A nice interview with Chuba Akpom at https://www.mfc.co.uk/news/2022/november/08/chuba-akpom-post-match-reaction---blackpool/
Some info about training, too. Up the Boro!
Wow. 3 wins in 4 away games. Nosebleed territory!
I listened on Tees and saw Sky’s 10 second clips of the goals. This sounded a very dominant performance. Well done MC. Well done the lads! I’m starting to feel the stirrings of optimism flowing in my veins again.
By the way, Jarkko, I knocked on your door tonight, like Martin did. But no-one answered. And there I was looking forward to a place on your sofa, some legendary Finnish hospitality, and the chance to warm my frozen fingers. Perhaps I got the wrong house?
How well did Blackpool play? This was Zack Steffen at Bloomfield Road on 49th minute ...
Up the Boro!
@clive-hurren Cannot you navigate? We have the only Boro red front door in our village, mate. Cannot be that difficult.
Perhaps you left your home late ... 🤣🤣🤣
Up the Boro!
Ryan Giles deserves a bit of credit for last night. Whilst Akpom, Howson and Hackney will rightly get most of the plaudits, Giles defended very well and got an assist, as well as putting in a number of dangerous corners and free kicks.
Most of us have voiced concerns about playing Giles at left back but he appears to be growing into the role and had his best game in that position last night.
Well my wish came true, we were rock solid and squashed the tangerines.
I thoroughly enjoyed the match with the team playing with high intensity and excellent purposeful passing; certainly for me the best performance of the season/for some while.
Like Maddo, I had difficulty in picking a MoTM as it was a true team performance. Andy beat me to the punch in commenting on RG’s performance which was one of his best since he arrived.
It was good to see us in control for the majority of the match and in the end running out as clear winners, assisted by a debatable penalty, against a poor Blackpool side.
We need to improve our shots/shots on target ratio which is only around 25% but clear progress is being seen and long may it continue.
Interesting to see that AM was introduced ahead of PM, I commented a few weeks ago that I couldn’t see where the latter fitted into the side and wonder now if we should be looking to let him move on in January?
Now, let’s go and clip the Canaries wings and come away with at least a point to set us up on a high before the WC break. 😎
Interesting to see that AM was introduced ahead of PM, I commented a few weeks ago that I couldn’t see where the latter fitted into the side and wonder now if we should be looking to let him move on in January?
I think AM has been before PM every day. As long as I have understand the difference in time 🤣.
After a couple of minutes (no pun intended), I realised you meant Alex Mowatt and Paddy McNair. Must be my lower level of English that it takes more time to see things correctly.
Up the Boro!
How Boro didn’t emulate the record 5-0 win at Blackpool 76 years ago was down to poor shooting. However this seems to affect most teams in this poor Championship Division. Up next Norwich City away, but they’re no great shakes either as their recent poor Premier League record shows. Any decent side in this season’s Championship would accumulate at least 100 points. If only Boro can take their chances they should easily beat the Canaries on Saturday. No results in the Championship this season have yet surprised me, because no matter where a side is in the league it’s even money that they can win or lose any game.
Incidentally Boro beat Blackpool 9-2 at Ayresome Park in the previous match before that 5-0 away win 76 years ago, and have only ever scored 9 goals or more in a league match twice before - the opening match 9-0 in the 1958i59 season against Brighton, and 10-3 against Sheffield United in November 1933 when the attendance was less than 6,500.
@jarkko. Your English is excellent and you are quite correct AM does come before PM it’s just me that can’t tell the time! 🤣
Sorry for the confusion, I must remember we have an international blog! 😎
Ryan Giles deserves a bit of credit for last night. Whilst Akpom, Howson and Hackney will rightly get most of the plaudits, Giles defended very well and got an assist, as well as putting in a number of dangerous corners and free kicks.
Most of us have voiced concerns about playing Giles at left back but he appears to be growing into the role and had his best game in that position last night.
Agreed. What's more, I noticed he was playing with a smile on his face and he was joining in fully with the celebrations. A couple of matches ago, he was ambling around the pitch chuntering to himself in his own little bubble. Signs of good management by Carrick who has placed a lot of faith in him.
On the AM/PM front, one of our employees is taking 6 weeks off to be a sound technician for Nazareth on tour. Their tour manager is about 5 years old and apparently has never managed a tour before. They are due to leave on Friday but, in a true Spinal Tap moment, he accidentally booked them on the 5:30am flight rather than the 5:30pm. Only found out yesterday.
Getting a bunch of 70 year old metal heads to an airport by 3:30am is going to be challenging...
In my view we can now enjoy each match as it comes along, home or away. Why? We now have a coach. We had no coach for our previous several managers. To listen to them was to hear people who relied on gut feel about players and performances. Hands up those who think this coach would loan out a player who is currently with one of the giants? And one who would loan out a Young striker who was showing enormous promise, whilst we were operating without a striker. It is a pleasure to listen to him speaking, he is obviously under no pressure, and is merely being a (very good) Coach. When one thinks of the mess made by those who went before him, I personally think that we have experienced one of the worst periods in the history of our club.
Ryan Giles deserves a bit of credit for last night. Whilst Akpom, Howson and Hackney will rightly get most of the plaudits, Giles defended very well and got an assist, as well as putting in a number of dangerous corners and free kicks.
Most of us have voiced concerns about playing Giles at left back but he appears to be growing into the role and had his best game in that position last night.
Agreed. What's more, I noticed he was playing with a smile on his face and he was joining in fully with the celebrations. A couple of matches ago, he was ambling around the pitch chuntering to himself in his own little bubble. Signs of good management by Carrick who has placed a lot of faith in him.
On the AM/PM front, one of our employees is taking 6 weeks off to be a sound technician for Nazareth on tour. Their tour manager is about 5 years old and apparently has never managed a tour before. They are due to leave on Friday but, in a true Spinal Tap moment, he accidentally booked them on the 5:30am flight rather than the 5:30pm. Only found out yesterday.
Getting a bunch of 70 year old metal heads to an airport by 3:30am is going to be challenging...
Surely, they’ll catch This Flight Tonight!
@jarkko. Your English is excellent and you are quite correct AM does come before PM it’s just me that can’t tell the time! 🤣
Sorry for the confusion, I must remember we have an international blog! 😎
I was mainly joking.🤣
I did need a while to figure out who were the players you meant, though. We haven't seen Mowatt nor McNair for a while ...
Up the Boro!
@andy-r agreed, Giles did have a good all round game and played with a smile. It is always better when you are playing well and also winning.
It is only early days and Blackpool were a poor side with the added injuries to a number of their squad. However there appears to be a definite improvement in the overall “Team” performance.
Norwich will be a bigger test as to the real progress being made.
The Good thing is, we are pleased that we will get a check on how well we are doing. What is even better is the fact that our Coach will be pleased to find out the size of the task before him, and will set out to achieve it. Happy days!
The post I made at 4.14pm yesterday (about the World Cup to be held in Qatar, but also dealing with the earlier tournament in Russia) was obviously well timed! Today's print Daily Telegraph Sport Section has an article on the front page by Chief Football Writer Sam Wallace about the last minute efforts by the mostly-migrant workforce there to get final preparations complete in time, which arcticle continues to a double-page spread on pages 2+3.
"Doha a dusty, stifling ghost town as big kick-off nears" is the internal headline, together with articles by Ben Rumsby & Molly McElwee under the heading "Homosexuality is damage in the mind, says ambassador" and by Ben Rumsby "Blatter: Choice of Qatar as hosts was a mistake."
I'm just glad I got there first. But, in case you didn't see the paper, the EXTREMELY short executive summary is:
1. Wallace article -
£138Bn cost of infrastructure projects
6,500 migrant worker deaths in last 12 years
8 stadiums (7 are new), the lowest number for any WC Finals
Last minute works being completed on the Fanzone (600 bean-bag type loungers in front of a giant screen in a football-field size open area - no cover - with temperatures yesterday 35C
Most hotels and venues have NOT yet contracted with beIN to screen the games (only UK & Belgium offer all games free to air)
Most fans to be housed in 6,200 cheap & cheerful £175 per night steel cabins (arranged in "prisoner of war camp style" with two small beds, air-con & a very small bathroom). It isn't clear whether alcohol will be allowed there but guests will have 2 complimentary bottles of water a day - please make mine the size of a swimming pool.
2. Rumsby & McElwee -
WC Amabssador Salman (former Qatar midfielder) said "They (homosexuals) have to accept our rules here. (Homosexuality) is Haram (forbidden)...because it is damage in the mind".
Baroness Sue Campbell, FA's Director of Womens' Football: "In terms of the FA, we don't pick where the World Cup is - FIFA do that" but Harry Kane will wear the One Love Armband.
3. Rumsby -
Sepp Blatter criticised the decision because Qatar is "too small to stage football's biggest event".
"We agreed Russia would get the 2018 WC and USA the 2022" but Blatter accused Platini (then President of UEFA) of bowing to pressure from Pres Sarkozy after being invited to a lunch with the President & the Crown Prince of Qatar at the Elysee Palace where Sarkozy said" See what you & your colleagues can do for Qatar".
Six months later Qatar bought £12.7Bn fighter jets from France (Qatar being awarded the World Cup).
There - I've saved your reading the articles.....
The post I made at 4.14pm yesterday (about the World Cup to be held in Qatar, but also dealing with the earlier tournament in Russia) was obviously well timed! Today's print Daily Telegraph Sport Section has an article on the front page by Chief Football Writer Sam Wallace about the last minute efforts by the mostly-migrant workforce there to get final preparations complete in time, which arcticle continues to a double-page spread on pages 2+3.
"Doha a dusty, stifling ghost town as big kick-off nears" is the internal headline, together with articles by Ben Rumsby & Molly McElwee under the heading "Homosexuality is damage in the mind, says ambassador" and by Ben Rumsby "Blatter: Choice of Qatar as hosts was a mistake."
I'm just glad I got there first. But, in case you didn't see the paper, the EXTREMELY short executive summary is:
1. Wallace article -
£138Bn cost of infrastructure projects
6,500 migrant worker deaths in last 12 years
8 stadiums (7 are new), the lowest number for any WC Finals
Last minute works being completed on the Fanzone (600 bean-bag type loungers in front of a giant screen in a football-field size open area - no cover - with temperatures yesterday 35C
Most hotels and venues have NOT yet contracted with beIN to screen the games (only UK & Belgium offer all games free to air)
Most fans to be housed in 6,200 cheap & cheerful £175 per night steel cabins (arranged in "prisoner of war camp style" with two small beds, air-con & a very small bathroom). It isn't clear whether alcohol will be allowed there but guests will have 2 complimentary bottles of water a day - please make mine the size of a swimming pool.
2. Rumsby & McElwee -
WC Amabssador Salman (former Qatar midfielder) said "They (homosexuals) have to accept our rules here. (Homosexuality) is Haram (forbidden)...because it is damage in the mind".
Baroness Sue Campbell, FA's Director of Womens' Football: "In terms of the FA, we don't pick where the World Cup is - FIFA do that" but Harry Kane will wear the One Love Armband.
3. Rumsby -
Sepp Blatter criticised the decision because Qatar is "too small to stage football's biggest event".
"We agreed Russia would get the 2018 WC and USA the 2022" but Blatter accused Platini (then President of UEFA) of bowing to pressure from Pres Sarkozy after being invited to a lunch with the President & the Crown Prince of Qatar at the Elysee Palace where Sarkozy said" See what you & your colleagues can do for Qatar".
Six months later Qatar bought £12.7Bn fighter jets from France (Qatar being awarded the World Cup).
There - I've saved your reading the articles.....
A massive thank you from me, FD. Anything that avoids me having to read the DT is much appreciated. As you can probably guess, I’m a Guardian reader (and subscriber) and a member of the tofu eating wokerati.
U.S. and Boro goalkeeper Zack Steffen was not included in the squad for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
I think this was a big shock to me and especially the player. His injury just before the last international must have affected as the other keepers got a chance. For example Luton Town's Ethan Horvath was chosen.
https://www.espn.co.uk/football/united-states-usa/story/4797923/
Still, up the Boro !
@selwynoz - Maybe it's just that Belgium and the UK will show ALL games free-to-air rather than some games or the ones the home broadcaster is interested in?
@forever-dormo I think Finland shows the matches free, too. Not sure about the last group matches, though. The two matches are played same time and the other one may be strimed live on the internet only.
They will also be shown on Viaplay, that you need to subscribe. The law says here that the "important" events like Olympics and WC must be shown free.
Up the Boro!
@martin-bellamy - I devour the news - most days reading the Times or the Telegraph (sometimes both - like at the weekends) and occasionally the "i". I no longer often buy the Gazette, the Northern Echo or the Yorkshire Post unless there is a particular story I want to see. I prefer the old-fashioned paper versions.
As regards broadcast news I am very catholic in my tastes, knowing there are examples of bias to be found everywhere on all sides, so I take that into account. I listen/watch quite a bit of TV and radio now that I have retired, though I was always a bit of an addict - listening to the Today Programme as a 10 year old in the days of Jack de Manio (when that programme was more of a "news magazine programme" rather than news - it then had stupid stories about undergraduate slang and stories about obscure UK customs like Dwile Flonking). So I am a heavy consumer of BBC Radio4, Radio5 - in the latter case mostly for the sport - (and 5LiveSports Extra), BBCTees (mostly for the football unless there are weather/road closures information I need), Times Radio, TalkTV, GBNews and (Werder might be surprised) DW - some of these via digital TV or YouTube/Apps. The BBCNews Channel is usually on in the background on digital TV when I am at the laptop or looking at the phone - though at the time of typing I am only listening to Test Match Special on digital TV, to follow the T20 World Cup Semi-Final against India, whilst typing this. Normally it is more news than sport which, for me, tends to come to the fore when Boro are playing football or Yorkshire/England are playing cricket of any type.
England currently 95-0 in the 10th over and therefore well ahead of the run rate as India scored "only" 168-6 in its 20 allotted overs.
So sometimes I will have BBC News channel on the TV at the same time as following DW on my laptop and TalkTV on my phone. Well, I don't want to miss anything. I don't know how, in an earlier life, I found time to work.
@forever-dormo I have R4 on for most of the day and read the (digital) Guardian from cover to cover. I also get quite a lot of info from Twitter (never before 21.00, oddly) but the current Elon Musk furore may put an end to that.
I hope that getting news and info from the G and BBC gives me a balanced view, but I suspect I’m missing out on views contrary to my own, although I can’t bring myself to use GB News. I do enjoy James O’Brien on LBC but, again, it may just be confirmation bias.
@jarkko - We used to have what were called the "Crown Jewels" on free-to-air TV: Wimbledon, the Derby and Grand National, the FA Cup Final and Test Match Cricket (maybe strictly just the Ashes series against Australia). It may be that Formula One racing was included and the Open (Golf). The Olympics and football World Cups have also been shown on the terrestrial channels but over time the pay-stations like Sky and BTSport have entered the fray, offering big money to get exclusive rights to show some sports and the Crown Jewels have withered.
It is a constant debate. Do you accept more money but have a limited audience, or less money but more exposure (bigger audience)? If the money goes into the back pockets of the players/administrators and little really goes to the grass roots to nourish the next generation of potential players, or if a much smaller audience of youngsters get to see sport at the top level, will they be enthused to take up the sports shown behind a paywall?
@forever-dormo I have R4 on for most of the day and read the (digital) Guardian from cover to cover. I also get quite a lot of info from Twitter (never before 21.00, oddly) but the current Elon Musk furore may put an end to that.
I follow Twitter weekly. 80 % about Boro, 10 % North York Moors and 10 % British politics. I follow nothing in Finnish (except a couple of Boro fans in here).
But now I do seriously consider stopping Twitter as I am so upset with Elon Musk. Like Trump before him, I do not understand the hate and fake news interest.
Keep me posted, Martin about you Twitter role in the future. I already asked AV about his intentions, he does not like it either, but he "needs" the audience and are staying, though.
At least I will reduce my time in Twitter next.
Up the Boro!
Australia is very cosmopolitan with immigration from many countries. SBS will show every game either on one of their free to air channels or available online through their free on demand service.
I’m a member of the tofu-eating, Guardian-reading wokerati, too, Martin! Like you, I read the digital Guardian every day, though I tend to select what I read from the headlines. I also dip into the digital Independent most days. Personally, I would be loathe to use the Torygraph (or the Mail, Express or Sun) as toilet paper - I’m sure they’re very absorbent, but I’d be worried about the contamination I’d get.
I’m a member of the tofu-eating, Guardian-reading wokerati, too, Martin! Like you, I read the digital Guardian every day, though I tend to select what I read from the headlines. I also dip into the digital Independent most days. Personally, I would be loathe to use the Torygraph (or the Mail, Express or Sun) as toilet paper - I’m sure they’re very absorbent, but I’d be worried about the contamination I’d get.
I think we’re on the same page(s). 😉
Clive and Martin
It’s the Yorkshire Post comprehensive sports pages for me.