Well unfortunately Cas lost 30-32 but after 60 minutes play were actually 6-32 behind and almost scored a last minute try which would have rounded off the perfect weekend. Nevertheless perhaps I may stay awhile longer as the summer looks inviting on the football and cricket front.
Delighted to hear you are having a change of mind Ken 😉.
I've been enjoying @ken's posts about cricket.
Although Ben Stokes and Michael Carrick are about as different as you can imagine, they have both presided over what seems like an miraculous turn around. I think their secret has been the same though:
They have both set up their teams to play without fear. To take risks. The role of Carrick and Stokes has been to shoulder the responsibility for mistakes and to step out of the limelight. And the players have responded.
It won't always work and, if we get promoted, it's going to be hell of a job to stay up but, for me, both Stokes and Carrick have their teams playing sport the way I think it should be played.
QPR Sack Manager:
(There are, of course, other Theatres in English. The theatre in which you watched a play, or where a concert is given for example, or a lecture theatre like at university, or we talk about theatres in warfare - Montgomery was a general whose troops fought at one stage in the desert sands of the North African theatre in World War 2...).
Dormo
Dont forget the new Theatre of Dreams, aka The Riverside!!
I Hope you’re feeling better, Ken. All the best.
The first half was certainly hard to watch. When I heard that there were three changes to the team my reaction was that MC doesn't do that. I am not sure how much our struggle was because QPR seemed to close us down even when we had possession in our own half, our poor passing or the changes. Probably it was a combination of the three as we were bound to have a "blip" at some time. If we continue winning during when not playing well that will be ok with me! While we didn't look likely to score, QPR's corners gave Steffen and our defence a lot of trouble so I was relieved it was 0 - 0 at half time. Even if it just needed Carrick's "laugh and a smile" during the half time interval the team was more like what we have come to expect in the 2nd half and the win was deserved in spite of the ridiculous QPR free kick goal.
McGree's energy and his goals have made him a great signing. Akpom's deeper role which also allows him to give opposition defenders the slip in the box has been an inspired change and I am sure that if he had again been played as a conventional no. 9 he wouldn't have scored anything like the number of goals he has got. Can we continue our form to the end of the season? I will follow MC and take each game one at a time. The way the Boro have been playing since he took over has been the best I have seen in the ten years since I got my present season ticket.
What a contrasting sort of day I have endured today from football and cricket to Rugby League and eventually to my favourite channnel of Sky Arts where I watched part of Andrea Boccelli’s journey through his native Italy where apart from his music he sang his way through the history of his beloved Italy.
Though not finished with that I switched to an episode of ‘Landscape Artist of the Year’ first recorded in 2017 when the talented Frank Skinner and Joan Bakewell commentated on the progress of several professional and amateur artists who battled against the wild and windy elements of Paddy’s Hole at Teesside’s South Gare again on Sky Arts. I’m sure that many of you have heard of Paddy’s Hole, but very few of you will have visited this particular area as it is now out of bounds to the general public.
Somehow I just knew that music would feature in my last 24 hours, though even I was surprised to end up at Paddy’s Hole. Just another example of how little we know and understand about our region since the closure of BSC steelworks. Proud to know that our region was to be responsible for the building of the Sydney Harbour Bridge and also the Tyne Bridge between Newcastle and Gateshead.
When I set sail from Southampton on board Her Majesty’s Troopship ‘Dunera’ in 1957 the first thing I noticed was that the girders were manufactured at Dorman Long in Redcar. I found it so reassuring that my home town had never really left me on the six week journey to Singapore as President Nasser had nationalised the Suez Canal and we were the first ship to also sail into Cape Town at that time. I have since revisited the Western Cape in November 2009.
Happy memories!
I remember the first time I was living away from Middlesbrough, a period back in the 70s that found me living in London. At the time in many of the tube stations you could still see the massive steel girders used to support these immense underground structures. A little like you @Ken, I took great pride as I realised it was my home town that was holding up our entire capital city... and still is!
I did also hear, but I don't know how true or if it is just an unfouded rumour, that it was Teesside contractors responsible for the huge steel arch over the current Wembley Stadium and that as the two sides of the arch were joined at its apex, a Boro scarf was placed inside the structure so regardless of whoever is playing, the Boro is always at Wembley!
@ken - A few weeks ago (or was it a few months ago - time flies!- Ah! I've now remembered: it was the weekend before the Blast Furnace was due to be demolished) I went again to the South Gare and, although there were the usual signs indictating the road wasn't open to the general public, plenty of people had obviously ignored the signs and driven over the level crossing, past the derelict steelworks and onto the breakwater. I went up virtually to the lighthouse, had a look over the mouth of the Tees and then along the beach towards Coatham, Redcar and beyond. It was a remarkably clear day and Seaton Carew and Hartlepool were visible. I resolved to look at a map and see exactly HOW far up the Durham coast the geography made it possible to see (given atmospheric conditions and eyesight!). I forgot to do that when I got home.
However, Paddy's Hole was still there. Some boats were still moored up but I can't remember whether there were any out on the water, in the Tees or on the North Sea. There were some larger ships some distance out in the sea. On reflection it was probably only an hour or so before sunset so any small pleasure or local fishing boats that MIGHT have had a sail had probably been brought back by then. Anyway it seemed that Paddy's Hole still had a life to live. It was being used.
And, by coincidence, there is a 4x4 vehicle owned by someone on my road (literally only half a dozen houses from mine) where the spare wheel has its own housing on the rear door of the vehicle. On the wheel cover is a really lovely photograph - it could almost be a painting - very obviously of the boats in Paddy's Hole. What are the chances of that?
@ken I remember watching LAOTY when they were at Paddy’s Hole. It must be over 50 years since I was there, fishing with my Dad and brother, and I’ll admit that watching brought a tear to my eye. One of my daughters visited our new home for the first time over the weekend and I handed her my Dad’s war records for safe keeping. Funnily enough I spent some time chatting to her and her partner about the bridge building exploits of our town.
I’m glad you’re feeling a bit more upbeat - keep smiling and keep posting as you give us a great deal of pleasure and often a bit of historical education too.
Brian Deane on how Sheffield United can keep Middlesbrough at bay
The former Blades and Boro striker wants Sheffield United's players to step up and take the pressure off the Senegalese forward Iliman Ndiaye.
The Blades are not playing as well as before. Definately they are getting nervous in South Yorkshire 😇.
Up the Boro!
Just to put the historical records up to date, it was anticipated that when the Boro were appointed to be admitted to the Second Division of the Football League in 1899 thanks in no small way to the support of our near neighbours Sunderland and Newcastle United, it was envisaged that the club would play in white shirts and blue shorts. The changed strip was black shirts and white shorts, and that was how Boro started the campaign. It wasn’t until the 13th match of the campaign away to Bolton Wanderers that Boro decided to play in red shirts to avoid a clash of colours against Bolton’s white shirts, and from then on red shirts became their first choice, whilst the white/blue combination with a natty polka-dot became Boro’s away strip until 1892, and then from 1895 the polka-dots were discarded as the white/blue combination became the official away strip.
Now before we get into the right and wrongs of Manchester City’s predicament, we should establish that Middlesbrough FC were not exactly squeaky clean themselves at the beginning of the 20th Century. Having gained promotion to the First Division after only three seasons, Boro were struggling to maintain their First Division status. I probably wrote about this on the former Diasboro World Press website, but it’s probably worth repeating the story once more. Boro were in serious trouble trying to avoid relegation. Alex Brown and Joe Cassidy’s goals had suddenly dried up and after 27 matches Boro were second from bottom with only 18 points.
Boro’s manager at the time was Alex Mackie whose career had been dogged with controversy having already been suspended by both Sunderland and Middlesbrough for illegal payment scandals. Nevertheless he was involved in the transfer of two of Boro’s famous players, Alf Common and Steve Bloomer. As player/manager at Roker Park he sold Common to Boro for £1,000 more than twice his estimated value. Questions were even raised in the House of Commons regarding the sale, with more than one MP suggesting that the right and proper thing for Boro to do was to accept relegation graciously rather than to be allowed to buy their way into avoiding relegation. The Football Association were in a quandary as to what to do next, but decided to take steps to limit any future spending by Middlesbrough FC.
At first Boro needed to avoid relegation and Common finished Boro’s joint top scorer with a meagre 4 goals in his 10 appearances, but Boro won 4 of their next 5 matches, and although losing their final 2 matches finished 15th of the 17 clubs, so the mission was accomplished. However Middlesbrough FC were undeterred and in the following season signed Derby County’s Steve Bloomer for a factitious figure. Bloomer was an established England international and had broken the country’s goalscoring record at the Baseball Ground, where he was rightly idolised. Nevertheless the question arose how Boro were to be able to afford Steve Bloomer so soon after the Alf Common extortionate fee paid to the Mackems in the previous season.
There had been a suggestion that other First Division clubs didn’t want Boro to be relegated as they attracted reasonable income from their home attendances compared to Bury for example, but I have to admit that that particular rumour cannot be substantiated as Boro had already made a record loss of £1,635 loss on the 1904/05 season. What I do know is that Mackie was given permission to pay Aston Villa £600 for right winger Billy Brawn plus a small undisclosed fee for Fred Wilcox from Birmingham City. A commission of inquiry had been set up in Manchester in May 1906. The club’s accounts were in such a mess that a special commission was established to investigate the entire financial running of the club.
The FA in their wisdom decided that a fixed maximum of something around the £650 mark should be installed for future purchases, but by some creative book-keeping Boro somehow circumnavigated that problem. On the field of play the purchase of Bloomer, Brawn and Wilcox certainly saved Boro from relegation, but only just as Boro finished third from bottom even then by the skin of its teeth due to a slightly better goal average than some of its adversaries.
Perhaps I should now give a brief history of Steve Bloomer’s career. He scored 28 goals in 23 appearances for England. From 1892 goals he had scored 273 league goals all in the First Division in 419 appearances until 1906 before signing for the Boro in 1910, for whom he scored 60 goals in the First Division in his 130 appearances. Boro then allowed him to return to Derby County for a nominal fee. The Rams had just been relegated, though Bloomer scored another 59 goals in his 106 appearances. In total league appearances Steve had accumulated a total of 392 goals in 655 appearances in a career lasting 22 years.
He was renowned as football’s first superstars and was aged 31 when he signed for Boro. He was small for a centre forward (only 5ft 9inches tall) and rather disparaging of his teammates if the ball wasn’t passed to where he wanted it to be (similar to Brian Clough in his heyday). At the age of 40 he became the first player to make 500 appearances. Unfortunately he was interned as a prisoner of war during the First World War early in the conflict. He was certainly a fine centre forward and will be renowned as one of the finest strikers that Boro purchased and helping Boro to remain in the First Division for a period of 22 years.
Early bird season ticket prices announced:
https://www.mfc.co.uk/news/2023/february/20/erimus--we-shall-be---early-bird-season-cards-on-sale/
I will be renewing as normal.
Come on BORO.
EXMIL CHALLENGE 2023 - advanced warning
I will be posting the first round of this season’s challenge after this weekend, earlier this season I thought it would be based on the relegation battle, then enter Micheal Carrick and now it is the top six, promotion battle. There is some catch up matches on Tuesday 28 February that will not be included, I will explain more when I post the challenge for those who wish to enter this year.
Come on BORO.
@exmil - I'd had probably been renewing, bar a very severe earthquake or something similarly seismic, anyway. But after the fun of recent weeks and the turnaround under Michael Carrick, that just makes it a more speedy decision for me. Be in no doubt that, if we fail to renew, and if we ARE promoted, it will be difficult to get into our Premier League home fixtures.
I would have renewed just before the Early Bird deadline. Now I will renew a little earlier than that. If you leave it TOO late, you may still get a season ticket for a promoted Boro team, but (a) it will cost more and (b) if you leave it later still, you may not get your "own" seat. Mine has my name on it. I would hate to see that plaque taken off...
Well, we went for our once-a-year half-term birthday treat and Boro delivered.
My little son was very happy - now a teenager and understood all the bad language and in some cases was able to translate.
I can say that I thoroughly enjoyed the match, at half time I was anxious,and after their pull back it was squeaky bum time and of course, the quick nail in the coffin was a delight to behold.
A quick dash to the station and a beer on the train and we were all back in time for pub games and a few more drinks.
So the realist in me says playoffs - so the next half-term sailing in Greece is cancelled just in case we get a family get-together at Wembley.
Apart from that, I don't remember too much of the match as the pre match warm ups somewhat dulled my senses but overall a great weekend in the Northeast.
So onwards and upwards
UTB
Ken, Good work, just keep it up.
All the best,
UTB,
John
So Daily Mail is already calling Carrick to be the next England manager. And a mention about Neil Warnock, too .
Up the Boro!
I can’t understand why some fans get nervous and frustrated when Boro don’t score early. Take a leaf out of Michael Carrick who shows calmness personified would be my advice. I’m always fairly certain that Boro will score a couple of late goals to win any match. Perhaps calmness comes with age, and I feel confident that when I next look at the league tables after Easter that Boro will still be at least in 3rd position, maybe even higher. Real pressure will come in those last half a dozen matches when there’ll be a surfeit of surprise results.
Not been too well over the weekend, but today my carer is taking me for my first haircut since I sold my car. Even little things like that give me a boost.
A few things that occurred to me looking back.
Although we weren't great in the first half, Ramsey carried the ball pretty well and you could see Barlaser coming to grips with what he needed to do. In the second half, I reckon Barlaser pretty much dictated the game. He had so much good movement in front of him and such a good range of passing that QPR simply couldn't block off all of our threats.
Archer reminds me of a young Jermaine Defoe.
Chuba, somehow, is playing two positions at once and doing it for 90 minutes game after game. His fitness is extraordinary. The nearest I've seen to his influence for us is Merson or maybe Gaston. Juninho almost saved us from relegation single-handed. Unlike Adama with Pulis, we don't have just one trick. The other side can't afford to double-up on Akpom because Archer, Forss and McGree will overrun them.
I think Riley McGree has gone a bit under the radar but he has become massive for us. Up front he's the one who sets our tempo; he's always looking for a 1-touch lay-off and will change the direction and speed of the attack on a dime.
A couple of months ago, Hackney stood out but now I think the rest of the team has improved enough that Hackney now looks quite unremarkable. What is even more impressive about Hackney is that he has made a huge step up and sustained it.
I don't think McNair made any mistakes. His weakness is that he makes 1-2 misjudgements per game but against QPR I think he had as close to a faultless game as you can get. I think Fry will come back but Carrick now has 3 centre backs he can pick from based on the needs of the game. With Barlaser bedding in, I think he also now has 3 central midfielders he can pick and choose from.
I was thinking back to Man Utd under Ferguson. Although Utd always had a good defence what they were known for was their attacking play and ability to dominate games. What Carrick is building is a contemporary version of that. They used to say "don't score against Utd, you'll only make them angry." If a side scores against us they know, now, that we can score 3. If you managed to score first against AK's Boro you felt that you could probably protect that lead. Score first against us now and you just cause yourself a problem: try and defend or try to score another and leave yourself open.
It's still early days and the law of football gravity says that at some point it will go wrong but it's great to enjoy it for now.
Interestingly, the “Super Computer” in the Yorkshire Post predicts Boro will finish third behind Burnley and Shef Utd, the interesting part is it predicts that Boro will only pick up 22 points from their last 13 games. So it will be interesting to see how many points Boro are predicted to got in the last 12 matches of the challenge by our own diasboro members.
Come on BORO.
@exmil Michael Carrick has made an average of 2,4 points per match during his 17 matches so far.
Perhaps we cannot expect it to get up to 2,5 during the last 13 games of the season. But I bet it will be around or above 2,0 points per match during the run in.
So a very exciting challenge ahead for Boro and the bloggers in here. Up the Boro!
Only a month ago (23rd Jan) the YP was predicting Boro would finish the season 7th position on 71 points,,,
I think we know how much faith to put in this their latest prediction 😉
@jarkko - Thanks for that, Jarkko. I don't much read the Daily Mail but it is good to see some extended thoughts on Boro's improvement under Michael Carrick in the National (e)Press.
And there is NO chance that Neil Warnock would quietly spend his later years in retirement at home with his wife in England's South West. He will die with his training ground kit on, encouraging players young enough to be his (great?) grandsons to play as he wants them to. But hopefully not for quite a few years yet. He wasn't my favourite Boro manager but he did a job here under difficult circumstances and he has earned respect over many decades.
@ken - If that thick mat of straight silver hair was a wig, it'd be a good one!
(I had the same "hair stylist" in Redcar for well over 50 years, Mike Dunn. He had his salon first in Thames Road shops when he was younger and I was at school, then on Kirkleatham Road at the Locke Park crossroads, for over 50 years. His son, Mike Dunn, is a professional snooker player and was, and I think still is, on the Board of the Professional Snooker & Billiards Players' Association. They are to blame, not my genes, for my lack of luxurious hair growth in recent years. That is my story and I'm sticking to it! When I used to talk about my intended visits to my hair stylist, friends and family would, very unkindly, snigger).
A nice picture. Boro manager Jack Charlton with players, including Graeme Souness, after a 2-1 win against Oxford United in March 1974.
I hope we can celebrate in May 2023, too. UTB!
@forever dormo
pardon me! My hair isn’t sllver, it’s golden! Just kidding!
By the way, I once saw Mike Dunn play an exhibition match against Ray Reardon at the Coatham Bowl about 30 years ago.
Boro throughout their history have generally had a player who could guarantee to score at least 20 league goals in a season, though most of them played in the formative years of the 20th century, but perhaps Chuba Akpom might become the first Boro player to achieve that lofty position this season. Maybe surprisingly he will become the 14th player to achieve that this season with just one more league goal required.
The first player to score 20 league goals for Boro was Jack Brearley in the 1901/02 season although he only scored one more in the following season. Four years later Alf Common scored 19 league goals but also 5 in the FA Cup in that season. His final record was 65 goals in 178 appearances thus giving him a strike rate of 36.5 % although he did score twice in his 3 England appearances.
Even the great Steve Bloomer fell 2 goals short of the 20 league requirement in the 1906/07 season although he did score twice in the FA Cup that season. He was a prolific goalscorer for both Derby County and the Boro, scoring 62 goals during his 130 appearances over 5 years for Boro with a strike rate of 47.7%.
However George Elliott formerly of Redcar Crusaders and South Bank became Boro’s 2nd player to break the 20 league goals threshold, twice in fact with 22 league goals in season 1912/13 and another 31 in the following season for a grand total of 213 goals from 364 appearances during his 16 years with Boro at an average of 58.5%.
He was followed by Walter Tinsley who scored 23 goals in season 1914/15 who netted 23 times and finished with a career total of 49 goals in his 89 appearances at an average of 55% to be followed by Andy Wilson, the man with the withered hand who always played with a glove to conceal his deformity. The Scottish international scored 23 times in season 1921/22 but had two spells with Boro scoring 57 times in 90 appearances for an average of 63.3%. Andy also scored 13 times in his 12 appearances for Scotland.
Next on line was James McClelland who scored 32 league goals plus 6 in the FA Cup in season 1925/26 and finished with a total of 48 goals in his 65 league appearances for an average of 73.8%. Nevertheless nobody scored as many goals as George Camsell who finished with a grand total of 345 goals in his 453 appearances for Boro with a staggering percentage of 76. Apart from his 59 league goals in season 1926/27 he was Boro’s leading goalscorer for 10 successive seasons 8 of which he exceeded the 20 goals threshold figure.
Then during the Second World War years, Boro’s almost forgotten striker George Stobbart from Cumbria was top scorer for 4 consecutive seasons scoring a total of 79 goals in total, but were all expunged from Boro’s records as none of them were classed as first team records. He finally signed for Newcastle United in 1946 and subsequently for Luton Town, Millwall, Brentford and Bedford Town scoring a total of 113 goals in 348 appearances - obviously not deemed good enough to sign for Boro, and after all Boro had Micky Fenton.
Fenton scored 20 league goals for Boro in season 1945/46 and was leading goalscorer for Boro in 4 of his 5 seasons scoring 28 times in season in 1947/48. Along with Wilf Mannion who was joint leading goalsorer in season 1946/47 the war curtailed their careers, Fenton finishing with a career record of 162 goals from 269 appearances, and Mannion 110 in 368 appearances.
There were other strikers who also managed 20 goals in a season namely Brian Clough in 5 successive seasons from 1956 to 1961, Alan Peacock in consecutive seasons with 24 in season 1961/62 and 31 in the following season, Jim Irvine in season 1964/65 and John O’Rourke in season 1966/67, though it was John Hickton in season 1967/68 with 24 goals and 25 in the following season who led the way with a career record of 193 goals in 299 appearances with an average of 64.5% who really was Boro’s most consistent striker until Bernie Slaven twice scored 21 league goals in seasons 1987/88 and 1989/90.
I’m actually discarding Fabrizio Ravanelli because his actual total of league goals was only 16 goals in season 1996/97, 6 coming in the FA Cup and 9 in the League Cup, and for the purpose of this exercise I’m talking about league goals only.