@forever-dormo Quite a bit of snow at our daughters’s place in Inverroy, although I suspect @Jarkko wouldn’t be terribly impressed.
I feel quite cheated here in Perth. Nothing but 20 minute flurry of snow yesterday.
Great news OFB, for you and your family, I'm absolutely delighted for you all. I saw the Consultant this morning after a dreadful journey to the hospital in the snow with some drivers who seem to think the conditions are just the same as a summer's day despite -4 and snow. One had even cleared a fence ten yards from the road to end the right way up yards into the field without breaking the wooden fence. He was having a chat to some bored traffic police, presumably telling them what he hadn't been doing as I drove by.
Anyway the consultant was delighted and only two consultation this year in May and June. Good news indeed and apprehension lifted a bit like those apprehensions about the Southampton match!
Slightly belatedly all the best for the New Year everyone and I hope you all continue to enjoy good health.
UTB,
John
Thanks to Malcolm for sharing that lovely story, and great to hear about Bob, too. And a massive thank you for your compliment, Powmill - I confess there are times when my brain feels a tad overloaded.
I'll briefly build on one of the points I've made in my previous posts - "Once a team becomes used to getting its way, as AKBoro and KHBoro seemed to, it's a lot harder when it suddenly doesn't..."
This adds credence to my theory of Boro as a "mood" team during my time as a fan. Often I've tended to find that the good times are better than anything, and the bad times, well, can be bad enough to almost completely obscure the good. To this day I find the month of September 1996 - 4-1, 4-0, 2-1, 0-2, 0-4, with a 10-0 aggregate win against Hereford sandwiched in between - to be the epitome of this. The contrast between the joy of being fourth after the smash-and-grab at Everton to the pain of being hammered by a previously winless Southampton who weren't renowned for scoring lots of goals? Beyond stark. We were still 9th after that game but it felt a whole lot worse.
This has inspired me to do a special reflective post when time permits. I'll get it up when I can.
@martin-bellamy We have just 2 to 3 inces of snow here in Southern Finland. But it's been cold, - 20 decrees at my home close to Helsinki. Today -15 but only -5 tomorrow.
Did I tell, that in the Norther part of Finland it has often been 35 degrees in the past week or so. The record last week was OFFICIALLY- 39,8. But that is not exceptionally cold over there.
I suppose you are not amased that most houses over here has triple glazing in windows, good central heating and naturally a sauna. The latter is in every Finnish house, some have two!
So we survive. Up the Boro!
@ofb
Re Hutton Road: I got John O‘Rourke‘s autograph there one day. I’ve lost the scrap of paper, sadly. It would have been worth thousands today 🤭😉. I must have been 14. I remember standing behind a grumpy Willie Whigham‘s goal as Boro played a training game. If memory serves he wouldn’t sign for me! Amazingly, we could just wander in to the ground those days. There was no security and nobody objected to our getting close to the players! How times change. Bielsa wouldn’t have needed to employ a spy …….
So glad your op went well and that you’re on the mend.
And good news from you, too, JR! I hope you both continue to progress well.
@john-richardson That’s very welcome news, John. Be careful on those roads.
@martin-bellamy - That should be next year's Christmas Cards sorted out for them! Lovely photo.
@clive-hurren and OFB
I can remember going to Ayresome Park with my Dad to buy some tickets between Christmas/New Year when, for some reason, the players were coming out. I can’t remember but I think I managed to get Jack Charltons signature and possibly John Hickton and John Craggs.
No idea where that autograph book is now and who else I have in it!
@jarkko - It's weird. People used to think the English were mad for going out in the midday sun in the equatorial regions. Yet here we are, in 2026, and in Finland there's a race of absolute loonies who sit in the torrid steam heat of the sauna, then rush out into the icy cold (often in darkness) either to jump into a freezing lake or to frolic in the snow before returning to the sauna for more of the same. Any self-respecting British heart would probably arrest with the shock.
We DO have the tradition of organised Boxing Day dips for example at Redcar and Whitby and elsewhere, in which groups of people (many still hungover after their excesses of the previous day) run into the sea together for a quick swim around - often wearing fancy dress and very often to raise money for charities. Although one day has drifted into the next a lot during this Christmas/New Year period, I think I watched a video on YouTube showing such a dip at Whitby (in which case it must have been the Whitby Photographer's channel). I remember seeing a massive group of people dressed as penguins taking part - so at least they looked the part! They do the same Boxing Day dips in Scotland where those events are known as "loony dooks" - which I guess in English means mad/loony swims/dips.
@forever-dormo It’s from her video cam in her garden. It’s great to be able to log in and see what’s going on up there. She has one on her hen coop, another for her bees and one inside her honesty box. Hours of fun for me.
Our next league opponents, West Brom have sacked their manager Ryan Mason following Monday's defeat at Leicester City.
The Baggies have appointed James Morrison as a head coach on an interim basis. He did the same job previously after Mogga was dismissed.
Morrison was born in Darlington, and is a product of Middlesbrough's youth academy.
He played 66 matches and scored 3 goal at Boro in 2004–2007. After Boro, he represented WBA for 12 years and 309 matches. He was a Scottish full International.
https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/articles/cn0k9j1dz94o
Up the Boro!
Callum Wilson is set to be released by West Ham.
Pay as you play deal until the end of the season anyone?
I’m sure he’ll get a decent offer somewhere.
@andy-r. Looks like he is chasing the money with Saudi Arabia mentioned; if that is correct then unlikely we could compete. 😎
Just checking - has anyone been allocated to do the starter for the Fulham FA cup game?
Just checking - has anyone been allocated to do the starter for the Fulham FA cup game?
Very good point, Martin. I’ll cobble something together.
Talking of strikers, I wouldn’t mind Zan Vipotnic from Swansea, if we could get him 🤔.
Come on BORO.
Not a fan of the FA Cup these days. Middlesbrough should us the game against Fulham to breed some youngsters in etc
Agree this season is not one for a long cup run and some fringe players have to start on Saturday. However, we have sold our full allocation of 4846 so lots of Boro fans are interested. It is our second best away following this season after Preston which was 5600.
It's a bit of a queer one - whether the FA Cup matters any more or whether it is an appropriate game in which to play a "weakened" team.
On the one hand - all the players in the squad, are being paid and might occasionally be expected to put their kit on and do a job. "We thought any of our Premier League players would be able to perform against a lower league team", Fulham might say. And, of course, for those not normally picked to play from week to week, there is the chance to shine, to claim a regular place by demonstrating they are good enough.
On the other hand, promotion to the Premier League is a MASSIVE prize for a club like ours: the richest in football. Why put that at risk by using players from a threadbare squad in playing a competition which there is only a tiny chance of winning? Where any injuries to an already sickly squad, where the medical and physio staff have been working their fingers to the bone, can hardly be accommodated? I think Sunderland and Southampton from the 2nd tier won the FA Cup in the 1970s (ie 50 years ago) and there haven't been many even before that in all the years the competition has been held. The chances of a 2nd tier team winning now are VERY remote. Most years it will be one of the top few teams in the EPL.
On the other hand the chances of Boro being promoted from the current position must be massively higher than the chance of winning the FA Cup. Boro would be one of the favourites to go up and reducing that chance, even marginally, would surely be a mistake. If Boro does not go up THIS year, when would the team achieve promotion?
I have previously argued that the FA Cup should always see Boro's best team chosen. Once the FA Cup has been won, the medals are banked, history has been made and the day and the team will live forever in our hearts. Whereas a promotion to the EPL this year can very easily (even usually) be reversed by relegation the year afterwards. I am not so sure this season whether I'd prefer to prioritise the Fulham game.
Of course the thousands who go down to London will not have bought discounted, "2nd team players used for the fixture" tickets. If I had bought tickets to see the Beatles, I'd have been very upset to see John and Ringo playing but Paul and George replaced by session musicians to give them a rest!
Craig Hignett is taking up the position at Middlesbrough College’s football academy. The coaches over there are Phil Stamp, Craig Hignett, Jack Leicos and Andy Collett.
Up the Boro!
@forever-dormo That is a tricky one.
Didn't Wigan reach the final quite recently - less than 50 years ago?
I think there have been some 2nd tier clubs in the semis more recently, too. So I would say we must respect the sport and the FA Cup as always. So let's go for it.
Up the Boro!
@jarkko - Wigan won the FA Cup when beating ten-man Manchester City 1-0 with a late goal (Zabaleta was sent off after 60 minutes for a second yellow card) at Wembley in 2013. Wigan was a Premier League club at the time. However a few days later Wigan lost the last league game of the season, being relegated after a 4-1 defeat by Arsenal.
I forgot about 2nd tier West Ham winning the FA Cup in 1980. That win made it the third time a 2nd tier team had won the Cup in 8 years - halcyon days for the FA Cup after Sunderland in 1973 and Southampton in 1976.