Sheffield United v BORO (A).
The Championship Monday 9th February 2026 (ko 8pm)
It seems as though we are living through another International Break, with Boro having 10 days off following the home game against Norwich City on Saturday 31st January. We have been twiddling our fingers and riffling through school memories until the game against Sheffield United at Bramall Lane comes along on the evening of Monday 9th February. We have spent time bemused by an avalanche of papers including more than 3,000,000 pages of documents plus MANY images, videos etc, disclosed in the USA and the endless discussion they have caused. As the Sheffield game now finally approaches … it is time to move back to football in general and to BORO in particular.
These words may come back to bite me, but it is perhaps a fixture between football’s traditional past and its bright new future. I wish to emphasise that there is no suggestion of wrongdoing against any of the people named here, so far disclosed in any documents I have seen, and any suggestions that Chris Wilder has been involved in espionage have been firmly denied by him. Emails referring to Agent CW may include inaccurate information and may not even have been seen by him. Or they may be entirely fictional and for purposes of humour.
(REDACTED INFORMATION ABOUT SHEFFIELD UNITED’S HISTORY...)
… to avoid confusion the redacted information did include (but was difficult to show in edited form) confirmation that Bramall Lane stadium, is the oldest still-existing stadium - opened in 1855 for cricket and athletics with football first played there in 1862 - which still hosts professional league football. The ground also hosted the first ever game under floodlights in 1878 and was used by other teams, and other sports, before Sheffield United was formed, as an offshoot of Sheffield United Cricket Club in 1889.
In comparison to that venerable history, Boro now plays at The Riverside Stadium which opened in 1995 as the first of a new generation of all-seater, enclosed football grounds with unimpeded views of the pitch from all areas, constructed after the Taylor Report on football stadium safety following the Hillsborough Disaster. It has been the forerunner of a series of new grounds built afterwards and, of course, Derby County’s new stadium is a direct clone of The Riverside.
(REDACTED INFORMATION ABOUT THE CLUBS’ MANAGERS,,,)
… to avoid confusion there was much information about a mysterious Agent CW. All it is necessary to say here is that Mr Wilder is a grizzled and much-travelled manager who has been described as the quintessential old-style club manager. There is no evidence that he is a fan of cosmetic surgery although it may cause surprise that he is only 58 years old. It is perhaps sufficient to confirm information, published elsewhere, that he has had 13 separate stints as a player (414 games mostly as a full back from 1986 to 2002) at 11 different clubs (twice at Charlton Athletic and twice at Sheffield United) and 9 separate stints as a manager of clubs (three of those stints being with Sheffield United).
Reference to his period as Head Coach at BORO between 7th November 2021 to 3rd October 2022, and the manner of his leaving, has been expunged from the records as well as from the memories of the club’s supporters, although there have been suggestions of dark clouds cloaking his departure.
Throughout his managerial career, Agent CW has led 4 promotion campaigns (Oxford from the Conference to League Two via the play-offs in 2010, League Two champions with Northampton in 2016, promotion with Sheffield United as champions from League One to The Championship in 2017 and from The Championship to the Premier League with United again in 2019). On the other hand he was sacked in March 2021 with Sheffield United bottom of the Premier League at the conclusion of his first period as manager there. In his second spell in charge he was unable to prevent the Blades’ relegation from the EPL on 27th April 2024 (to be fair he was appointed there again in December 2023 when the club was anchored firmly at the bottom of the league and on Christmas Eve that year the club had only 9 points). He was allowed to remain in charge throughout the following season as the club attempted to regain its EPL place but the club (which had finished the season third with 90 points) was defeated by Sunderland (finishing sixth with 76 points) in the Play-Off final at Wembley. Agent CW was therefore again relieved of his duties in June 2025. With the club starting its 2025-26 season in very poor form, the new manager Ruben Selles was sacked, to be replaced by CW who returned to the club on 14th September 2025. Yet again!
In short and in board game terms, the Agent has had a managerial/coaching career dotted with many ladders but also quite a few snakes. In contrast, BORO’s new Head Coach has only ladders and, rather like in Ireland, snakes cannot be found.
(REDACTED…)
…to avoid confusion, information will be given here about Kim Hellberg who took over as Head Coach at BORO on 24th November 2025. It will surprise nobody that there is no reference to Hellberg in the disclosed documentation and it is understood he has lived a blameless existence as befits his saintly appearance. The redactions may have included a detailed explanation of the domestic football leagues/pyramid in Sweden, however what will follow will be a very brief explanation of Hellberg’s career so far.
Kim Hellberg had his 38th birthday only on 1st February. He started coaching when still a lower-league player in Sweden, in his early 20s. He led Kuddby IF to two promotions in 3 seasons, and then he joined IF Sylvia in 2017, leading that club to promotion to Ettan (Tier 3 in Sweden). On 4th January 2020 he joined his home town club IFK Norrkoping in the Top Tier (Allsvenskan) as assistant coach to Jens Gustaffsson, his father Stefan Hellberg already being there on the coaching staff. On 6th December 2021 he was announced to be Head Coach of newly promoted IFK Varnamo for that club’s historic first season in the Top Tier and in the 2022 season the club avoided relegation by 20 points and followed that up in 2023 by finishing 5th in the league. Hellberg was then appointed Head Coach at Hammarby IF and led the club to be runners up in the Top Tier Allsvenskan in 2024 and repeated the feat in 2025. So, with that history of success at a very young age for a coach, it is perhaps no surprise that he should have impressed when interviewed for the Boro job after RE left for Wolves (!!).
Kim Hellberg may therefore be seen as the opposite of a grizzled old-school manager/coach. Out goes any semblance of chalk and blackboards and old wooden desks with ink wells containing newly-mixed ink into which quill pens might be dipped. Instead we have the statistics and science-based research and planning, and the freedom to adopt flexible and novel tactics to overcome the challenges football provides. The Head Coach appears to have an easy and relaxed manner and a friendly open approach to players and supporters. Not grizzled at all but a clean-cut modern and stylish example of Swedish football chic. The upmarket IKEA of football managers – the parts all fit together smartly and the finished product WORKS.
Kim Hellberg has been in charge at BORO only a little over 10 weeks. It seems that time flies when you enjoy yourselves! If you can point to ANY Boro fan who is less enthusiastic about the season ahead than he has been in the last decade, I’d be very surprised.
(REDACTED …)
…It had been intended to give more information about the clubs’ performances so far in the league but it seemed appropriate only to give information about the last few weeks…
Current Form.
In the last 5 league games the teams’ results have been as follows:
BORO :
Sat 31st Jan BORO 1-0 Norwich (W)
Sat 24th Jan BORO 4-0 PNE (W)
Wed 21st Jan Stoke 1-2 BORO (W)
Fri 16t Jan WBA 3-2 BORO (W)
Sun 4th Jan BORO 4-0 So’ton (W)
Currently (5th February 2026) P30, W17, D7, L6. (58 points)
Scored 47 Conceded 29 – GD18
Behind only Coventry in league (on goal difference)
SHEFFIELD UNITED:
Tues 3rd Feb Sheff U 3-1 Oxford (W)
Sat 31st Jan Millwall 1-1 SheffU (D)
Sat 24th Jan Sheff U 3-1 Ipswich (W)
Wed 21st Jan So’ton 1-0 Sheff U (L)
Sat 17th Jan Charlton 1-0 Sheff U (L)
Currently (5th February 2026) P30, W12, D3, L15. (39 points)
Scored 43 Conceded 43 – GD 0
15th in the league, ahead of Swansea on GD
Summary – BORO confidently riding high and getting better.
Five consecutive league wins
Sheff U - mixed results but recent form is much improved.
Two wins, 2 defeats and a draw in the last 5.
January Transfer Window.
(REDACTED…)
…It had been intended to give information about new signings etc during the January Transfer Window but some information has been redacted for security reasons as well as space limitation…
Sheffield United signed 30 year old former England midfielder Kalvin Phillips on loan from Manchester City on deadline day (Monday 2nd February), in addition to signing Joe Rothwell on an 18 months deal (a 31 year old midfielder who played 8 games with no goals for Rangers 2025-26 and who had been on loan from Bournemouth to Southampton in 2024 and on loan to Leeds United in 2024-25). The Blades also this week took 22 year old defender Leo Hjelde on loan from Sunderland (for whom he made 24 appearances). Hjelde was born in Nottingham but has played at youth level for Norway U16s through to the U21s and he played in the game United played against Oxford on 3rd February.
Patrick Bamford, formerly of this Parish and who left Leeds United on 28th August 2025, signed a short-term deal at Sheffield United on 13th November 2025 but after having scored 4 goals in 6 games and winning Championship Player of the Month in December, that loan became permanent when Paddy signed an 18 month contract on 11.01.26. That is despite the “history” between Bamford and Agent CW – the manager having famously called Bamford a “Muppet” in 2019 following Sheffield United’s promotion (reversed by later relegation) and Leeds’ play-off loss (since reversed by the subsequent promotion of Leeds). The parties have since “buried the hatchet”, hopefully not in their respective heads.
Rather than going into detail, this document will merely confirm that Phillips had played 214 senior games in a successful period at Leeds United from 2014-22 scoring 13 goals, but only 16 games of all sorts for Manchester City following what might be considered a disastrous transfer to City in 2022. The 2022 transfer was reported to be at a fee of £42M rising to £45M with add-ons. He has subsequently been sent by City on loan spells (1) unsuccessfully to West Ham in 2024 (2) almost as unsuccessfully to Ipswich Town in 2024-25, and now (3) to Sheffield United on loan for the rest of the season, on Monday 2nd February 2026. Shortly before that loan was announced The Guardian referred to Phillips’ move from Leeds to City as having been “one of the worst, most ruinous ever made”. Previously when at West Ham, the coaches there were reported in the media as being “shocked” at his poor performances during games and attitude during training, and that he appeared to have “lost interest in playing Premier League football.”
Presumably Phillips is hoping to resurrect his playing career at Sheffield United but, without wishing him any ill during the rest of the season, hopefully that resurrection will NOT be evidenced in the match against BORO.
Middlesbrough’s transfer activity at the start of 2026 has been greeted well. We now have:
(1) Leo Castledine (21 yrs), signed from his parent club Chelsea (having been on loan to Huddersfield Town, for whom he scored 10 goals in the first half of this current season) as an attacking/wide midfielder who can beat players and shoot.
(2) Fin Munroe (20, whose 21st birthday will be on 8th February), a full back from Aston Villa who again had been out on loan to Swindon and whose manager there, Ian Holloway, has described him as the best left-back he has had in his entire coaching career apart from a young Seamus Coleman on loan (Coleman is now in his 17th season at Everton).
(3) Jeremy Sarmiento (23 yrs old Madrid-born Ecuadorian international winger) brought from Brighton on loan with a view to purchase following a loan spell at Cremonese in Italy. Sarmiento has played for England 16 times at U16, U17 and U18 but has played 24 times for Ecuador at senior level – his parents are both from Ecuador. There are high hopes for these three players.
(4) Joe Wildsmith a 30 year old goalkeeper signed from WBA to understudy Sol Brynn.
Out amongst the senior players have gone Delano Burgzorg to Bristol City, Abdoulaye Kante on loan with a view to purchase by St Etienne in France, Lukas Engels to the MLS and Sverre Nypan’s loan from Manchester City has been ended with his return to Manchester.
Played out in the full glare of publicity (with live TV coverage for Boro’s game against Sheffield United AND the next game away to Coventry), you might expect the game to be open and unpredictable. But with a wily operator like Agent CW in charge of the Blades, and Kim Hellberg’s cerebral approach and detailed analysis to games guiding Boro’s tactics, nothing can be taken for granted. The Blades are generally strong at home. We might be surprised by the teams selected, formations and approaches adopted for this match. On the basis there are no surprise “injuries in training” or illnesses arising over the next few days, we should see a game between a Sheffield United team whose performances in recent months have much improved from those at the start of the season (when the team was looking a likely relegation candidate) and a confident Middlesbrough team whose ambitions are unambiguously pointed in the direction of automatic promotion. The Blades may not be easy to beat at their own ground and their ambition will be to get into a play-off position by the end of the season and, by that stage, to be firing on all cylinders.
I suspect Sheffield United will start the game in a cagey manner and hope to get a goal and then to hold on. But, including the FA Cup defeat at home to Mansfield (!), Sheffield United has scored THREE goals in each of the last FIVE home games namely 3-1 against Oxford 2 days ago, 3-1 against Ipswich on 14th January, 3-4 against Mansfield Town in the FA Cup on 11th January, 3-1 against Leicester on 1st January and 3-1 against Birmingham City on 20th December. That might suggest a very unwelcome Sheffield United 3-1 BORO scoreline.
Boro under Hellberg doesn’t “do” cagey. I suspect Boro will “go for it” early and aim to sustain that level throughout the game. OFB might go for a more dominating performance and result but I go for BORO to win 2-1. If I prove to be wrong on this, subsequent posts and messages may require some serious redactions. We will see….
Forever Dormo 5th February 2026
Thanks Dormo, a topical format wittily and entertainingly executed. Comprehensive, creative and thoroughly enjoyable ,though I doubt that either gaffer will be asked to resign any time soon
Totally topical and brilliant FD. Despite all the enforced redactions, a trove of useful information to compare these two before they go into battle. Me? I am on board with the brave new world, me.
I imagine the Blades will give it real good go in the opening phases. Just have to keep calm and quieten the crowd and then let our quality show.
A draw would be a good result, but not as good as a 6th consecutive victory.
CoB
Phew!!!!! That was some Headliner Dormo, and now we know what you were doing, up until 1.09am the other morning. Putting the finishing touches to this wonderful arcticle.
No prediction as usual, would accept a draw given we are due one, against a form home team. But, quietly hoping for the train to keep rolling on.
@pedro - You are right that I started to write it yesterday but I put in the "finishing touches" (or rather wrote the later sections and reviewed it) today. I thought we'd still have 4 days to read & comment before the match and maybe a day or so afterwards.
I must confess yesterday evening was spent with a bottle of wine and some friends in The Poisoned Parrot discussing how anyone with a brain could have thought Mandelson was an appropriate appointment for virtually ANY official post, whilst ManC v Newcastle played out in the background. There was discussion about jury service, about the difference between criminal offending and civil wrongs, about the price of drink these days and even a little about the football. But not ALL about football! The craic was good. The football on TV was not so...
Thanks DORMO for the thoughtful introduction.
Boro have won their last five games scoring lots of goals.
United have won their last 5 home League games scoring 3 goals in every game.
Both will be confident of winning.
So, something has to give.
I just hope it’s not Boro and probably think a draw wouldn’t be a disaster.
But I hope Kim can come up with a way of playing to secure all 3 points.
Philip of Huddersfield
👍🤔
It's interesting listening to KH's basic philosophy. He wants MFC to control the shape of the game and create positive overloads that will enable us to create chances. He might make some changes to the team but its all about
- Where can we play through the opposition?
- how do we defend high which seems to involves pressing the opposition as near to their goal as possible
- How do we defend deep if they are able play through us.
Sheffield United are very strong on their right hand side and so we have to protect Targett. We are strong on our right hand side and maybe it will again be a question of attacking centrally or down the left and then looking for the quick shift to the right. Finally, it will be a question of finding space through the centre of midfield with Hackney the key.
It will not be an easy game and we will really need to take our chances when they come.
UTB
Good post Selwyn. I would have loved to see you questioning Kim about his tactics.
I'm not sure about what will happen to his 'philosophy' if we get promoted. How do you control a game when most of the teams you play have much better players than you ?
Many thanks Dormo for that very enjoyable action-packed preview - I look forward to the non-redacted version after Diasboro Intelligence and Security Committee (DISC) have approved it...
As you said, it's going to be a tough game against the Blades with them winning well in their last 4 home games against Oxford, Ipswich, Leicester and Birmingham - scoring 3 goals in each game. In fact they've only dropped points against Norwich in their last 7 home games as they also beat Stoke 4-0 and Portmouth 3-0 to make their record W6 D1 L0 F17 A4 - with the last team to beat them at Bramall Lane being Derby on 1st November.
So Boro will need to be on top form to continue their run.
btw I replaced all the superscripts of 'th' on numbers in the preview as they're just too large and raised too high for this Wordpress template and stand out too much
I also spotted a spelling mistake in the list of outgoing transfers section 😉
@werdermouth - Thanks, mate! Always good to know I have a backstop. Those "ths" are a bit of a problem. It's when I cut and paste from my saved document on my laptop, into the Blog for each new thread starter, that the rd/st/th grows in size at the top right hand side of the letter before it. It doesn't happen when I post a reply to threads, typing into the reply box (as here). Maybe in the future on this blog I should simply say "13 February 2026" rather than 13th in any future Match Previews I might download. Unless that seems too American! Or maybe they say "February 13, 2026" unless they are referring to 4th July when they always seem to use "our" system.
Another thoroughly enjoyable (and topical) starter - thanks FD.
If we can get the first goal, I’m confident of at least one point on Monday. Ideally, we’d come away with all 3 and go into the Coventry game full of confidence.
That’s a very clever, entertaining and informative starter, FD. Thank you.
I think Monday’s is one of our toughest games for a while, given the Blades’ current home form. This is a Boro side full of confidence and we’ll go to Sheffield expecting to do well. However, I’m sure they’ll come at us all guns blazing in the first few minutes and we’ll need to be well prepared for that onslaught. Hopefully KH and his team have learned the lesson from Stoke where we could quickly have been two goals down before we woke up and started to play.
So I’m a bit anxious about this one. If you offered me a point now, I’d snap your hand off. But deep down nothing would give me greater pleasure than to take 3 points of the evil Wilder. I’d just love to wipe the smile off his face. Again!
I'm a bit disappointed that 3 of our next 4 'weekend' games are on Monday (Sheff Utd, Coventry, Birmingham) with just the Oxford game on 21 February being on Saturday. Monday evening is not the weekend and it always feels odd not having a game to look forward to on Saturday as it leaves a gap to fill. It also means Boro are playing catch-up if teams win ahead of our games.
Well that was one heck of an opener. Full of information and delivered in a unique and original FD format. Well done and thank you.
As for Monday, it’s another toughie just like the Norwich one and I suspect the margin of win or lose will be similar, although we are due a draw which I would not be unhappy with.
CW may well set his team up to try and disrupt our passing game by being aggressive and try to ruffle our feathers, challenging robustly all over the pitch and try to hit us on the break; if they try and play football then there will be only one winner.
Hopefully, we can stand up to it and show our quality and deserved top of the league status. 😎
Thanks for the intro Dormo. As many have said this is the start of three tough away games, Sheffield United, Coventry and Birmingham all on a Monday evening. They are all must not lose games I feel and if that happens it will set us up for the run in as after Birmingham there are 11 games left of which 6 are at home. As Werder said disappointing that we have a number of games on Monday night. It is possible that we may not have a Saturday away game again this season. After Birmingham we play at Loftus road on the Sunday at 4:30 pm!We then go to Blackburn, currently a Saturday, Swansea Easter Monday, Ipswich, almost certainly moved to Sky, and Wrexham is a 12:30 kick off on the last day.
Thank you for the very kind comments about the Match Preview, fellow Diasborians.
It's just that it feels like we are being battered over the head with information in the news, which has been ALL ABOUT documents disclosed as a result of searches related to a deceased "financier" with very dodgy tastes and wealthy and/or well-known acquaintances. Lots of emails and someone who obviously lived with a camera in his hand (or were there hidden cameras?).
I don't imagine that particularly effective social or moral radar would have been required to realise that many "inappropriate" things were going on, but there we are! One visit should have set the alarms ringing and resulted in a polite (or maybe not so polite) refusal to any further invitations. It seemed as if redactions were being thrust down our throats! So it was a gift setting for the Starter piece.
Thanks FD - a terrific opener with a brilliantly inventive topical twist! The blog keeps on giving.
Having refound themselves again, Sheff Utd away has taken on all the importance and difficulty that the fixture was always expected to have.
What I’ll say is that our form and league position will leave them with at least as many doubts as their form leaves us.
A defining point of the season awaits over the next month. Can’t wait.
Forever Dormo
Many thanks for that witty and topical preview which was also full of information which I enjoyed immensely.
I must confess that this is one game I do want to win as our previous manager (who shall not be named by me !) I consider to be the original prince of darkness. I genuinely believe that he set back the progress of our club quite considerably and his brusque old fashioned managerial approach belongs in the dark ages. His inability to work with the recruitment process and other members of the Boro backroom staff created a spirit within the Boro camp which spread to the players and there was not a feeling of togetherness in my opinion.
I’m sure that this is one game that the Sheffield United Manager will be desperate to win to show how grizzled old experience out performs the young upstarts of tactical strategy and game plans !
I will look forward to the game with interest and as Kevin Keegan one said (paraphrased!) I would just love it if we beat them !
Many thanks again, the conversation that you had and the drink, convivial company, boring football to watch, all combined to produce a great opener !
OFB
Good post Selwyn. I would have loved to see you questioning Kim about his tactics.
I'm not sure about what will happen to his 'philosophy' if we get promoted. How do you control a game when most of the teams you play have much better players than you ?
Thank you for those kind comments. It would be fascinating to hear KH analyse a whole game as it happens. One great skill that we all have to admire is the ability of the management team to recognise a problem and implement a solution. KH is very open about the importance of Adi Viveash in training and providing information about the league and the opposition but the ability to watch a game and clearly identify the patterns is absolutely priceless.
I do think that we have to tip our collective hats to Kieran Scott. Alongside a very positive transfer record, he was able to first bring in AV to support Rob Edwards and then identify KH as the man that we needed.
In answer to your question, you cannot expect a Championship squad to beat a Premiership squad. However, KH seems to be able to improve players and implement sophisticated structures. I see him as a Premiership level manager. Given that, for me the question becomes "how many players in the squad are capable of playing at a Premiership level and, with the answer to that, we will know how many new players we need."
The one thing that nobody wants is to see us suddenly turning into a low block team.
UTB
Wilder’s attitude in the end still irks but I disagree that he set us back - I would argue that post the Pulis-Woodgate-Warnock eras he actually pushed us forward quite considerably and set the playing style up for first Carrick and now Hellberg to build on (I’ll ignore Edwards, whose tenure was taking us backwards and thankfully was brief).
Wilder cannot work in a modern football club setup where he doesn’t have full control and ultimately that was a major problem for him and us but, left to do his job the way he wants and needs to, he’s a good manager.
Doesn’t mean we have to like him and if we only win one more game all season I’d be quite happy for it to be this one.
@forever-dormo A very nice preview of the United match. A tough game with the Wilder incentive.
As many have said, a draw would be OK. But one over Wilder would do nicely, thank you.
I will go for a 0-1 win for the mighty Boro! Morgan Whittaker scoring after a "while". Up the Boro!
Yes, redactions have become the norm since the freedom of information act - it seems to be a way of complying with law but hiding a lot of meaningful information on the subjective pretext it is sensitive or confidential - especially when those in charge of the information have political or self-preservation motives.
Interestingly that only Norwich have come away with a point from Bramall Lane in recent times - perhaps it’s because they are a big physical side too? I wouldn’t be surprised to see Hellberg play 3 centre-backs for this one if Fry is fit with Targett and Britain as wing-backs
Some interesting match ups today with four of the top seven playing each other. Wrexham v Millwall and Derby play Ipswich. A couple of draws in those would do very nicely. Also hopefully agents Burgzog and Borges can do us a favour as Bristol City travel to Hull. Coventry have a home game against relegation threatened Oxford.
@andy-r - It's a strange thing, personal likes/dislikes. I haven't ever REALLY disliked many people and I have never REALLY hated Club X or Club Y. I might QUITE like team A or Team B on a day when my time is not taken up with BORO, and I might think more favourably about a particular team or manager this year, than I did a few years ago. In all of those likes/quite likes/neutral/not-so-sure-abouts/would like to see-them-beatens, I have in my head a theoretical league table of clubs which, to be fair, evolves over time.
In England, and towering above the others like its own Mt Everest, is BORO but I'd be happy to see both Swansea and Cardiff safely nestled in The Championship for family and historical reasons - though I'm sure the supporters of both those clubs would like nothing better than to see their local rivals sink like a stone - whilst (at present) I think that if BORO could make our hopes this season a reality, I'd be happy for Wrexham to create a miracle with four successive promotions up the pyramid into the Premier League. Obviously, for both red teams, staying there would be another thing.
In Scotland, and whilst hoping against hope that it won't be one of the Auld Firm again (come on Hearts this season, just for some variety!), I have for maybe 25 years had a bit of a soft spot for Dingwall's finest, Ross County (though, having been relegated from the Premiership last season after flirting with it for the two previous years, they are making a decent fist of falling like a stone and, without improvement, successive relegations look probable). The Staggies represent the nearest League club to Ullapool which I have been visiting for 30+ years and where my wife and her sister own a house, so that is the connection. Even if it is almost 50 miles away from the house! I have a slight warmth towards St Johnstone, too, as our earliest trips up into Scotland often centred around Perth (and we stayed at Old Scone on the way up, and again on the way down, last October).
So likes and dislikes about football are often illogical or hang on tangential incidents which have occurred over the years. I mean, if it were otherwise, I suppose somebody born in the 1960s would have to support the successful team when he became conscious of football as he grew up, Liverpool, and one born in the 1990's would follow Manchester United, whether born in Essex or Exeter. And now people support Manchester City or Chelsea for the same reason. Come to think of it, that IS very common!
I DON'T dislike Newcastle or Sunderland and even have a sneaking admiration for the fist Sunderland is making of its first season back in the Premier League (perhaps hoping BORO can follow suit next season). But I would adopt the Kevin Keegan approach to Sheffield United and Agent CW. I would dread to think of the calamity that would have to befall us if BORO were allowed to win only two further games this season. But if that were to happen, I'd also LOVE the wins to be against Sheffield United and then Coventry in the next two games.
That would satisfy my wish to witness cerebral modern Swedish football chic overcome dogged old-time football management, as we wipe the smirk off the face of the man anatomically fixed to The Blades in the first game, and it would allow history to record that BORO can get what seems like the Coventry curse off its back at last.
However if BORO does get the desired results in the next two games, that will not stop me from wanting the carnival to continue. And the odds would then heavily be in favour of that continuation. Cream rises to the top, after all ....
DERBY 1 IPSWICH 2 ALL GOOD TEAMS DO THIS.
Ipswich started well and led 1-0 and had chances to extend their lead but didn’t take them. Inevitably they conceded a bit of a soft penalty and Derby scored. 1-1.
But like all good teams Ipswich came back to make it 2-1 and then saw out the game .
Both teams played well but Ipswich played better and looked a good team over the 90 minutes.
They played in Red - let’s hope another team who play in Red achieve a similar away win on Monday at Sheffield.
I now feel there is pressure on Boro to win, whereas before this game I was thinking a draw would be ok.
philip of Huddersfield 👍🤔
@philip-of-huddersfield I agree that a win is the ideal result but not losing is so important on Monday. As you say, good teams find a way to grab all three points.
@forever-dormo I don't mind Sunderland but Newcastle I loathe with a passion, after being up there with Middlesbrough fans and suffering so much abuse and threats. The only reason they are doing well is because of the Saudi money.
@malcolm - Foreign money, and not modest amounts but enough to float a small country, may be the thing that ruins football. Owners' money and national wealth funds at the moment seem more telling than the level of support a club has. How else, even if the club is well-run, would Bournemouth with a ground capacity of 11,300 not only survive but thrive in the Premier League, where the Big Beasts roam?