The Howson situation may be a wage thing - maybe he's been offered an extension at a lower wage and is checking his options.
It would seem strange to me if Howson was let go without any kind of mention. Given that Hackney is expected to leave and Barlaser was pretty unfancied (maybe that changes with Edwards) we look very short in midfield without Howson as well. Not to mention that he's been pretty useful on the right of a back three at times, which may be Edwards style, and that Dijksteel - who played his best football for us in that role - has also gone.
never heard of this player. I expect most if not all signings will be unknown to most of us.
Philip of Huddersfield 👍
Middlesbrough are making progress in talks with NEC Nijmegen for Sontje Hansen.
Negotiations ongoing — he's Boro’s top target, with club officials having travelled to the Netherlands to meet the player.
OFB
I just looked him up. Maybe he's better on the eye than in the stats because he doesn't seem to have anything that jumps off the page.
A right winger who made 32 appearances for NEC last year (who finished 8th in the Eredivisie), 6 goals and 4 assists. He averaged 62 minutes in his appearances.
In the previous season, it was also 6 goals and 4 assists in 33 appearances, averaging 58 mins.
Within the Eredevisie, he was one of the highest (90+ percentile) for attempted and successful dribbles.
I expect he's quick and likes to run at his opposite number then - a quality we're short of without Doak and Jones, but equally the profile is quite similar to say Silvera or Hamilton so difficult to judge from afar.
His showreel tape is underwhelming and he does look as though he could well be another Silvera or Hamilton. Capable of good things but generally not well suited for the rigours of the Championship.
It is also reported that we are interested in Pavel Sulc aged 25, AM, Czech 🤔.
Come on BORO.
They're all rough diamonds waiting to be polished to perfection and an exponential increase in value. Is that the philosophy now? I for one hope so!
UTB,
John
I suppose having just seen the following headline with regard to Sonje Hansen it probably says it all in terms of where Boro are currently at...
Wrexham set to rival Middlesbrough in transfer race for 7-goal forward
Doesn't sound promising for Howson if he's missed the trip to Portugal - you're probably right Andy in thinking he's not been offered a deal he'd have expected - maybe he's looking for alternatives or has Edwards preference for more athletic pressing midfielders meant Howson no longer fits the profile?
Howson was my player of the season two years ago, and in spite of his injuries last term he never let us down whenever he played, no matter in which position. He is a proper footballer in a way that no one else in the squad can match. He has perfect balance, is comfortable both on and off the ball, knows when to commit to a crunching tackle and when to stay on his feet. He is peerless in both experience and ability, very fit and an inspiration to the younger players around him. We miss him and are much more vulnerable and inconsistent when he is not in the side.
So of course his position appears to be in some doubt. It is being put about that he doesn't fit the profile of the kind of player we are looking for. He doesn't of course. He's a class act with vast Championship experience, the absolutely last thing we need.
We have purged 20 players including the loanies on prem wages, Dyksteel, Howson, I'm thinking right now it's a saving of something like £ 150,000 a week, puts us in a good position to barter , and that's before any sales
Wrexham probably have wealthier owners than us, momentum and superstar owners
Looks like they're having a good look at the present squad before making any rash transfer business, unless more than two or three leave , it might be a quiet window definitely a RB , and we might see a big offer for a striker ,that could be a surprise.
What happened with all furore about the young man at Bratislava was it? Or doesn't he fit the profile for Mr Edwards? Maybe they're doing the business below the radar?
UTB,
John
Former Middlesbrough striker makes transfer decision, £18m asking price set
This story from the Gazette must mark a new journalistic low. It's about Aaron Connolly signing for a new club, Leyton Orient. But not for £18m. That is a separate story about Josh Sergant . Norwich have set the £18m as a target price for their striker.
It's about as misleading a headline as you can get and it has been left uncorrected for a couple of days now.
So it's an example both of a young journalist who is lacking in even basic training, and non-existent sub-editing.
Or it is a story that has been constructed deliberately to deceive its readership? A clickbait headline.
Either way it is not journalism in any meaningful sense of the word.
I know that this is supposed to be the silly season, but at the Gazette it seems to be the unacceptably stupid, incompetent and/or fraudulent season.
0/10 and shame all round
@lenmasterman They're pretty good at dressing up non-stories I think there are a few more like that in the last week. Just rubbish about nothing.
UTB,
John
I have read the posts above. It took me two days! Not a full 48 hours, but two substantial sessions over the two days to go through 8 pages!
Best wishes to Len in his health. I also see there have been optimistic notes about the health of other members of this Blog. Despite the advance of time most of us remain, though it is getting more difficult to cross fingers, legs or other appendages. The news that the club had sold over 17,000 season tickets a week or so ago, before new (as opposed to Early Bird) tickets were available for purchase, was a mild surprise to me.
I have NO IDEA how the team will perform in the first group of fixtures for the season-to-come. That may be determined by the players joining the club, those leaving, and the fitness of those left. Too early to say at this stage. I must say that I never had the impression that Boro's players were any fitter or more robust/resilient than players from the teams we were competing against, so that would be a welcome change if it could be achieved. Maybe a player recovering more quickly than expected from a knock or news that a player's rehabilitation has proceeded more rapidly than anticipated...
It would be a major benefit to have a fit and ready Riley McGree on the pitch for most of the 46 league fixtures. We have seen him only in fits and starts and I had the feeling towards the end of his "reign" that Carrick wan't too keen on McGree. I have no idea who is in charge of valuing our players if they are available for sale or identifying those the club might want to sign. I don't know who gives the "thumbs up" on new players unless it happens to be Steve Gibson on the larger purchases as he is probably the one making the money available. I suppose if a new player begins to shine we will notice someone in the club claiming the credit for that signing. I hope we don't drop the sort of clangers we dropped in last January's transfer window.
If things go as expected, the start of the season will find me on the Northumberland Coast between Beadnell and Seahouses, following by radio. I could always try to see if the Boro game is being shown at the local pub. In September/October I will be on the far north west coast of Scotland. I just don't feel a hunger to watch football at present but that might change when August arrives. Time will tell...
It is all little difficult to think about predicting the outcome for the coming season just now, but it is only a month away now till the big kick off. I have the COTS challenge mostly prepared for next season already, but I will delay posting that up for maybe another couple of weeks. So watch this space.
@powmillnaemore I agree it is difficult to make predictions for the new season as the team may be significantly changed by the time the season kicks off. I am distracting myself with a bit of carp fishing meanwhile. I caught a very nice 10 lb common the other day. Thank you for running the COTS challenge last season. UTB Chris
Just a thought. Boro were interested in Glen Kamara in previous windows. A possible replacent to Howson?
According to information from the French newspaper L’Équipe, Serbian giants Crvena zvezda, or Red Star of Belgrade, are interested in 29-year-old Glen Kamara.
The newspaper reports that an offer of four million euros has been made for Kamara, but French club Rennes wants 5–6 million euros for the Finn.
Up the Boro!
I had exactly the same thought after reading that article - nothing more than pure and shameless click-bait. It seems, as you have eluded to, if you want balanced reporting on Boro then you probably have to opt for the Hartlepool Mail or Yorkshire Post as our local media have basically moved over to PR or click-bait.
In reality I don't think it makes that much difference how wealthy your owner is in the Championship as the amount they can legally pump into the club is not that significant in comparison to either parachute payments or one big player sale.
Though it seems many Championship clubs are chasing players of the same kind of quality - either up and coming potential who haven't quite made the grade or incomplete packages that are inconsistent or have good spells.
You are right about FFP/PSR but I do think momentum counts for a lot, given we don't have much of it.
Watched the PSG v Madrid game , superb ability on both, but what I found interesting PSG midfield did something different than say Man City, at times instead of trying to move the ball around to wide areas , they had two midfielders especially Neves who picked the ball up in the middle and ran at the defense at speed dribbling or just running through them, I don't think Madrid were ready for it, and got caught out backing off or committing, their defense couldn't mark up without causing gaps, interesting,
@gt _ I'd say for the past half-year at least, PSG has played the best football and been head and shoulders above the usual Champions League contenders. The way Inter Milan in the CL Final and Real Madrid a couple of days ago in the "Club World Cup" were peremptorily brushed aside by PSG was astonishing. If PSG were to play Manchester City tomorrow it would be a mis-match. I think it is Chelsea with the task of opposing PSG in the Final of that competition in the USA.
You probably shouldn't rule out a Chelsea performance to show the world that London is back on the football map. But equally I'd not be surprised if PSG won 3-1 or 4-1. I suspect the latter is more likely. Empires wax and wane but it looks as if PSG is now the new Emperor - here to stay for quite a while.