PNE vs Boro
“Four wins out of four, 12 points accumulated, and Boro sitting at the top of the table”. It’s fair to say that wasn’t the sentence I expected to use to start my first starter when I was allocated the Preston game in the 2025 match rota.
After quite a lot of doom and gloom pre-season, I’m delighted to witness the outbreak of joy on the Forum. I’m really quite nervous that I might oversee a change in fortune, so I’ve been trying to manifest a win at Preston since the final whistle blew against the (blunted) Blades.
I’ve enlisted PNE Dave to help out again, so I’ll let him fill us in on Preston’s start to the season. (He’s not managed to sort his words yet so, rather than wait, I’ll add them as a separate post below when they arrive.)
Before that, though, some thoughts on Teesside history. Whilst talking online, Dave mentioned that their new sponsors are The Spud Brothers, so all talk of Butter Pies could be relegated to history. That in turn made me remember the Parched Peas sold in the square near the Harris Museum in Preston City Centre. They’re sold in small tubs, with malt vinegar as a condiment, and much loved by the locals, although I’m not a big fan. I do recall that the peas are also known as Carlins and have a vague memory of my Mam and Dad talking about Carlin Sunday in the North East.
Research has confirmed that this was held on the Sunday before Palm Sunday, but there seem to be a few conflicting stories about why Carlins are involved, including a shipwreck at South Shields and/or a French ship managing to land a cargo of peas in Newcastle during the Civil War in 1644. There’s more info here ( https://www.heritageandhistory.com/contents1a/2010/04/carlin-peas-a-northern-tradition/#:~:text=Carlin%20peas%20(cajanus%20cajan)%20are,the%20Sunday%20before%20Palm%20Sunday.&text=Carlin%20Peas%20are%20a%20small,first%20recorded%20during%20Elizabethan%20times. )
It seems there’s even a poem to help you to remember the holy days:
“Tid, Mid, Miseray, Carlin, Palm, Pace-Egg Day”
I’d be interested whether anyone else from the Boro has heard of Carlin Sunday and if it still exists.
On to football and our magnificent start to the season. Since the last game, there’ve been more in and outs of players, including Forss off to Bolton and Borges on loan to Bristol City. The big news was David Strelec’s arrival from Slovan Bratislava - let’s hope he hits the ground running and provides real competition for Tommy Conway. His recent goal against Germany was a thing of beauty.
In total, we’ve signed 11 new players (or is it 12, I think I’ve lost count).
Equally important was Hayden Hackney staying on board, of course - does that count as another new signing?
There’ll be plenty of work for the coaching staff during the international break to assimilate them into the team, but from the way we’ve started the season, they seem to know what they’re doing.
I’m actually confident that we’ll come away with at least one point on Saturday - three points would be dreamland. So, Diasborans (sp?)- what’s your prediction?
Great Post.
Let's hope we can keep the run going on Saturday, wouldn't it be great to be relaxed at 3pm with 15pts from 5 games, would settle for 13 though, Preston have had a decent start.
Carlin Sunday, yes i remember that from being a child. In fact I recall having a pea shooter which we used carlins, a pea shooter being a plastic tube which was placed in the mouth with a carlin being blown through the tube with as much gusto as possible to cause maximum soreness to the recipient.
Bring on Preston, UTB.
@presidentjump I’d completely forgotten about pea shooters. Deadly in the right hands.
Carling Sunday rings a bell with me too....but I dont have any particular recollections.
My PNE supporting colleague at work was baiting me today... He fancies a 3-1score to the Lilywhites, who have, he was keen to point out, deprived both Leicester and Ipswich of any points on their visits to Deepdale last month. I reassured him that Boro are better than both of them, so he should be prepared for the worst.
It could be a good game and hopefully we will continue to be up for it. It will be interesting to see who starts for us and who is on the bench. I am quietly excited. Wouldn't it be amazing if we could get a fifth straight win in the league? Have we ever done that before Does anyone know?
Cautiously optimistic here...
Editing this having just seen the automated correction ... I meant to say Carlin Sunday, but I suppose Carling Sunday is appropriate in a football blog... wasn't that what Sky Sports used to call their Sunday live football ?
We have never won 5 on the trot to start a season, 1925/6 and 1994/5 are the best with 4. In 26/7 we won 12 out of the first 16 games, lost the other 4. In the rest of that season won only 9 more games. That season incredibly we only drew 1 game all season in March 3-3 home v Hull. The 94/5 start was marginally better than this season as we didn't concede a goal in the first 4 games, and scored 6 so the goal difference is the same. That season our first defeat was in game 8 away at Port Vale. Game 5 was an away draw at Watford.
@mw-in-darwin Thank you for the info. And a big thank you to @Martin, too for starting the debate for Saturday's match.
I remember we have not got many good results at Preston recently. Have we won there recently, I wonder?
On average we have collected 3,0 points per match, of course. I am afraid that will go down one day as it cannot tecnically improve. But let's hope we can keep the good run going as long as possible.
With 11 arrivals, I hope we do not make too many changes too soon for the starting eleven. I hope our coaches keep their head and introduce the army of new talent gradually. I see that change as the biggest obstacle short-term. We have some tricky matches to come after Preston.
Up the Boro!
@mw-in-darwin thanks for that research. I would add that we also won the first four league fixtures in season 1993/94 under Lennie Lawrence. That season we finished in 9th position. I only got as far as the 80s when I started to look back, which prompted me to ask if anyone knew .
@jarkko I agree, it would seem harsh to make lots of changes to the personnel who have won their previous four and actually looked pretty good and very solid, drip feed the new signings would be my way of doing things though I do expect to see Targett starting.
I remember travelling to Preston on New Years Day 2020 and we won well, I believe that was our last victory at their ground.
Will be a toughie, any Heckinbotham team is generally a tough team, who like to up it against so called bigger teams, expect some crunching tackles from them, they won't be holding back and I expect a busy day for the referee.
Hopefully we come through this one undefeated and unscathed injury wise.
@presidentjump You were right: 0-2 that day. We have lost once at home and drawn at home ever since. All the rest have been home wins between these two clubs.
So a tough away match. I would be happy with a draw. But will dream about a new win record. Attached are all the recent results.
Anyway, do not change a winning team. And also do not put TOO MANY new, just signed players in the starting eleven. Let the new players bed in gradually. It usually take some months to the new polayers to bed in.
We have a good spine from last season in our team now: Brynn - Jones, Fry, Ayling - Morris, Hackney - Conway. One can add one or two new players elsewhere. But do not hurry with introducing them all too soon.
Up the Boro!
Yes. Perhaps the introduction of Strelec will be the trickiest one of the lot. His stellar goal last week has probably raised expectations beyond what is reasonable. He will also have had very little time to grow familiar with his new surroundings and new colleagues.
Dave’s words have arrived - enjoy:
“Well here we are once more!
@martin-bellamy Thanks to you for the headliner and to your friend Dave. The perspective from both ends is an intriguing way of analysing a fixture and the personnel.
Carlin Sunday, I remember my Grandmother always producing Carlin with that Sunday Dinner, the family jJck Russell always seemed to consume plenty of them with gravy and be thrown inti the backyard to expend his gas. I seem to remember my Grandfather having them with a hot pie at his workings men's club on Southfield Road but on the Thursday before., turn right at the gaunt for those who remember the Gaumont.
Anyway having been laid low by a second and return attack of Cellulitis for the last few weeks I think Boro will win, tight but a win none the less.
May the optimism continue.
All the best to everyone.
UTB,
John
@john-richardson Get well soon, mate.
I think we will play with two strikers in some games. I think Edwards mentioned that when we only had Conway- that we need to be flexible. I also think we will see us play with flat back four on some occasions.
But I expect the normal 3-4-2-1 to be used at Preston. If it is Conway on top, how about Nypan and Stralec behind him? Of course the Norwegian and Slovakian were away on International duty this week. Other options available are Whittaker and Hansen.
We have such a big squad that guessing the top three attacking players will be difficult. But elsewhere, I think we know who will start on Saturday.
Up the Boro!
Dave
many thanks for an honest review and appraisal of your team.
We’ve had a few spuds play for us in our time !
Cheers
OFB
Thanks Martin for an interesting and informative piece. We used to celebrate Carlin Sunday every year when I was growing up in the 1940s. The story my mother used to tell was that it was to commemorate a boat that sank containing a cargo of carlin peas. My older brother, when I rang him, immediately chirped up with "Carling Sunday, Farting Monday", so it was definitely an embedded part of north-east culture.
Thanks too to Preston Dave. I'd be very interested to hear his assessment of Browne, the ex-Preston stalwart if he has time.
Best wishes to you, John. Cellulitis sounds most unpleasant and I hope you manage to get through this latest bout reasonably quickly
Hi, does anyone know -
Are Boro v Preston on sky sports + channel 404 by pressing the red button ? If so , is there anyway I can record it before the start of the game or, if not, can I record it at 12.30 pm just as they kick off ?
philip of Huddersfield 👍🤔🤔
Many thanks for an interesting and lively starter, Martin, and sincere thanks of course to Dave for his detailed and very helpful take on PNE. I used to live in Chorley, just down the road from Preston. My ex-wife’s family were quite religious, and Chorley itself still holds its annual churches’ Walking Day, but I don’t ever recall them celebrating or even mentioning Carlin Sunday.
Preston is always a difficult place to go and, as someone said, there’s a cussedness about the team, no doubt reinforced by Paul Heckingbottom’s management. Boro have lost our last 5 league games at Deepdespairdale Deepdale. I’ve seen 4 of those, I think, including a 4-1 hammering under Wilder in the last game of the season when we still had a faint chance of making the playoffs, and of course last season’s late farcical winner for Preston when Boro’s defence suddenly went all Keystone Cops, much to the amusement of the locals.
I rang my PNE-supporting mate, Mike, who offered his usual pre-match condolences! I told him we won’t lose on Saturday and will get at least a draw. I’ve got a ticket again this year. I’m fed up of losing at their place. So this time, I want to see us win. They say any away point is a good point, but I’d actually be disappointed if we don’t get three points on Saturday, given the relative strengths of the two sides. I’m confident our defence and midfield are now good enough to hold off their attacks, and we should have enough up top to at least create a lot of chances. Fingers crossed.
Finally, best wishes to you, John. Hope a Boro win on Saturday makes you feel a whole lot better!
I've just checked on Sky. The game is live on Sky Sports +. I imagine you can record it in the normal way, probably in advance or by switching on at kick-off, but please don’t quote me on that! Good luck!
@martin-bellamy. Many thanks Martin for your interesting starter piece and also to Dave for his valued perspective.
His comments about should he renew his season ticket or not will have resonated with many a Boro fan who have faced the same dilemma over the years.
As Clive has mentioned, Deepdale seems to be a bit of a bogey ground where we have managed to make a mess of things on repeated occasions. Hopefully, this time we can at least take a point but three would be preferable and a display that indicates we are the real deal this season.
Finally best wishes to John, I know from Mrs P’s experience that cellulitis is a very nasty affliction and hopefully you will soon return to a healthy state. 😎
Martin and Dave
A great piece and I like the opposition views it makes for interesting reading
I’ve wanted to but never really threatened to stop being a season ticket holder.
many thanks appreciate your efforts
OFB
@original-fat-bob Let’s hope you have many, many season tickets ahead of you. Enjoy the game on Saturday however you watch it.
@k-p-in-spain PNE seem to have got it right with season tickets prices, making it a no brainer for Dave to renew.
@clive-hurren many thanks
philip of Huddersfield
Thanks for the intro Martin.
Last night both Edmundson and Lenihan played 45 minutes for the Under 21's in a 2-1 defeat at Halifax and Nyppan played the full 90 for the Norway Under 21's and had an assist. Sam Silvera was an unused sub for the Socceroos in New Zealand, not sure if he will be available on Saturday as he will undergo a very long flight, over 24 hours of flight time not including any stops.
I did not see the England win at Serbia, but noticed that Morgan Rogers started the 0-5 win, and Djed Spence made his England debut as he came on from the bench.
I think we are due some money from Tottenham for Djed's debut. Any info how much?
Nice to see our ex-players reaching those levels. I hope there is more to come, if we play as well as we have. At least McCabe made his U20 debut this week, too.
Up the Boro!
Fawnews and Sport shows lots of games including Boro
Ben Doak continued his great form with Scotland on Monday night.
'Disengaged' - Kieran Scott explains Boro's Finn Azaz and Rav van den Berg sales
@malcolm Kieron Scott speaks forthright and with respect to the players, he doesn't tear into them once they have gone but respectfully explains the reasons for their departure.
I can only buy in to what he says about both VDB and Azaz, VDB disengaged and Azaz feeling he wasn't loved by fans was the impression i got.
Ultimately, at this moment in time, both seem very good decisions in allowing them to leave.
As an aside will there be any cash coming our way for Djed getting his first England cap I wonder? It is his first England cap isn't it?