Totally agree, I would probably do the same. As an aside my expat colleagues who have returned to Teesside have no difficulty finding streams to watch when they cant get to the match.
What chance our non scoring forwards managing a goal or two tonight? I’d not put money on them.
We can live in hope.
I just watched the first half of the Millwall game. Connolly ran around and made a nuisance of himself but had absolutely no understanding with his team mates. I'm not sure he successfully made a single pass to a team mate nor did he manage to make runs or position himself to receive passes. Although Balogun has struggled, you do see him read the game, perform passing patterns with his team mates and work hard.
It can be hard to know whether a player is a good footballer having a poor spell or a poor footballer having a good spell. For me, Connolly's inability to read a game indicates that he is simply not up to standard but got lucky on his debut for Brighton. I think Wilder and the recruitment team got their judgement wrong with him.
Balogun may make it. He reminds me of Nmecha; if he ends up at the right team sometime in the next couple of years he might do ok in a top division somewhere. The step-up to the Championship this season looks too much for him right now but I think next season he may be a decent championship loan for someone.
It feels like tonight's match may mark the beginning of the end of our season. Another draw or a loss and it's going to be really hard to keep pace with the play-off places. A top 6 team really ought to be winning a game against a lower half team with nothing much to play for.
Breaking News: Chelsea have requested that the Boro cup match be played behind closed doors as they can’t sell anymore tickets.
Come on BORO.
I just read that too and they said the game should now be played behind closed doors to preserve "sporting integrity" - it's a statement worthy of Putin himself. Where was their lust for sporting integrity when they accepted hundreds of millions of dodgy cash from Roman Abramovich to buy their success? If the FA agree to play the game behind closed doors Boro should just refuse to play and leave them to it.
Will Chelsea request all remaining Premiership/Champions League away games be played behind closed doors, they are shooting themselves in the head, never mind the foot, with this ridiculous request.
Come on BORO.
I see Chelsea asking for Saturday's game to be played behind closed doors...
Fingers crossed they are denied
OBF, Exmil & Werdermouth - that request by Chelsea is the most ridiculous request to come out of the mouths of a football executive, that I have ever heard. Laughable. Maybe not quite as laughable as the way Chelsea got away without conceding a penalty against Newcastle United a few days ago, but still a side-splitter.
The FA have stated they are aware of the Chelsea request and it will be discussed tomorrow at the Professional Game Board meeting.
My concern is that it would be illogical to agree to the request but London v Middlesbrough decision by the FA 🤔
Come on BORO.
I see Chelsea asking for Saturday's game to be played behind closed doors...
Fingers crossed they are denied
Should have read OFB and Exmil and Werder above before typing !!
Re: Chelsea have asked for FA Cup clash with Boro to be played behind closed doors
Is Mr Gibson a Russian oligarch if the Boro fans are not allowed to the FA Cup match at home?
We must get sactioned if they are so sorry to have a Russian owner .... But this must be a counter sanction from Mr Putin. He clearly is a Chelsea fan.
Crazy. Up the Boro!
In the interests of sporting integrity perhaps Middlesbrough should request that any player whose purchase was made possible by/because of Abramovichs financial backing of Chelsea should be banned from competing in the FA Cup
...and MFC has just issued a statement expressing hardly-concealed incredulity at Chelsea's request to the FA and indicating that any action such as that which Chelsea is suggesting would be resisted by Boro.
Call me naive, but why couldn't Boro have just sold the away tickets direct to verified Chelsea fans and donated the proceeds to a Ukraine charity?
....you beat me to it, OFB. I'm not as quick as I used to be. It took me ages to find my quill pen.
.
Werder,
Away sides buy an allocation of tickets from the home side, therefore those tickets are no longer Boro’s to sell.
Happily for us, Chelsea bought their allocation before the sanctions, so we’ve made a few quid regardless of what happens, though you could make a case that Boro could donate that money to charity.
As I mentioned previously, there has been a lot of bad blood between Chelsea and Middlesbrough. I was at the Zenith Cup final and our bus was attacked by Chelsea fans and if it wasn't for the quick decision made by our driver, we could have been in serious trouble. When we relegated Chelsea at their ground, thousands of fans invaded the pitch to get at the Boro supporters. I agree with Bernie Slaven when he says he hates Chelsea with passion. The decision by them to ask the FA Cup tie to be played behind closed doors is the most preposterous idea I have heard in the history of football.
I’m hoping that Chelsea’s players’ heads are all over the place on Saturday, that they’ve got their agents scratching around looking for new teams to play for and that the distractions of this week’s events make them (literally) take their eyes off the ball.
I suspect the club’s request to the FA to play behind closed doors is a ploy to get the Govt. to allow them to sell more away tickets to the game. If Abramovich owned a different company that wasn’t a football club in the UK, I’m sure the sanctions would have been even tougher. I know that their fans haven’t done anything to deserve the sanctions but, equally, they’ve benefited from their oligarch being the owner.
I still haven’t forgiven them for the ZDS and FA Cup Final defeats.
Well we all knew Abramovich has no integrity and it now appears that those in charge of the club are cut from the same cloth; it’s all about them and to hell with anyone else.
I trust the FA will give their request the time and deliberation it deserves - 30 seconds to put the case forward and say No! 😎
@Andy
Thanks for clarifying that. I presume that Chelsea must have already sold some tickets as I noted that they went on sale online to Chelsea season ticket holders the day before the government imposed sanctions on the club. Chelsea could maybe then have realised that they couldn't sell FA Cup tickets and return their unsold allocation back to Boro - who could have then sold them to Chelsea supporters with Chelsea FC acting only as the booking agent.
@KP-in-Spain
There's even some talk of Chelsea's legal team putting in an injunction to stop the game being played while they appeal any FA ruling - that would effectively mean the tie could only be played on semi-final weekend as Boro have no free midweek slots - since Boro play Good Friday and Easter Monday it would mean one of thoe game being shunted to the midweek of the last week of the season - plus no slot for the actual semi-final if they progress until after the season has finished.
Here’s the link to that Athletic article, Malcolm.
Don’t you just love Steve Gibson!
I think I could sub-title this article “ Be Careful What You Wish For”
You've got to love Steve Gibson haven't you.
A spade is very definitely a spade to SG
I suspect the request is all part of a strategy to get the government to allow the club to make ticket sales which they now appear to be discussing.
It is a case of watch this space! 😎