireless selfless running had emptied his tank with 15 to go.

All in all the second half was a lesson that despite the quantity on display the quality was in short supply as formation and team mates looked alien to many in red shirts. The pressure was building and Boro looked more desperate by the minute as the clock ticked down and in the dying seconds the inevitable happened and United equalised. A strange flag for a presumed offside or infringement from the Lino meant the deserved equaliser was ruled out much to Boro’s relief. Minutes later the whistle went and 3 points belong to the Boro. Last week an aberration cost us at least a well-earned point, this week we were fortunate and got away with it. Things even themselves out as they say but if I were a Sheffield fan I would be feeling very aggrieved and bitter this evening.

There is a lot of work to be done with this Boro side and the formation is one of them. The diamond shape worked for Bamford but that aside it looked a car crash in slow motion, a more straightforward 4312 to me would look more comfortable with what was on show today.

Of course it wasn’t all bad and there were some positives, Bamford as mentioned looked class, Gestede had his best game, Christie was a serious threat down the right side and my MOM, Clayts had a never say die attitude and Randolph in goal looked composed and confident apart from one very early sheepish clearance but pulled off a brilliant save in the second half to keep Boro in it against the run of play. I think we will get better, indeed we must do, there were some sublime bits in the first half but there were far too many poor features to rest on a 3 pointed laurel.

The real negatives came after the game. The ruled out goal was the catalyst for the Stella (other tins are available) fuelled morons from both sides to kick off with abuse and threats as Stewards had a struggle to keep the odd lunatic from clambering over the netting. The atmosphere turned ugly very quickly and come the end more fans were watching the “entertainment” in the SE corner than the game itself.

Worse followed outside, for some bizarre reason the United fans instead of being kept back for 10 minutes were released and there were scenes in the Car Park that were more reminiscent from the 70’s as enraged Sheffield fans decided to rain plastic bottles and coins down on those leaving the game from the East Stand family section. There were undoubtedly a few Boro morons engaging in taunts with the snarling Sheffield masses spitting and throwing gravel at departing families with Stewards totally out of their depth and half a dozen coppers trying to bravely keep order aided by a chicken wire fence. Those Officers who bravely faced up to the Sheffield contingent intent on violence have my utmost respect as their intervention prevented what would have been a scene making the McGregor vs Mayweather fight a Sunday school picnic.

I started this piece comparing it with this time last year and will finish on the same note. Last year the Police behaviour at the Stoke game was an embarrassing, ridiculous, costly overkill complete with their helicopter flying overhead all afternoon. This year despite there being only a few thousand difference in the crowd (27K in attendance today) there was zero Police presence to speak of (OK a handful). Why the massive difference? Are those in authority and making decisions on safety and crowd control really that incredibly stupid? It appears they are and based upon what I witnessed after the game those who made those decisions should be in possession of their P45’s come Monday morning for gross incompetence and negligence.

No doubt we will have full heavy handed Policing for the 400 Burton fans on Tuesday evening.

As Garry Monk approaches his first home game as Boro boss, Simon Fallaha looks into what his teams must do to charm the Riverside faithful. History shows that his task may be tougher than he thinks…

Nobody in the southern press, at least nobody opposed to Boro’s decision to sack Gareth Southgate, could understand why the decision was made to dismiss a manager who had taken his team to one point from the summit of the Championship.

Statistically it made no sense. Beneath the surface, however, it made perfect sense.

There are many factors that culminate in a managerial farewell, but a primary one is home form. “Home form is vital” is one of the biggest clichés in the football book for a reason – how your team performs at home can make or break you.

So it was for Southgate. Away from home his team had defeated Swansea (yes!), Scunthorpe, Sheffield Wednesday and Reading, conceding only one goal, and had only been denied more points at Coventry and Bristol City by late, late leakages. At home, a good win over Ipswich was the exception rather than the rule: remember laboured wins over Doncaster and Derby, an uninspiring 0-0 draw with Sheffield United (our next opponents!) and three defeats without a single goal scored, one of them being a right hiding against West Brom?

I am positive that the fans wouldn’t have minded, at least not as much, if the team had struggled away if they had performed at home. But Southgate’s Boro were doing brilliantly away, and struggling at home. And when the vast majority of fans are seeing you at home, and seeing you struggle, all the statistics in the world about possession won’t protect you.

Strike that… all the statistics in the world full stop. Perhaps.

Between 2014-16, Aitor Karanka’s home record in the league was thirty-one wins, ten draws and only five defeats. That should be more than enough, at least on paper, to counter criticism that he was merely happy not to lose games.

But, and this is the big but, how many of those thirty-one wins genuinely live long in the memory? Football isn’t simply about results, regardless of their significance to the team who attains them. It is, as Jorge Valdano said, not the information on the score sheet that lingers longest, but the aspiration for greatness and the feelings that engenders.

It is a key reason why memories of the infamous 1996-97 season still endure, regardless of a win rate of under 50% in the league – which was actually 20% before Christmas! Against Newcastle in the cup, and West Ham & Chelsea in the league, to name but a few, Boro produced breath-taking displays which inspired the fans to dream of previously untold possibilities never seen again.

Fast-forward to Bryan Robson’s most successful Premier League campaign and, aside from a Paul Gascoigne free-kick here and a couple of Hamilton Ricard lobs there, you haven’t much to talk about. Similarly uninspiring was the 2011-12 campaign – Tony Mowbray may have taken us to the verge of the play-offs, but there were no home wins worth remembering barring those against Birmingham and Southampton.

And there were just two home matches in 2014-15 that endured for similar reasons: Boro 2, Derby 0 and Boro 4, Ipswich 1. Games where we, to borrow that overused term, released the handbrake, expressed ourselves and dared to dream. The wins against Norwich & Millwall in the league, and Brentford in the play-offs, which produced ten goals between them, deserve honourable mentions too. But they were victories of the more controlled kind, sporadic individual brilliance mostly submerged for the need of the collective.

Ah-ha. The collective. The system. The product of burgeoning tactics and caution, the magical becoming the often machinic, the effective and efficient not entertaining enough for a typical home fan’s liking. The right statistics alone are not enough to make the increasingly expensive Riverside ticket worth purchasing, especially for those spoiled on the diet of 1990s “catwalk football” in the Premier League’s formative, less saturated, less evolved years. All that seems a thing of the past in an atmosphere dominated by results-driven functionality – soullessly regimented, risk-averse, adventure exuding methodology where points and prizes clearly matter more than attraction and aesthetics. It is not that the creativity is no longer there – when it shows, it’s actually sublime – but it is fleeting, submerged in a result over game, certainty over chance and statistics over style intent.

The pressure of style carries more emphasis when you combine it with a typical away side’s approach. It was common for teams who visited the Riverside to contain and look to strike, as Boro would for away games, as opposed to playing a more open game. When the opposition that played most openly arrived, say, Cardiff in 2016, the more exciting games tended to ensue. That was all very well. And it worked exceptionally well when Boro contained and struck most clinically on the road at Ipswich and Brighton, in indelibly commanding showings. But what about when a team “parks the bus”? Especially one not renowned for doing so? How do the fans, manager, and team react?

I point, again, to the home draw with Bournemouth in 2014 and the debate that followed it. On paper it’s an open and shut case against the “moaners”: the “for heaven’s sake, a draw is a common result in a top of the table clash, and the season’s still relatively young. What on earth are they making such a big deal out of it for?” rhetoric. But you must read between the lines.

Being disappointed not to win is one thing, but trying to justify the result instead of looking for improvements is another. It’s easy to assume that two good teams cancelled each other out. The reality seemed more that Karanka was not prepared for Eddie Howe to diverge from his attacking style, and had no answer once a strong start didn’t bring Boro’s customary “early goal”. It was as if our then manager was following a probability law: 85-90% of the time, we’ll win, so let’s prioritise saving the point. Whatever happens, that’s a continued unbeaten run and another clean sheet for the records. That kind of thing.

But how will that read with fans who have paid good money to see their team have a real go? There is a marked difference between achievement and entertainment – the former is easy to admire in the long term but hard to love in the moment.

What a team achieves on the home pitch has got to be worth it for the paying customer. A football ground is not, or at least should not be, the equivalent of an art house cinema, where every moment can be reflected upon, rationalised, dissected and admired for its “craft” and “depth”. All that comes afterwards for a reason. The best remembered football grounds are emotional cauldrons of noise, created by thrilling drama and momentary spectacle that “genius” tacticians, quality defending and passing accuracy can’t do on their own. And while it worked nicely for me to sit back and admire how coolly, calmly and sometimes clinically Karanka’s Boro stroked the ball around, it’s not so hunky dory when you’re in the stadium and haven’t seen enough shots on target.

That’s the extent of the task Garry Monk is facing – achieving success and pleasing the fans. But the responsibility cannot rest with Monk and the players alone. The fans, at least at the start, have got to look within and give that extra bit of support required to the new regime. As Andrew Glover put it in 2012 when contrasting away and home support:

“At other stadiums Boro fans know they have to play their part and fulfil their side of the deal. In turn the team has probably come to expect good backing and give an extra ounce of effort from time to time. At home the majority just sit and wait. When the goals don’t come, the mumbling starts and the booing during and at the end of games leaves the squad feeling apprehensive about playing on their home turf.”

That was then and this is now. Fair enough. But it is an issue worth raising nonetheless. Especially because it is not unique to Boro. Roy Keane once recalled the crowd being “curiously quiet” when Manchester United fortuitously scraped past Dynamo Kiev in a Champions League home game they had to win. It was as if, in his words, they had resented the absence of the spectacle they had come to see.

Any crowd would be delighted with a hatful of goals: to many, after all, they’re football’s oxygen. But the fans also need to be there for the team during the hard days and nights, when the team really needs a lift. Boro have no divine right to an automatic promotion place and I’ve a sneaking feeling that Riverside visitors will remind us of this sooner rather than later.

The first of whom, Sheffield United, have a recent history of uninspiring, even painful visits. Apart from the booing endured following the scoreless draw I mentioned earlier, there was an absolutely dire 1-0 win against a Blades side then managed by the late, lamented Gary Speed. A Scottish striker many of us would rather not talk about – alright, Kris Boyd – scored the only goal amidst the gloom.

With the current Boro team still to gel and Sheffield United more than likely to be “up for it” after a decent start to their Championship return, I’m expecting a much more interesting encounter. And if it helps to bring the Riverside fans back, win or lose, then so much the better.

A first Boro goal for one of our new forwards would be a good start – and a good omen.

Great anxiety and anticipation in equal measure in the Molineux sunshine for the much awaited smashing Boro inaugural line up which saw the team pretty much as predicted. Fletcher getting the nod over Bamford was perhaps the only debating point. No Traore on the bench yet Gestede warranted a seat, my guess as a last ten minute “Plan B” if things were going wrong. That logic flew in the face of Leeds fans who may question if Monk ever had a Plan B? Anyway over 2,000 of the Boro faithful turned up to see the new look side adorned in their white and blue away strip.

The game started lively enough but without great stress for either side. De Roon gave away a free kick central to the Boro goal but fortunately nothing came of it. As both sides soft shoe shuffled around the Molineux pitch sizing their opponents up neither really laying a glove on their opponent. That said Wolves had the lions share with Neves and Coady running the middle of the park and playing balls stretching us down the flanks. Wolves started looking the stronger growing in confidence and It took until 15 minutes when we had our first serious foray which ended up going out for a Boro corner.

Assombalonga broke five minutes later and the resultant foul could have ended up with a yellow card for the Wolves offender. The resultant Clayton free kick was almost deflected in for an own goal. Up the other end Neves then spared Boro blushes by fluffing his lines seconds later. Friend was being given a tough time by Enobakhare and a few crosses flew in from his flank. Perhaps the lack of a covering/defending wide player in the old AK format meant more exposure than previous. Assombalonga meanwhile battled and scrapped and was attracting a few fouls for his troubles and Miranda was finally booked for his troubles on 25 minutes.

On the half hour mark Wolves tried the opposite flank and went at Christie whose slip saw Wolves getting an attempt blocked out by Gibson with Randolph collecting. Just a minute or so later Ayala dropped a ridiculous clanger with a reckless soft pass to Gibson which left Bonatini with the easiest opportunity he will ever receive in his career. Up until that point Boro had been fairly strong defensively but it is impossible to legislate against the type of aberration Ayala committed. In fairness Wolves had been applying most of the pressure with us looking disjointed in midfield but Boro had looked fairly composed and comfortable at the back.

Boro started to clear their heads with Braithwaite busy along with Clayton and Friend trying to push up but the Wolves wing back was up for picking up any loose balls trying to get in behind Friend. Braithwaite came close with an even easier opportunity than last week against Augsburg missing a golden chance from the middle of the goalmouth when a Christie ball went begging as Boro pushed for the equaliser.

The whistle went on 45 with the score line probably a fair reflection but frustrating that it was unnecessarily gift wrapped from Ayala. De Roon had started the half busy but faded as the game progressed with Coady taking control, needless to say the Dutchman’s passing and distribution wasn’t exactly enthralling. Howson was nondescript almost anonymous compared with Clayton who was involved in just about everything for Boro. Being involved in everything didn’t always mean that it was beneficial. I have no idea why he has been selected as our set piece expert because he has shown nothing at all in his time at Boro to suggest otherwise, his attempts were somewhere between poor and embarrassing. At this level for a professional football club that is unacceptable.

Monk looked to have shuffled his midfield pack a little at the start of the second half but it didn’t make any difference with only Clayton impressing. Nothing changed up top with the same three of which Assombalonga was busy, Braithwaite frustrating and Fletcher very quiet so it wasn’t a surprise to see Bamford come on for Fletcher after being given ten minutes presumably to sort it out. Clayts then clattered into a challenge preventing Wolves breaking and picked up his first yellow of the season for his troubles. De Roon shortly afterwards blocked a ball to concede a corner which Clayton (who else) cleared from the near post as Wolves kept pushing and we still didn’t look like gelling collectively.

A clumsy challenge from Christie led to a free kick floated into the Boro box dealt with by Assombalonga with Bamford helping to clear. Seconds later Clayton played Braithwaite through in turn playing in Assombalonga to win a corner which only meant Clayton messing up the set piece with a wasted ball to the near post.

In a very unKaranka like decision Monk brought Forshaw on for De Roon on 60 minutes and almost immediately Assombalonga broke free as he tried to get past Ruddy with the suspicion of a hand ball from the Wolves Keeper just outside the box.

The arrival of Bamford coincided with Boro buzzing around a lot more, pushing forwards to get the equaliser and came close on a few occasions. Despite the pressure no breakthrough was imminent with Ruddy having a relatively quiet time. With ten minutes to go Plan B was about to be executed after all with Gestede coming on for the forlorn looking Howson. Let’s hope Jonny gets up to speed quickly and finds his bearings because we desperately need some spark from the middle. So Gestede, Braithwaite, Bamford and Assombalonga all up front in a desperate last throw of the dice.

A throw in near the Wolves box meant all four of our Strikers piling into the danger area for an anticipated long throw from Cyrus but it was bizarrely thrown out. Not as bad as a Barragan throw in admittedly but disappointing nonetheless. The lad then almost made amends with a driving run and shot from 20 yards out with five minutes left of normal time. Despite Gestede’s arrival there were no long balls being humped up to him thereby not really benefitting from his main threat.

As added time was announced Ayala gave away a free kick near the by-line on the edge of the 18 yard box which ended up being mishit and spectacularly sliced up to the half way line much to Dani’s relief. A flurry of desperate Boro attempts into the box ensued in the last few minutes during which Forshaw took a yellow for the team and then the whistle sounded and that was it 1-0 to the Wolves.

A mixed performance from Boro, you could see individual bits of something but there were one or two below par performances not helped by a glaring lack of creativity or spark in the middle. We need to find someone to pick up the Gaston gauntlet before the end of August, preferably someone that can take free kicks and corners.

I said beforehand that a defeat will not be the end of the world and that I fancied Wolves to be a real contender this season so we lick our wounds and move on. Not surprisingly we didn’t look fully joined up or connected yet, sloppy if anything but Assombalonga looked like he will be a handful and Clayts was MOM by a mile (just a shame that he or Monk misguidedly thinks that he can take

corners and free kicks). On the basis of last week and today, Bamford has to start, he was the stand out bright spark this afternoon.

A difficult away game between two sides that will be pushing for promotion separated only by a single careless mistake which cost us a point. Perhaps what was interesting was our two “prestige” midfield signings didn’t look any better than those longer serving at the club. There will be some more incomings and outgoings but as it stands Boro looked very much a work in progress which being fair is exactly what we felt would be the case.

Looking on the bright side at least we have that “unbeaten” monkey off our back! Early days yet and Monk has had his first real look at his charges in real life action. Whilst we didn’t do ourselves justice it has to be remembered that Randolph had very little to deal with and we will get better.

So the wait is almost over and Boro’s Championship campaign – or ‘Operation Smash The League’ as it’s better known – is all about to kick off.  The supporters have put their summer-sport warm beer back in the fridge, returned their holiday Euros back to Ramsdens (other less obtrusive methods of exchanging currency are available) and have wiped away the sunblock off their rose-tinted glasses. Though to avoid potential injury, health and safety rules advise that as you prepare to kick and head every ball you should first remember to remove those rose-tinted glasses.

Anyway, a strange mist of optimism has descended on Teesside – yes optimism! – which is surely the antithesis of the local tradition among long suffering Boro supporters, where many are still busy looking around for the pessimistic punchline to hit them square on the jaw. Indeed, back in the days when many supporters of more fashionable clubs were dutifully naming their children after their conquering heroes, I suspect many children born in Middlesbrough were often given the middle name ‘long-suffering’ to keep them grounded and ensure their expectations weren’t unduly raised.

However, the mood on Teesside has changed in the years since a young Steve Gibson took the club’s empty bowl of gruel to the top table and dared to ask ‘Please Sir, I want more’ – it was a twist many fans had not expected to see in their lifetime  – they’d got used to seeing the likes of [Joe] Fagin and his predecessors keeping all the shiny silverware for themselves at Liverpool, while the Boro faithful artfully dodged their way back home from the terraces of Ayresome Park having received their weekly dose of disappointment to allow them a good self-indulgent moan in the pub on a Saturday night. I grew up hearing ‘Useless’ precede Boro so often that the phrase had taken on something of a comfort blanket and wondered why many of my Teesside classmates at school supported clubs of ambition like Super Spurs or the Mighty Gunners way beyond an age where they should have known better.

Yes, one of the most important thing that the Boro chairman has given us as supporters are expectations. Though he surely has surpassed himself this season by declaring an ambition to ‘Smash the League’ – none of this “we’re hoping to be in the promotion mix” nonsense that you could imagine someone like Steve Bruce reluctantly mumbling out after having his arm twisted by the Birmingham press. No that’s not Steve Gibson’s way – he’s proudly told the media Boro are going up in style and he’ll ban any local journalist who says otherwise – so be warned!

It’s probably not to Boro’s advantage that they start the season as nearly everyone’s favourites to go up – it not only adds pressure to the manager and players, it also means other clubs will be looking to up their game and claim our carefully trimmed scalp. In a recent survey of local football writers from all the other Championship clubs, all of them bar Leeds tipped Boro for promotion. Perhaps the Leeds reporter knows something, or maybe he’s just unbiasedly concluded if Garry Monk couldn’t get the Mighty Whites promoted under the impatient gaze of Massimo Cellino then he’s not going to manage it at Boro with our more forgiving chairman backing him to the hilt.

Having assessed his Boro squad Garry Monk has opted to discard quite a bit of it this summer and replace them with more dynamic players – or better players if you don’t mind cutting to the chase. It’s beginning to appear that the new Boro manager is not somebody who will show a lot of patience with a player who he thinks won’t suit his preferred style of play – and why should he be patient when he’s got a glimpse of what’s behind Steve Gibson’s cheque book. He’s also hoping to keep two of our potential big-money assets at the Riverside too – Ben Gibson and Marten de Roon both started against Augsburg and recent noises suggests the club are planning on retaining their services. Whilst it works in the club’s favour that some of it’s top players are on rather lucrative contracts and will also command a sizable fee before the club even acknowledges any prospective bids – it’s also proving to be a sticking point to move on the likes of Gaston Ramirez with few clubs able to meet both the club’s and player’s financial demands. Though as I write this article there are rumours that our man from Uruguay has been spotted boarding a plane on his way to potential buyers – whether he will require the return portion of his ticket may depend on how far his agent is able to keep his foot away from own his mouth.

Thankfully, since Monk’s arrival some of the senior players have been re-enthused following last season’s disappointment – even Stuart Downing has been rolling back the years to the extent that he’s now able to train with the under-23’s. Though it’s probably more to do with the fact that Downing has been dragging his heels on a potential move to Birmingham nearly as much as Harry Redknapp’s wife does when he offers to drop her off at the shops in his Range Rover. The Boro hierarchy know a Brum deal when they see one. Harry thought he had our club over a barrel once he rolled out his cockney pitch to the unwanted Boro boy – but I presume the reason Stewie has been granted a free transfer only two years after the club paid nearly £7m to acquire his services is in order for him to find a suitable club. To then top-up his wages as well would appear to be an act of charity too far – one or the other but not both – otherwise he could simply agree to play for any club regardless of the personal terms they offer.

So Boro head to bottom-of-the-table Wolves on Saturday (the table never lies – especially when it’s sorted alphabetically) looking to get their campaign off to good start. There were signs against Augsburg that our new attacking talent in Assombalonga, Braithwaite and Fletcher could link up quite well – even Bamford looked more of a physical presence. Though it’s a slight concern that with Mr Braithwaite and Fletcher, the Boro recruitment department may be trying to sign players based on seventies hit comedy Porridge – better watch out for a big central defender called Harry Grout – though at least they appear to have turned the page on the ‘De’ section.

Whilst many of the new signings look to be pretty useful, we shouldn’t start assuming the amount spent will automatically represent the equivalent value on the pitch. Boro spent what they needed to get their targets but we were no doubt trying to force the market – look at the similar fees paid for Adama, Gestede and Bamford last season, they are all still yet to prove themselves and indeed they may not get the chance. With so many changes it would be unrealistic to expect Boro to start off playing in a manner that will brush opponents aside – that will take time on the training pitch and several matches yet at least before it clicks into place. There are still some underlying issues that still look less than ideal – George has not quite returned to his best of 12 months ago and although much of Boro’s build-up play starts with him, he’s rarely getting an assist to his name. Cyrus Christie looked a bit similar to Friend on the right but he lost the ball a few times in his own half against Augsburg – he must also learn to play the percentages if Boro are to avoid getting caught out.

Jonny Howson will add much needed drive and guile to the middle of the park and if de Roon remains at the club to add to Clayton, Leadbitter and Forshaw, then Boro will have the legs to match most other teams. With new keeper Darren Randolph looking like being the number one, he will also need time to settle and will probably like a few clean sheets under his belt – though some will wonder if he is much of an improvement on what we already had – hopefully he’ll get confidence playing behind Gibson and Ayala, who if they can create the partnership of our last promotion-winning team, it will be the best pairing in the league. However, there’s still four weeks left for a big PL club to decide to make a tempting offer for Gibson and Ayala’s recent injury record has to be a worry – I’d expect further cover to arrive in the coming weeks.

So do we have a team to justify our favourites tag? Well it certainly easily looks like enough to make top six or better, probably top four given that not many Championship outfits will have our strength in depth for the slog of a 46-game season. Ideally, Boro will need to start well and the opening fixtures could easily have been tougher – though an indifferent start may get everyone murmuring ‘Typical Boro’, we shouldn’t panic if we don’t hit the ground running – let alone skipping and hopping around the opposition.

Right, here we go again it’s prediction time – first I’d better ask what you think Boro’s final standing will be as you glance through spectacles in any colour or shade of your choosing. As for the game itself, the usual drill applies – will Boro show they’re hungrier than the Wolves? Or will we see a howler or two as Monk wonders if he’s bitten off more than he can chew in hastily assembling his new look Boro. Your predictions for score, scorers and attendance – plus who will be hoping to avoid a cameo role with Boro under-23’s next week?

 

 

Garry Monk has embarked upon a radical overhaul of the Boro squad that got relegated from the Premier League last season and I suspect he’s not finished yet – as I type this sentence Boro have currently made 17 changes to the first team squad, with ten leaving and seven arriving and two looking close to a Boro exit (Downing and Ripley) – as well as the future of at least a further seven players looking uncertain, including the £3.5m panic buy Guedioura who has been limited to training with the under-23’s. This doesn’t seem on the face of it the usual manner in which newly relegated teams plot their return back to the top-flight – it’s actually more akin to a club that’s just been taken over and had an injection of cash and looks to build a new improved team.

Of the new recruits only Assombalonga, Howson and Christie are proven in the Championship to add to the ones from our own promotion-winning team that still remain (Dimi, George, Ayala, Ben, Leadbitter, Clayton and Forshaw) – we could probably also add Bamford and Fabio to that list of experience to give us a dozen who’ve been there and worn the T-shirt and have now washed and ironed it and checked if it still fits over their slightly swollen Premier League heads.

To highlight the extent of the changes from last year I’ve produced a table to show the In’s (green) and Out’s (red) and those who are still waiting to shake it all about (yellow) – those who are simply excited to stay put are shown in grey – the colour of choice for dynamic players, though three shades are more than enough for those who have been tied, gagged and bound by the club.

Status	Player	Nationality	Notes
GOALKEEPERS
OUT	Víctor Valdés	Spain	contract terminated
OUT	Brad Guzan	USA	to Atlanta (MSL) – free
	Dimi Konstantopoulos	Greece	new 12 month contract
OUT ?	Connor Ripley	England	club will consider offers
OUT ?	Tomas Mejias	Spain	future uncertain
IN	Darren Randolph	Rep. Ireland	from West Ham – £5m
DEFENDERS
	George Friend (LB)	England
OUT	James Husband (LB)	England	to Norwich – undisclosed fee
	Daniel Ayala (CB)	Spain
OUT	Bernardo Espinosa (CB)	Colombia	to Girona (Spain) – £4m
OUT ?	Ben Gibson (CB)	England	move to top six club muted
	Dael Fry (CB)	England
OUT	Calum Chambers (CB/RB)	England	loan from Arsenal ended
OUT	Antonio Barragán (RB)	Spain	to Real Betis (Spain) – initial loan
OUT ?	Fábio (LB/RB)	Brazil	possible return to Brazil
OUT ?	Alex Baptiste (CB/RB/LB)	England	future uncertain
IN	Cyrus Christie (RB)	Rep. Ireland	from Derby – undisclosed fee
IN	Connor Roberts (RB)	Wales	from Swansea – loan
MIDFIELDERS
	Grant Leadbitter	England
	Adam Clayton	England
OUT ?	Marten de Roon	Netherlands	wants top-flight football
	Adam Forshaw	England
OUT ?	Adlène Guedioura	Algeria	likely surplus to requirement
IN	Jonny Howson	England	from Norwich – undisclosed fee
FORWARDS
OUT ?	Stewart Downing	England	in talks with Birmingham
OUT ?	Gastón Ramírez	Uruguay	club will consider offers
OUT	Viktor Fischer	Denmark	to Mainz (Germany) – £3-4m
	Adama Traoré	Spain
OUT	Cristhian Stuani	Uruguay	to Girona (Spain) – undisclosed fee
OUT	Carlos de Pena	Uruguay	released
	Patrick Bamford	England
IN	Martin Braithwaite	Denmark	from Toulouse – £9m
IN	Ashley Fletcher	England	from West Ham – £6.5m
OUT	Álvaro Negredo (CF)	Spain	loan from Valencia ended
OUT ?	Rudy Gestede (CF)	Benin	may be surplus to requirement
IN	Britt Assombalonga (CF)	DR Congo	from Forest – £15m

With a month of the transfer window still yet to go, the market is yet to enter its desperate phase and once Adama makes the first bona fide assist of his Boro career I’m sure we’ll see top-flight clubs throwing what’s left of their wad in his direction. Indeed, many are hoping the apparently reformed Gaston Ramirez remembers not to lunge mindlessly at any of the Championship’s defensive mannequins whilst he spends the next three weeks in the shop window – a lot will depend on how much gaffer tape he’s opted to wrap round his agent’s mouth. Though hopefully he doesn’t take any inspiration from fellow South American Alexis Sanchez who is so weak apparently that he’s only able to post Instagram photos of himself from his death-bed as he waits patiently for his beloved Arsenal, who’s badge he no longer wishes to kiss, accepts an offer from Manchester City or PSG to make him even richer – let’s pray he recovers in time for the medical. Whether our Uruguayan playmaker still has a future at Boro has split the supporters – many are wishing a suitable club will make contact with Ramirez soon, some are even hoping it’s Grant Leadbitter’s three wood on a team-bonding afternoon at Rockliffe.

The goalkeeping situation has looked a bit chaotic at Boro since Dimi played every 46 games of our promotion-winning season and at this rate I wouldn’t be surprised to see the big Greek being handed the gloves back on a plate as those who’ve superseded him fall by the wayside – though I seem to recall there’s something about Greeks and plates that don’t always end well, which may be a different interpretation of smashing the league. Connor Ripley appears to have decided that the signing of Randolph is not a good career move from his perspective and looks like opting to continue his progress elsewhere – whether he was ready to be Boro’s number one this season must have been a borderline decision given his excellent season on loan last term, but the problem of being cash-rich probably prevents the manager from taking a risk he doesn’t need to.

It’s at the sharp end of the pitch where much of Boro’s windfall wedge has been concentrated and we can only hope that the amount spent is in direct proportion to the quality we have gained. Spending £30m on three forwards sounds like the stuff of dreams for most clubs in the Championship – though as Boro supporters we are naturally busy looking at all the possible negatives in order to cover our backs – one is injury prone, one hasn’t played in England and the other is inexperienced. Are we ready for Boro to become an attacking force? Many of us have only just finished our education from the last few seasons to understand that football is not about scoring goals it’s about stopping the opposition from scoring that is the real entertainment. What are the supporters supposed to do if Boro are leading by two goal and they continue to press for the third? I’m expecting the Riverside faithful to dutifully chant Defend! Defend! Defend! OK it may upset some of our young players on the pitch and we may get some harsh words from Garry Monk in the post-match press conference  – but he must know we’ve now been educated by one of the finest footballing brains ever to speak to that special bloke from Portugal.

So today Boro have their last pre-season game before the real thing against German opposition of all things – Augsburg are a lower-middling Bundesliga outfit and will be a decent test for our newly constructed team. We probably shouldn’t expect too much from a set of players who haven’t really had the chance to get to know each other yet and it may well be some of the older faces will be at the centre of attention. The game is available to be streamed live from the MFC website if you live outside the UK and register – I know a certain Mr W Mouth who has already signed up and is eagerly waiting to see how this smashing group of players is shaping up!

The wind of change is blowing through the Riverside and there are hopes that with the help of the club’s Premier League windfall Garry Monk is building a team to blow away the Championship this season. After last season’s punt on projects, Boro supporters have been pleased to see the arrival of tried and tested players though the door at Hurworth – though they would I imagine also quite like to see some of our brighter prospects from the the much hailed Category One academy storm their way into contention for starting places. When Garry Monk arrived at the club he stated he wanted to give a clear pathway for young players to make the transition into the Boro first-team squad. The recent pre-season friendlies have given opportunities for some of Boro’s promising young players to shine and impress the new boss with the likes Dael Fry and Harry Chapman, fresh from England duty at the FIFA under-20 World Cup squad in South Korea, notably hoping to catch the eye.

Last season Dael Fry was on loan at Rotherham but ended up only making a dozen appearances after slipping down the pecking order – clearly he has the attributes and potential to become a more than decent centre-back but he needs a run of games at a high level to make that leap forward. The question is whether he’ll get enough opportunities at Boro this season, otherwise surely another loan spell is required. Though it becomes increasingly hard for the player to imagine his future remains at club if he is then expected to break through in the Premier League next season instead.

Harry Chapman (or is it now the more trendy Harri as in Harrison) is another lively winger who has impressed at the academy and went out on loan last season to Sheffield United but also had his season cut short at the Blades to only a dozen appearances due to injury. Again he’s at a stage in his career as he approaches his twentieth birthday where he needs to start playing week-in week-out if he is to reach his potential. The worry is if he stays at Boro this season he’ll be in the queue behind some expensive purchases and loan players from top PL clubs.

Should the players stay and fight for a place in the hope that the can take their chance and impress the new manager? Or should they go on loan until January with the objective of building their reputations and look to break into the Boro team for the second half of the season?

Connor Ripley will have noted the arrival of Darren Randolph from West Ham on the basis that he’s moving to get first-team football to secure his place in the Republic of Ireland’s squad ahead of next year’s World Cup – plus the club have paid West Ham £5m and offered the keeper £27k a week, which looks a little pricey to risk a splinter injury on a Championship bench. He will I imagine view that piece of business as a signal that now is not his time to occupy the Boro number one shirt – perhaps he’ll be given the role of second-choice keeper as he gazes mischievously from the bench while wondering if Randolph is only one rash sliding challenge away on a wet and windy afternoon in South Yorkshire from handing him the gloves.

Perhaps a lesser known youngster who impressed in parts against Rochdale was Marcus Tavernier – he’s a pacey left-sided player who has also played at left-back – with many of our protesting lefties marching out of the exit door, he may see the possibility of breaking though into the first-team this term. He must know Garry Monk is looking for dynamic players and it seems Downing didn’t meet that requirement and Gaston’s agent has admitted his client’s future probably lies elsewhere, even if the player himself is trying his best to give the impression he’s a model professional – though they certainly threw away the mould for that particular model some time ago.

Another young talent who replaced starter Adama for the last quarter-of-an-hour at Rochdale was lively Finnish prospect Mikael Soisalo, who joined the Boro academy in January from Tampere. It appears he’s quite well regarded at the club and even managed to score in the previous friendly at Mansfield. It’s possible he may force himself into the squad and it looks like Monk is certainly having a good look at him ahead of the start of the season. A lot may depend on whether the Boro cheque book has a few more unused stubs left in it – perhaps when it comes down to hard choices the hot prospects of the likes of Liverpool may get the nod over our own molten steel variants.

The adage that if you’re good enough then you’re old enough is quite often trotted out – but we seem to err on the side of caution these days at Boro when it comes to academy players. They almost have to be better than some of the ‘projects’ that the club have thrown millions at of late before they will even be considered. One wonders if Adama had been from our own academy whether he would be entertaining the prospect of his third loan spell at somewhere like Preston or Sheffield United until he’d worked on his crossing a bit more.

Ben Gibson wasn’t by any means an overnight success, but grew into the player he now is over time and is possibly on the verge of swelling the club’s coffers by around £30m should he decide to move on to bigger things. Incidentally, he had to leave the field yesterday with what looked like a broken nose, though at least the incident seems to have shown a novel way to tone down the Ramsdens advertising hoarding by liberally covering the white band with blood – whether this will inspire commercially sensitive fashion-conscious supporters to punch themselves in the nose as they de-sponsor their replica shirts is too early to say.

Sometimes perhaps we expect more from our own home-grown prospects and seemingly leave room in the squad for average journey-man-like players just because they were bought with Euros. Though the flip-side to that argument is perhaps we imagine our home-grown players to be better than they actually are. It’s hard to think of any of the recent fringe academy players who have gone on to impress elsewhere. Maybe you actually need a group of players who break into the team together that will spur each other on and be inspired by the shared journey. It’s a long time since the days where many in the first XI consisted of our best young talent – Downing, Morrison, Cattermole, Wheater, Bates, Johnson et al seemed to inspire perhaps less gifted players to rise to the challenge as the likes of Taylor, Davies and others performed above themselves in their company.

Let’s also not forget how having a core of players who have come through the ranks would effect the dynamic of the dressing room and create a strong team spirit, which may give you that extra five percent on the pitch when it matters. The recruitment process last season left a lot to be desired as a disparate bunch of projects failed to gel into anything either collectively or individually – they’re are now being shipped out and are leaving berths to be filled. It’s to Monk’s credit that he’s taking a serious look at what talent he’s got coming through – this season may be an opportunity to bring several through as it will no doubt be harder next year to make the leap if Boro hopefully gain promotion.

Whether our squad is built from the outside or the inside may not matter to many if we ‘smash the league’ but there is something more satisfying and it instills a sense of pride when you see the core of a team that had ‘made in Teesside’ stamped through it.