I don't know about the legalities of it. One or two or even three arm's lengths removed it could be difficult to prove the poaching club was behind the enquiries. The "intermediary" may well have taken it on his/her own bat to enquire so that he/she knows how to pitch things back to the poaching club.
WHU are another of those clubs that FD identifies as sometimes up and sometimes down. They have never really broken into the elite and have perhaps spent as much time as the barcodes outside the elite and in the second division... I hope MC would not have his head turned by them (except he did used to play for them .....)
Forever-Dormo
I'm glad you didn't use then word 'hope' in the last paragraph of your beautifully written opener. We all know what hope does to a Boro supporter.
I'm back behind the couch with the lights out, door firmly shut and my Crystal Set warmed up trying to tune in on Wednesday. Licquorice Allsorts to hand and I'll eat all the black and golden yellow ones first to put Hull in their place.
Good old Boro are back to their consistently inconsistent best so you would need contact with Mystic Meg and a Ouija Board to try and hazard a guess at a possible score. No predictions then. Hopefully our admired manager will play left on the left and right on the right and use the substitutes sensibly not as a delayed measure hoping for some divine intervention.
Wil Boro win? I doubt it! But then you never know...
Best wishes everyone.
UTB,
John
BREAKING: 🚨 David Moyes has left his position as manager of West Ham United.
Scam tweet apparently
Wow! Such a lot of interesting posts to reply to! This post will be a bit of a mish-mash, therefore, a bit like Boro’s makeshift defence in recent times.
Firstly, a huge thank you to Dormo for a really interesting and enjoyable opener. And just to add my twopenneth, had you heard that some young American Hollywood ‘A-lister’ gadgie (nah, can’t remember his name and can’t really be bothered to look him up) declared this week that ‘Ull’s is the sexiest accent of all. Harumph! He’s obviously never been to Teesside, then, know what I mean, like?
Jarkko: I’m devastated 😉😉 that you remember meeting Rhys Williams at Ull, but not me!! 😭😭😢😢 Clearly, I didn’t make a lasting impression! If memory serves correctly, that was the day when Boro went 4-1 up at half-time with Scott McDonald getting a hat-trick. We won 4-2. This YouTube video shows what a cracking game it was. Is that Marvin Emnes running riot? And Nigel Pearson was the Tigers’ boss!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=Av9_JPn_6TU
Guys, your reminiscing about great adverts of the past was fun. A couple of weeks ago I was lucky enough to see the brilliant Peter Kay live in Manchester. Part of his set was about sending up some of these same adverts, and building a very funny song around them. Great entertainment, bringing back many memories. He included A Mars A Day helps you work, rest and play, A Finger of Fudge, and Put a Tiger in Your Tank. I hope Boro put the Tigers in their place tomorrow night!
For tomorrow, I’ve decided to be sensible, for once. I’m going to sit comfortably at home watching the game on TV. ‘Part-time supporter!’ I hear you cry. True enough - I have to miss the WBA game, too, owing to a family engagement. At least I’m going to Port Vale. Anyway, I’m being sensible tomorrow because I arrived home at 2.00 am after the PNE game, a result of the usual multiple midweek motorway diversions. I can usually make it home to Conwy by 9.00 after a Saturday afternoon game, but last time we were held back by horrendous winds and belting rain across the Pennines, which slowed all traffic on the M62 to 30mph. So it was 10.00 when I got back. I think I’ve earned a rest.
I can’t see Boro being as bad again as we were against Ipswich. The returning Jones, and hopefully Dijksteel, should make a difference. I think we’ll win, albeit narrowly. We certainly need to build momentum again.
@john-richardson - Very kind of you, John. I think one of the joys of this new system (apart from the lightening of the load on the few who previously wrote the Openers week in, week out) is that people have their own styles of writing and therefore readers can now have Openers written in a different way from week to week - that's not to say a better way, just a different way. Variety is said to be the spice of Life, after all.
@clive-hurren - It was a pleasure, Clive.
It was Timothee Chalamet who made the comments about the "sexy" Hull accent. He is a Hollywood actor currently in the UK on a tour to promote the opening of his "blockbuster" film, "Wonka" (a sort of prequel to the Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory film). He was interviewed by LadBible and his comments were picked up in several national newspapers. He was also inteviewed on last week's Graham Norton show about it.
I had been thinking of putting something about those comments in my Opener but was dissuaded by the likely length of the piece if I did so. As it happens (so what I did there?) I think that although the accent(s) from Hull are said to be unique in Yorkshire, they have similarities to the accents heard in York and, say it quietly, Middlesbrough. Very different though to the accents of the West (Leeds, Bradford etc) or the South (Sheffield, Barnsley etc).
And as to Conwy, now there's a real Premier League castle in a real Hotbed area of Premier League castles. Obviously there are the closely fought local derbies with Caernarfon and Beaumaris but clearly Harlech is not a "true derby" despite Harlech supporters claiming it is. What are those Harlech supporters like, hey...?
...
And as to Conwy, now there's a real Premier League castle in a real Hotbed area of Premier League castles. Obviously there are the closely fought local derbies with Caernarfon and Beaumaris but clearly Harlech is not a "true derby" despite Harlech supporters claiming it is. What are those Harlech supporters like, hey...?
They do like to ramparts it up a bit 🫣
@clive-hurren Sorry, but Rhys Williams was my favourite player at the time and I got a selfie (a kind of) with him. Of course I remember you as we have met a couple of times over the years.
But perhaps I owe you a beer in the Navigation (or Navvi to you and me) now?1 Remember being there with Dormo and Werder among others? There was also a chap fro Beverley near Hull. He hasn't contributed to the blog for a long time!
So hoping to see you soon, Clive. I seem to have ever longer list of people to meet when in the UK. And I am travelling always with my wife - she loves to see Boro but do not know all the contacts I have around in the UK and Teesside.
Up the Boro!1
Any news when McGree or Forss will be fit? Carrick do not want to give much info on the injuries but we need McGree badly.
I think Carrick mentioned that Hackney could be back by Christmas but he also had hopes that one or two others could be back around the same time.
I am afraid McGree or Forss are not ready to play by the holiday time. Up the Boro!
@jarkko - Rhys Williams (lovely Welsh names there) was a really good player but sadly very injury prone. Maybe you can come to the UK when Boro approaches the Play-Offs in April 2024, if your Reservist Military Training Updates will permit it?
Are we all getting a little nervous about this evening? Bearing in mind the porosity of the Boro defence I lean more to Boro 2-1 Hull than a 1-0 victory. Can't even contemplate coming out of the game with less than 3 points (*shudder*).
Also I recognise that some injuries and their recoveries may be more difficult to predict than others, and that SOME medical conditions may require more privacy than others, but I can't understand why Boro appears more "opaque" than others when talking about when Player X or Player Y might be fit again. For the most part I get the impression that questions about players' recoveries tend to be swerved around or some generic answer is given ("We hope he may be back soon").
If a player has a badly broken leg then it may be obvious that he will be out of the team for many months, the rest of the season etc, and in the early days it may be difficult to predict precisely how long the recovery will take. And if a player has contracted a sexually transmitted disease or some other conditions, I can understand the player might not want that information broadcast far and wide. But a groin strain, or a torn muscle or something similar, which is a bog-standard football related injury, and which a club might expect to crop up several times throughout a season, why can't the club be more forthcoming? I'm not expecting an announcement that "Player X will be fit to play again on the evening of 21st December" but it should be possible to say "Player Y is upbeat about his recovery and is responding well to treatment and the physio tells me that if he carries on at this rate, the player should be available in 2 or 3 weeks" (or whatever). Why not keep the supporters informed?
Many thanks Dormo for coming down from your mountain retreat and producing another excellent entertaining and informative opener in your very own inimitable style - while it seems obvious now that Kingston was formerly King's Town it's another to add to 'typo towns' list.
I pass through Hull several times a year as it's how we visit Teesside by means of the Rotterdam to Hull ferry - though there always seems to be some building work happening in the city so it seems in a permanent state of regeneration. Also it's always impressive to drive past the Humber bridge, which is a marvelous feat of engineering but have yet to drive over it as it would take us in the wrong direction.
As for the football - well Boro have taken a bit of a wrong direction in the table and need to a win tonight if they're to keep in close contact with the top six but it will need a much better performance than what we saw against Ipswich. I would like to see the return of Josh Coburn as it can't be a coincidence that when they start without him they are much less likely to win. Remember the start of the season was also with latte Lathe up front and since his reinstatement at Bristol City, Boro have lost 3 from 4 games. While I can't fault Latte Lath's energy and application, it does appear without Josh the team lack a focal point and tend to lose possession in the last third very easily.
The other player that will make a difference is the return of Jones after his suspension as neither Greenwood or Silvera look the part in that role. The big question is whether Carrick brings Dijksteel back at right-back - I would as I think he's a very good footballer but with Fry now fit and Clarke returning he may once again prefer to play Rav van den Berg in that position instead. That would be a mistake for me and indeed arguably RvdB looked quite at ease playing in central defence but I suspect there is a pecking order unless a player is outstanding and we've not seen much of that in recent games defensively. Btw I'm probably leaning towards Bangura at left-back - particularly at home as he looks more direct and adds energy to the team.
Unfortunate that Hackney is still not ready to return as Howson may struggle with 3 games in a week - though it would be a bold move to select the youngster McCabe but look how quickly Hackney adapted to becoming a first-teamer. So Carrick may be tempted to go with a 'safe' team selection but this is probably a game where Boro may need to take a few risks to make the gains that are needed - I hope if he does play it safe then he's prepared to act sooner rather than later with his subs as 4 defeats from 5 would be a severe setback
Anyway, hoping to catch the game tonight but not yet guaranteed if I'll last long this evening after a few less than perfect night's sleep - hopefully it's not a repetition of the first half against Ipswich otherwise my eyelids may win the battle - though a repeat of the first half against Leeds and I won't even blink in fear of missing a goal!
Listening to Bernie Slavens pod cast on Saturday night, he reckons that Coburn would be sent out on loan in January. 😥
As transfer gossip start to gather momentum, maybe it’s time to realistically look at how transfer fees are paid, I doing this because I frequently get frustrated when I read on message boards, things like where is the money we got from the transfers of Spence and Tavernier, reported to be around £35m. Below is an extract from an article written by a lawyer, who for the last 15 years has been involved in some of the biggest Premier league transfers:
Let’s suggest that Liverpool pay £35m for a Brazilian international player. The transfer agreement may state that Liverpool pay:
• £15m up front. • £5m on both the first and second anniversaries of the player’s transfer. • £5m if the player makes 50 appearances for Liverpool. • £5m if the player wins the Champions League and the Premier League with Liverpool (£2.5m per win).
If the player doesn’t make 50 appearances for Liverpool and the club doesn’t win the Champions League or Premier League, then the club will only ever pay £25m to the selling club out of a headline reported figure of £35m.
Relating the above to the Spence transfer of the reported fee of £20m, it could be said that MFC received an initial amount of £7m (insert your own figure) £3.5m on both the 1st and 2nd anniversary with Spurs, £3m on 50 appearances for the buying club, the player wins either the FA cup or the Caraboa cup and the Premiership with Spurs (£1.5m each). People make up your own add ons, it is likely that MFC will be lucky to receive £10m over time, in the case of Tavernier MFC is more likely to get most of the transfer fee.
Come on BORO.
Talk of our young striker always makes me wonder how our supporters would react if he’d been a loan player for us from another club. Does being “one of our own” give him special status, which is more forgiving of his less than spectacular goal scoring record? It’s always good to see local players in the team (although Richmond is hardly Teesside, is it?) but surely they need to perform just as well as outsiders/incomers.
Although the above mentioned article was written in 2019 I think it might give a better understanding of transfer dealings, so I have put a link to the whole article, which may be of interest to fellow bloggers:
Come on BORO.
@malcolm. Well for that to happen, he would have to be injury free, no niggles, no rumour med hernia.
Also we would have, to have in place, an Archer or somebody similar.
Looking at the League table with Boro in 12th position and 6 points behind the team in 6th position ( Sunderland) makes tonight’s game a must win. I say this because there are so many teams aspiring to get into 6th position ( or higher).
You can go down to Coventry in 15 th position who are only 2 points behind Boro which means Boro are 1 of 9 teams striving to get into the playoffs.
We are approaching the half way part of the season and so Boro need to improve their average points per game. If they maintain their current average they will fail to achieve 6 th position. They will need an average of nearer 2 points per game to succeed from now to the end of the season. 2 points per game over a whole season would normally guarantee a top 2 finish and automatic promotion.
So this seems a tall order for Boro based on recent points gained.
Hopefully, tonight will see the start of a decent haul of points to move Boro up the table and to get the fans fervently behind them. Can they do it ? I wouldn’t put money on them and feel nervous about tonight’s result. I’ll settle for the points in preference to performance.
Meanwhile , the locals here in Huddersfield are distinctly unhappy with performances as they gravitate towards the bottom 3. I watched their game against Preston last night. Two poor teams. I flicked over to see parts of Sunderland v Leeds and the difference was enormous.
Philip of Huddersfield
@exmil - Very informative, so thanks for that.
And in the second post above, the link you left to the article by the sports lawyer put more meat on the bone that few knew existed. Thanks again.
Team News...
So van den Berg plays as does Dijksteel so a central defence of Fry and RvdB - Jones as expected returns and Rogers makes way with Latte Lath up front - Nkrumah on the bench?
@werdermouth. No Coburn. Sounds like the rumour about a hernia may be correct. MC did talk about him having a few niggles. 😎
ELL gives Boro the lead in the sixth minute.
From CJ:
Engel wins it wide left and plays it to Greenwood. Greenwood slips Engel in behind. He pulls it back and Jones runs onto it and hits it. It's blocked in the crowd but ends up kindly at the feet of Latte Lath who reacts well and dispatches from close range.
For the record, the Foxes are currently a goal down at home to the Lions...
HH a target for all "big six" EPL teams according to this article:
@stircrazy we need get promoted this year then...
But for a better shot or final ball Boro could have been out of sight in this game - for all the slick football and good interplay, there were at least ten good chances to score squandered - thankfully one of the misplaced shots fell kindly to Latte Lath to give Boro the lead but it should have been so much better.
Still can't complain it's been a much better performance than at the weekend and van den Berg has looked good in central defence and Dijksteel has shown what he can offer at right-back - Engel also been good at left-back despite a few dodgy passes.
CJ's verdict on the first half:
Boro deservedly lead here, but it could be by two. Solid first half, but it does feel like they've taken their foot off the gas a little in the last 10-15 mins. A bit of frustration from fans. Feels like they coasted it, which, even if Hull offered little, feels dangerous at just 1-0.
And about half-way through the half:
The triangle on Boro's right of Dijksteel, Crooks and Jones is working really well.
Leicester now level with Millwall after a goal early in the second half.
Lots of careless play up front. Otherwise we could be 3 or 4 in front.
Some good play by Boro, but in the defensive zone, so many loose balls giving Hull a couple of chances.
Crooks has continued from Saturday and has not been in the game much at all, Greenwood also needs to do more. We need another goal before LL tires.
Hull will probably get another couple of chances to Boro need to improve some.
Hull equalise. We have invited that...
Bugger! Hull equalises through Liam Delap in the 69th minute - CJ:
Boro have asked for that in the way they completely took their foot off the gas and coasted this one since about the 30th minute. Corner flicked on at the front post by Greaves, Delap unmarked at the back to head home.