Boro has completed the signing of attacking midfielder Finn Azaz from Aston Villa.
The 23-year-old joins for an undisclosed fee and has signed a four-and-a-half year contract.
https://www.mfc.co.uk/news/2024/january/05/finn-azaz-joins-boro-from-aston-villa/
Up the Boro!
Just been pondering the Boro's chances against Villa tomorrow.
My reveries took me back to a domestic scene played out earlier this week.
But first a story:
Two men in a pub are discussing the cost of living crisis. The cost of gas and electricity, the price of a pint.
"The worst thing for me", says one,"has been the increase in my telephone bill."
"Bad was it?" asks the other
"Bad? I'll say it was bad. £300 more this month than last"
"Maybe it was because of Christmas"
"I don't think so. The only thing i can think of is that I've been using a new Chat Line....it's called Stuttering Sluts"
"Is that supposed to be funny?" was my wife's response
"Slut shaming!" my daughter's reflex reaction.
"And since when did making jokes about people who stammer come back into fashion?" The Missus was on a roll. "Who do you think you are? Jim Davidson?
On reflection it may have been a mistake to try the joke out on two fully paid-up members of the feminist Freemasonry/ Sisterhood/Mafia with whom I share domestic bliss.
But as a practising Radical Feminist of the Lesbian persuasion myself for the past 40 years, I was not going to take this lying down.
The girls were clearly in need of some Mansplaining.
"I think if you apply a little bit of ideological analysis to the story you will find that politically it is entirely progressive".
Realising that I might be digging myself into a hole the size of Bernard Manning's paunch, I ploughed gamely on.
"The joke doesn't punch down. Its target isn't women in general or sex workers in particular, still less people who have a speech impediment"
"I hope you're not expecting me to cook your dinner tonight". My Scouse wife from the kitchen.
"The butt of the joke is the Patriarchy". I was now on a mission to retrieve a half-decent meal."It's the stupidity and credulity of men that we are laughing at"
"Ha" said my daughter, "Ha".
"Yes", shouted my wife from a distance,"Ha bleedin' Ha"
Not a smile in sight
I was not going to be deflected from claiming victory by a bit of cheap irony.
It was a victory hard won, Pyrrhic certainly, but against opponents powerful enough to prevail 9 times out of every 10.
I hadn't delivered a K.O. but I had exploited my outsider's puncher's chance.
I hope that the Boro might be able to do something similar tomorrow evening
It will be some consolation for what may be a disappointing dinner.
Let's hope the Boro don't turn out in Stuttering Studs tomorrow 😉
Reports that D Spence is to be put up for sale by Spurs following him being sent back to them by Leeds.
Looks like MFC benefiting from any add ons, negotiated as part of his sale to Spurs, are out of the window! 😎
@lenmasterman - You don't normally get posts like that on ordinary football blogs...
I suppose Boro has the proverbial "puncher's chance" against high-flying Premier League Villa tomorrow. Of course for a fighter to profit from that puncher's chance, it goes without saying that he must be willing to throw and be able to land some punches of his own. If he spends all the fight going backwards, hiding behind his gloves and hoping he can spend the whole contest dodging the hail of shots coming his way, the chances are that the contest is hardly likely to go to the judges for a decision. It is far more likely his defences would be breached several times before, bemused by the speed of his opponent's attack, the lights go out as he is struck by a punch he didn't even see coming. It would also generally NOT be helpful if our fighter had a glass jaw. Let's hope Boro can throw some punches at Villa tomorrow.
@forever-dormo and @lenmasterman
... or perhaps the fighter just needs to know where his dinner is coming from ....
And I see from the Boro website that, 2 hours ago, Boro signed Finn Azaz from Villa. It suggests that the administration could not be completed in time to play for Boro in tomorrow's game but, call me cynical, I suspect that's more due to the fact that our opponents just happen to be Villa. "Yes, we'll sell him to you, but he can't play against us on Saturday!" They call the shots if we want to buy him, I suppose.
A pity really. We must all have been in teams where the opposition is player short. The call goes up "can we borrow one of your players, as you've got spares?" Usually the borrowed player has a blinder of a game and is Man of the Match, so determined was he to show his team mates how good he really is!
@lenmasterman Frankly, if you scraped a draw from your encounter I’d say you were lucky. To mix a sporting analogy (courtesy of FD’s comment), if you’d told that joke to my wife and daughters you’d have woken up with a crowd round you.
According to CJ in the Gazette Roger’s is suspended for Tuesday. I think that the Quarter Final was last game for cut off.
I was very impressed by Azaz interview on the website and by his nature as a player. He looks like a perfect fit with our style. When you look at incoming stars over recent years - players such as McGree, Forss, Lenihan, Rogers, Barlaser, RVDB, Silvera, Lath, Glover, Engel and Bangura - there is a lot to like about the work being done by the recruitment team and Azaz is another big tick for me. Even the ones such as Gilbert or Hoppe who haven’t broken through yet are young and have potential.
Yes, the loan players from last year were amazing but that is a bit of a dead end as we saw at the start of this season and the future lies in finding young stars either in the academy or elsewhere alongside some solid senior professionals
i’m very encouraged.
UTB
Extract from Northern Echo on the signing of Azaz:
The Boro move progressed quickly this week - but it's a signing that's been 12 months in the making. Boro have a good relationship with Aston Villa - with Cameron Archer and Aaron Ramsey having both joined on loan 12 months ago - but this wasn't a case of Boro taking advantage of links between coaching staff and former players, rather a matter of Azaz being a player long admired by the recruitment team at Rockliffe.
A pretty transparent and shameless PR move by Scott, I would have thought, to brief a journalist in such a way that Scott's recruitment team gets the credit in advance for this particular signing, whist specifically taking it away from the coaching team, whom I have no doubt would have been crucial in attracting Azaz to the Boro.
I can't imagine Carrick, Woodgate and Danks in particular being very impressed in having their work and undoubted influence being so publicly downgraded.
I guess I've misinterpreted 'the slate is wiped clean after the quarter finals' - at least Rogers can't pick up two yellows in the semi's so should be available for the final - though that is going to be a risk with a two-legged semi for other players.
Let's hope the Boro players display as much hunger as you did 😉 and hopefully Boro's stuttering season doesn't prove to be too costly...
The way I interpreted the cut off was that after the quarter finals there is no penalties for yellow cards. We will see after Tuesday. I think that Jones is one one yellow.
Just checked that again and sounds like you're right as it's reported in quite a few places that 'nobody can miss the final because of yellow cards' - but it seems even a red card in the semi's won't rule out a player from the final as that suspension is then served in the next game whether league or FA Cup.
That’s brilliant, Len. It’s both beautifully written and very funny. I hope you got your tea!
Mogga,appointed manager,of Birmingham
OFB
Hayden Coulson joins Blackpool on loan for the rest of the season.
Come on BORO.
Luke Ayling set to undergo medical with Middlesbrough this morning, before signing on loan to the end of the season. Out of contract in the summer so effectively brings to an end a fine stint of service at Elland Road.
https://theathletic.com/5191979/2024/01/10/leeds-transfer-news-luke-ayling-middlesbrough/
Some experience needed in our defence, me thinks. Up the Boro!
@jarkko Yes he is cup tied but means we can rest a player against Rotherham on the Saturday before the return leg.
Come on BORO.
With the Ayling loan completed, we could have 4 “rested” players starting at Millwall, Rogers, Greenwood, Azaz, Ayling, this would allow some players a break.
Come on BORO.
Just watched the Luke Ayling interview and then read about his lifelong struggle with a stammer. He seems like a really genuine bloke and is clearly very well thought of by the Leeds fans.
If fit, Luke Ayling will be a good signing for Boro as he's always looked a full-on kind of player who gives everything and looks like he enjoys playing football. He also looks like an organiser and leader on the pitch so that will be a bonus too. He's also out of contract with Leeds in the summer so will definitely be looking to impress any future employer.
Looks like 2 decent signings so far in January with Azaz but we really could do with a striker with pace who will hit the ground running - preferably one who isn't cup-tied and arrives next week 😉 Better still will be if Forss is back fit next week too!
Looks like Djed Spence is set to end his Spurs nightmare with a move to Italy at Genoa - apparently it's a loan deal with €10m purchase option.
So it looks like Boro will only receive £12.5 base fee agreed with probably no add-on clauses being triggered as even Spurs only finished 8th last season and we don't need to get the calculator out to add up his appearances...
Meanwhile, reports that Spurs are hoping to sign Hackney in the summer on the cheap with his value being laughably quoted at around £6m given he just outplayed two £100m midfielders on Tuesday night! Not sure if he will see Spurs as a good move given how Djed was frozen out and had his career stalled.
Looks like 2 decent signings so far in January with Azaz but we really could do with a striker with pace who will hit the ground running - preferably one who isn't cup-tied and arrives next week 😉 Better still will be if Forss is back fit next week too!
Looks as though The 72 agrees with you, Werder:
More on the possible poaching of HH in the current transfer window:
https://sports-view.co.uk/2024/01/tottenham-eye-move-for-middlesborough-midfielder-hayden-hackney
Bloody cheek, but very complimentary about HH, who's apparenrly (according to Transfermarkt) valued at £6m. I think Spurs would have to cough up more than that to tempt him away before the summer.