OXFORD v BORO
Saturday
23rd November 2024
Kassam Stadium
Morse Code for Boro
A hesitant knock on the reeded glass door, resulted in an exasperated response from the office within, “what?” The door was slowly opened and a fairly tall good looking man, aged in his early thirties and wearing a shapeless baggy suit entered the room.
Morse reluctantly put down his “Times Crossword” and pressed the stop button on his Omega watch, where he had been timing his performance on completing that days crossword.
“Yes Lewis! Can’t you see I’m busy?” Morse, a middle aged man with curly, iron grey, receding hair topping off a craggy weather beaten face, was sat in a leather swivel chair. He gave a sigh of exasperation and threw the paper down onto the desk and leant back in his seat. “Well what is it?” he asked his, piercing blue eyes which had made many a suspect unexpectedly blurt out an admission of guilt, stared at Lewis who was squirming in front of him.
What’s your favourite present-participle in the English language, Lewis?’
For once, Lewis was ready for him: ‘I’d go for bird-hatching, I think. Remember when Tess sets off for the Vale of the Great Dairies? “On a thyme-scented, bird-hatching morning in May.” Lovely sentence.”
Morse nodded. “Chapter 16, isn’t it?” But Lewis was not prepared to congratulate him on his knowledge of Hardy’s novels. Instead, he asked him what his own choice would be. ‘I’ll go for “unbuttoning”,’ Morse said quietly.
After,the initial cut and thrust of the conversation, Lewis cleared his throat and said, “I’ve got a problem Chief Inspector” before being interrupted.
“I’ve told you before Lewis it’s just Sir, and then Morse said in a more friendly voice, or if we’re in the pub and you’re buying me a pint of Ale, it’s just Morse. Now what’s the problem?”
Lewis went on “ it’s about the football match next week between Oxford and Middlesbrough sir!”
“Football,football!” Morse raised his voice, “ I don’t know anything about bloody football, rugby is the game to watch and play man.”
Undeterred, Lewis went on “before I joined the Oxford Constabulary I worked in Middlesbrough for a few years after completing my initial training in Newcastle. John my eldest lad used to go to see the Boro with me on my days off even though I was a Mags supporter.” “Mags?” Morse interjected, who are the bloody Mags?” Sorry sir it’s short for Magpies, the nickname of Newcastle United. So we went quite a few years and he grew to like the Boro and support them.”
“So what’s the problem then?” Morse asked still wanting to get back to his crossword.
“Well what do I do sir? Do I go in the away end of the ground as a Boro fan or do I go in the home end as an Oxford supporter where I can get tickets easily?”
“There’s no problem Lewis it’s already sorted” said Morse picking up his crossword again.
“How come sir?” a puzzled Lewis asked as he made his way to the door.
Morse set his stop watch to resume as he picked up his pen, “You’re working this Saturday preparing all the crime figures and statistics for the Chief Superintendent’s meeting on Monday. Shut the door on your way out.”
So turning to football……..
In 1998 Boro sealed a swift return to the Premiership with a 4-1 victory over Oxford United at the Riverside. All five goals were scored in the second half, as three points against the U’s on the final day of the 1997/98 season helped clinch an immediate return to the top flight after a one-year absence.
Alun Armstrong had settled any nerves around the Riverside with a composed finish two minutes into the second half before doubling his and Boro’s tally a minute later.
Craig Hignett made it a three-goal advantage and went on to also bag a brace when he scored Boro's fourth.
Nicky Banger scored a consolation goal for the away side, but Boro claimed the three points to land the second automatic promotion place and a return to the Premier League.
Whilst a place in the Premier League cannot be guaranteed with a win in this game with Oxford, a similar scoreline by Boro may be enough to propel our team currently in seventh position into a playoff position and hopefully they can remain there until the end of the season. Oxford who are in sixteenth position are only seven points behind the Boro which shows how tight this league is and how a couple of wins (or even a loss!) can dramatically change the position. Oxford have had an impressive start to life back in the Championship, and that is all thanks to their home form. Wins against Norwich City, Stoke City, Preston North End and Hull City have seen United hover just below the mid-table position for most of this season. Their away form has not been as impressive, however. Some of Oxford's poorest performances of the season have ironically come recently in home fixtures, but United have been able to pick up points in some of these games. In particular a 1-0 win over Hull in a game they didn't deserve to win. But away from home, Oxford haven't quite been able to find a way to get over the line. And it's starting to become a bit of a monkey on the player's back.The longer United wait for an away win, the more pressure the players will feel in away fixtures. It's not like United haven't come close. Oxford have put in some fantastic displays away from home, and more than played their part in games against both Coventry City and Blackburn Rovers early on in the season, both of which saw the home side score late on to steal a win. Oxford fans also felt they deserved at least a draw against Bristol City, in a game they were winning before a controversial penalty was awarded against them in the second half.
Moving on to Boro, we entered the international break in seventh place in the table and are poised to push on, if the wins over Queens Park Rangers and Luton Town are anything to go by. One of the reasons for our resurgence has been the form of summer signing Aidan Morris, who is beginning to form a formidable partnership in midfield with Hackney and it looks like we have found the answer to the imminent retirement of Johnny Howson. Morris has established himself as a key man in Carrick's side following his move from Columbus Crew, and has started 14 of Boro's 15 Championship games so far this term. Carrick has been pleased with how the 22-year-old has adapted to life in England's second tier so quickly, but is also aware that he will have to monitor his gametime as he has little in the way of rest since moving from the MLS. His current injury whilst with the USA team has come at an unfortunate time. Morris has started 14 of Boro's 15 league matches this season and he will be missed in the team. Whilst it will be an opportunity for Jonny Howson to strut his stuff on the stage again, it shows how much Morris has grown into the team to be a major player and will be a big miss.
Another of our (Liverpool ) young prospects Ben Doak who has made such an impressive start on the right wing for Boro will apparently not be recalled by Liverpool from his loan spell at Boro. His recent man of the match performance for Scotland has ensured that teams will sit up and take notice and probably double up on him hopefully leaving some gaps elsewhere on the pitch to take advantage of.
A player who has certainly made such progress with the Boro that he has made me completely change my opinion of him is Finn Azaz. His reading of the game and astute passing has been added by a goalscoring capability. It can be no coincidence that the astute coaching of Michael Carrick has made this player blossom into such a promising player.
Latte Lath has re-discovered his goalscoring abilities and his recent performances augur well for the remainder of the season.
Seny Dieng is back to his best and it so looks good for the next few weeks in the run in to the end of the year with no more international breaks.
So hopefully without being boring (me boring ?) how very dare you! I’m going for ...
BORO3
OFB
A nice twist on the starter, OFB. I’ve never watched Morse but very much appreciate the allusion.
We just need to keep scoring goals and collecting points (easy, eh?) with whoever is available to play - surely the injury curse can’t last forever.
I’m going for a 2-0 Boro win and hopefully elevation back into the Top Six.
@Original Fat Bob
Great starter but I trust that this is not a a challenge that you are laying down to other members of this blog. Are we now obliged to write our intros in the style of great detectives? Will we see Sherlock Holmes being conjured up to solve the Secret of the Surprising Injuries, revealing that Moriarty is a secret Sunderland supporter?
Anyway, congrats on your intro and we can only hope that our squad can handle this new outbreak aches and strains. It's somewhat ironic that a lot of the commentators are extolling the virtues of our enhanced squad and giving us a chance of pinching an automatic spot just as three of the lynch-pins of the side go down injured.
If Hackney and Morris can't play, does Carrick go for Howson and Barlaser, a combination that has never really clicked. Is there some other option? Thankfully, we appear to have cover for VDB but we don't want this to go much further.
Whilst the recent performances suggest a new fluent Boro, I'll be very happy if we can sneak any kind of win.
UTB
@OFB A great starter there. An enjouable read indeed.
Pity about the injuries. We have McCabe as an option in midfield, too. But let's hope Hackney and Morris won't be away for long time.
Regarding van den Berg, do we know anything about Leninhan? He played some football in pre-season I think, but had a nigle or two since. Any idea when he can be back?
Luckily we have Fry back now. He has had a fair share of injuries, too. So many have forgotten how good a defender he is.
Up the Boro!
Nice one, Bob. Original, clever, funny and a very good read.
I went to see the Boro play at Oxford once and it was a very weird experience. In those days you generally approached football matches via a walk through often deprived inner-city streets. At Oxford I found myself walking through a rather prosperous middle-class area with houses which you could scarcely see behind their very large gardens. It just wasn't conducive to the kind of raucous chanting that normally echoed through the streets and alley ways of most grounds. More like going to a cricket match than a football game
We had a visitor from Oxford last week. She had no interest in football though. I did mention Boro's next match against the U's (or should it be spelled Us, re debate over Queens Park Rangers). And she was flying back home after a three-month stay in Finland.
Further on Oxford United, they have some familiar names like nr. 6 Josh McEachran and 12 Joe Bennett. Apparently Marcus Browne is not there anymore - he spent a season on loan there from Boro and then two seasons after a £ 750 000 transfer. He is 26 year old and has been without a club since June 2024.
Up the Boro!
I absolutely loved that opening Bob, A brilliant and novel idea for kicking off the thread. Well done.
As for the game on Saturday, I have no idea what to expect. We have had an international break and we had just started to show a bit of form, so of course I expect the wheels will have come off the bus in break and we will struggle to break down a plucky Oxford side that will spoil our party by taking all three points...... Oxford 2 - Boro 0
Great intro OFB. We have a pretty good record in Oxford.We have only lost 3 out of 15 games at the Manor Ground. OFB mentioned the promotion clinching 4-1 in 1998 we also won 4-1 in the away game. Also there was the promotion clinching win in 1967, also 4-1. There have also been some other high scoring wins there, a 5-2 and a 4-2. We have never played at the Kassam Stadium as it didn't open until 2001 and was built by Taylor Woodrow who built the Riverside. It must be the strangest league ground as it only has 3 sides. Behind one goal is a carpark, which apparently is shared with a cinema. With all of the high scores listed Saturday will probably finish 0-0.
A lovely and absorbing intro OFB, part of the fun was wondering where it was going. I could hear Morse and Lewis too speaking the lines! All we needed was a bit of Morse's favourite Choral music in the background. Great and a gold star for that homework.
UTB,
John
Lovely Starter piece, OFB. And, Martin, you could easily catch up on the Morse series because Morse is repeated very often on the various digital channels. A gentle step back into those days when, for the most part, police officers had only ONE crime to solve at any one time. I enjoyed watching Morse and its prequel series "Endeavour" and sequel series "Lewis". I wouldn't have wanted to go to a Supervision with one of the Dons at Oxford though as, in the show, the Fellows/Masters/students there seemed to be rather dangerous to be around. And some of the police officers were a bit "dodgy", too.
I think Morris has been really good for Boro so far this season and Azaz has come out of his shell and is a key Boro player. Pity about the injuries. How is Hackney?
I thought 4-1 to Boro is the traditional score against Oxford United. It would be nice to see the old favourite come out to be recognised again.
@forever-dormo Thanks for that, but I’m a bit odd when it comes to tv (or just a bit odd, full stop) - I’m not a big fan of detective shows, although we do watch Vera and Shetland and I read all Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes books as a kid. Come to think of it, we watch Strike as well, plus Inspector Montelbano on odd occasions, so now I’m questioning why I’ve never watched Morse or its derivatives. Like I said, I’m a bit odd.
@forever-dormo Thanks for that, but I’m a bit odd when it comes to tv (or just a bit odd, full stop) - I’m not a big fan of detective shows, although we do watch Vera and Shetland and I read all Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes books as a kid. Come to think of it, we watch Strike as well, plus Inspector Montelbano on odd occasions, so now I’m questioning why I’ve never watched Morse or its derivatives. Like I said, I’m a bit odd.
Aren't we all, Martin? After all we are Boro fans!
If anyone wants a detective recommendation, I can throw in the recent MAIGRET adaptation starring Rowan Atkinson. Two seasons (2016 and 2017) and only four episodes in total. Done in a very understated, classy style.
UTB
In the Luton preview, we talked about the injuries we have at the moment. The main concern was short-term injuries to van den Berg, Hackney and Morris. We do not have much info of the trio until Thursday, when Carrick will have his presser for the Oxford match.
Long term injuries we have, too. Tommy Smith, Alex Bangura and Darragh Lenihan are still missing.
There are a couple we have forgotten about. What is the status of Lucas Engel and Alex Gilbert, for example? The former had an injury to his wrist and a niggle with his legs or feet. The latter was expected to be back already before the current international break, but nothing was heard for a while. I hope the reporters will be asking about these players, too. And not only about Hackney and Morris.
It has been a long wait for the Oxford match. But after Saturday, there will be plenty of matches to look forward to. Usually, a match in midweek also.
Up the Boro!
All of the clubs in the Premier League and English Football League could be owned by American investors in the next five to 10 years, according to a football investment expert. He says: "I know what we have in terms of our trend line and our competitors and I'm not aware of a team that hasn't had a conversation with an American investor in the past few months. Every team is talking to them."
I don't think we have seen Mr. Gibson talking to them. But most probably he has at least talked.
Here is the link to the article: https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/articles/cgj7pv6qg12o
Up the Boro!
@martin-bellamy - At Dormo Towers we greatly enjoyed Montalbano (and Young Montalbano). There have been few series shown on TV in England which featured translated subtitles, but Montalbano was a success. Maybe the Scandi noir programmes (murders on the bridge between Denmark & Sweden etc). I didn't follow them but know they had a following.
Time to have a look at the link provided by Jarkko. Hope all is well up there in the dark and cold...
@forever-dormo It is not so dark today as it was yesterday. We woke up in a thick snow storm this morning. We have about 10 cm of new, bright white snow. It was forecast that up to 30 cm can arrive here in the south today.
I expect it to melt away by next week. But at least it helps during the usually dark m8n4h of November.
When is the next Boro match? Up the Boro!
@forever-dormo We enjoyed binge watching The Killing (Forbrydelsen) when we had our Campervan - I do like a bit of sub-titled Scandi-noir.
@jarkko I liked this quote from that report: “The fans were very kind and welcoming," he told BBC Radio 5 Live. "One of the things that I found with English football fans, though, is there are about 20% who will just think the worst no matter what.”
I suspect that the percentage of Boro fans thinking the worst would be much higher than 20% 😉.
WALTER PRESENTS !
Mrs OFB and I watched a lot of them ! The Bridge etc really enjoyed them
OFB
OFB Thank you that was good fun!
You are right Len the Manor Ground was not typical. I didn't like the floor to roof cages and ramshackle interior they had back in the 80's but I did shake a tin for a local hospice outside there one Saturday and the locals were very generous.
On the detective front Jarkko once recommended a series which I think was called Deadwind set in Finland. We liked that a lot. The detectives were called Karppi and Nurmi and it was very well acted we thought.
Oxford may surprise us. Boro never fail to build up expectation and then we come down to earth with a bump....1-1 !
I think Carrick will rest Doak on Saturday, and I have a feeling Forse will be in a long with Howson and Burlaser, the rest unvhanged
@chris-from-barlby We've watched that series, very, very good it is too. Highly recommended as is another Finnish series called, I think, Border Town.
A new one is a Danish series called OXEN, it's on the Channel 4 App now. Also very good.
UTB,
John
I saw the same and was thinking that there might be closer to 80 % of typical Boro fans. And me and Anthony Vicekers are among the 20 % untypical ones 😇.@jarkko I liked this quote from that report: “The fans were very kind and welcoming," he told BBC Radio 5 Live. "One of the things that I found with English football fans, though, is there are about 20% who will just think the worst no matter what.”
I suspect that the percentage of Boro fans thinking the worst would be much higher than 20% 😉.
If we don't know for sure how it will pan out, let's presume that all goes well. I am looking forward to a nice season and especially May 2025. Up the Boro'!
@john-richardson Thank you for the recommendations - Mrs Chris says that is our winter viewing sorted out!
Thank you OFB for a lovely opener and a reminder of what an exceptional series Morse is and what an excellent actor John Thaw was; from the Sweeney, Kavanagh QC, Goodbye Mister Tom and Morse he was in my view one of our greatest screen actors and sadly missed.
I would like to think we can come away with all three points on Saturday but don’t expect us to go on another goal scoring spree, I would be content with a one or two nil victory; anything less will be disappointing.
I suspect Borges will be back allowing Ayling to switch to the right with Clarke and Edmundson making up the back four ahead of Dieng.
I would be surprised to see Morris and Hackney in the side (given the reported injuries) so time for Howson and Barlaser to shine.
Jones may get the nod over Doak from the start given the latter was reported to be running on empty during his last Scottish appearance and Jones didn’t play as many minutes. Azaz, Latte Lath and Burgzorg to continue with McGree and Connolly on the bench.
It has been said that the current squad has more depth and flexibility than in the past so this week is when it needs to prove it to be so. CoB 😎
@k-p-in-spain Or even Marcus Forss starting as GT suggested above. Plenty of options.
And with Connolly I think you meant Conway. I think the former is already at Sunderlund after a stint in Hull 😉.
Up the Boro!
I saw some Boro training photos today of the players training in the cold with hoodies and snoods.
Borges was amongst the players in full flow so I expect him to start on Saturday.
OFB
@jarkko. You are correct, I just can’t tell my Connolly from my Conway!
I hadn’t forgotten Forss, it’s just he is still short of game time so felt it more likely he would be introduced as a substitute; it remains to be seen who MC opts for but Morris is definitely out and I don’t think he will risk HH having listened to his pre match press conference. 😎