THAT, Martin was a masterpiece. Loved reading it and I will repeat the exercise later. I wouldn't want to repeat the experience and disappointment of a few of Boro's recent games but, as Match Previews go, that one is enough to win Preview of the Season. 

I loved this,Martin. Such a creative and enjoyable read. I fear that our Warriors from the North who could barely put one foot in front of the other by the end on Friday may now be entirely clapped out with absolutely nothing on the bench to inspire any confidence. Indeed KH's public display of no confidence in large swathes of the squad he has been given to work with will not go down well with the Director of Football and demonstrates that Mr Nice Guy Kim has a steel backbone and will place the responsibility for our faltering form firmly where it belongs. With recruitment, over which, he has made it clear, he does not make the decisions.

Let's hope that Swansea are less Celtic Warriors than No Good Boyos and that we can sneak a 0-1 win

Thank you Martin for one of, if not, the most original openers of all time.

Given current form, the lack of depth of quality within the squad, then I fear that the win we need will be beyond us and envisage a draw at best but am fearing the worst. 😎

Martin, that was absolutely brilliant- must have taken you a long time to write and thank you for taking the time to brighten up our collective day!

This blog never ceases to amaze and just as I was thinking that maybe next season I should put my hat in the ring for an opener, you come up with something exceptional which I could never in a month of Sundays (or a Boro striker scoring a goal) come up with. My ability to write like that, if ever it existed, left the room back in 1976 with a Grade C in English!

It will certainly be long old drive down and back  for the travelling supporters who must be applauded for the dedication. Google tells me it is 5 hrs 5 mins stadium to stadium and that is without Bank Holiday traffic on the M6 so probably a total of 12 hours on a coach!

I am hoping that they will be rewarded with a victory and at this stage in the season, I don’t care how that is achieved, a scrappy own goal followed with a defensive display à la Millwall will suffice. Add to that the other results going in our favour will make me a happy Easter Bunny.

Thanks for the kind words, guys. I love writing but I have to be in the right headspace. I’ve largely put my Blog to one side now since we sold our campervan, but do a post for holidays on a few occasions. 

AI has been useful to me in giving a starting point as inspiration, but I enjoy adding a bit of local colour with references that us old ‘uns might spot. Sometimes it flows, sometimes it’s like pulling teeth, but I’m always grateful for the opportunity on here, although how anyone could do the starters every week is a complete mystery to me. 

Thanks for indulging my flights of fancy. 

Martin, thank you for a brilliant opener, I would definitely be classed as a glass half full guy as opposed to some on here as definitely half (if not more) empty. I believe we can still do it even if we have to go through the playoff route, someone has indicated next season is a write off already, unbelievable Jeff. Does this mean that they have lost faith with Kim Hellberg, as some calling for his head on the message boards, to me this has been one of the best seasons ever for entertaining football since the days of Juninho, Emerson, Ravanelli, Hasselbaink etc. We have a very young (with Adi) coaching team who I am willing to stay with as they learn through the next couple of seasons, I believe we are in good hands considering they will not have considerable funds to work with unless we get promoted. I would like us to reach the Premiership for purely financial reasons, yes it would be great to see all the top teams at the Riverside including our two “none”  Derby” teams, but I don’t want to see us struggling to get points on the board.

Come on BORO.

Martin, Crzstal clear and simple. A tour de force. Just brilliant.

Sears ago I had a cassette player in mz white Renault TL and two tapes. Under Milk Wood with Richard Burton and Chris Rea with Wired to The Moon. That took me back. Thanks.

UTB,

ATB, John

Martin, that was wonderful.

I've written so much since the Millwall game and I hope - hope! - I can tidy it all into a series of insights for you and everyone else to look at tomorrow.

For now I'm settling for a piece of Wilson's Wisdom from Home Improvement - a childhood favourite of mine that I'm taking plenty of value in from returning to as an adult. I specifically mention the wisdom of Wilson W. Wilson, Jr (Earl Hindman, who sadly passed away in 2003) as it's been known to get me out of a rut or feeling down on multiple occasions.

Here's the one I'm thinking of right now.

"We'd all like to believe that outside forces are the cause of all of our problems. It gives rationality to our universe. But the truth is, sometimes (setbacks) just happen... I think the thing to do is just hope for the best and be open to exploring new paths. The British author, J.M. Barrie said, 'A man's life is like a diary in which he means to write one story, but ends up writing another.'"

What I take from that, when thinking of Boro's misfortunes, is that we can dwell on the tactics, the personnel, the absence of key men, an underwhelming transfer window, individual mistakes and so on all day long, and they could be perceived as an easily defined "solution" when they are anything but. Sometimes bad breaks really are just that - bad breaks. Not everything goes according to plan all the time. And there are many ways for a promotion story to be written even if we really didn't want that Coburn comeback to be in the script.

We can but keep on trying.

Martin, I continue to be in “awe” of the talent on this blog, and then you come along with possibly the best Headliner to date. Well done.
Like BBD, English was not something I excelled in at school and got a poor grade in my GCE’s. I would not know where to start with something like you have just written. 

Exmil, I always say I am a realist, so apologies for being a less than a half full person at the moment, but I do live in hope. The autos are now out of our hands and we need the other teams to falter.

What would be frustrating and will be more so, is if Millwall got promoted. I would not begrudge them, but one would have to accept that their Club, their Coach and their players are better than ours.

Len, if the season unravels, then I think there could be quite some tension arise between Kim Hellberg and Mr Scott over the poor recruitment of the offensive players brought in and the January Window failure once again. I have been surprised somewhat how KH has gone on record as to his limited involvement of the player choice. 

Apologies for my bizarre keyboard usage just before Simon's very accurate post. I found out what was wrong by blundering about until it changed back to GB. I think I know what caused 'my' problem! Crystal now spells correctly, years too and Renault 4TL does too. Have I learnt anything? Possibly!

UTB,

John

Thanks for that stunning piece of work, Martin.

@martin-bellamy Thank you very much. Brilliant.

Great writing Martin, I really enjoyed that.

Happy Easter to everyone especially those facing health challenges.

On the upside thanks to the Boro squad for producing a great season.

Brynn is a home-grown keeper with the potential to become top-tier. Brittain has delivered an attacking  full back performance to rival Ryan Giles but with better defensive qualities. In Malanda Fry and Ayling we have central defenders who can defend but also play out. Targett is premier league class. In Browne, McGree, Hackney and  Morris we have had serious midfield talent and experience. We may be a little light at the attacking end of the field but Morgan Whittaker would make most first elevens in the Championship.

If we don't make the top two we will have been beaten to it by deserving teams. Coventry have been knocking on the door for a few seasons and have been excellent this season. Millwall and Ipswich are both battling for number two and digging out results. The play-off are a lottery, but if we are in them few will want to play us.

Let us hope we win out at the end. If not I will still think it has been a memorable season and will look forward to the next.

UTB

Interesting piece on the BBC website regarding the financials of Championship clubs

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/ce35l43w83lo

Over the last 5 years  Boro have lost a total of £80m which compared to Leicester and Forest is but a drop in the ocean although shows what needs to be spent to get into the “promised land”.

i will have a look at our latest accounts and see what I can make of those and whether it gives any clues as to what Mr Gibson is thinking.

Just a quick addition to my earlier post on the finances, of course the loss doesn’t reflect the real position with regard to the cash position.

In my working life, I had a phrase that went as follows 

Turnover is vanity, profit is sanity and cash is reality. 

I need to examine the accounts to try and assess exactly what happens with all the non cash items although in 2023, almost £150m of loans were converted into capital and loans from SG now stand at £18m so that gives a flavour of how much he has to put in to keep us afloat

@martin-bellamy 

That is the most sublime opener, Martin! Under Milk Wood is one of my favourite works of literature of all time. I have a recording of the BBC radio version narrated by the incomparable Richard Burton. I’ve just seen the play performed by a fantastic Welsh cast at Theatr Clwyd in Mold. 

Your writing is so much in the mould of Dylan Thomas’s work that it’s almost uncanny. It’s mesmerising, poetic and actually deeply moving. You have built magnificently on those fabulous opening lines of the play. I’m going to copy the opener and keep it for myself and posterity here on my iPad. Truly you have done us proud. Thank you.

I wanted to comment on tomorrow’s game, too, but didn’t want to spoil my admiration for Martin. So here goes.

Provided we are not over-knackered by Friday’s exertions, assuming we have no more injuries, and hoping there is no psychological hang-up after a damaging defeat, then I think we have a chance tomorrow. We know Swansea like to ‘play football’ - as the ridiculous saying goes - pacy, attacking football has been in their DNA in recent years and is what their fans expect. I think they’ll definitely attack us. That should open up space for us to create chances. If we play with anything like the intensity of Friday’s first half, we should be able to put them under sustained pressure. Let’s hope we can make it count this time, as we did at Sheffield United, QPR and Birmingham. 

This won’t be easy, though, Swansea’s lowly league position notwithstanding. On Friday they drew 3-3 away at Sheffield United. There aren’t many sides that score 3 at Bramall Lane. Zan Vipotnik is the Championship’s top scorer with 18 goals. I think we’ll need to be absolutely on our game defensively if we’re to avoid a banana skin. 

Meanwhile, I have a tactical master plan: Come on lads. Try to put the round thing into that white rectangle at the end of the pitch, and do that at least one more time than our opponents do. 

@clive-hurren That’s very kind Clive. Once I got the rhythm it started to flow, although I did buy a Kindle version for reference and assistance. It’s not an easy read and I’ll confess I’ve never seen it performed. I also tried to use AI to get a little help, but soon found its limitations.

The opening I’ve heard many times, in Burton’s fantastic deep chocolate voice, and had to reproduce the text in the starter to set the scene and set the tone. 

I’ve worked on it for weeks now, regularly revising and tweaking, until I felt there was enough of an echo of the original, but with plenty of Teesside references to anchor it with local colour. 

I was doubly disappointed that we didn’t beat Millwall - both because of the need for three points, but also selfishly, because I thought my starter wouldn’t reflect the sombre mood. It seems to have been well received which was a huge relief. 

I took a glance at tomorrow's fixtures. Millwall at home to Norwich is not a gimmee for the Lions. Who knows?  We could just be back in 2nd place by the end of the Easter weekend...

It is not over yet. CoB

Thanks for an amazing opener Martin. Saw a production of Under Milk Wood when working in Oman in the late 80's. So on to Monday evening in Swansea, after Friday's disappointing result losing for the first time this season after taking the lead. The main consolation is that our away form is pretty good, having only lost 2 away games in 2026 with a pretty decent record in South Wales and overall record against them having only lost one in the past nine fixtures anywhere. Although they have only lost one of their last eleven home games. Just looked at Millwall's remaining games and they have to play 3 of the bottom teams and Monday's game against Norwich is their only remaining game against a top half team. I calculate that we need 11 points to ensure we make the playoffs, not taking into account teams that play each other and can't pick up maximum points e.g Tuesday's game between Wrexham and Southampton.

That was absolutely an unbelievable piece of writing Martin - can't praise it enough!

I've just got back from very very hectic week of travelling that started with a journey to my son's annual handball camp, which I then left halfway through to take a couple of flights to Teesside to attend my niece's wedding - which was actually turned into a three-day event of pre and post gatherings in pubs, bars and restaurants that ended at midnight. It felt like three weeks but for the first time that I can recall got to see all my family in one place - I'm still feeling slight disorientated and don't even know what day it is...

Anyway, saw bits of the Millwall (will try to catch up on the preview later) game and Boro really should have put that game to bed by HT - add it to the list of missed opportunities!

Still, there's not much in it and Boro could easily find themselves back in second and everything still in their own hands by 8pm this evening. Crazy season - crazy week!

There's still lots of twists and turns to come in this season and providing Boro can start winning games they should then it's still likely in our own hands - especially if we can beat Ipswich who have a very congested run-in - as do Southampton if they scrape into the play-offs. Boro had 32 shots against Millwall but only 5 on target - we know where the problem lies and if some of those go in then the confidence returns. Someone needs to step up today - I've got a feeling about Browne that he may be the man to get us back on track!

JUST GO FOR IT

Another day, another game, another 3 points.

This is what I’d like to say at the end of today’s game.

Draws are no good and so the team needs to be instructed to go all out attack and take whatever risks are necessary. I’d rather the team fail to get the win than playing possession football trying for the perfect goal etc.

Obviously the team will not be at full strength but those wearing the jersey must give it everything.

Fingers crossed

philip of Huddersfield 👍🤔

It’s great to hear some optimism creeping back in to the Forum, although if we don’t win today it’ll be a massive blow. 

If we play as we did in the first half on Friday but actually manage to score early we should be ok. I wonder what might have been if Dael had buried that early chance against Millwall. All ifs and buts, of course, so it’s time to go again. 

From the Echo

KIM HELLBERG wants his Middlesbrough players to keep believing despite their untimely Championship blip that is threatening to derail their promotion charge.

Boro face Swansea City this evening in desperate need of a victory after a four-game winless run that has resulted in them dropping out of the automatic promotion places.

Hellberg's side have won just three of their last 10 games and now find themselves a point behind Millwall, who were victorious at the Riverside on Good Friday, and just two ahead of Ipswich, who have two games in hand.

 

It means Boro are now playing catch-up in the race for automatic promotion having been in such a strong position for the vast majority of the campaign.

But Hellberg spent the weekend stressing to his squad that they're playing well and they need to need to "fight" though this challenging period.

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Boro are dominating games but failing to make it count and their struggle to score goals is proving costly. They've had 97 shots on goal over the course of the last four games but scored just twice.

Boro were by far the better side against Millwall on Friday and should have been out of sight by half-time. Instead, they led by just a single goal and the Lions fought back after the break with ex-Boro striker Josh Coburn firing a double.

Boro were in at Rockliffe over the weekend as the focus immediately turned to tonight's televised game at Swansea. The squad travelled yesterday.

Hellberg said: "We've talked a lot. There are things that you cannot control and at the moment it feels like a higher power is testing us in many ways.

"You have to be strong through that. That's what it's about. Whatever you're doing in life, it's never an easy way if you want to go where you want to go.

"Whether it's being at work or if it's being a mother of two children alone, whatever it is, you have to fight all the way if you want to succeed.

"And that's what we're going to have to do and that's why it means we have to fight through this one to hopefully end up where we want to be."

Hellberg again insisted he takes full responsibility for Boro's recent stutter.

He said: "It's all about my way of seeing things. It's all about my way of helping them.

"I think that it's my job to try to do it better because they are giving everything they can for this shirt and for the club.

"They are doing unbelievable work on the football pitch and I see a team that fights, they run, they play football that no one else does, create a lot of opportunities and concede almost nothing.

"It's up to me to help them better and that's the responsibility. My responsibility will be to give a lot of energy to them and help them and try to show them the way and help them in that part depending on what they need."

Boro will again be without Hayden Hackney, Morgan Whittaker and Leo Castledine today, with the trio also major doubts for the weekend's game against Portsmouth.

Aidan Morris and Riley McGree were also set to be closely assessed over the weekend after the duo both played all 90 minutes against Millwall, despite being in international action for the USA and Australia last week.

Hellberg must decide whether the players who featured against Millwall are ready to go again or if he hands rare opportunities to the likes of Kaly Sene, who has barely kicked a ball of late. Jeremy Sarmiento is an option if Hellberg chooses to freshen his side up, though the forward has had a slow start to life at the Riverside since his arrival in January.

Martin

May I echo the praise heaped on you for this literary effort which I enjoyed immensely.

The writing evoked a couple of memories for me including a period spent in wales whilst working on a shutdown at the Milford Havem refinery. A close friend of mine who hailed from Swansea and not lives in Texas arranged for us to go to a Swansea game in the executive section ! His father was Vice Chairman at the time before the changes at the club.

Your writing also made me remember a recent film I watched called Mr Burton. It was about the young Richard Jenkins (Burton), his formative years  and his mentor who gave his surname to young Richard and made him the international star he became.

Your writing also mentioned that great Durham Referee Pat Partridge whom I knew very well. He worked at Arthur Jones electrical on Cargo Fleet Lane as a travelling sales representative. In those days of being a football referee it was classed as more of a hobby and all the referees at that time also held down full time jobs.

A friend of our family who worked alongside Pat introduced me to him and that is how I got on the road to becoming a referee myself. Pat mentored me and helped me in my fledgling career and whilst I never reached the dizzy heights of his career, I did “all right!” and enjoyed it. Pat gave me an autographed set of his red and yellow cards as a memento and to my eternal regret I regifted them to my accountant who was a great collector of football memorabilia. Pat made a good career after he retired and became an accomplished after dinner speaker on the circuit.

Turning to today’s game I hope the Boro players have recovered from their travels as it was obvious against Milwall that in the second half the midfield tired and no adequate subs were on the bench.

i did notice that in the buildup for millwalls first goal that a Boro player was blatantly pushed to the floor by their number 5  and we should have had a free kick and the goal disallowed. 

A mistake Luke Ayling a misplaced pass to an opposing player lead to the second goal which was taken well by Coburn.

i too thought his over exuberant celebrations possibly showed some friction between him and the Boro as normally previous players show more respect to the clubs that developed them.

Once again Martin many thanks for a superlative preview which was enjoyed by all us Diasborians.

OFB

PS

EYESIGHT STILL POOR TYPOS AND SPELKING STILL MOT GUID !

@philip-of-huddersfield  - I like that attitude!

I think it is probably what most supporters would want since as you say a draw is no good. At least our away form is good so 3 points is a given.

We shall have to see if KH reads this blog and instructs the players accordingly by the end of the game. It was interesting to see that Brynn went up for the last few minutes of the Millwall game so there is clearly the motivation to go for it!

I am at a family event from 4 ish today so will have to have furtive looks at my phone this evening.

Millwall only drawing at half time so Norwich “Lets be having you” as Delia once said!

@martin-bellamy 

Its the hope that kills you in the end! We can all be realists at times  but at the end of the day we always want Boro to win regardless!

Posted by: @boro-beckys-dad

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Millwall only drawing at half time so Norwich “Lets be having you” as Delia once said!

Went to 1-0 Millwall, then 1-1.  Now 1-2 with five minutes of normal time to go...!    Match at Swansea now a "must win".