That’s such a shame. Many thanks for all you’ve done on here Wedermouth. Enjoy you’re Xmas & New Year.
So sorry to read that, Werder. A real shame as Martin has said but more than that, a pretty disgraceful poke in the eye for you after all the work and time that you've put into this otherwise exceptional site.
I very much enjoy your contributions whether they be witty openers to the latest thread or thoughtful replies to members' posts, but mostly I'm grateful for the sheer effort you've made to make us a new and improved home after the demise of Untypical Boro.
To say you'll be missed would be an understatement and I hope you can regroup in time and come back.
All the best and have a relaxing Christmas.
Werder,
Not the kind of Christmas present any of us were hoping for, I for one am really saddened by the circumstances and the effect it has had. I sincerely hope that you will return. Having not seen what you have put up with it has had an exceptional effect to affect you in this way and although it distresses me to say it you have made a correct decision, put some space between you and it, gather your thoughts and hopefully you will return when you have cleared your head of the 'vexatious' spirit.
Have a great Christmas and New Year with your family, stay safe and forget the cause of the aggravation.
Thank you for everything.
All the best,
UTB,
John
I really hope the anonymous poster is reflecting on his/her actions. This Forum gives so much pleasure to members all over the Globe (not least, here in Lancashire) that anything that threatens it is to be deplored.
Werder
i can understand your feelings and your hurt and it really makes me mad that such a good thing that you started has to be made into such a really nasty situation just by one person.
Thamk you so much for starting the blog and for keeping it in such good care for the past 4 years and enjoy your Xmas with your family
Appreciate everything you have done
OFB
Sorry to hear that Werder, social media can be a real pain at times despite all the positives it can bring. I think that sometimes people struggle to separate something which is intended to bring enjoyment and interest as a hobby versus a full-time, paid Journalist or Politician.
The present ills of the world certainly doesn't help with any of our mindsets, good and bad. Hopefully the Christmas break will ease the frustrations. Most importantly however is that yourself and your family should be making the most of what spirit there is left of Christmas after this horrible year, everything else is secondary.
Well said RR echoing the sentiments of hopefully all of us on the blog (except one !)
OFB
Well said RR echoing the sentiments of hopefully all of us on the blog (except one !)
OFB
Me too,
I can’t believe you’ve had to put up with that rubbish, Werder, and especially after all the incredible hard work you’ve put in to make this site so brilliant for us all. I’m so sorry that you have felt the need to pull back.
Can I add my thanks to you for everything you have done, and to join others in hoping you will be able to return to your own creation before too long. We will miss you sorely. In the meantime, have a well-earned rest, and may you and all your family have the best Christmas you can possibly have, given the German restrictions. Stay safe.
I’m staggered beyond belief. You’ve always been helpful to me with advice when I’ve lost postings as I’m not really computer literate. This site is much improved from not only the Anthony Vickers’s original conception, but also from the original diasboro.worldpress.site giving members able to write about other sports, politics, films, and in my case music. I’m so sad you have come to this decision, but I’m certain I speak on behalf of all members (minus one) for not only setting up this forum, but for all the hours you have devoted in writing your witty prologues for each Boro match over the years.
I’m just hoping that after a well-earned sabbatical you will feel able to reconsider your position as we will all miss you. I’ve never met you, but like other members of this forum I consider you a friend and hope that you and your family have a very merry Christmas and a happy New Year.
Best Regards,
Ken Smith.
Devastated for you Werder.
It is a very sad fact in life that there is always one. You have always dealt with contentious issues as if you were born with the blue beret on your head. But everyone posting above me here is right that you do the right thing to find some Werder and family time, I won't say to get your head clear (I think it is very clear), but genuinely for you to share more of your time with the most important people in your life.
I hope you and Mrs Werder and Werder junior have as wonderful a Christmas as these strange times will permit and I sincerely hope you will be back, and sooner rather than later. I don't think it is presumptuous, but you (and AV before you) have allowed a bunch of total miscreants, odd balls, curmudgeonly men (and the odd lady) to become friends who genuinely care about each other, and that includes you.
Take care and see you soon!
Belatedly, I have just picked up on this and am shocked and dismayed that Werdermouth, who has done so much to get this forum off the ground and then maintain and improve it, has been so badly treated.
I have not worked out who the individual is but would just like to say that they know who they are and should be ashamed of their actions.
Werder, thank you for everything you have done for us and for your amazing pre match articles and your incisive contributions which will be missed. Fingers crossed that your sabbatical will be short lived.
Very best wishes to you and yours for an enjoyable Christmas and a healthy, happy and safe 2021. Take care and thanks for your help and friendship. 😎
Belatedly, I have just picked up on this and am shocked and dismayed that Werdermouth, who has done so much to get this forum off the ground and then maintain and improve it, has been so badly treated.
I have not worked out who the individual is but would just like to say that they know who they are and should be ashamed of their actions.
Werder, thank you for everything you have done for us and for your amazing pre match articles and your incisive contributions which will be missed. Fingers crossed that your sabbatical will be short lived.
Very best wishes to you and yours for an enjoyable Christmas and a healthy, happy and safe 2021. Take care and thanks for your help and friendship. 😎
This feels a bit like a bereavement.
Genuinely shocked and surprised by these events, Werder.
In its present form this blog is entirely your creation and in your absence what it will lose in sophistication, wit, intelligence, style, social and political insights, and curation is incalculable.
I think we all became aware some time ago what this blog was costing both Werder and Redcar Red in terms of the time, energy and commitment they were devoting to it. What started off as a pleasurable hobby must all too often have seemed like a chore.
Werder's openers and RR's match reports are always, without exception, of the highest quality, as are their more general contributions. They are a source of pleasure, information and entertainment to every blog reader.
But I think we would all agree they should only produce them for as long as they remain a source of satisfaction and pleasure to Werder and RR themselves, and when they have time to produce them, rather than out of any sense of obligation.
All other contributors to this blog comment on topics whenever the fancy takes them. So should Werder and RR.
RR's detailed match reports are the best available anywhere, and always required reading. As such they are universally appreciated. But they must be enormously time consuming to produce.
If it's helpful might I make a tentative suggestion intended to reduce RR's work load. I speak personally here and my own experience may not be the same as other bloggers.
If we wish to, most of us are now able to see every game via the club'e website or a range of streaming services. Much as I continue to value RR's reports, and their meticulous detail, I am probably less dependant upon them in discovering what actually happened than I have been in previous seasons.
By contrast I'm most eager to hear what RR thinks about what we have both seen. There are many such insights within and at the end of the reports, but that slight change of emphasis from fewer facts to more opinion might make RR's heroic work somewhat more manageable.
What do other bloggers and RR think?
Finally I've become very conscious recently of the fact that we are becoming something of a closed shop. Less an open blog than a pleasant and somewhat cosy club. Where are the new contributors, the younger voices, the fresh faces, the contrary opinions? Is there something about the blog that is a bit forbidding to newcomers? Are there obstacles to people joining us that we are not seeing? We have not heard from Pedro for some time now, and with Werder leaving our relatively small numbers are even further depleted.
The irony, of course, is that if the blog does need a few tweaks then without Werder, who has the skills to carry them out? I'm afraid that I don't.
Just as when AV left Diasboro we are again at a crunch point. A point at which the future of the blog may be in some doubt.
We need to discuss the way that everyone on here sees our future. It's in our own hands. What does everyone else think.
Finally I hope the Werder is only leaving the blog until such time as he wishes to return on his own terms.
If not, I simply wish to convey my own thanks and gratitude to him for all of the pleasure his work has given me over the years. I hope we can remain in touch via e-mail as I regard him as a much valued friend, albeit one I have never had the pleasure of meeting.
I’d very much go along with your suggestion re RR’s match reports, Len, much as I too enjoy reading them.
I feel as though so long as we keep the conversation going, we have a place and mechanism to do so thanks to Werder’s considerable efforts. That said, it is undoubtedly a diminished place for his absence.
Musing on your point about the lack of contrary opinions, I wonder if we’re all so grateful for the efforts put into this blog that contributors are less inclined to be contrary. Has this in some way contributed to the issues leading to Werder’s exit?
More likely, I think, is that we’re all quite satisfied with what’s happening on the pitch overall and in the circumstances, which doesn’t lend itself to opinionated debate.
I said some time ago that RR was the best reporter that the Boro have ever had.
Each of his match reports requires at the very least one full day of unpaid work.
In that time he achieves what the legendary Cliff Mitchell, whom I greatly admired, produced over four days as a full-time journalist with a secretarial support staff.
On Fridays Cliff would preview the next game.
On Saturdays he would write his match report for the Sports Gazette.
Film exists of Cliff at work on match days. Tyne-Tees's fine contemporary documentary on Jackie Charlton's promotion year, which was recently revived following the passing of big Jack earlier this year, shows Cliff working in the stands.
He is not typing or physically recording events as RR has to, but speaking into a mike, his words presumably being transcribed by a secretary back at the office.
Cliff then had all day Sunday and Monday to collect his thoughts before producing his assessment of individual performances for Monday night's paper.
As we all know RR achieves all of these things in his match day reports over a concentrated period of a few hours.
It's a major achievement. It's done on a weekly and often bi-weekly basis. And to cap it all the man appears to have a job that requires him to do a fair amount of international travelling. It's an astonishing feat and I cannot fathom how he does it.
My tentative suggestions on how his work load might be eased are made in a spirit of unadulterated admiration.
Following Werder's situation the last thing we need is the burn-out of another distinguished and invaluable stalwart of the blog.
So my plea to RR, particularly in his present situation, is to put yourself first, do only what you consider manageable and pleasurable for the blog, and rest assured that whatever you do will continue to be fully appreciated by us all
Wise words Len. It would be a great shame if this Forum went the way of Untypical Boro and I wonder if our relative success this season has affected the number of posts and posters.
We always seem to get more posts after a poor performance than a good one, but then most of us are cynical Teessiders, born and bred to expect the worst.
I’d miss Diasboro hugely if it disappeared - it’s an anchor to home, in a sea of change and whilst I’m not a prolific poster, I am an avid reader and massively appreciate everyone’s views on here.
I know how hard it is to keep producing content, from writing my occasional Blogs, but I hope that we can find a way forward. I think Werdermouth’s and Redcar Red’s efforts and contributions make this Forum what it is, as well as everyone else’s posts of course, but if we can find a way of reducing the workloads of our two special contributors I’m all for it.
Len and Martin,
You are quite right. I produce two blogs one with a post once a week which requires me to physically produce the work to feature on the blog and the other about where I live that I post two or three times a week. I more than understand appreciate their collective efforts which go above and beyond effort and duty, the championship is a grind for them too, and how.
The blog is 'simply' of a very high standard and an anchor and link to where we born, it is almost a new root if you like. I too would miss it tremendously should it cease publication.
Stay safe everyone,
UTB,
John
@john-richardson I check your Blogs several times a week so don’t even think about stopping those!
Thank you Len for your kind words, at the moment I may have to step back a little but not away. Your idea about the reports has entered my head already this season. As you say we can all watch the games which is a major difference to seasons gone past.
Taking on the reporting mantle after AV left has also tempered my views a little in that I'm trying to report objectively on the game while not letting too much of my personal opinions permeate through. As Martin has referenced above, I think the fact that NW is doing very well with what he has to work with also reduces the likelihood of opposite views, arguments and debates.
Lets hope we can steer a path through these uncharted waters and that Werder doesn't become a lost soul to Diasboro. We have become an extended family unit over many years thanks to AV and to Werder.
Len and Martin,
You are quite right. I produce two blogs one with a post once a week which requires me to physically produce the work to feature on the blog and the other about where I live that I post two or three times a week. I more than understand appreciate their collective efforts which go above and beyond effort and duty, the championship is a grind for them too, and how.
The blog is 'simply' of a very high standard and an anchor and link to where we born, it is almost a new root if you like. I too would miss it tremendously should it cease publication.
Stay safe everyone,
UTB,
John
I tried to google to find your blogs but without success. Any links, please?
Up the Boro!
My printmaking blog is on Wordpress
www.johnrichardsonlinoprints.blog
and my more general blog about where I live in Norfolk can be found at
www.thetwoterriers.blogspot.com
The print blog has some Boro work on there too.
Those two addresses should give you all the information you need.
Stay safe,
UTB,
John
I wasn't planning to visit the site but I've had to check out a few things on Diasboro this morning after I was notified about another attempt by Russian hackers to create fake accounts - thankfully the security measures I put in place last month after 250 spam accounts were created meant just a handful of bogus accounts were able to be created this time.
Anyway, I'm starting to feel much less negative about things after beginning to doubt last week why I bother - but after reading your supportive comments this morning in response to my post, I now know why I do bother as clearly the forum still remains important for many. So many thanks to all who expressed their regards and support.
Nevertheless, I still plan to have a complete break for a few weeks and not think about Diasboro as I've been literally non-stop on many projects for most of the year with 12-hour days not unusual - plus with the strains of Covid and the addition of home-schooling and there's been little down time with not even a holiday this year.
I suspect it's even tougher for many others who are simply struggling to make ends meet as I discovered when I was trying to cash in a small UK pension recently before Brexit. I was told by my pension company that there's at least a six-week admin backlog as so many people are cashing in their pensions because of running out of money due to lack of income from Covid restrictions - which will no doubt lead to another crisis down the line with pension poverty.
While I'm not making any definitive plans until I'm completely relaxed and rested, I'm sure that I'll keep the Diasboro forum running but I suspect I'll no longer commit to writing articles as there's not really much time available. I actually did a rough calculation yesterday and in the last four years I've probably written somewhere between 200-300 articles and if you add to that the time spent on the technical side of setting up the blog and then the new site, then that's probably been easily equivalent in time to a year's worth of a full-time job - plus all the other admin tasks and dealing with problems.
Finding the time is something I'm sure RR has also struggled with and can I also send my best wishes to Mrs RR and a speedy recovery from her op.
OK, I'll hopefully see you all again in the new year and wish you all a quiet, restful and most importantly a safe festive period!
Really pleased to hear from you and I’m sure everyone appreciates how difficult it has been for you to manage the blog in such difficult times.
The bloggers which has been stated many times feel part of a family and if you can manage to stay a part of us without committing to writing articles that would be a tremendous relief to us all
We don’t want to lose you but are here for your support as well.
Have a well served Xmas break with your family and look forward to 2021 with new hope and possible play offs to look forward to. UP THE BORO AND UP DIASBORO!
OFB
@werdermouth and others
I’ve just picked up on this post and subsequent replies and so am not sure if you will see this. I can only add my personal thanks to you for all the work you have put in and I hope that you find yourself mentally refreshed after a few weeks rest and able to rejoin this far flung band of Boro-lovers who have come together on diasboro.
Speaking personally, I have never met any of the people on here - although would very much like to when circumstances again permit - and yet I am part of a group that I almost feel that I know.
May I wish you all an enjoyable Christmas break and a happy and healthy new year.
I would be surprised if any other football club had two such unpaid stalwarts as Werder and Redcar Red presenting a prelude and a report of every match. As Len mentioned Cliff Mitchell provided both these functions, but that was his occupation and he had a support staff to help him. In the case of Werder the research alone must account for a major part of his input. I know that from my own experience, but I have little else to occupy my time and I just dabble in when the fancy takes me, but in the case of Werder and Redcar Red they have families to consider and shouldn’t feel obliged to report on every match. What has started as a hobby shouldn’t become a chore, and it’s evident that family commitments should quite rightly take precedence. Although most of us will miss their input whether temporarily or permanently (heaven forbid) we ought not to expect it as a right. In all walks of life once someone takes up a voluntary task, it’s very difficult to find anybody willing to take over the reins when it becomes onerous.
Nevertheless as I see it these two men are irreplaceable because they have provided us with a standard that most professionals would be proud of. It must have been difficult especially in the past few seasons when the football has been turgid, and just when the football has improved we are faced with an ongoing coronavirus pandemic which is almost as much as a disaster as those old enough to remember the after effects of the Second World War.
Where do we go from here? I don’t have the answer, but in the meantime I can only record my admiration and gratitude to Werder and Redcar Red for past services rendered and wish them and the many contributors to this forum and their loved ones a Merry Festive Season and a happy and healthy New Year.
@ken and a very Merry Christmas to yourself Ken, your own input to this blog is second to none especially your knowledgeable history of the Club.