An Australian commentator on 12th man live has stated McGree is in Australia with a surgical boot on after an operation and he is annoyed and disappointed about the rumours that he is leaving because he loves the club, the area, team mates and is looking forward to next season, also in talks with the club about a new contract.
Come on BORO.
Sorba Thomas is one of the better Huddersfield Town players and is tipped to leave to a Championship team after Huddersfield’s relegation.
He’s 24 and has a reasonable experience at this level. He is a very attacking and direct forward . When he gets the ball he sets off and takes players on with decent pace. His attacking runs can take him anywhere on the pitch. He is therefore good at getting his team say 50 yards up the pitch. Not a prolific goal scorer and is good at free kicks. A couple of years ago he moved on loan to Blackburn when they were doing well and they played him as an out and out winger to take on his opponent and cross the ball. I don’t think it suited him with his wandering style. So, whilst he sounds like a good appointment for Boro, I have a bit of a doubt if he would easily fit into a more regimented Carrick style.
Boro could sign a lot worse players.
Philip 👍🤗
Congratulations to Riley McGree for being this season's winner of the Surgical Boot - the competition was extremely stiff this season given the number of injuries in the squad 😉
Leedsunited.news have suggested 'Hayden Hackney drops potential hint on Sam Greenwood’s future on Instagram'...
Greenwood has now taken to Instagram to thank Middlesbrough for the year he has spent with the club. And the response of Hayden Hackney is perhaps interesting, with the youngster replying… ‘Gunna miss you bro’.
Though then again it could also mean that Greenwood is staying and Hackney is leaving 🤔
Many thanks for your thoughts, Philip. Much appreciated.
Liam Rosenior sacked by Hull, he only signed a new contract in December 23 extended him until 2026 and only missed the playoffs by 3 points 😱.
Come on BORO.
On Greenwood, Kieron Scott was keen to claim ownership of the loan deal that brought him here.
This was around the time when Greenwood was playing well and scored that famous goal against Leicester. At that time he looked like a shrewd piece of business with the possibility of a bargain basement deal for 1 1/2 million pounds at the end of the season.
Scott was keen to make two points in a rare interview with local radio.
The first was to say that Greenwood had been on his radar for a long time. He had known Sam for some years and had first watched him play aged 15. He had previously tried to sign him on a couple of occasions, so that this was a case of "third time lucky".
There could scarcely have been a stronger endorsement or personal identification with the signing from our Director of Football.
The second point that Scott made was to reveal that Greenwood's salary might not be affordable, particularly if Leeds were to be promoted to the Premier League, since the player would be entitled to Premier League wages.
I also saw somewhere that Greenwood was currently on £30,000 per week whilst here. I'm not sure of the accuracy of that, but anything even approaching that figure seems to be an astonishing amount to me.
Then there was some pro- Greenwood PR in the media. I recall an article by Craig Johns in March which ran with the surprising headline, "Why I think Boro should still explore Permanent Deal for Sam Greenwood with Leeds United".
Surprising because it was the first time I have ever seen Johns use the first person pronoun in a headline.
It's a strong indication that the piece had the approval of, and may even have been written at the instigation of the club, a fact that the personal pronoun is there to disguise. After all, the headline still makes complete sense without it.
And we know the consequences for Gazette reporters if they go off-piste and produce stories of which the club disapproves.
The conclusion I draw from this is that there are probably much stronger representations for signing Greenwood within the club than there are amongst supporters.
The promise shown by Gilbert in the last two games may also be a determining factor in deciding against pursuing Greenwood any further.
At least I hope so.
We shall see
An astonishing development given Rosenior's record at Hull and the major progress Hull have made this season. He'd make a great No2 to Carrick, thought there's fat chance of that happening.
@lenmasterman - If it were up to me, I'd rather see Gilbert in the BORO team than Greenwood - though I was surprised recently to learn that Greenwood is only 22 years old. I also think that football teams which make hasty decisions (like Hull has done with Rosenior) frequently live to regret at leisure. I mean - Sunderland (how did that club end the season?) sacking Mogga...
Question for everyone.
how are we going to organise the blog through the summer? Do we just have one topic called Summer 2024 or are we going to split it up? I’d suggest one topic.
UTB
...And I won't really say much about Birmingham sacking John Eustace when that club was in a Play-Off position and looking hopefully up at the Premier League, rather than down at the basement of League 1 (the 3rd tier which eventually proved to be Birmingham's destination). Ironic that Eustace was later employed by Blackburn Rovers, and managed to keep that team in The Championship when, if Blackburn had LOST its final fixture on 4th May, it would have been Blackburn that would have gone down in place of Birmingham (on goal difference). These things sometimes come back to bite the bum...
@forever-dormo And as you said about Sunderland: https://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/sport/24300004.sunderlands-owners-need-put-things-right-crucial-summer/
I don't think running a football club nor a team is rocket science. Common sense and stability is often enough. And trusting people and make them love to play for the team. Do not change everything over night.
Up the Boro!
@selwynoz I may be doing things wrong, but when we have a number of live threads, it is possible to miss a post(s). Eg Powmil’s COTS, which is down at the bottom of the page.
Would it be possible to have “live” threads at the top of the page? A question for Werder.
As for the summer recess, we could have say, TWO.
1) The transfer window.
2) General posts during the summer.
There could also be a request for the EURO’S
The forum is really designed to allow multiple threads on different topics though I've long since accepted that most people just post everything on the most recent thread - not a big problem on a small group where there's a separate topic for each game.
I'm not expected many new topics over the summer so they should be easy to find under 'Recent Threads' - I would expect or suggest Powill should just post the COTS Challenge results under a new thread. I can force a particular thread to remain on the recent list by changing the date but I'll be away most of July.
As for the summer - on Selwynoz's suggestion, one thread for the whole summer gets a bit unwieldy after a while with anything from 10-20 pages of comments - plus the complication of the transfer window continuing after the season starts. There is a natural split in that the transfer window doesn't open until 14 June so perhaps there should be 2023-24 fallout thread where it's more about who is leaving the club, speculation on possible signings and departures - plus relegation from the PL and playoffs until the window actually opens with a dedicated transfer thread.
@werdermouth An interesting perspective on the structure of the Close Season for Boro supporters! There was a section in the 'old' Evening Gazette that my grandmother used to call 'Hatches, Matches and Dispatches' otherwise the known as Births, Marriages and Deaths! I'm sure there was another word in there too, could have been'Batches' but I couldn't get a translation for that.
I feel that this could be a most interesting close season, it is certainly going to be pivotal for the club and there must be real pressure to get it right.
As I said it's going to be interesting.
UTB,
John
I wonder if Sunderland will consider Liam Rosenior 🤔.
Come on BORO.
Great post. I enjoyed your ratings. I can’t disagree too much with them, but I might go a touch lower for Barlaser, who I think has loads of potential but really lacks consistency, and for Silvera, who runs up blind alleys too often for my liking. And I would definitely award even higher scores to both Van den Berg and Latte Lath.
A couple of weeks ago, I wrote that I rated our season as just 5/10. On reflection, I think that was a bit harsh. We didn’t make the playoffs, obviously, but we suffered far more than our fair share of serious, long-term injuries. Finishing 8th, only 4 points short of the top 6, given those injuries and our horrendous start, was a creditable achievement, and the final run of just one loss in 12 was exciting and really enjoyable. We made the semi-final of the Carabao Cup, giving Chelsea a fright, and also came close to beating Villa in the FA Cup. So I’m upgrading my 5 to a 7. Is that score a fair reflection of the season, do you think?
My transfer speculation:
If Norwich - who finished sixth - do not get promoted via the Playoffs in May 2024, do you think we might see Ben Gibson back at his home club?
His contract will be up in June 2024 and he could be available on free. And he is left-footed centre back and he knows the owner of the Boro well.
Benjamin James Gibson
Date of birth/Age: Jan 15, 1993 (31)
Place of birth: Nunthorpe
Height: 1,85 m
Foot: left
Current club: Norwich City
Joined: Jul 1, 2021
Contract expires: Jun 30, 2024
Up the Boro!
I doubt it, Jarkko. Ben‘s s good player but he wasn’t really good enough for the Premiership, where he was often exposed by strong attacks. And Sean Dyche at Burnley definitely didn’t rate him!
I wouldn’t bring Ben back now. We have better centre-halves already at the club.
@jarkko. I hope not Jarrko. Ben has had his day, has had his injuries and lacks the pace we are short of.
@clive-hurren Yes, we have four centre backs in Leninhan, Fry, van den Berg and Clarke. But only one left-footed.
And we have a long history of bringing back our own juniors to finish their careers on Teesside. Like Colin Cooper and Gary Pallister. Hence my thoughts. Up the Boro!
@jarkko. I was slightly frustrated when we bought Lenihan given he is right footed and we needed a left footed CB.
We only have Clarke who is left footed and whilst Gibson falls into that category I am one of those who is not keen on old boys coming back, as it rarely works.
If we were to recruit a left footed CB then we should look for youth and would probably need to dispense with either Fry or Lenihan; it will be interesting to see what if anything develops but I don’t see Ben coming back. 😎
@k-p-in-spain Well, I just wanted to bring up the case that Ben's contract is ending at Norwich soon. If they do not go up, I think he might be too expensive player for the East Anglians in the Champioship.
And yes, his age is a bit high, as we already have Leninhan, Clarke and the ageing right backs (if Ayling is staying).
But definately Ben is Boro through and through. Because he is local and his family back ground, too. Just saying, like.
Up the Boro!
I see Boro are not signing O’Brien. I assume his Premiership wages was the problem. If not and they intend to sign a midfielder then I very much doubt they’ll get anyone as good as O’Brien who is only 25.
No worry about not signing Greenwood
Philip of Huddersfield
BEN GIBSON
He also has a luxury house which was built last year just outside Nunthorpe at the top of flatts lane on the way to Guisborough which he uses when not in Norwich
OFB
Boro have decided against signing Greenwood, O’Brien and Thomas.
Come on BORO.
No qualms about Greenwood and Thomas, but why the rejection of O'Brien?
He has proved himself to be a solid and experienced Championship performer who has the grit and defensive capabilities somewhat lacking in the likes of Azzaz, Gilbert and Silvera, who all appear to be vying for midfield positions next season. We need O'Brien or someone very much like him to provide more solidity and an essential balance.
Of course, it may well be that no deal could ultimately be done over fees and salary but the rejection of O'Brien before that stage has been reached seems precipitate.
I'm not sure that Carrick and Woodgate will be particularly pleased.
@lenmasterman One can only assume that his possible transfer fee and current wages preclude any interest in Lewis O’Brien.
O’Brien and Harry Toffolo cost Notts Forrest a supposed joint fee of 10 million when signed from Huddersfield after their play off defeat against Forrest.
According to Capology, he has two years left on his current contract at a suggested 15,000 per week. Assuming we could sign him for around three million, we would still then have the issue of an acceptable salary (to his agent) for say a 3/4 year deal?
Probably not figures that MFC can deal in now.
Although I will say, that if a deal could be done to suit all parties involved, then I think he would be a good acquisition. Unfortunately I would guess, only somebody like Sheffield United could do a deal.
This is really meant for the new season 24/25 but i'm not sure how to set up a new 'breadcrumb' trail for the new season. Maybe someone else (Werder?) could set up Season 2024-25 with topic
New TV Deal.
https://www.gazettelive.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/new-sky-sports-efl-broadcast-29131605
I don't know if you've all read about the new TV deal but it seems to be a huge expansion of domestic coverage of the EFL with MFC guaranteed to be on screen at least 24 times a season. Whether or not this is good for home attendances is a topic for discussion.
I have a different question. The article also says
The new deal will effectively replace the EFL’s domestic video streaming option provided via iFollow and club streaming services. Audio services will remain alongside existing audio-visual arrangements for international audiences.
Currently there is a blackout if the game is on Sky and available to international broadcast partners. However, I'm concerned that international partners will not be able or choose to cover this number of games. Does anybody have any thoughts as to how this might work out for overseas supporters?
UTB