I see Coventry's Frank Lampard (see what I did there ?) is the new Manager of the Month.
Looks like the Sky Blues implosion is set to continue 🤔
I'm particularly pleased that Kim seems to have overcome the formidable language barriers facing him as he communicates with his players. As with many Swedes, his English is so precise and grammatically perfect that I feared it would be unintelligible to most English players. Fortunately they appear to have cottoned on to what he is saying pretty quickly. Congratulations all round.
The dangers of irony. My wife has just read my last comment and taken its opening sentence literally.
In fact it's based on my experience of working for a long time northern Europe, where I spoke only English. It was not uncommon for people to come up to me after a talk and tell me that they had been using English incorrectly because something I had said didn't square with what they had been taught. I invariably had to concede that it was my English that was imperfect and not theirs.
@lenmasterman - Somehow it seems to be the Nordic and the Dutch footballers, with some others, who speak good English. Even then, the Dutch sometimes make comments which, in my youth, you would not have used in front of your parents or the vicar. In 25 years time the language spoken by footballers who come from between Penzance and Berwick-Upon-Tweed (or from the Norfolk coast to Herefordshire) will have diverged so far from the language spoken by David Attenborough and Trevor McDonald as to be a different language. No longer just a dialect of English, it will have its own specialist language teachers in the Football Academies of the country. Post-match interviews might otherwise be carried out with an interpreter or subtitles at the very least.
I see Fry is still injured with his troublesome calf which will mean he’s missed 6 games ( including tomorrow)
Having rarely missed a game for many years it now seems he just can’t keep fit which must be a real worry for him and the manager.
Tomorrow will be a tough game with QPR having won 5 out of the last 6.
Of course it will be a tough game for them facing an away game against the team second in the League.
Boro must be quietly confident of another win.
philip of Huddersfield 👍🤗
@martin-bellamy - something like that! Thanks for the video link.
Que bueno video, that like though but.
Thanks for the intro Dormo. Hopefully the Riverside faithful will get to see some of the great football seen on the road in the last two games. It looks like KH may have a selection dilemma particularly at left back now that Ayling and Edmundson are fit again. Does he go for the more dynamic Bangura or the steadier Targett. According to WhoScored.com QPR's strength is attacking down the right, so maybe he goes with Targett. Rumarn Burrell is an interesting player. Signed in 2019 as an 18 year old. Played in a 2-1 FA Cup defeat at Brentford under Neil Warnock, a game that Alex Gilbert made his first appearance for Brentford. He then went on loan and then was released and played in the lower leagues in Scotland until he went to Burton and then to QPR and has 9 goals in 19 this season. Referee is Josh Smith who has refereed two high scoring Boro games, 6-2 at Oxford last season and the 5-1 home win against Norwich the season before.
@mw-in-darwin - Thanks. Maybe you will be listening (or watching via video) the game at Silly o'clock in the tropical north of Oz? I am optimistic about the game.
On the language of football, the following might be of interest:
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DRcqKswkaze/?igsh=MmhsYmM4c2x2Zmti
You will need to delete the mute on sound
Still very busy with my project and a pre-christmas completion only looking possible if I can poach some of Santa's little helpers - anyway, just enjoyed watching those videos from Martin and Len plus just been catching up on Wednesday night scores that saw Millwall draw to keep us 4 points clear - plus Ipswich won again though they're away at Leicester today so fingers crossed. So back to work and looking forward to watching the game later. btw a win today would give Boro exactly 2 points per game to further enhance our automatic promotion credentials.
The starting XI - Ayling, Browne & Strelec back in for Bangura, Gilbert & Burgzorg:
Very experienced bench. No juniors in there.
If Fry is fit next week as suggested by Hellberg, then it looks good for the festival season.
I say 3-1 win today. A Strelec brace with a compalsure Morgan goal, too. Up the Boro!
The starting XI - Ayling, Browne & Strelec back in for Bangura, Gilbert & Burgzorg:
Couple of valid comments by CJ:
Strelec returns to the starting XI ahead of Burgzorg after illness. That makes sense. Think he needs a run in the team to really show what he can do.
As for the other two changes, maybe harsh on Bangura and Gilbert, but worth remembering both have started the last two games (three in Bangura's case) having not played much/any football at all before that this season. With the short turnaround between this and Charlton, it's likely just a thought to freshen things up/not overload the duo.
@lenmasterman That was good, thank you, Sir Len.
Should I try to improve my English by following football, or what? Just guessing.
I hope we get a few goals from the corner balls.
Up the Boro!
You could argue that it makes Boro more solid but the downside is Bangura had proved to be a good outlet and Gilbert had been instrumental in moving the team up the pitch. Though Ayling also adds an extra dimension on the right and Browne had until his illness been playing well but looked off it a bit in recent games.