@martin-bellamy I suppose for most fans, it is about dreaming of something better. How one sees better, of course is debatable.
I guess the dream is to get promoted and “do a Brighton”. Historically a smaller club than the Boro, but now a bigger club than the Boro.
I think the majority of people aspire to greater heights, maybe lifestyle. As with football clubs, if you do not have a dream, will the club stagnate, will the fans lose interest, and in the worst case scenario, will the club fail and go out of business.
But that’s where we are isn’t it? Despite the “dream” we still haven’t got promoted and yet fans continue to turn up and MFC don’t look like a club about to go out of business, any more than those championship clubs which we describe as small and not deserving of promotion. Just a thought.
Hackney's definitely on 3 yellow cards according to EFL.com - although it's not a particularly easy site to navigate as you have to then select 'Yellow Cards' instead of 'Goals' and then choose 'Player' (a bit to the right) instead of 'Teams' and then you'll find Hackney on page 5 of the listings (highest number of cards descending) on 3 Yellows.
Alternatively, you can go to the Betfair website and then type in 'Middlesbrough' in the search box (just above the listings) - then you will see all Boro players and their cards with Hackney also on 3.
I did recall the commentator on the Coventry game mentioning his first yellow was his 4th of the season so it seems the rule has been applied if he only has 3. While I haven't seen the two yellow card rule on the EFL website, I've seen the following quoted on several sites discussing the issue...
If you receive two yellows and thus a red card, these do not count towards your yellow card tally but instead as one red card.
Do you think ten years from now, The whole football world will look like it does today, things I believe are going on in the background,that are going to change the traditional concept, and money will be the driving force, how it all pans out , who knows, A super world league maybe, underneath that regional area leagues The Americas league, Western and Eastern Euro leagues , including Scottish, English, French ,German teams etc, on the east Turkey, Russian,Saudi, you can go on.
Interesting times, at my age I won't see it ,but my grandkids will, like I mentioned previously investment is the key, both on the field and off.
COB
As far as I am aware, if a player starts a match on 3 yellows (Hackney) and receives two yellows (Red) during that game, the second yellow becomes a red, therefore Hackney is now on 4 yellows, he will now have to avoid another yellow (1 match ban) up to and including the 19th match (Burnley (A) 6th Dec).Hackney's definitely on 3 yellow cards according to EFL.com - although it's not a particularly easy site to navigate as you have to then select 'Yellow Cards' instead of 'Goals' and then choose 'Player' (a bit to the right) instead of 'Teams' and then you'll find Hackney on page 5 of the listings (highest number of cards descending) on 3 Yellows.
Alternatively, you can go to the Betfair website and then type in 'Middlesbrough' in the search box (just above the listings) - then you will see all Boro players and their cards with Hackney also on 3.
I did recall the commentator on the Coventry game mentioning his first yellow was his 4th of the season so it seems the rule has been applied if he only has 3. While I haven't seen the two yellow card rule on the EFL website, I've seen the following quoted on several sites discussing the issue...
If you receive two yellows and thus a red card, these do not count towards your yellow card tally but instead as one red card.
It wasn’t pretty but I stayed until the end of the Coventry game as I always do, especially after making such an effort to attend.
Come on BORO.
@exmil. Well done Exmil on getting there and then sticking it out to the end.
Your interpretation of the red/yellow card rule is correct and has also been stated in the EG. HH is on four yellows and has six games to navigate without getting another one to avoid a ban. 😎
Can Boro win tomorrow? Of course they can, so why am I not feeling optimistic?
Probably because they lack the ability to take a game by the scruff of the neck when needed, plus they lack consistency and the tactical nous to consistently win games.
The form book makes us similar- QPR, whilst only winning 1 game out of 13 games , have improved recently with 3 draws and good performances against Burnley and , on Saturday , against Sunderland .
Perhaps , tomorrow they can come down to Boro’s level !!
Meanwhile Boro had a good win v Sheffield but disappointments against others.
Like other supporters I’m hoping Doak starts , even if he doesn’t finish the game and Edmundson and Clarke form a good partnership as this will be necessary with Van den Berg injured for a few weeks.
Philip of Huddersfield ☹️☹️
Strange but the EFL website is showing Hackney with 3 yellow cards and 1 red card - you would've thought if anyone was correct it would be them 🤔
@gt _ I doubt that you OR I will live to see how football turns out.
I suspect there will be some sort of European Super League. Money often gets what it wants. How many teams and from which countries will depend not on how good the teams are, but on how much money their televised games will be worth to the broadcasters who show them. Let's just have a think - not necessarily the best teams but the ones which would be the most popular throughout the world. Maybe Real Madrid, Barcelona and Sevilla, Manchester United (only ONE club per city at this stage), Chelsea and Liverpool, Bayern Munich, Bayer Leverkusen (what do you think, @werdermouth?), Inter Milan, Juventus, Napoli, Porto, PSG and three others - for example Ajax, Celtic and Legia Warsaw. That gives 16 teams, and if they play all their opponents home and away that would prevent their playing in their "home leagues" but MAYBE they could play in their own FA Cups. So that would be a Euro Super League.
No doubt there would be similar leagues in South America and maybe one in Asia (to which I see Australia is now affiliated). There would be no European Cup/Champions League because many of the "big teams"/most likely winners would already be in the Super League, but there would be a knock-out cup each year between the top 3 teams in the Euro and South American Super Leagues and the top two from Asia, for the Super Leagues Cup (or maybe the top 6 from Europe and South America and 4 from Asia - big TV audiences and possibility of sponsorship from Asia and maybe, one day, competitive teams).
That would allow the national leagues to continue. Obviously the Scottish league in most years, if they didn't have the Old Firm (even though I have put only Celtic into the Euro League at this stage) could be a really competitive league rather than the usual Glasgow-led procession. (Maybe Ross County supporters could dream...). Italy, England, Germany and Spain would still have a number of top teams in their leagues and therefore still have competitive leagues. The question is how much of a rift would this cause? Maybe the teams joining the Super League NOT being welcome back into their national leagues even if IF promotion and relegation were originally considered because, with the amount of money involved no doubt the Super clubs wouldn't want to countenance relegation and it could be more of a USA-type franchised closed league like the NFL etc. "If we are going to have to invest in this new football structure with all the issues that will cause with our home leagues and supporters, we don't want the possibility of relegation." Imagine a Manchester United in an inaugural competition but being relegated out of the league, then dropping into the English League. There'd be no guarantee they'd come straight back if Villa, Arsenal, Spurs, and Man City had anything to do with it. If things got REALLY fractious maybe the players in the Super League would find themselves no longer invited to play for their national teams OR in their national cup competitions (after all FIFA and EUFA might have been opposed to the foundation of the Super Leagues). It is the FIFA World Cup not the Euro Super League World Cup, after all!.
So, Player X, do you want the £500,000 per WEEK contract with that Super League club or do you want to play international football and earn maybe less? The Bentley and the Ferraris have to be paid for...
That would be a break-up of European football where some of the top clubs go off to do their own thing. I guess Liverpool fans would quite like to have their derby games against Everton and Manchester United fans would miss the rivalry with Manchester City and Liverpool but if the REALLY big money was in the Euro League and the clubs are owned by billionaires and sovereign state funds or even countries themselves, the views of the supporters will not matter much. It's the sponsorship and advertising for the many millions watching the televised games that will count, not the people "foolish" enough to spend hours and expense travelling to games, being treated by the Police like cattle or potential trouble.
So you may then have an English League where teams like Arsenal, Tottenham (when did they win anything?) and Manchester City, Villa, Brighton et al can fight things out in the league and the winners might even play in their Europa Conference league competition or whatever they might wish to call it. Maybe even teams like Leicester City, Wolves and Southampton might feel their chances of winning something have improved.
Just an off-the-cuff thought....
RVDB twisted knee out until after next International break apparently!
OFB
@k-p-in-spain He has as much chance of avoiding a ban before the end of the Burnley game (assuming of course Carrick picks him) as of the Boro getting promotion. 😂
Excellent thoughts , the only thing I wonder is, are fans of today or tomorrow, loyal to local clubs , as a certain generation have been.how do you keep them,
I would probably agree that the way the world is going it appears if there's even more money to be made then there will be those who are rich and powerful that will collude to make it happen. Big clubs are essentially becoming brands where the geographical location of their global supporters is becoming less relevant - however, you still need fans to attend the stadiums but as we see with many clubs who are suddenly thrust to the top of the tree, the 'local' fans love their new status and are only too happy to place any misgivings aside.
As for the rest of us who follow teams who are not in the club would we be that interested in parting with cash to watch their games - well I can only speak for myself in that I still follow the Premier League but have hardly been interested in watching a Champions League game for well over 5 years as I'm not particularly bothered in who wins it.
Just how long games played by an elite league of clubs remains relevant to anyone outside the clique is the question for broadcasters - though I'm 60 and follow my local childhood club but will the younger generation feel attached to their local club or easily persuaded by the hype and attention. One of the children of Mrs Werder's cousins got a Haarland Man City shirt for her last birthday and was elated - perhaps the marketing towards the current generation has more sway than with older more cynical generation that see glory hunters as fickle plastic fans.
The world is changing and money no longer talks but it shouts!
Further to Hackney's yellow card count - I still think I'm right that he only has 3 yellow cards and as way of comparison I've looked at the case of West Ham's Álvarez, who I referred to in earlier post after he was also sent off for picking up 2 yellow cards against Forest at the weekend.
The Premier League official site is more comprehensive than the EFL one and it shows Álvarez currently with 2 yellow cards and 1 red card (updated 4 Nov). I've checked that those 2 yellow cards were picked up by Álvarez in September against Fulham and Chelsea. Therefore neither of the yellow cards he received against Forest have been added to his total for the season.
To ensure that is the correct interpretation I've also mailed the FA on the address they provided for disciplinary queries to ask if they can point me to where they list the rule on yellow cards - so hopefully I will get a definitive answer to the question - if they get back to me 🙂
Well I did indeed get a swift reply from the FA - here is what they said...
Not sure which club you are, but if a player is sent off for two cautionable offences that is one complete sending off offence and those cautions are not added to his current caution total, that will remain the same.
I forgot to mention that the club I was writing on behalf was Diasboro 😉
@werdermouth and @forever-dormo
I'm inclined to agree. The football world of the future will be very different from that of today. In many respects I think it is a shame that the European Super Elites or whatever they like to think of themselves didn't carry on with their breakaway. Like Werder, I haven't watched a Champions League game in years, not even the final. I could also probably count on one hand (or should that be one finger) the number of Premier league games I have watched in the last several years. Unless Boro are playing, or there is a game that impacts on Boro, I am not really that interested in watching.
Perhaps, when it does happen (as it surely will), the (overwhelming) majority of clubs left behind and their supporters will be able to enjoy a much more realistic level of competition. I think most people in here while wanting Boro to win promotion recognise that will then mean at least a year or possibly more of not really enjoying getting thumped week in week out and hoping to grind out just enough points to hang on in there at end of the season. The football is (by and large) so much more enjoyable to watch in the Championship, so let the elite go and just make sure the door is firmly closed behind them.