With two years left on his contract we don’t have to give way to Daniel Levy delaying tactics, he is renowned for hanging on in hope of getting the player on his terms only. Spence, in the end, will have to play for Boro to advance his career or sit on the bench for the next two years and watch his future go down the pan. I wouldn’t be surprised if another club comes out of the blue for his signature 🤔.
Come on BORO.
The Spence situation seems like win-win to me and Boro are right to hold out for the price they believe he is worth. It's unfortunate that Spurs seem to be the most interested club and that Spence seemingly wants to join them as Levy is a famously hard negotiator but we can't sell for cheaper just to get rid as there's every chance of a late bid or even a January panic bid from elsewhere.
Ideally, we'd sell now as his value is probably at it's peak with two years left on his deal and having had a very eye-catching season on loan at Forest. However, if he stays, we have a highly promising young player on our hands and whilst Spence may not want to be at Boro, the Boro he's coming back to is a very different one to the one he left and there's a chance we'll have an explosive right wing back added to the ranks.
Will retaining him stop us making other transfers? Not on the evidence so far with three players signed for minimal outlay and fourth rumoured to be imminent, also for minimal outlay.
For me the window so far seems very sensible but we do need to find those strikers.
The Spence situation is an odd one. If he’d always played for Forest and there was a rumour that we were signing him, most Boro fans would be delighted. Now we can’t wait to get rid of him, a view I totally understand, but maybe, just maybe, he can be rehabilitated as a Boro player.
But it is not just about him being rehabilitated as a Boro player, it is also about how and where he fits in to the team.
Can we play a Jones and a SPence in the same team without having to coach one or the other of them to play differently or in a different role ?
The Spence situation is an odd one. If he’d always played for Forest and there was a rumour that we were signing him, most Boro fans would be delighted. Now we can’t wait to get rid of him, a view I totally understand, but maybe, just maybe, he can be rehabilitated as a Boro player.
But it is not just about him being rehabilitated as a Boro player, it is also about how and where he fits in to the team.
Can we play a Jones and a SPence in the same team without having to coach one or the other of them to play differently or in a different role ?
If we’re short on striker options we could play a 3-4-3 with Spence at RWB and Jones at right wing, more or less where he plays anyway.
However, I’m sure Spence will leave before the season starts.
I am happy with the three new signings made last week in Darragh Lenihan, Ryan Giles and Liam Roberts.
But as the pre-season training has already started, we need another three signings every week. So I hope we could announce the loan deal for Man City's Zack Steffen soon. And two more this week please.
Next week we need to sign three more to make it nine new players before the season starts. The sooner we have the new players in, the more likely we will start the season strongly.
We desperately need a left-footed centre back even we have McNair and Bola who can play there if needed. But Ben Gibson at £6 Million looks out of our budget, though.
We also need a new goalkeeper. I like Liam Roberts as a 27-year-old capture but we stll need a real nr. one to start with. Zack Steffen would fit the bill brilliantly, me thinks.
Well, we need two to three strikers urgently, too. We might go with a free transfer like David McGoldrick, but we need a marquee signing here to get the fans into the 'tent' of Riverside. Personally I would like to give another chance for Arsenal's Balogun, too.
But we need to get two good strikers in quickly. As someone said before, we might need to get Spence sold first before we can really splash the cash on a striker or two.
We also need cover for Jones if Fisher is not considered good enough as a wing-back. Also Howson needs a back up even though McGree or McNair can play there if needed.
I hope we rather get the players in this or next week than at the end of the transfer window. I am sure we will have a strong squad for the up-coming season. But we need to be quick or we could struggle during the first two months. And we have a tough start to the season as we all know.
Up the Boro!
I regret to say that I’m not as optimistic as others about Boro doing a good deal in selling Spence.
Boro want to sell him, he doesn’t want to stay, he wants to go to Spurs, if he ends up staying things may get disruptive. Spurs don’t have to buy him whereas Boro want to get rid of him.
Apart from Spurs where he wants to go , other Clubs seem to have cooled their interest. So it looks as though it’s Spurs or nothing and they are in the driving seat.
They don’t seem in any rush to do a deal - why should they, knowing that he wants to join them and Boro need the money to buy better players than they can afford if a deal doesn’t happen. So, logically Spurs will take their time in trying to finalise a deal which isn’t in Boro’s interest.
So, I expect the fee to be getting lower by the day. Talk of £20m is, I think, ‘pie in the sky’
Would we accept say£10m -£15m depending on the add ons ? - I would!!
Philip of Huddersfield
Sky Sports news now reporting that talks on sale of DS to Spurs are at advanced stage and agreement getting closer and could be reached by weekend.
Discussions based on initial fee of £15M + add ons. 😎
I suspect the £15m has always been Boro's price and the haggling is on the add-ons with Boro looking for a combination worth up to £5m. It'll get done.
Andy,
I think you are correct in your assumption and it represents good business.
Mr Levy is a slippery customer with Spurs, or his, interests at heart. Just have look at his attempted wheeling and dealing with Everton. It would seem that Boro have a huge draught of liquidity coming into the accounts and now the problem will be teams easing up the price of players we intend to buy. Perhaps we should hire Mr Levy?
Anyway, well done Boro for not being bullied and then rolling over on a sale and now, well, they'll have to do it all again but on their purchases. The hints and tips from Mr Levy were 'free', well sort of.
Interesting times.
UTB,
John
We won’t get anywhere near 20 mil for Spence. He is a gamble on one excellant season in the Championship.
Sessegnon who came from Fulham to Spurs has only just fitted into the first team after three years. They paid a reported 25/30 mil including add ons though for him.
I think Philip is correct, we need to sell him more than they need to buy him. And there is very real paper talk of other clubs being interested. Any other club would be a hard pill to swallow for Spence.
It will be interesting to see the outcome and any sale will probably be undisclosed.
I disagree with the entire sale of Spence to Spurs, just reading the leaks and insults, with us as the patsies. I would like us to get nasty, First, tell Spence that he can go. Then tell him that he goes to the highest bidder. Then tell Spurs the price, then tell the world that he is available to the highest bidder, then shut up, and get on the tralning ground, including Spence. And keep quiet! If someone comes calling, tell Spence to get talking to them, they might be a better prospect.
I disagree with the entire sale of Spence to Spurs, just reading the leaks and insults, with us as the patsies. I would like us to get nasty, First, tell Spence that he can go. Then tell him that he goes to the highest bidder. Then tell Spurs the price, then tell the world that he is available to the highest bidder, then shut up, and get on the tralning ground, including Spence. And keep quiet! If someone comes calling, tell Spence to get talking to them, they might be a better prospect.
Isn’t this exactly what’s happening?
I disagree with the entire sale of Spence to Spurs, just reading the leaks and insults, with us as the patsies. I would like us to get nasty, First, tell Spence that he can go. Then tell him that he goes to the highest bidder. Then tell Spurs the price, then tell the world that he is available to the highest bidder, then shut up, and get on the tralning ground, including Spence. And keep quiet! If someone comes calling, tell Spence to get talking to them, they might be a better prospect.
Isn’t this exactly what’s happening?
Looks that way to me. Boro have made their demands reasonably clear and are refusing to be bullied. I don’t fully understand bloggers who have for some reason decided that we won’t get what we want and are then berating the club for a failure that hasn’t happened yet.
On another topic, did anyone see this article in the Gazette
That makes at least three young goalkeepers who are good enough for season long loans in the football pyramid plus more still at Rockcliffe. It sounds like a real ‘goalkeeper factory’ and we’ve also brought in the highly respected Man U goalkeeping coach. Is it finally possible that at least one of these will make it through to be a first team regular. There have been so many over the years who have followed this path and then just dropped away.
utb
I mentioned the fantastic innings of Finlay Bean for Yorkshire’s Second XI yesterday on the cricket page as he was on 365 not out overnight, but yesterday he continued his heroics as he was finally out for 441 in a total of 814 for 7 declared which included 52 fours and 3 sixes from 518 balls which lasted for 11 hours 52 minutes and is worthy of inclusion on this page if only for the 20 year old’s concentration, endurance and stamina alone.
Of course the wicket was a featherbed as Nottinghamshire had made 534 in their first innings and forced a draw by scoring 269 for 5 in their second innings, but nevertheless Finlay’s innings and Yorkshire’s score will go down in history as way above any other match in the annals of time and should deserve recognition to a wider audience than just stored away in a cricket section of this forum as they are unlikely to be repeated ever again.
Daily Mirror Live Transfer blog reporting that deal for DS now agreed and player due at Spurs for medical.
Fee quoted as £15M/£16M with add ons. 😎
I have no doubt that the transfer window will be a success for Boro. But as there were no action this week, I am getting a bit nervous about timing of the transfers.
We still need a goalkeeper, a left-sided centre back and a few strikers. I have no doubt that Djed Spence will leave, too. The latter seems to happen soon, possible this weekend.
But we also need new players in - and soon. The new players will need time to bed in. OK, we can start with McNair or Lenihan on the left, but the new strikers need to arrive soon and start training with the rest of the squad. At least one new striker is needed before the Portugal training camp.
We have the first training match today. Nice to see the new boys playing. Is anyone going to go and watch the match at Bishop Auckland today?
Up the Boro!
I agree Jarkko that it would be nice to get our key recruitment done as soon as possible.
I believe, however, a lot depends on the sale of DS. Whilst we may not be paying out much, if anything, on transfer fees we still need to be able to cover the wage bill as the likes of the possible loan of a keeper from Man City, and forwards from Southampton/Newcastle will not come cheap if they actually happen.
I suspect that until the DS deal is done, MFC will be reluctant to firm up on all the required incomings and may not finalise some for a few more weeks. 😎
There comes a time in life when history and nostalgia takes over one’s life, certainly in my case as I don’t look to the future but every day at present is a bonus. That also applies particularly to my two favourite sports of cricket and football.
Starting with cricket I had always been a big fan of Yorkshire CCC and all their successes in the County Championship. Yet although they won the Championship in 1946 I hardly remember it, and apart from a shared title with Middlesex in 1949 the years were dominated by Surrey with seven successive titles from 1952 to 1958. I had always promised myself that I would buy a leather-bound Wisden Almanac only if Yorkshire could win the title but it wasn’t until 1959 that the Tykes at last finished top.
The final match of the year was at Hove against Sussex in late September and although dismissing the home team for 210 in the first innings, by close of play Yorkshire had already lost 5 wickets for 81 runs. They were then rescued on the second day by a century from Ray Illingworth and eventually had a first innings lead of 97. But Sussex batted obdurately and it was almost 4 o’clock on the third and final day before their last wicket fell for 311, thereby setting Yorkshire an unlikely target of 215 to win in 90 minutes.
In those days with Sunday being a day of rest stumps were drawn at 5.30 pm on the final day but with no tea interval to allow teams to arrive at their next venue as for much of the year teams played two three-day matches per week, and indeed Yorkshire were due at Scarborough for the annual cricket festival. I remember that Fred Trueman batted high up the order for quick runs, but the experiment failed as Yorkshire also lost Brian Close early as Yorkshire stumbled to 40 for 2. Nevertheless Brian Stott and Doug Padgett took the Tykes to the win at 218 for 5 in 28.3 overs with only 5 minutes to spare. The scoring rate of 7.65 was outstanding in those days, and I duly brought bought my leather-bound Wisden almanac.
Yorkshire went on to win 3 more titles in the following 5 years, another treble of titles from 1966 to 1968, but had to wait until the 21st century to win their next one and then to 2014 and 2015 for two more. The fact is that with 18 counties making up the County Championship there have been 15 different title winners, with only Gloucestershire, Northamptonshire and Somerset still awaiting their first title, and even any of those 3 could win it any time in the future.
So now turning to football where there have been only 7 winners of the Premier League, and 2 of those Blackburn and Leicester are unlikely to win it again, with Tottenham and Newcastle possibly living in dreamland thinking that they can challenge Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and the two Manchester clubs sometime in the future, and some call it a competitive League which is complete bunkum.
Football didn’t start in 1992 with the founding of the Premier League; it started in 1888 and the old First Division has produced 23 different winners during that time. That was what I would call a competitive league, in fact the most competitive in the World. Sadly Middlesbrough have not been one of those clubs. They did finish 3rd in 1914 but 8 points behind Blackburn, and 4th in 1949 but 10 points behind Everton so never in real contention, and led the table at Christmas 1951 but fell away to 6th and 10 points behind Manchester United. The only other time that they remotely challenged for the title was in 1975 when if they could have hung on to their 1-0 halftime lead at home to Derby County and won their remaining 4 matches they would have been First Division Champions, but Derby equalised and the Boro finished 7th and 6 points behind the Rams who took the title.
Over 60 years of disappointment in England’s top tier which is abysmal really and yet we still support this great club. Ok we’ve won the League Cup and have great memories of our European adventure, but I would have loved us to win the old First Division Championship, and considering that the Boro were the only club to provide more than one player in the Great Britain side to overwhelm the Rest of Europe XI 6-1 at Hampden Park in 1947 and that we also had one of the finest centre forward in England at the time in Micky Fenton who scored 147 goals in 240 matches and missed 7 years of his career due to the Second World War might well have doubled that total, why do I feel cheated somewhat that the Boro have generally underachieved.
Where do Diasborians expect Middlesbrough to finish in the Premier League in 2023/24 if they get promotion in this coming season? Surely not that 17th position shouldn’t be the limit of our expectations!
In the meantime here is a little puzzle for you. Of the 23 clubs who have won the old First Division title can you fill in the gaps?
18 titles only 1 club
10 titles only 1 club
9 titles only 1 club
7 titles only 2 clubs
6 titles only 1 club
4 titles only 2 clubs
3 titles 3 clubs
2 titles 7 clubs
1 title 5 clubs.
So Boro won at Bishop Auckland by 5-0.
Middlesbrough first half team
Liam Roberts, Paddy McNair, Darragh Lenihan, Bryant Bilongo, Tommy Smith (triallist), Jonny Howson, Matt Crooks, Riley McGree, Ryan Giles, Duncan Watmore, Sonny Finch
The second half team
Liam Roberts, Anfernee Dijskteel, Dael Fry, Marc Bola, Isaiah Jones, Hayden Hackney, Joe Gibson, Marcus Tavernier, Hayden Coulson, Josh Coburn, Cal Kavanagh
My question is that why Martin Payero was missing from the line-up. He has been training but was he ill, injured or leaving perhaps?
Up the Boro!
Sorry, I just found out that Graig Johns tweeted that Payero was missing because of an injury. I hope nothing serious, though. Up the Boro!
It’s reported that Darnell Fisher is still injured and will be out for the rest of the year at least
OFB
If Payero is injured already, then one has to wonder what he is made of.
More likely that Boro are negotiating some kind of loan deal back in Argentina.
As KP said, if that came to be true, then another egg on face for the recruitement team.
If Neil Warnock was overwhelmed by the trophy cabinet at Ibrox he obviously hasn’t done a tour of the trophy room of the Neu Camp Stadium in Barcelona or especially the one at the Bernabau Stadium in Madrid where I had my photograph taken with a cut out of Jose Mourinho. I also visited the Ferenc Puskas Stadium in Budapest and the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow in 1979 though that is quite rightly verboten nowadays. None of these to actually watch football, but just on holiday trips.
The Djed Spence soap opera grinds slowly ever onwards, we all assume it is going forwards not sideways or backwards and from being optimistic about it being completed swiftly there's seems to be a fair chance that the Tottenham dream might not happen for the young man.
I am sure that there must be other teams watching and waiting but you do begin to wonder about all the hype and hyperbole that has been poured out from the media and the pundits.
It'll be interesting to see how Mr Wilder integrates him with the squad when Djed doesn't want to be here and in his mind I'm sure he was convinced that he would have been house hunting North London by now. Never mind it'll be an interesting man-management project for Mr Wilder and his team.
Meanwhile the silence is deafening.
UTB,
John
I’ve just finished watching the DVD of the 1979 BBC series of Secret Army which I used to regularly watch amongst many other DVDs during the winter months in the Algarve. The series ended when Angela Richards who played Monique Duchamps a member of the Belgian resistance lifeline who was one of the characters responsible for sending British airmen shot down by the Luftwaffe back to the UK, singing a tear-jerking song at the Candide restaurant which was the front for the resistance movement. For those too young to remember this excellent series, it also became the forerunner for the comedy series of ‘Allo! ‘Allo!.
Anyway I altered a few of the words in commemoration of my dear wife Enid although never actually sung or spoke to her on her deathbed, so bear with me in one of my rare melancholy moments:-
“If this is the last time I see you, then let’s make the most of today
Let promises keep us together when you will be far away”.
”If this is the last time I hold you, I’ll hold you as never before”.
“We said when we started our journey our parting we’ll just ignore”
”Whilst you’re here in my arms all my sadness deserts me,
Only you and your sweet love I see”.
“If this is the last time I kiss you, then let it be tender and true.
“The future won’t bring back the comfort without the true love from you”.
I was actually in tears as I wrote this, the first time for several years as I wonder if we’ll ever meet again. Forgive me for writing this, but my emotions just overcame me.
Rest in peace, my darling!
Well it's now less than four weeks to the start of the season as the transfer window has now officially opened - so thanks to my birthday, I've used my day off projects wisely to compile my annual Boro Squad table and summarise thoughts on the current state of play...
Three days ago I posted a puzzle of life before the Premier League when football was much more competitive in the Football League First Division than it will ever be in the Premier League, and observed that 23 clubs had won the Title as champions compared to only 7 in the Premier League and lamented that the Boro had never won the former and will never win the latter. Yet it’s the Premier League that Boro fans aspire to be members of. I must say I’d rather stay in the Championship winning regularly than the occasional win here and there in the Premier League when the main ambition is to avoid relegation at first and rejoice if we ever finished mid-table.
I’m sick and tired of statistics being churned out as if football only started in 1992, but thought I’d test folks’ knowledge of the history of the original First Division but seemingly nobody is interested anymore. Anyway here are the answers to the quiz I set:-
18 titles were won by LIVERPOOL in 1900/01, 1905/06, 1921/22, 1922/23, 1946/47, 1963/64, 1965/66, 1972/73, 1975/76, 1976/77, 1978/79, 1979/80, 1981/82, 1982/83, 1983/84, 1985/86, 1987/88 and 1989/90.
10 were won by ARSENAL in 1930/31, 1932/33, 1933/34, 1934/35, 1937/38, 1947/48, 1952/53, 1970/71, 1988/89 and 1990/91.
9 titles were won by EVERTON in 1890/91, 1914/15, 1927/28, 1931/32, 1938/39, 1962/63, 1969/70, 1984/85 and 1986/87.
7 titles were won by ASTON VILLA in 1893/94, 1895/96, 1896/97, 1898/99, 1899/1900, 1909/10 and then not again until 1980/81.
7 titles were also won by MANCHESTER UNITED in 1907/08, 1910/11, then not again until 1951/52, 1955/56, 1956/57, 1964/65 and 1966/67.
6 titles were won by SUNDERLAND in 1891/92, 1892/93, 1894/95, 1901/02, 1912/13 and 1935/36.
4 titles were won by NEWCASTLE UNITED in 1904/05, 1906/07, 1908/09 and 1926/27.
4 titles also were won by SHEFFIELD WEDNESDAY in 1902/03, 1903/04, 1928/29 and 1929/30.
3 titles were won by HUDDERSFIELD TOWN in successive years in 1923/24, 1924/25 and 1925/26.
3 titles were also won by LEEDS UNITED in 1968/69, 1973/74 and 1991/92
3 titles were also won by WOLVES in 1953/54, 1957/58 and 1958/59.
2 titles were won by the following 7 clubs - BLACKBURN in 1911/12 and 1913/14, BURNLEY in 1920/21 and 1959/60, DERBY COUNTY in 1971/72 and 1974/75, MANCHESTER CITY in 1936/37 and 1967/68, PORTSMOUTH in successive years in 1948/49 and 1949/50, PRESTON NORTH END also in successive years in 1888/89 and 1889/90, and TOTTENHAM in 1950/51 and 1960/61.
Single title winners totalled 5 clubs - CHELSEA 1954/55, IPSWICH TOWN 1961/63, NOTTINGHAM FOREST 1977/78, SHEFFIELD UNITED 1897/98 and WEST BROMWICH ALBION 1919/20.
How MIDDLESBROUGH or STOKE CITY for that matter have never won the title is a mystery to me, but there again football didn’t exist before the Premier League did it?
Now to the present. Whilst welcoming the Boro’s attachment to Bishop Auckland for the use of their stadium several times a season for our academy teams, perhaps it would make more sense to have sent an academy side there and a mixed set of the first team squad to Hartlepool for without their help in 1986 Middlesbrough FC may not exist today or at best playing outside the EFL. Bishop Auckland only avoided relegation from the Second Division of the Northern League on goal difference last season and suffered a 2-5 home defeat to Ashington and a 1-7 home defeat to mid-table Newcastle Benfield also, so I’m not overly impressed that the Boro couldn’t reach double figures last weekend. Does anyone know how many shots the Boro missed or even had on target? Obviously it’s too early to judge yet, but York City will provide sterner opposition, and by the time we play Sporting Braga in the Algarve and certainly Olympique Marseille one would hope that the Boro have bought better strikers than David McGoldrick who isn’t a natural goalscorer in my opinion.
The Coventry striker Viktor Gyokeres would be an interesting acquisition as he scored 18 goals last season or indeed Preston’s Emil Riis Jacobsen who scored 20 goals last season, but prising them away from their current clubs won’t be easy and perhaps too expensive. However I was more impressed that the Boro’s under 23 side should beat Scunthorpe United 3-2, and maybe we should integrate some of those lads into the first team squad. After all it worked albeit out of necessity in 1986 and 1987, so why not give them a chance. We already have a potential regular scorer for minutes played on the pitch in young Josh Cockburn. Remember neither George Camsell nor Brian Clough were considered as first team choices in 1926 and 1956. Those favoured selections were James McClelland and Doug Cooper respectively. So come on Chris Wilder and forget about your former Blades players and give young Josh a regular start.