@lenmasterman Those words you chose - such a lovely dose of prose. Brilliant wordsmithery on a Sunday afternoon.
Doffs cap and nods in admiration of a most eloquent and erudite posting. Quite befitting it's subject.
@lenmasterman Perfect just perfect and I'm sure any Sunderland fans reading that will feel the sting of the salt being gently rubbed.
UTB,
John
@len, Well everybody has said it Len. BRILLIANT.
Best read of the day
To continue on John's 'salt being gently rubbed in' theme - that was a crackling post Len and the perfect lift for an early Monday morning start - great stuff and a brilliant postscript to further enhance the story of a quite unexpected day at the Stadium of Light.
Great stuff Len. Made a good weekend even better
So a record win in Sunderland. There must have been several red cards in our derby matches since 1902, but this was the biggest WIN ever. So Carrick and his team are a sort of legends already.
The team for Boro on Saturday:
1 Dieng
2 Smith
6 Fry
17 McNair
27 Engel Substituted for Bangura at 82'min
4 Barlaser
7 Hackney
11 Jones Substituted for Forss at 75'min
25 Crooks Substituted for Rogers at 67'min
29 Greenwood Substituted for Silvera at 75'min
19 Coburn Substituted for Latte Lath at 67'min
We had three players coming through the academy there in Fry, Hackney and Coburn. But many players who were bought in during the Kieran Scott period. He joined the club as Head of Football in September 2021.
Scott has been quote good if we think about the January and Summer windows in 2023. He was critizied a lot earlier this season, but not anymore 😅.
Isaiah Jones joined Boro from Tooting & Mitcham in 2019, so he came before Scott's period started.
Anyway, I think Boro are in a weathy situation now with McGree, Dieng, Barlaser, Jones, Hackney and Coburn in the team. We are more worried that some players are under the radar of many Premier League clubs than that we have players we need to get rid of. As was the norm just two or three years ago (Assombalonga, Gestede, etc.).
So we are in a good place financially as well as player quality wise now. Only Tommy Smith was over 30 year old in Sunderland. Naturally, we have Howson and Leninhan as more more experienced players in our roster, but they did not play in this record breaking team.
I like the young team. A bit like the team we had several years' ago that included Hodgson, Proctor and Craig Johnston. Happy days then and now, again. We are back to the roots of original Boro.
Up the Boro!
Where is Redcar Red when we need him? He must have enjoyed the win at Sunderland and generally the Carrick period.
Could someone please send him a kind email and ask him to pop in even occationally. We all must be hoping to hear from him. Not long posts but just saying he is OK.
Up the Boro!
An Apology
Peter,
If you haven't yet heard from the blog's Pedant Sub-Commitee your- or rather you're- in the clear
@peter-surtees Well to be honest, I did look for that BBC action line number. However after sleeping on it, I decided to let sleeping dogs lie. Not sure about dogs lying though. 🤣🤣🤣
On another note, I see our three ex loanees and big transfer fee player are having a hard time of it.
Ramsey is only getting bench starts, Archer starting, but no chance in that team, Giles now appears to be relegated to the bench permanently, with no game time, and Mr Akpom’s Ajax have dropped into the bottom three with another home defeat. He got two minutes off the bench yesterday and has not even started a game given their predicament.
What a masterpiece of a write-up. It was a pleasure to read, and for that I am grateful.
I traveled down from the mountains of the Gulf of Aqaba where I am currently living in a portacabin, to my home in Bahrain - a journey of nearly 12 hours by road and air, especially to watch the match at the Boro Club. And with the usual suspects, Cumberland sausage sarnies with HP brown and lots of ale, - what a game.
I have to wonder what was said at halftime, as going a man up, doesn't normally result in 4 goals.
Anyhow it looks like an exciting season ahead for all of us.
UTB
@jarkko - Wash your mouth out, Jarkko. "Ges**de"? No more of that sort of language on here, please!
@forever-dormo Sorry. But it shows some progress made by the club.
An example of further progress is the transfer of Sam Greenwood.
It has been revealed that the deal between Boro and Leeds United this summer, which sees the 21-year-old spending the season on loan at the Riverside, does include a purchase option. As first reported by the Athletic, Boro will be able to buy Greenwood for just £1.5 million.
Up the Boro!
@forever-dormo Sorry. But it shows some progress made by the club.
An example of further progress is the transfer of Sam Greenwood.
It has been revealed that the deal between Boro and Leeds United this summer, which sees the 21-year-old spending the season on loan at the Riverside, does include a purchase option. As first reported by the Athletic, Boro will be able to buy Greenwood for just £1.5 million.
Up the Boro!
That seems like a very good option. Looks like a bit of a distressed sale by Leeds. They don't see him ever breaking through and need to clear the decks. You never know, but he looks like he could turn out to be a good player. I reckon he may end up being a bit of a breakthrough star for us this season.
@jarkko You beat me to it, £1.5m for Greenwood is a steal in my opinion, what say everyone else.
Come on BORO.
To who it may concern.
I am becoming wholly disillusioned with this blog which is becoming a veritable whose who of grammatically compromised contributor’s whom frequently desecrate the english Language with a preposterous prepositions and appalling grammer and who’s given me a good mind to have to a word with whomever administers’ this space to have better control about whoever is allowed to post
😉
@forever-dormo Sorry. But it shows some progress made by the club.
An example of further progress is the transfer of Sam Greenwood.
It has been revealed that the deal between Boro and Leeds United this summer, which sees the 21-year-old spending the season on loan at the Riverside, does include a purchase option. As first reported by the Athletic, Boro will be able to buy Greenwood for just £1.5 million.
Up the Boro!
That seems like a very good option. Looks like a bit of a distressed sale by Leeds. They don't see him ever breaking through and need to clear the decks. You never know, but he looks like he could turn out to be a good player. I reckon he may end up being a bit of a breakthrough star for us this season.
... cautious agreement. Potential shown over the last couple of games will need to be sustained over a much longer period, but generally speaking I agree that £1.5m is potentially a bargain price for something not out of the basement.
@exmil Apparently, (if true) he is our highest wage earner on 30K a week.
Whether we are paying all of that including a loan fee? I just cannot see that
Leeds paid £1.5 million for him from Arsenal. He recently signed a new contract until 2026.
Not sure we realistically could afford him. His fee would be reasonable and possibly worth a punt, but his wages (if true) would be a stumbling block. Especially if Mr Gibson’s dictat on a maximum of 20K a week wage is also correct.
This is an unbelievable sacking, with Birmingham 6th in the table after coming from behind to beat WBA 3-1 on Friday 🤔.
Saying that Rooney, on Sunday, stated he would be leaving his DC united job and moving back to England, what the future holds for him he does not know. Sounds a bit like Strachan not knowing he was coming to Boro 😂.
Come on BORO.
@pedro If we do take up the option, I guess a new contract will be negotiated, unlikely to be £30,000 a week unless we are going to be in the Premiership 🤔.
Come on BORO.
Everything is happening so quickly in football. If one goes in to the loo, one might come out as a new manager. Especially if a football Chief Executive is in there, too. 🤣🤣🤣This is an unbelievable sacking, with Birmingham 6th in the table after coming from behind to beat WBA 3-1 on Friday 🤔.
Saying that Rooney, on Sunday, stated he would be leaving his DC united job and moving back to England, what the future holds for him he does not know. Sounds a bit like Strachan not knowing he was coming to Boro 😂.
Come on BORO.
But after the excellent start Birmingham have had, it was a crazy to sack the manager. Mind you, they are our next opponent after the international break. I do not know who is going to write the starter for the match, but I guess he must wait a bit to see what is happening at Birmingham.
Up the Boro!
@jarkko -
1. £1.5M for Greenwood seems a real steal bearing in mind the fees being paid for players in recent years.
2. I know who is listed to do the starter for the Brum game but (a) I did mention earlier that because we have two weeks before that game and we need more time to gloat after that massive WIN at Sunderland, it might be a week before that starter sees the light of day and (b) I am giving no clues as to the identity of the clueless anonymous author of the Birmingham piece. It will have to remain a mystery...
I think Ken's had a word with the big guy,
Thanks mate
On another note, I see our three ex loanees and big transfer fee player are having a hard time of it.
Ramsey is only getting bench starts, Archer starting, but no chance in that team, Giles now appears to be relegated to the bench permanently, with no game time, and Mr Akpom’s Ajax have dropped into the bottom three with another home defeat. He got two minutes off the bench yesterday and has not even started a game given their predicament.
Doesn't that just show the gulf between The Championship and the Premier League. There were four players who were all a bit too good for The Championship when played to their strengths, and now they cannot even get a game at a higher level.
There was Bamford (whilst fit) before Leeds' relegation and for a short while Adama, but otherwise only Marcus Tavernier seems to have been able to make the step up to the Premier League