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Boro v Reading
 

Boro v Reading

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Stream seems to have been taken off  


   
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Back on now !!!

 


   
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Martin Bellamy
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@malcolm Thanks for the link. I managed to get it on eventually. Not the best of games so far. 

This post was modified 2 years ago by Martin Bellamy

   
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Reading have shown little interest in attacking the Boro goal but Chris Wilder's side have as yet not managed to create a clear chance. A bit of composure with the final ball is lacking and much of the best opportunities have come through Jones but he hasn't managed to find the killer pass. Connolly looks lively but perhaps not match fit and has got that Rooney-type build without the physicality.

I think Boro need to play a bit quicker and maybe also run at their defence more - Dijksteel has tried to do that with some success but perhaps others may find more luck. A game Boro shouldn't lose on the first-half evidence but probably should win. First goal could be crucial.


   
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jarkko
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Untypical Boro. What a finish to the game!

We have not taken the Xmas decorations down yet. Great fight back. Wow!

Up the Boro!


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As I said at half-time - the first goal was crucial - it upped Boro's game 😉

Well that was another stunning end to the game as Boro hit not one but two Matt Crooks late goals to grasp victory from those jaws of defeat. Again Jones made the late assist, which was probably his only decent cross all afternoon! Plus credit to Tav today, who upped his game when it mattered and also put in a great one touch ball for the equaliser.

This looks like a team who want to win instead of having one that just tried not to lose under Warnock. The Chris Wilder rise continues despite what was mostly an indifferent performance until Reading scored.

Another great result that makes Boro serious promotion contenders! 


jarkko
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@werdermouth To be fair, Jones crossed for Sporar in the first half, that the latter touched against the goalie, then a defender and the far post. Nearly a goal 🤔.

Crooks was excellent and could have scored a hat-trick but missed the open goal and the ball curled jus wide.

Up the Boro!


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@werdermouth.  Great summary Werder.  After a first half where we dominared possesion but failed to make much in the way of clear cut chances I was expecting a typical Boro result once Reading scored. 

Fair play to CW and the team for not giving up and prise a win on a day where the result could quite easily gone the other way.  I am not yet sure about promotion contenders but certainly a top six side as it stands.  😎


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There was me thinking the Jarkko coolaid was losing its fizz but me of little faith. What more can we ask for play below par and win and what makes it all the more sweeter an injury time winner, long may it continue UTB.....


Martin Bellamy
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I’d like to claim the credit please. The stream got very iffy and kept sticking, including as they scored. I saw the ball going to Carol’s head and it froze. I just knew it was going in. 
I closed it down and we subsequently scored two. You’re welcome. 😉


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Wilder’s subs were a sign of intent and a far cry from many a previous Boro manager. Incredible late comeback again!

Matt Crooks: the best Boro no. 25 since Juninho.

This post was modified 2 years ago by Andy R

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PS

Boro’s last 8 games: W7 D1

Take the cup game out if you like, it’s still incredible.


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Who's writing these scripts?

Today Wilder did something he hasn't done before: he changed things around with his subs. Also he has imbued something in these players: when you get punched you punch back harder. Back in the Fergie days people used to sort of joke that you didn't want to score against United because it would only make them angry. We are getting a little taste of that attitude now. If we concede it just focuses us to score again. 

There's still a lot of work to be done but this is really feeling like a top 6 team now.


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That was probably our poorest performance under Wilder. We failed to pressure and the tempo looked well off the normal high standards he has instilled. The Carroll goal was inevitable and you could sense it coming. I thought Connolly looked almost to keen to shine and I felt we missed Watmore's closing down and chasing, Connolly and Sporar looked too samey to me.

Balogun in contrast looks a very clever and gifted Player and I think he will torture defences. Tav dug deep and helped to grind out the win when the going got tough. Jones I felt should have been utilised more as their defender Bristow was already on a card and should have had a second. Isaiah clearly had the beating of him but for some reason we just didn't play the right balls at the right time up until the last ten minutes of normal time.

What can you say about Matt Crooks? He must be the best bargain buy since George Friend and arguably the best buy of the season. That's 3 late injury time wins in a row now, it's starting to become a habit and it's starting to build not only momentum but a huge swell of belief on and off the pitch. The upcoming Blackburn game is going to a heck of an encounter!


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It seems that Boro and their discipline in adverse circumstances are becoming a new version of the 'Thin Red Line'. Teams must be getting worried about the never say die attitude even there seems no hope, they seem to be proving there is always hope if there is time remaining on the clock.

regardless of the overall play they achieved a winning result so praise where it is due. Most of us must have said at various times that if this team clicks someone is going to get a thrashing, well when this team is settled maybe some team will get a thrashing.

All I can say after taking my two terriers for a walk on 89 minutes, convinced it was a typical Boro Banana Skin result, and couldn't believe 2-1. Even the Boss asked if I was OK. Bloody well done Boro. I got back after half an hour or so and couldn't believe the result. A game won by the collective and by a team. We haven't seen that for a long time. I retire very happy and it's not often Boro supporters have said that.

UTB,

John


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George Friend's glowing report on new Boro midfielder Riley McGree

https://www.gazettelive.co.uk/sport/football/george-friends-glowing-report-new-22764362#ICID=Android_GazetteLiveNewApp_AppShare


   
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@redcarred

I agree about Balogun, he looked really sharp and had quick feet - Connolly did OK without threatening but he didn't quite look match fit to me. They'll both need a few games under their belt before we can see if they'll prove to be an extra dimension. 

Overall it wasn't the best performance by Boro but I guess that's in the context of the first team not having played a game together for 18 days - hopefully, we'll be less rusty for the trip to Blackburn a week on Monday and the intensity will be back to normal. Incidentally, Rovers will play on Wednesday at Hull so Boro should be a little fresher for that game.


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Agree with Werder and RR - for the handful of times he actually got the ball he looked special.


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Posted by: @redcarred

That was probably our poorest performance under Wilder. We failed to pressure and the tempo looked well off the normal high standards he has instilled.

The three games against Blackpool, Mansfield and now Reading have all been quite similar with each one being tagged our poorest performance under Wilder. I suspect that Covid possibly has a lot to do with it. Not just the actual impact of the illness but on lack of training and disruption. Also all three were against teams where we were favourites so there's possibly some unfamiliarity with that. 

 


Pedro de Espana
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@redcarred           I have to agree there RR, although deleriad believes that the last three games could have been that. 😊 

The positive to take is that we got three points when it looked as though we were going to get nothing.

In my eyes it was a poor performance and once again we looked lopsided with only the right hand side functioning. Taylor had a steady game, but a left wing back he is not. 

Once more the midfield provided nothing to the front two and up to his two gaols I thought Crooks was poor. So were Howson and Tav, the later being his normal self in giving the ball away and then making a 50 yard run and block. Frustrating he is to say the least.

What is obvious, is that the left hand side CB, normally McNair, but it can be Fry, have to stop the ball, turn and put the ball on their right foot, losing impetus. It is easier to pass the ball out to the right. Eventually we will require a left footed CB.

I am assuming that McGree will very quickly take on  one of the midfield spots. I do not know if he can play wide left or whether he will take the left side central midfield slot. Where will that leave Tav? I was also surprised to see Balogun go wide left.

What is certain though is we need more from the left and more into the front runners. 

This post was modified 2 years ago by Pedro de Espana

Ken Smith
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Boro weren’t the only team to score winning or equalising goals in added time yesterday. Just look at this lot:- 

Luton against Bournemouth - 97th minute to win 3-2    
Forest against Millwall - 91st minute to win 1-0
Charlton against Cheltenham - 94th minute to draw 1-1
Fleetwood against Rotherham - 95 minute to win 1-0    
Cambridge against Lincoln - 91st minute to win 1-0     
Carlisle against Crawley - 93rd minute to draw 1-1       
Northampton against Forest Green - 95th minute to draw 1-1
Sutton against Stevenage - 98th minute to draw 3-3     
and sadly Bristol Rovers against Hartlepool - 87th and 94th minutes to win 2-0 after being completely outplayed up till then. 

There were several other late goals also:- 

Watford against  Newcastle - 87th minute to draw 1-1         
Accrington against Sunderland - 85th minute to draw 1-1          
Barrow against Colchester - 91st minute to assure a 2-0 win            
Mansfield against Walsall - 89th minute to assure a 2-0 win

 As Chris Wilder says “every fan loves a late goal”  as long as it is scored by   
your favourite team. It used to be called Fergie time as Manchester Utd were adept at it. It’s a good habit to have especially when ones team have been playing slightly below par.  

As for Reading never assume that a drubbing one week means that a team can’t come out fighting a week later or even that a big win one week means that a team are on the up. I can recall several instances concerning Boro in the past, but this one sticks out. In October 1954 after a poor start to the season with 8 successive defeats Boro looked as if they had turned the corner with 5 wins in 6 matches the last of those a 6-0 home win over West Ham, but followed that with a 0-9 defeat at Blackburn yet thereafter went on to win 7 and draw twice in the following 10 matches. 

Next up in 8 days time is the away match at Mogga’s Blackburn who following that 0-7 home defeat to Fulham have dusted themselves down and won 8 and drawn 2 of their last 10 league matches, only marginally better than Boro’s 6 wins and a draw from their last 7 matches. Aside from the aforementioned 0-9 defeat at Ewood Park, Boro have also suffered a 0-7 and a 0-6 defeat there along the way, but have also won there 7-1 in 1947 and an amazing 5-4 win there in 1931 after being 2-3 down at half-time. I don’t anticipate such a high scoring result this time. That was then and this is now, so would settle for a 1-1 draw.

This post was modified 2 years ago 2 times by Ken Smith

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@pedro

I thought there were signs of the Tav of old as the game went on - maybe he's going to start clicking again with the confidence of a winning run - or maybe he's more focused by the arrival of competition for places as up until now there was no real alternative to the same three midfielders if they were fit.

I was also impressed by Dijksteel, who appears to be more comfortable each week with his role under Wilder as a driving overlapping centre-back.


Pedro de Espana
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@werdermouth  it may not seem so, but I like Tav. He appears to have stalled somwhat, hopefully CW can improve him in the needed areas


   
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After welcoming full international Riley McGree to the Boro last week, we look back at 9 more Australians to have plied their trade on Teesside.

Born in Felling near Gateshead, Peter Wilson’s time at Boro was limited to a single senior appearance before he emigrated to Australia to join South Coast United. Enjoying success there playing as a sweeper, he was capped 65 times for the Australian national team, and captained the side at their first World Cup finals appearance in 1974.

Arguably Boro’s greatest ever goalkeeper and certainly our most decorated, Mark Schwarzer was an astute capture for Bryan Robson’s Boro when he signed from Bradford in 1997. Over the next 11 years, Schwarzer was almost indisputably Boro’s permanent no.1, and was part of the team that lifted the Carling Cup in 2004 and went on to reach the UEFA Cup final two years later. Australia’s most capped player, Schwarzer also holds the record for the most caps received while a Boro player, with 53. He represented the Socceroos at two World Cups in 2006 and 2010.

Hailing from Sydney, Paul Okon was once considered the next big thing for Australian football, and had enjoyed spells in Belgium and Italy before joining Boro in 2000. Injuries had taken their toll on his career by that point - including a pelvic problem proven to be a result of a childhood car crash - but when Terry Venables arrived to save stuttering Boro from relegation, Okon stepped up to be a key figure. The midfielder rejoined Venables at Leeds in 2002, the first of five clubs over the next five seasons that ended with Okon back in Australia with his final club Newcastle Jets. He was capped 28 times by his country, several as captain.

Adelaide-born defender Tony Vidmar lifted seven major trophies in five years with Scottish giants Rangers before joining Boro on a free transfer in 2002. An experienced and versatile figure, Vidmar made 12 appearances in his single season at Boro before spells in Cardiff, the Netherlands, and back home in Australia. Capped 76 times by the Socceroos, he has been an assistant coach of the national team since 2019.

Travelling around the world to join Boro’s youth set-up as a teenager, Luke Wilkshire was on the fringes of Boro’s senior side in the early 2000s. Then a midfielder, though he would later play as a full-back, his highlights included playing in a memorable Boro away win over Manchester United at Old Trafford, and in a narrow FA Cup semi-final defeat to Arsenal at the same venue. He joined Bristol City in pursuit of regular football, and after three years there played for a number of clubs across Europe, including two spells with Dynamo Moscow where he was a league winner in 2016/17. He also won the title back home with Sydney FC in 2018, and was capped 80 times by his country.

Mark Viduka

Mark Viduka will forever be remembered by Boro supporters for fantastic goals and classy displays during his three seasons at the Riverside. The big Australian forward made the switch to Boro in July 2004 from Leeds United, and after injury struggles at first, came into his own during Boro’s fairytale run to the UEFA Cup final. That summer, he captained the Socceroos to the last 16 of the World Cup, the pinnacle of his 43-cap international career. Viduka’s final season at Boro was his most prolific, netting 19 times in all competitions before a move to Newcastle United where he call time on his playing days.

Goalkeeper Brad Jones progressed through Boro’s Academy to become a regular understudy to Mark Schwarzer for both club and country. Schwarzer’s departure in 2008 handed Jones an opportunity, and over the next two seasons he vied with Ross Turnbull and Danny Coyne for Boro’s number one jersey. He left Boro in 2010 to join Liverpool, where he was once more mostly a back-up option, though later in his career he enjoyed a prominent role in title wins for Dutch club Feyenoord followed by similar success with Al-Nassr in the Saudi Professional League. Now 39, he is still playing football with hometown club Perth Glory.

Brad Jones

Scott McDonald was one of a number of players bought from north of the border by boss Gordon Strachan, but was one of the most successful. The wily forward had found the net regularly for Motherwell and Celtic, and though it was not always plain sailing in a Boro shirt, was our most consistent scorer over his three full seasons at the club. He later played for Millwall before a return to Motherwell, also turning out for Dundee United and Partick Thistle. McDonald was capped 26 times by Australia, and was part of the side that finished runner-ups to Japan in the 2011 Asia Cup.

Scott McDonald

Described as a ‘Roll’s Royce’ by former Boro boss Tony Mowbray, Rhys Williams was a cultured operator in defence or midfield. Boro in Perth, he joined Boro’s Academy set-up as a teenager and was quickly offered pro terms. But for a strong of serious injuries he could have made far more than his 141 appearances over his eight seasons with the club before returning home in 2016 to join Perth Glory. Now 33, Williams plays for A-League side Western Sydney Warriors, where he is a teammate to another ex-Boro man in Tomas Mejias.

An honourable mention goes to Craig Johnston. Born in South Africa but raised Down Under to Aussie parents, Johnston’s story is one of the most remarkable in Boro’s history. His parents sold their house to fund Johnston’s flight from Australia to England, where he trialled with Boro. He was rejected at first by Jack Charlton, but stuck around at Ayresome Park and persevered to the point of reaching Boro’s first team as a 17-year-old. The winger went on to have an incredible career at Liverpool, where he won no fewer than five league titles as well as the European Cup. Johnston resisted calls to represent Australia, as well as Scotland and South Africa, instead playing for England’s Under-21 side and receiving one call-up to the senior squad without making an appearance.


   
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Courtesy of MFC WEBSTITE


   
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Ken Smith
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Have Boro become the new Leeds United? I’ve never joined the brigade of Leeds, Newcastle, Sunderland or indeed Manchester United haters? I’ve even clapped though not cheered exceptional goals, even scored against the Boro when merited. Make no mistake I’m a Boro fan first, but a football fan second. Watching highlights of Man Utd’s draw at Villa Park last Saturday brought back memories of riding on the back of a scooter with the only Boro fan I met in my National Service days to watch United beat Villa 3-1 in  December 1956. Of course I was on embarkation leave before sailing to Singapore during the Suez Canal closure and wondering when I might see live football again. Looking through the diary I kept during those years I can recall whilst doing basic training at RAF Padgate watching the following matches:- 

Man.City v Sunderland 3-1    
Man.Utd v Sheffield Wed 4-1       
Everton v Sunderland 2-1         
Man.Ud v Charlton 4-2 (Bobby Charlton’s debut)         
Nottm.Forest v Boro 0-4 (Brian Clough hat trick - whilst home on leave)    Hereford v Aldershot 3-2 (FA Cup) only because my uncle lived there      Liverpool vSheffield Utd 5-1 (2nd Division)        
Villa v Man.Utd 1-3         
Boro v Doncaster 3-2 (Christmas Day at home).           
Bristol Rovers v Boro 0-2 (then based at Innsworth in Gloucestershire)

If there was a match near at hand, yours truly was there. Then first day back in Blighty stuck in Southampton and onward to Innsworth missed Boro v Brighton 9-0 (Clough scored 5). Oh the irony of being a Boro fan!

This post was modified 2 years ago 2 times by Ken Smith

   
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Boro’s  home game against Fulham rearranged for Tuesday 5 April 19:45 kickoff.

Come on BORO.


   
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Ken Smith
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Despite being stationed at RAF Padgate I never ever considered visiting the old Wilderspool Stadium in Warrington as the town was out of bounds after several skirmishes between the RAF lads and those from USAF lads based nearby at Burtonwood, nor did I see Man.Utd beat the Belgian Champions Anderlect 10-0 in the European Cup, afraid to be caught by sentry guards. However my Boro pal did albeit wthout his scooter. He rolled up to our billet about 2am undetected by the guards. I don’t know what that says about RAF security!

My original question though was Boro becoming the new Leeds United? Their play suggests a slight similarity, forget settling for draws go full pelt for goals and wins. It might backfire occasionally, but sometimes attack is the best form of defence and once our new strikers are settled in we might see more goals at the Riverside although having to accept that occasionally we might lose when expected to win.

Boro especially away from home have the fans singing relentlessly and can be worth a goal start. Super fans! Now I admit that I can’t be classed as a Boro or a Cas superfan although as well as hardly missing a Boro home match before my wife retired, I did usually drive to Cas straight from work on a Friday to watch Cas play, that was before the A19 was a dual carriageway, and twice drove there and back to Wembley in a day when Cas won successive FA Challenge Cup Finals in 1969 and 1970, also to Workington through a snowdrift with my windscreen wipers almost useless. Foolhardy or intrepid? Take your pick. But super fan I ain’t. That goes to a man called Suffolk Tiger who so much missed his Rugby League during the off season that yesterday he drove the 480 mile trip to York and back in the 
day just to watch Cas beat York 32-10 in a pre-season FRIENDLY match.

I hope he made it safely home!

This post was modified 2 years ago by Ken Smith

   
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Ken Smith
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The Supercomputer according to the Hartlepool Mail has predicted the Championship top 6 as follows:-  

1st Fulham 93 points.            
2nd Bournemouth 83 points.       
3rd Blackburn 79 points.          
4th West Brom 75 points.     
5th QPR 74 points.        
6th Boro 72 points 

So it’s next week’s match down as a dress rehearsal for a Wembley final. May as well fast forward straight to the playoffs then and avoid all the tension and stress of the next 20 matches. It just goes to show how futile such an exercise this is especially as the computer also shows goal differences as well. I’ll just wait for fellow Diasborians to come up with a different number of points in the Exmill challenge without the use of a computer. No aspersions on Exmill, but what data could a computer use super or not instead of the forecasts of Diasborians.

 


   
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