@werdermouth 

worked ok in australia where everything goes backwards.

It maybe the players were interested in, are on tour with their clubs, which suggest quality 

Boro team news is in!

Starting XI: Glover, Van den Berg, McNair, Hannah, Coulson, Stott, Payero, I. Jones, Gilbert, Silvera, Hoppe

Subs: J. Jones, Collins, Bilongo, Cartwright, Simpson, Agyemang, Nkrumah, Sykes

Posted by: @malcolm

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Boro team news is in!

Starting XI: Glover, Van den Berg, McNair, Hannah, Coulson, Stott, Payero, I. Jones, Gilbert, Silvera, Hoppe

Subs: J. Jones, Collins, Bilongo, Cartwright, Simpson, Agyemang, Nkrumah, Sykes

2-2 at half-time (Silvera in the 5th minute & Gilbert in the 29th [penalty - Jones tripped by a certain Smallwood] for Boro, with Cook equalising in the 12th& 41st for the Bantams).

Gazette Live verdict on it:

Boro haven't had much control of the game, but have threatened in attack. Gilbert had a few decent touches and found pockets of space. Isaiah Jones has been bright in that first half with his pace on the counter. Martin Payero has produced some positive balls forward as well.

Despite the scoreline, it's not been a game rich with goalmouth action. Defensively, Boro have just at time struggled with the physicality of Cook up top, with the two young CBs. McNair, positively, has looked well at right-back though.

Posted by: @stircrazy

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Posted by: @malcolm

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Boro team news is in!

Starting XI: Glover, Van den Berg, McNair, Hannah, Coulson, Stott, Payero, I. Jones, Gilbert, Silvera, Hoppe

Subs: J. Jones, Collins, Bilongo, Cartwright, Simpson, Agyemang, Nkrumah, Sykes

2-2 at half-time (Silvera in the 5th minute & Gilbert in the 29th [penalty - Jones tripped by a certain Smallwood] for Boro, with Cook equalising in the 12th& 41st for the Bantams).

Gazette Live verdict on it:

Boro haven't had much control of the game, but have threatened in attack. Gilbert had a few decent touches and found pockets of space. Isaiah Jones has been bright in that first half with his pace on the counter. Martin Payero has produced some positive balls forward as well.

Despite the scoreline, it's not been a game rich with goalmouth action. Defensively, Boro have just at time struggled with the physicality of Cook up top, with the two young CBs. McNair, positively, has looked well at right-back though.

Boro's turn to equalise & they could hardly have left it much later:  the Bantams took the lead through Platt in the 58th minute & Nkrumah put it in the back of the net in the 90th minute to earn Boro a 3-3 draw!

I must admit I have no idea who some of those boro players are. 😀 

Posted by: @powmillnaemore

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Only two weeks left now to the start of the season and Boro will be facing their toughest test so far this pre-season later today.

 

This is just a wee reminder about the COTS challenge I posted a couple of weeks ago. Are any of you ready to commit to your predictions for the season yet? For what it is worth I'm not quite ready to do that myself, although I am ready to start recording your entries.

 

I've copied the link to full details below, but when you are ready to enter I've also copied the format for you to follow to save you having to read the details.

 

 

 

https://diasboro.club/forum/members-lounge/the-diasboro-cots-challenge-2023-24/

 

1. TOP 6 = Team1, Team2, Team3, Team4, Team5, Team6, Optional1, Optional2, Optional3
2. BOTTOM 3 = Team1, Team2, Team3, Optional1, Optional2, Optional3
3. AUTOMATIC PROMOTION = Team1, Team2, Optional1, Optional2
4. CHAMPIONS = Team1, Optional1
5. OVER ACHIEVER = Team1, Optional1
6. UNDER ACHIEVER = Team1, Optional1
7. BORO = 1st

 

Five brave souls so far, with deleriad adding his predictions...

I thought it might be helpful now we have some predictions in, that I can show you how the scoring looks in practice. Bear in mind that the current league table is in alphabetical order, so Middlesbrough for example is currently 11th. 

The table below shows all the entries received to date, but I have also included some examples to demonstrate how to get the maximum score and to demonstrate how precise predictions (e.g. 6 out of 6 for the top six) are scored higher than if you hedge your bets with additional choices by predicting say 6 teams out of 9 to finish in the top 6.

I haven't done any examples where points are deducted. You can see that happening in the real predictions so far. Basically the further away a prediction is from being correct, the greater the points deducted.

I hope this helps to make the challenge and the scoring easier to understand. (Actually, I hope the table has pasted OK and is legible !!!)

Morning Gents, it's been years since i posted due to registration difficulties etc but I've been reading the blog regularly 🙂 

At this moment in time I'm a little sceptical about Boro's chances this season as the squad seems a lot weaker, hopefully that will change before the season starts 🙂

Posted by: @malcolm

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I must admit I have no idea who some of those boro players are. 😀 

I went along since it was so close to home for me - like you I was surprised with the team and as someone near me said “it’s a league cup team”. I said more like a 3rd team with a few exceptions.

it wasn’t a very inspiring performance against a team in league 2 (albeit will be hoping for promotion) - their goals were down to poor defending and although there were some moments where we showed our pace on the break, overall nothing to write home about.

@adymac 

Welcome back Adymac it's been a while but thankfully you can finally re-register to Diasboro and share your thoughts on the new season.

@boro-beckys-dad 

Also good to hear from you again BBD and yes the line-up didn't look like anything but a collection of fringe players getting a run out plus a few others getting a run out - still with just over a week to the new season it's getting close to working out who the First XI will be.

From MC, not sure if if I share his Optimism 😶 

Michael Carrick insists he's happy with his current Middlesbrough squad and looking forward to the start of the new season, even if Boro are still looking to add to their squad this summer.

The start of the new Championship season comes next weekend, although the summer transfer window is still open until the start of September. That leaves Boro with time still yet to add the reinforcements they want to their squad, though they are looking unlikely to come before Saturday's clash with Auxerre at least, and maybe not even before the Millwall game.

Boro are most certainly in need of a left-back and striker to replace influential loan stars of last term Ryan Giles and Cameron Archer. It remains to be seen if there are any other areas Carrick and the Boro hierarchy have identified, but the Boro boss said after Wednesday's draw with Bradford City that no incoming signings were close at this point.

Boro would have loved to have re-signed the aforementioned loan duo this summer. But Giles appears to close to signing for Luton Town after their promotion to the Premier League. Archer, meanwhile, has returned to Aston Villa, where Unai Emery said this week he couldn't currently consider another loan exit because he is needed in their squad right now.

READ MORE: Michael Carrick's transfer stance as Tommy Smith and Dijksteel Middlesbrough blows confirmed

Asked about Giles, Carrick said: “Gilo had a good season with us last season, but he was on loan and that’s the thing about loan players, they’ve got to go back. We’re obviously looking to do things in the window, so we’ll see what comes from it."

And asked if he was worried about the striker situation heading into the season - with Chuba Akpom out injured currently and Morgan Rogers leading the line without scoring yet over the summer friendlies, Carrick continued: “I’m not worried (about the striker situation). We’re well aware of what work we need to do and how we need to improve the squad from our point of view.

"I’m not worried about it. We’ve got a good squad and some real talent within the group. As I’ve said, we’re looking to add to it and we’re looking to balance the group off. That’s just normal. Of course, we want everything done yesterday, that’s just how it is. But we’re patient enough to get the right things when they appear."

He continued: “I’m looking forward to the season. This is always an exciting time of year. We’ve trained, we’ve had games and we’ve had different types of experiences. The boys have trained well, they look fit. You can judge pre-season how you like, but it’s about when the games come round and we’re looking forward to that now.

"As a squad, we look strong. Of course, we want to try to improve it in different ways – that’s just normal, everyone in every league in the world is trying to do that at the moment and we’re no

@malcolm 

To be honest I'm expecting quite a bit of late window activity once PL clubs have finalised their squads and have decided who can go out on loan. Many of Boro's key players were loan players last season and I'd be surprised if at least 3 fell into that category this season.

The return of Archer would be nice but with Villa qualifying for Europe he may well be needed as a squad player - Giles and Wolves will obviously get better financial offers from another PL club like Luton so he's probably off the agenda now.

Don't know much about any of the new signings so far as I've not seen them play or indeed know much about them - somehow Carrick will have to nurture his side through August and then get any new players up to speed in September. Plus losing Akpom would be a blow as he was the Championship player of the season - fingers crossed!

@adymac - Welcome back!

Just watched the highlights of the Bradford friendly and the three goals we conceded were shockers.  

I accept that Fry and Lenihan did not play but if this is how their replacements play when they have to deputise, then I am not hopeful of our chances. 😎

Ryan Giles is having his medical today for his £5m move to Luton, end of that story. Like MC, I am not overly concerned about the squad at the moment, with 5 weeks of the transfer window to go. Loans will probably not be available until clubs finalise their squads for the season, as a reminder, Archer and Ramsey (who many agree were two of the most influential players last season) didn’t join us until the January window. I know we are unlikely to get Archer back and it is unknown how long Ramsey will be unavailable through injury but who knows what negotiations are going on in the background with various clubs.

Unfortunately, fans by nature are very impatient, they want their club to name who they are targeting for transfer, then whinge when another team steals the transfer, they also expect all the deals to be done before pre season, which never happens but each season fans have the same expectation.

As far as Chuba and Howson are concerned, they are working their way back from injury, I for one have not read or heard of any club making a move for Chuba but the “half full” fans will always see conspiracy in everything.

 I think we will start with what we have at the moment, even if transfers come in before Millwall, do people expect them to be match ready for that first game 🤔, match fit and tuned in to their new first team mates, unlikely.

 I will be patient and keep the faith with Micheal Carrick and the recruitment team.

Come on BORO.

Just a brief pop-in here as I have returned from Beadnell on the Northumberland Coast (Mrs Dormo has some appointments but we return up there later this evening).  I'm sorry, @powmillnaemore but I won't have time to take part in your COTS Challenge.  You must have set yourself some workload there! Best of luck to everyone who does take part but, as you will know from the normal Boro Predictor Challenges, I would be lucky to trouble the scorers anyway.  If I DID have time I'd be better off throwing darts at a list of the various teams and recording where the darts land (*First two darts: the top two teams - next set of darts: the Top Six* etc).

Good to see @adymac and @boro-beckys-dad back.

I feel very distant from the footy at present.  I did listen on the radio to the friendly defeat at Hartlepool and much of the draw at York but not to the other games.  Obviously the teams are made up from youth players, first teamers returning from injury, fringe players and a few who might be in the First XI etc so not entirely much of a clue as to what the team will look like in September (at least I hope not!).  I am very unlikely to get back for the season's opener against Millwall.  I go back up to Beadnell today.  I will return to North Yorkshire at the weekend of the away game at Coventry City either on that Saturday or Sunday 13th August but it will be a busy time as we disassemble a Temporary Holdiay Site which, for those who went up a few days early to set things up, will have been going on for a month. There will be a lot to do.

It seems, in July, very early to be casting the mind towards football.  I hope, however, to be in the mood after my return to North Yorkshire on the weekend on 12th/13th August.  If I return on the Saturday I hope to be in a position to send a Match Preview for the league game (against Huddersfield on Saturday 19th August) to Original Fat Bob hopefully on Sunday 13th but by Monday 14th August by the latest.  Whether it will be worth reading is another thing...

Enjoy the next couple of weeks or so.  And the last Ashes Test.  A bit of dry weather would be a bonus, too.  Having said which we, at Beadnell, have been luckier than most in the UK. Whilst we have had some showers, for the most part if has been dryish - with people arriving on site telling us they have driven through heavy rain for much of their journey, wherever they have come from. There seems to be a bit of a micro-climate there, with bluish sky over the coast and black clouds obviously throwing rain down over the Cheviots, Alnwick and surrounding areas. Those clouds have often (not ALWAYS) skirted around us, leaving us feeling smug.  No doubt we will pay a price for that, later!

Have fun, Diasborians....

@forever-dormo That's a shame FD. TO be honest it would be interesting to pitch a randomly selected bunch of teams out of the league to see how that compares with those of us who will try to predict for real!

I might do that using randomly generated numbers from the range and enter that ,,,,, if you wanted I could put your name on it ? 😉 

FO now I hope all is well with Mrs FD and that you both enjoy the holiday season without football.

@powmillnaemore 

I'm just about to enter hyper-mode as we're heading off for our hols camping in Northern Italy early Saturday morning, which means once again turning a normal family car into the Tardis as I precision pack everything bar the kitchen sink and still leave room for a ever-growing teenager to comfortably enjoy the ride. It's an art developed over the years that leaves fellow campers wondering where the trailer is to pack away all our stuff when we leave 😀 

Anyway, I'll sit down and look at your challenge early next week when I can finally put me feet up and relax - though can't promise any of my predictions will stand up to another crazy Championship season!

@powmillnaemore - That would be really great idea, Powmill! If you'd like randomly to select the numbers we could have a Forever Dormo's randomly selected league predictions and it would be fun to see how it performs.  I always used to say that, in the days when the Football Pools were a big thing, the Jackpot prizes (the life-changing sums of money Pools-players dreamt of winning) would be won by a little old lady using a pin to pick out the draws against all form and reason. On the other hand those thousands of football followers who applied form and statistics to predict their choices, were completely blindsided when Carlisle sneaked a draw at Anfield, when ManU dissipated a 3 goal lead at home to Watford and when Coventry City carried out a defensive masterclass at Highbury (or something similar). If you want to do that, it would be fine by me!

Only 2,610 tickets left for Millwall game, so it could be a sellout.

Come on BORO.

@forever-dormo consider it done sir 🙂

I have just started to coed up Excel to generate the teams without duplicates and within context (ie auto promoted and champions have to come from the top 6 selections ...etc.) Mostly done, but I'm at work now so had to stop myself doing something that was fun 🤫 

Sky Sports reporting that the move of Aaron Creswell to Wolves is now off as the clubs could not agree terms.  

Wonder if this impacts Ryan Giles move to Luton. 🤔😎

EG take on performances at Bradford.

https://www.gazettelive.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/middlesbrough-squad-players-impress-carrick-27408231

@powmillnaemore

Many thanks for all your work on the COTS challenge. Your table looks mightily impressive. However, I only have O-level Maths ( and that was hundreds of years ago), so my pedestrian brain won’t bend round all the permutations. I’ll just leave it up to your good self to do all the calculations (and to fiddle it so I come top again!!) Seriously, I am very grateful for all your amazing efforts. 

I’ve half worked out my predictions and will get them to you next week. I’ve been hampered by a number of clubs apparently doing little business in the transfer window to date, and much of what has been done appears to be exchanging players of limited reputations or costing peanuts, which probably reflects accurately the dire financial straits most Championship clubs find themselves in. See 

https://www.skysports.com/football/news/11095/12878368/transfer-news-summer-transfer-window-2023-championship-ins-and-outs

This is making it harder than usual to predict the season’s outcomes. For instance, I would have put Boro into my top 6 had we definitely retained Chuba and at least one of Giles and Archer, but at present there remains so much to be resolved. I’m still going to put us down in the playoff positions, but at this stage I’m just going to have to put my faith in Carrick as a superb coach who will absolutely get the best out of whichever squad he has at his disposal. 

Luton Town FC have confirmed they have signed Ryan Giles from Wolves. ☹️😎

@k-p-in-spain 

Such a shame, he will regret it as they will be straight back down! 😪 

@malcolm Nah. Having had a season in the Premier League, putting himself in the shop window, if they’re relegated and he’s proved himself at that level,  he’ll get other offers. Why would he choose Boro in those circumstances?

Very strong Rumour. Akpom to West Ham.