Thanks for the treat, Werder. As clever, funny, intelligent and beautifully written as we have come to expect.
Thanks Werder one of your best I really enjoyed that !
well done 👏👏👏👏
OFB
Thanks for that Werder - as impressive as it was humorous, and hugely entertaining on a wet and sleety, North Yorkshire morning.
It’s good to have a match coming up - it would be great if our new Swede could turnip for the game.
Absolutely brilliant, Werder! I laughed out loud at Little Red North Riding Hood and the wolf in sheep’s clothing’s responses. You may remember I was very wary writing my Ipswich preview because I can’t easily combine the football stuff with humour; here is the perfect example of what I meant. You have built great humour in throughout, while still setting us up effectively for the Oxford game and the key factors involved. I almost wrote ‘effortlessly’, but that would be quite wrong: we all know just how much effort goes into writing these openers. I can’t praise you enough for this one.
There must be a Werder for Match Previews of this quality but I can't think of it for the moment. A smorgasbord of humour and information, perhaps. Well done!
Good Pun !
Do you think we’ll mash the opposition !
I mean look at our previous manager !
Michael Carrot !
OFB
Or even
Terry Vegetables !
OFB
Good Pun !
Do you think we’ll mash the opposition !
I mean look at our previous manager !
Michael Carrot !
OFB
Careful, you don’t mangel your words there, @OFB - I’ll continue to rutabaga for the Boro.
What a superb opener werdermouth, thank you, I throughly enjoyed reading it with a smile on my face. I certainly wouldn’t be surprised to see Hellberg (and his no 2 Selini) at the Oxford match to run their eyes over the players.
Come on BORO.
A big thanks to everyone for their very generous comments and glad you enjoyed reading it as much as I had fun writing it - especially as we enter a rather gloomy late autumn!
Thanks Clive and I always enjoy you previews you write them really well - for me once I get going the ideas just flow but it's the final edit that tries to tie everything together that is the tricky bit - cutting out stuff and adding a bit here and there until I'm happy it scans and flows.
Absolutely brilliant thank you Werder. Such an enjoyable and amusing read; suggest you copy to EG so that they can appreciate and will see just how poor their own articles are! 😎
Thanks KP - though I'm not sure how it would read after the EG had run it through their AI machine - we'd probably have Morrissey as our new head coach...
@werdermouth Thank you for a great opener, again.
With my school Swedish I think you got the tranlations correct. I think the Scandinavian could be a reasonable choice for Boro. Absolut.
Let's see if we can get the strikers firing at Oxford. Perhaps we cannot repeat the result of last season, but we can always try. A 0-2 away win will do nicely, thank you. Up the Boro!
Thanks Jarkko - Scandinavians and Boro seem to fit perfectly together 🙂
Great starter. Pity the poor mug who has to follow that one:)
UTB
The lull after the storm while we await a work permit apparently, is probably no bad thing.
Ultimately I imagine all the Boro fans and much/all of the Boro heirarchy are going on gut feel alone re Hellberg. Yes, he has an impressive record and seems very promising but that's pretty much all we know.
Given that he was allegedly talking to Swansea before us, this can't be an appointment attributed to our scouting team either.
Perversely, had he arrived in the summer then everything, I think, might have been hunky dory. But coming after the recent turmoil - which feels of the three points variety - it doesn't seem an obvious fit.
We have, along with Adi, some very good players and I'd suggest that all we are really missing is a creative midfielder. We have a first 15/16 players that are good enough to go up once/if they start performing and gelling. It's about tactics and getting omre from what we have.
We are a third of the way through the season and I'd have thought that a coach who knows the Championship would be the man to build on what we have right now and go all out for promotion this year.
Hellberg feels as it were starting from scratch again, no matter how good he turns out to be. He will understandably need time and it feels as if it's a rebuild rather than building on what we have for an immediate strike at the top two come May.
I'm unsure too on what a 'technical coach' means if that is to be Adi's new role. A diminished one surely?
I wish we'd chosen differently and it feels like another upheaval is ahead. That said, clearly there wasn't a viable domestic option hence we're where we are but how thought through this appointment (yet TBC of course) is, I'm not so sure.
Gibbo gets it right and wrong with his appointments and I can't imagine there is anyone among us who'd envy him now.
Who'd be a multi millionaire?
@rich-llewelyn-evans It is, what it is, I guess - I’m sure we’ll all get behind him.
I guess the pertinent question is would any of the alternatives that were being suggested, be a better option, especially with the Director of Football and Team Coach model probably not wanting to be disrupted? That would rule out Gerrard, Rogers et al who would bring significant support teams with them. All changes bring risks but with Adi helping out, I have grounds for optimism. UTB
Today afternoon will be the first media conference hold by Adi Viveash. I am really looking forward to it as he seems a top guy. Let's see how much of information he will give to the press pre-match. I hope more than Michael Carrick did.
Also info if we have any new injuries and where we are with Dael Fry.
Up the Boro!
I agree with much of that and yes it's a gamble based on Hellberg's record in Sweden - as we saw with Southampton. they brought in another hot young head coach in Will Still in the summer based on his good record in Belgium and France - he didn't hit the ground running and didn't adjust to the Championship and was ejected. Their interim manager has won his last 2 games and his team scored 5 goals - Still only won 2 from his first 13 and and averaged just a goal a game.
That's not to say Hellberg will struggle and perhaps the good thing for the players is having Adi Viveash still around. The question will be is whether his methods that worked in the Swedish league will easily translate to the grind of the Championship.
The key may well be on how or if he can get the attack functioning - though I suspect there's confidence issues with quite a few players that would be solved with them scoring a few goals. In his favour is that he's joining a team that is second in league so it's not a struggling team - it just needs a few tweaks to take us through these next ten games that will come pretty rapidly.
So was Hellberg the right choice? Unfortunately, I didn't see any other real standout choices that were available at this moment in time - if he gets off to a winning start it may look a good decision - if not we'll have to wait and see.
Regarding injuries, has anyone heard anyting about the injury to Darragh Leninhan?
Bob, can you make inquiries, please? I cannot even remember what his latest injury was and if he will be back in a few wwks, months or after the summer.
I suppose he won't be back before the January window and then Adilson Malanda will join the squad.
Up the Boro!
I will answer to my question on Darragh Leninhan's latest injury. He suffered a new Achilles injury, but Middlesbrough’s medical staff are hopeful the centre-half will be sidelined for a number of weeks rather than missing most of the rest of the season. That was in towards the end of September.
Up the Boro!
@jarkko - So Lenihan should be available for selection very soon? (Sidelined for a number of weeks in late September - we are now in late November so that's 8/9 of those weeks gone!).
Regarding injuries, has anyone heard anyting about the injury to Darragh Leninhan?
Bob, can you make inquiries, please? I cannot even remember what his latest injury was and if he will be back in a few wwks, months or after the summer.
I suppose he won't be back before the January window and then Adilson Malanda will join the squad.
Up the Boro!
I’ve asked the question but don’t know if I’ll get an answer !
OFB
Listening to th press conference by ADI this afternoon Darragh was mentioned and it would appear he will be out for some time yet. He’s not even ready for training as he has had a few issues.
Pity as he’s a good player and leader
OFB
@original-fat-bob I did listen to the presser, too. It was two times longer than the pressers by Edwards (still remember him?).
Fabulous man, Adi Viveash. A good listen.
So Edmundson and Leninhan out, but Fry could be involved. He will have a fitness test on Friday. Let's hope Jones is back in time from Canada. He was MoM on his debut for the World Cup host country.
Life is good. Up the Boro!