@martin-bellamy So true. SG is spending the maximum allowed on the team - something like one million a month. Why he wouldn't want us to get promoted? Why?
Up the Boro!
@martin-bellamy - I hope you have a couple of bottles of Single Malt with you. Dulls the pain.
As to the football, it's quite simple - Boro MUST win and, after full time we look to see what the other teams have done. It would be a real sickener if other resuits went Boro's way but Boro spurned the opportunity by failing to win at Coventry. Not that I underestimate that particular task. It will all be over in 2 days time.
I saw Antony Vickers' post on Twitter/X earlier. Along the lines of "MAY! And I can't believe there are only four Boro games left this season."
@forever-dormo Fortunately two bottles came with us, although given what he’s tweeted, maybe I should have whatever AV is having!
... Hey Mr Dream seller, where have you been...can you spare one dream for me@forever-dormo Fortunately two bottles came with us, although given what he’s tweeted, maybe I should have whatever AV is having!
Whilst we are on other subjects.
Boro old boys Latte Lath and Lukas Engel in the MLS.
The former 5 goals from 9 games played by Atlanta, who sit fourth from bottom.
The latter, has strated 10 games, with one assist at Cinncinati who are top.
Atlanta's fans won't be happy I guess
I'm not suggesting Steve Gibson doesn't have the best intentions for the club , he obviously does, and he's tried in the past to fulfill the fans hope ,
However I just feel the club is stagnant, for too long managers coming and going, same with players, short term fixes ,
It was interesting to hear Carrick, talk about our consistency, pointing out our league positions in recent seasons, so I guess we give it a go but, 7th, 8th, midtable is were we are , is that the remit, that's the ambition, certainly feels like it,
The academy is struggling, in their league, obviously those players are not up to standard,
We could rake in a fair amount of money with some sales this off season, I hope they don't buy one season wonders, and I hope they look further field, it seems players from Korea, or Japan are very professional and always give their best,
Here's hoping COB
Thankfully Diasboro is back up and running again ahead of tomorrow's vital game - as usually the yearly automatic renewal of the diasboro.club URL (held by a third-party company) didn't work and it then suspends the functioning of the URL - Anyway, I had to manually renew it this morning and then it takes a few hours to register on the server 😓
Sorry for the inconvenience as they say - plus thanks to Powmill for mailing me too!
Good to see you have had your hammer out gave it a good thwack and got your hands dirty, domain name renewal 🤫, glad somebody knows what they are doing
I am finally getting over the dissappoinment of the Norwich draw.@forever-dormo Fortunately two bottles came with us, although given what he’s tweeted, maybe I should have whatever AV is having!
Now, I am on the boat with AV, there is still four matches to look forward to.
I am waiting for the match on Saturday. We CAN do it. Up the Boro!
PS. I am not in the Twitter because I don't support the platform. Was there since Bosco Jankovich stand opened during Untypical Boro blog.
I miss AV's comments. I saw him briefly at Riverside last week. He is busy with the Boro's 150 anniversary year looming and future books. Up the Boro!
@jarkko I’ve left X too, for the same reasons. I’m on Bluesky now which is much more civilised.
@mbellamy.b-sky.social
@jarkko The Bosco Jankovich stand...
I remember that and it was what started me off with Twitter.
Like Martin and yourself, I deleted my Twitter account some time ago now and for similar reasons. I haven't bothered looking for an alternative. I have decided I can live quite happily without tweeting/x-ing/blue sky-ing or similar.
I do have a WhatsApp account, mainly to be a part of a couple of family and friends groups.
Otherwise, I am only on LinkedIn, but in my job that is an essential. I can spot its algorithms automatically generating endorsements for me from a mile off - even though Suckerburg and his company deny that such a thing happens. I look forward to retiring when I can delete that account too.
@powmillnaemore Strangely, I haven’t been able to quite bring myself to delete Linkedin, even though I retired properly in 2018, and there’s no reason for me to continue. Your comment might just be the impetus I need to bite that particular bullet.
Yes the lack of trust in platforms like X and with US-based services in general on the back of tariffs and the rise of an oligarchy has certainly got many people thinking about alternatives.
It’s quite frightening how much many rely on the likes of Google, Amazon, Apple, Meta etc and where supporting such companies is leading.
We cancelled our Amazon Prime subscription last month after 20 years and have been looking at European alternatives for most things now.
I looked at this site which lists some possible alternatives…
https://european-alternatives.eu/alternatives-to
In the end is probably worth paying a small fee for an alternative to all the free service the giant US corporations offer as in the end it’s your personal data and advertising that they make money from.
@werdermouth The trouble is that Amazon works well, in so many ways. I often buy things that I’d have no idea where else to get them locally. Plus, they arrive the next day. Of course, if capitalism worked in the way we are told it does, there’d be a European, or even UK, equivalent to Amazon.
A lot of small UK suppliers use Amazon as their virtual distribution hub, with access to markets that they’d struggle to find independently. The whole global trade thing is very complicated.
Yes, I joined the BlueSky today. My first follower in there was a certain Anthony Vickers - not bad after 30 min in the BlueSky 😅.@jarkko I’ve left X too, for the same reasons. I’m on Bluesky now which is much more civilised.
@mbellamy.b-sky.social
Let's see if I can find football and Boro content next. Thanks for your tip, @Martin. Up the Boro!
yes it’s certainly got complicated and everyone has become completely dependent on these big tech companies and the service is very good and seductive.
But there is a dark side where they pay less tax, reduce profit margins of suppliers, force employees to work in less favorable conditions and their owners are on their way to becoming trillionaire oligarchs with political consequences and also are controlling media that is now moving away from free and fair press.
Anyway, better leave this discussion for another time as Boro have got their biggest game of the season tomorrow!
As for the game tomorrow, there seems to be a lot of talk in the media of Carrick keen to keep tactical flexibility and allow the players to adjust their game depending on the circumstances.
While that would be fine if it really was possible to have that degree of control - but recent experience has shown unless Boro start with energy and intensity then they struggle to impose themselves on the game.
I feel it would be a mistake to go into tomorrow in some calm and measured mood among the players as they could soon find themselves trying to hang on to the game. The Coventry game is essentially a cup tie with Boro the underdogs where they must work and press and impose themselves.
Every player must be up for this one and not start on the back foot - it would be disappointing if we don't get a performance and end the season with a whimper - if we fail to win giving everything then so be it - but nothing left on the pitch please!
There is a good following tomorrow at Coventry. Sold out allowance which we could have easily doubled.
If there is not a good performance, irrespective of the result then the Boro fans will vent their feelings
As much as I like Carrick, I just do not see him delivering a result tomorrow and he will have his usual platitudes on hand.
Anyway we will know come 14.20.
@werdermouth - Firstly thank you for the spanner-work (not forgetting the hammer, screwdriver and the occasional boot and maybe the on/off switch for a few minutes) that keeps this all operating. Otherwise there'd be blank screens for us!
Yes, the slight fear is of a whimper-like end to the season. Obviously for the players this might as well be a cup final, and any other games that might follow on would be like European games. But if Boro fails to win tomorrow, it is all over for at least another season. I don't suppose the players need to be "gee'd up for the game". Surely as professionals they all know what is required? If they need stirring words from Michael Carrick, an arm around the shoulders or a boot up the backside, what have they been doing so far in their football careers? Surely knowing what is required in the last game of the regular season makes it easy for them to gee THEMSELVES up?
Can you imagine a post-match interview giving rise to a player saying: "It wasn't until Coventry scored to take the lead in the 86th minute that I realised we had to win the game to have a chance of getting in the Play-Offs. I thought we were doing well to grind out a draw, so I didn't want to over-exert myself or put colleagues under pressure to chase the win. When I realised we now needed TWO goals in the last 4 minutes I was stunned. So little time to get what we needed from the game. I feel gutted! Can we do it again now we all know what we need to do?"
I guess we just don’t know which Boro will turn up tomorrow - let’s hope it’s the better one!
I’ve had my own IT panic this afternoon. We came back from a day out and lunch in Mallaig and on the beach near Arisaig, to find that we had no internet connection.
There are strict instructions in the property’s manual not to press Reset on the mobile router, as then it definitely won’t come back on again.
I managed to contact the owner just before she caught her flight back home (she’s been staying in her other much larger property a bit further down the loch side track) who suggested the age old solution of switching the router off at the socket and then back on again. A few minutes later it kicked back into life. Phew!
Fingers crossed that it behaves for two hours during early afternoon tomorrow.
Thanks for the starter Werder. I have a feeling that Saturday will end in a defeat, as usually happens ,recently, when Boro need to win. As others have said this is our Cup Final and fittingly we have the Cup Final referee, Stuart Atwell, as Saturdays referee. His last game for us was the home FA Cup draw at the Riverside against Spurs in 2020 under Woodgate.
Interesting tactics for both teams. I think we’d all like Boro to come roaring out of the traps and “go for it” as opposed to playing a slow controlled passing game. The danger is that they could be caught on the break but it’s a choice I’d make.
Meanwhile how do Coventry approach the game? I would think a bit more cautiously in the knowledge that the longer the game goes as a draw, the more it suits them and the more Boro become anxious.
If Boro manage to score first I can’t see them holding out - this has been a weakness all season.
Unfortunately, I’m not optimistic as I’m influenced by only 1 win in the last 6 games, few chances created and fewer goals scored plus the recent awful away record.
So, there you have it - it can only be a straight forward home win for Coventry.
But you never know. Obviously , you’ve all sussed me out as I’ve no idea how Boro will perform and less idea what the score will be !!
Best wishes to all and just remember it’s only a game.
Philip of Huddersfield 👍👋
Just a quick update. I posted earlier that the "Me I'm from Middlesbrough me" I quoted was in reference to an old Boro fanzine, but I couldn't remember the name. It just came back to me a moment ago. It was called "Bread and Boro", or maybe "Bread'n'Boro". Don't suppose anyone else remembers it?
As for tomorrow, I am out with my son in a white van to collect some big book cases in Edinburgh. We are going for an early start with the van booked for 8am. We hope we don't have to dismantle the book cases to get them out of their current location, then we just might be back in time to see the match. Fingers crossed.
What to expect? Who knows. This Boro really does confound us. Just so long as we play with pride and passion and looking like we want it. I could take a defeat or a draw then. All the same, I know we can do it.
CoB
Sleep well, chaps. As they used to say before Christmas: "Just one more sleep...."
@philip-of-huddersfield I think Coventry need a win, too. Otherwise they could be out of the playoffs, too.
A draw is enough for them, only if Bristol lost their game at home to Preston. Or neither of the two - Blackburn or Millwall - would win their match.
So their final position will depend on other results if they wouldn't win. They can still do it if they draw, but then it is out of their own hands.
Naturally, the situation is the similar for us even if we won, still depending on other results. It will be interesting to see how much they go for a win.
But at least a draw will make Coventry nervous. Up the Boro!
Interestingly, if Millwall draw 0-0 today then they will end the season with Played: 46, Scored: 46, Conceded: 46.
@werdermouth. Is that a consistent Millwall as opposed to an inconsistent Boro. 😎
