... mutta ei haittaisi ketään kokeilla!
I hope Google translated that properly 😉
In English I was saying ...but it wouldn't hurt anyone to try!
2-1 to Boro today. Brizzol to take earlyish lead and Boro to come back strongly in 2nd half.
CoB
@powmillnaemore All OK. That was correct but in most cases the Google translator cannot manage it correctly from English to Finnish. The grammar of our language is ten times more difficult than German, for example.
But if you learn a bit of Finnish, pronanciation is easy as we pronaunce every letter as we write - and always all letters are pronaunced the same way (for example we do not use "c" at all but "k" and "s" are used regularly). There are no dictionaries for pronaunciation available.
As a side note, I hope Boro to win by one goals to nil today. A McNair free kick doing the damage, like.
Up the Boro!
No Tav or Watmore in the squad and I fear Spence has been shoved out on the right wing again.
Gulp.
1-0. So far so good. Solid at the back and good performances from Howson, Crooks, Ikpeazu and Jones. CoB 😎
Oh dear same old same old atrocious defending 1-1!😎
2-1 get in! Now close it out. CoB 😎
On today's performance Ikpeazu is a major upgrade on Assombalonga, he holds the ball up well, has better control, scores and makes goals. 😎
Comment by Vic after his goal:
Really enjoying watching bustling frontman Ikpeazu wrestling with two, three, sometimes four defenders and come away with the ball. More fight so far than a whole season of Britt. And they know they’ve been in a battle with him
😉
Well we got there in the end with another "let's make hard work of it" displays encompassing another nervous last 15 minutes.
Fingers crossed that Tav and Watmore will be available for Wednesday. Tav remains a bit of a mystery as he wanted to play at the end of last season but NW said no he wanted him fully fit and ready to go this season so it's a bit worrying that he is having problems already. Fingers crossed that it is not a recurring problem. 😎
Vic on the City equaliser:
Free header from a cheap free-kick
And on Matt Crooks's winner:
Boro win FK wide left after Jones is skittled. McNair floated into box for high rise Matt Crooks to stab home. Lead quickly restored. (2-1, 69 mins)
Brief summary of the outcome:
Excellent. Boro assertive and well balanced in lively first 45, Ikpeazu superb, deserved goal. Second half closer and Bristol more involved, but Boro hit back quickly after the leveller. Good value for the win. Great atmosphere.
Yorkshire Live comments on two familiar names who were involved in the Wendies' 2-0 win over Donny:
Lewis Wing 8 (star man)
Industrious and busy as ever. Came close to opening his Owls account with a ferocious shot from distance just after the break. Wing oozes quality in the advanced midfield role.
Marvin Johnson 5
Struggled to make an impact on his first start for the club. Some of his decision-making was questionable in the final third. Set up Kamberi for a good chance, but otherwise looked rusty.
Men of the match Isiah Jones and Frank Bruno up front
A quite well written report on the match from the Edinburgh Evening News (both the goal-scorers once played for Scottish clubs):
No Tav or Watmore in the squad [...]
And not for the next matches, either, by the sounds of it:
🙁
Disappointed not to be at the Riverside to see a Boro win. Just listening to Radio Tees wasn't enough but at least I could pour myself a glass of Rioja when needed. Will also miss the QPR match but hope to listen to another win before resuming home attendances. It is a bit disconcerting to read on the mfc site that "we would strongly recommend that you take a lateral flow test within 24 hours of arrival for every match and at regular intervals between matches. This is the best way of confirming that you are free of COVID-19 symptoms", especially as I easily get a nose bleed.
Good to see Ikpeazu and Crooks in the right place to score well taken goals. Jones also had a good game on his first start and Spence seemed more effective both in attack and defence.
Bristol City's goal was another repeat of our inability to defend set pieces into the penalty area but fortunately we overcame it this time.
watching the after match interview by Neil Warnock he said he had a long chat with Spence at the beginning of the week regarding his attitude and performance.
He said there was a response and Spence was now first out of the door at training sessions to start and had seen a difference in him. He also said he would see what he was like in a few weeks.
OFB
It might well have been Liverpool’s 8,000th League goal today, but Boro also reached a landmark today with Matt Crooks scoring goal number 6,700 in their League history. Ok only just over half of them have been scored in the top tier, but considering how dismal Boro’s goalscoring record has been in the past 3 seasons I thought it was maybe worth a mention.
Excellent result against Bristol yesterday. As well as the point at Fulham a week ago. The Cottagers hit five at Huddersfield yesterday.
I didn't see the whole match yesterday as we went to the theatre yesterday. My wife promised to drive to there so I was able to see most of the first half but we arrived just before Ikpeazu's goal so I missed that.
Quite facinating that one can connect to the strem in a car for live coverage on my Android tablet and the commentary coming through the audio in the car with high quality.
A bit different than following the Boro in the 1970's and 1980's. Back then I was listening to BBC World Service on short waves to get the half time scores and full time scores read out by James Alexander Gordon. And very occationally to hear second half commentary on Boro in the top tier.
After the theatre it was my turn to drive and my wife was reading the results from her phone. Back home I was able to see Neil Warnock's post match comments. And this morning I saw the highlights of the match.
So level on points with Fulham and the others on the top of the division. Life is good and Isaiah Jones was excellent. Who needs Bolasie now?
Up the Boro!
i had the same feeling as I sat in Sydney and watched the Boro match live, switching to the test match at half-time with all the Premier League games live along with a mass of other sports available as and when I want to watch them.
I agree with you about Jones. He and Spence made an interesting comparison and Jones seemed the better player yesterday although Spence had one of his most focussed games. Whoever spotted Jones in non-league football unearthed a gem.
On top of that, we have acquired a rough diamond in Ikpeazu. He worked like crazy and is trickier than he looks. Another bargain.
However, the best of the bunch is Crooks. He seems able to keep running forever and has plenty of skill and vision to go with that power. The way that he gets forward makes him a real danger and I suggest 8-10 goals for the season if he stays fit. He and Payero or Tavernier could be a powerful combination behind the front man with two wide players to join in.
In fact, looking at yesterday’s performance, the only real disappointment was McNair. He didn’t really seem to make much impact and I wonder where he fits in when Tav and Watmore come back and NW wants to play the more attacking four at the back. Maybe he stays in midfield with Crooks and Howson and two out of Tav, Watmore, Jones etc play the wider forward roles. I do also wonder whether he was the player who lost his man for the equaliser. Has anyone worked it out?
anyway, it was a pleasure to see Boro definitely worth a win. Wednesday will be tough as QPR look to be one of the early form sides.
utb
@original-fat-bob. Just a shame that it has taken so long for NW to have the chat when many of us have said for a number of months that JS was a shadow of his former self.
It is good to see that he has listened and is making an effort but as NW quite rightly says let's see where we are in a few weeks; will he maintain the positive change or revert to type? 😎
@selwynoz. I agree about Ikpeazu and posted about him yesterday. For a big man his ball control is impressive and puts BA to shame. He may only score a similar amount of goals as BA (not many) but his work rate and overall contribution to the team make him a significant upgrade on BA for less than a tenth of his price.
Crooks has certainly stood out since the season began and I like the way he gets into the box and arrives late on the end of crosses and headers, a type of player which we have been lacking for a few seasons; you could well be correct and it will be good if he can produce 8/10 goals this season.
I also thought that PM, apart from his free kick for the second goal, was anonymous and may well have been at fault for their goal; he was certainly pointing at the scorer and trying to suggest someone else should have been picking him up.
QPR will be a tough proposition and are my tip as being the dark horses of the division; in the absence of Tav and Watmore a draw will be a good result. CoB 😎
Maybe it was just me but I thought Howson looked far better without Morsy and as a team we looked far more creative. Ikpeazu looks to be a real beast causing problems for opposition CB's and in doing so needs two or three on him, opening spaces up elsewhere. His industry and work rate is a pleasure to behold, a budget Championship Lukaku.
Jones is looking like a player we paid ten million for and his appetite for getting back up and not sulking is impressive and will win him many fans as well as free kicks. I reckon the card count against him will be well over double figures this season along with a few reds.
Crooks could be the player that we all hoped Saville was going to be and certainly has an impressive engine. Yesterday Dijksteel looked to be getting back to his best and in part it may have been because Spence is looking more composed and mature instead of running around like a headless chicken. If Djed continues like this he may become the footballer that we all thought he maybe could be if only he cut out the errors and what looked like (probably mistakenly) an attitude problem.
Their equaliser looked bad but we have to give credit to a well worked routine. They had a clump of players about ten yards out who scattered and in doing so left our defenders confused as to who to pick up and momentarily lost both the flight of the ball and the scorer. If you get the chance watch it over again. I'd put the blame collectively and hope with video replays our defence will both learn to deal with it differently in future and maybe even adapt a version of it for ourselves.
One point I'd like to raise is that while we had some hallmarks of a typical Warnock side we also played some entertaining football and at times the word "excitement" would have been apt. There were a few "below par" performances from one or two but that may have been because there were a few "above par" ones in contrast.
Isiah Jones
For those wanting to know who found him for the Boro here is the Interview
https://www.fwgconsultants.org/interview-with-martin-carter
OFB
thanks for that. I honestly believe that our academy will be one of the key contributors to the health of the club over the next five years or so and hopefully beyond that.
Isaiah Jones is a very interesting illustration of the debate about sending young players out on loan. Would he have made the breakthrough without his time on loan in Scotland. On the other hand, there are other players - Ste Walker for example - who don’t seem to have had the same success.
maybe it comes down to the personality and the age - of the player. I can understand why NW thinks that Coburn should stay at the club for the moment. He’s very young.
utb
Isiah Jones
For those wanting to know who found him for the Boro here is the Interview
https://www.fwgconsultants.org/interview-with-martin-carter
OFB
And perhaps more to come.
Middlesbrough are close to signing Billericay Town forward Toyosi Olusanya, with the non league club’s manager confirming the news to The Northern Echo.
A striker or winger and 23 year old. Up the Boro!
I really enjoyed yesterday’s game and Boro’s performance. Not only was it entertaining (!!!), we created several good chances and put Bristol under some real pressure.
I agree with most comments above. RR’s comment that Howson looked stronger without Morsy is spot on. I thought Jonny looked rejuvenated, covered an enormous amount of ground and made a number of important tackles and interceptions. The view from mates near me in the East Stand is that Morsy is a bit too hot-headed, a yellow/ red card waiting to happen, another Clattermole in the making. That may be a bit extreme - I think he’ll do us a good job in the holding position when the chips are down - but NW may need to have a chat with him. Warnock’s chat with Djed certainly seems to have had an effect - I thought Djed had a very good game, not just when attacking but also in covering the defence and offering support to Dijksteel.
Two other aspects struck me:- Over 3 or 4 seasons with Assombalonga/ Fletcher or both up front, we rarely won headers for balls played from the back. It was a feature of their play, a key weakness. Neither was strong enough (or could be bothered enough?) to win those duals. Yesterday Ikpeazu and Crooks won loads. This was very impressive, especially as their headers more often than not went to a red shirt. It gave us an extra cutting edge.
Secondly, I was hugely impressed with our work-rate. Boro chased and harried all over the pitch, giving Bristol little time on the ball. Apart from the one obvious defensive slip, we fought like tigers to defend our goal, making key block after key block, and defending from the front. There were no weaknesses and all gave 100% for the cause. This is something we’ve come to expect from NW, of course, but seeing it live in the stadium - at long last- was a joy. We know that Boro will be hard to beat under Warnock. Let’s hope he can maintain the terrific attacking momentum we saw yesterday! More like this, please!
With no television to watch because of the fire at the Bilsdale transmitter I thought I’d briefly delve into half a dozen of Boro’s opening home matches since the war which had some significance, although for various reasons only two of which I actually witnessed. Three were at Ayresome Park and three at the Riverside and go down as landmarks not necessarily as classics but similar to yesterday’s occasion as a spectacle:-
7 Sep 1946 v Stoke City
This was Boro’s first home league match for 7 years, the original fixture against the same opponents having ended as a draw but expunged from the records as null and void because of the outbreak of the Second World War. Boro had already started the season with two 1-0 away wins over Aston Villa and Liverpool, but this match was a 9 goal thriller as a crowd of 43,685 starved of football watched Boro win 5-4 with a last minute winner from Micky Fenton his 4th of the match to go top of the league. Boro were still 2nd by the end of February, but won only once more in their final 13 matches and finished 10th.
18 Aug 1951 v Tottenham
Following a season when Boro and Spurs had run neck and neck for the title for most of the previous season up to Christmas and Boro being top of the league at Christmas and again being 2nd in mid-February Boro then won only twice more in their final 13 matches to finish 6th to the eventual Champions due in part to losing top scorer Alex McCrae injured through the run-in.
Therefore 44,004 attended the opener to see the previous season’s champions, and Boro won 2-1 thanks to an own goal by Spurs’ Brian Farley and a rare goal from Boro’s wing half Harry Bell. I was at that match but Boro were bottom from early December until early April but then won 5 of their remaining 7 matches to avoid relegation.
23 Aug 1958 v Brighton
Boro won 9-0 with Brian Clough scoring 5 and if he had taken the 2 penalties which Bill Harris converted it probably would have been 7. I missed this match as I had just arrived in Gloucester awaiting demob from my National Service. However this match was a false dawn as Boro 4th in September and also beating Brighton 6-4 away in December with a hat trick from Clough finished 13th, one position lower than Brighton.
26 Aug 1995 v Chelsea
The opening home match at the Riverside although I was unable to get a ticket. After a creditable draw at Highbury Boro beat the Pensioners 2-0 with a goal in each half from Craig Hignett and Jan-Age Fjortoft as Boro broke the ground record no fewer then 6 times that season. It started with 28,826 against Chelsea and finished with 29,922 in the final match of the season as Manchester won 3-0 and received the Premier League title for the 3rd time in 4 years as Newcastle fell away towards the end of the season.
17 Aug 1996 v Liverpool
The Ravanelli debut and hat trick in a 3-3 draw and by then l was a season ticket holder. The ground record broken again with a crowd of 30,039 in attendance. Every time Liverpool scored, Boro equalised included Rav’s penalty in the last 10 minutes. I wasn’t too disappointed either that Boro didn’t win, for the atmosphere was the best I’d ever experienced at the time. What a season though, 2 seasons and a relegation. It seemed like the title of a film.
14 Aug 2021 v Bristol City
And now yesterday, by all accounts should stand out with the previous 5 matches I’ve written about. A depleted team coming back to show that this Boro side CAN play football if the crowd roar them on at home as they do away from home. It might not measure up as a great win, but arguably stands side by side with the other 5 matches I’ve mentioned as that with the greatest atmosphere.