Warnock said that the new man grew up around the corner from Isiah Jones and suggested they knew each other so I’m sure that will help him integrate.
He’s said to be another pacy and direct wide player very much in the Isiah Jones mould, and he’s not being considered as an U23 but will be part of the first team squad.
Certainly good to have some more pace and threat on the flanks.
Boro have announced that they have completed the signing of Nigerian striker Toyosi Olusanya on a two-year contract.
...The former Kingstonian, Walton Casuals and Gosport Borough star will be wearing the number 13 jersey in his first season at Boro.OFB
Number 13 eh? Lucky for some...
Middlesbrough's Mitchell van Bergen breakthrough as Heerenveen deal 'is agreed'
It's now down to Boro to agree personal terms
OFB
Feels like the front end is finally starting to take shape for the first time since, what - 2016?
Looks like we invest on younger players than expected, which make much more sense long term. Mitchell van Bergen of Heerenveen is also young. So I like this.
Looking forward to tomorrow. Up the Boro!
Nathan Wood to Hearts rumour gathering pace. I'm guessing that perhaps means that Paddy is seen by Warnock as a CB and not a classy midfielder.
One thing that suprised me on Tyne Tees sports roundup tonight apparently NW has said to them that the Boro squad have refused to have vaccine for COVID.
If this is true I find it astounding really when they come into contact with other players and share bus, train amd planes as a squad.
what do others think ?
OFB
Any Boro player reluctant to be vaccinated would do well to read the interview with the Skunks' goaiie, Karl Darlow, in today's Times. His experiences since he contracted (& has now, thankfully, recovered from) Covid are a salutary lesson to younger sportsmen & women who regard vaccination as unnecessary because they're invincible!
P.S. Happy to post it for the benefit of anyone who can't get past the paywall
Latest rumour on Twitter is that Boro are considering offering a contract to our former Left Back Joe Bennet who is recovering from a knee injury.
Warnock of course knows JB Well after playing for him at Cardiff.
We’ll see if this is just some far fetched rumour or not ?
OFB
Middlesbrough have made contact with Joe Bennett as they consider offering the left-back a contract, Football League World can exclusively reveal.
The 31-year-old is without a club having left Cardiff City in the summer, and he isn’t fully fit after suffering a serious knee injury in March that cut his season short last time out.
Despite that, Bennett will be stepping up his recovery now and a source has told FLW that he could make the move back to Teesside
If an agreement is reached, it would see the defender link up with Neil Warnock again, with the pair enjoying great success in the Welsh capital as Bennett was a regular for the experienced boss as Cardiff won promotion in 2018.
As well as that, it would see the player return to Boro having come through the ranks at the club, and he would go onto make almost 100 appearances before joining Aston Villa nine years ago.
Bennet has been crocked all year and if I'm not mistaken has been crocked more often than fit for a few years now.
I reckon he needs to hang his boots up and give in to the ravages of injury but I suppose that makes him an almost perfect signing for Warnock which whilst mildly humorous is also very worrying. No doubt if he signs and then isn't fit for twelve months it'll be "nowt to do with me".
quite right. No point getting in an injury risk just to fill up the numbers. Shame that we didn't pick up Adam Reach. He'd have done a job.
On a more positive note, am I being too sentimental in finding the Olusanya story both sensible and really heart-warming. The risk/outlay is tiny - as it presumably was with Jones - and the upside both for the club and the player is considerable. On this note, it occurs to me that getting Jones to sign an extended contract (without a release clause) would be a useful piece of business. I could see him fetching more than Traore before too long.
UTB
Bennet is back to normal training this week after a knee operation. He has been training with Cardiff to get back fit. I think he could play as a back-up to Bola and also as a left-footed centre back.
Bennett could be just what we need for a season - at least on paper. We do not have many left-footed players in defence. Wood has played in midfield on the left as a junior.
We need cover in there. And I feel Fry in better when on the right side of centre back.
Just saying the above. Not saying we should sign him, though. Up the Boro!
Fair point. If he is back healthy and training properly then it is less of a risk. It would be similar to picking up Watmore or Bamba. Maybe a couple of weeks spent training with MFC for no pay and then a decision.
UTB
I don't have an issue with picking up cheap, experienced back-up players on deals to the end of the season. Fitness/availability to play is obviously the key for Bennett but in principle I'm ok with it.
Mr T
For Neil Warnock it was a case of not what you know but who you know which set the Boro boss on the way to the capture of Toyosi Olusanya.
It was one of Warnock's long time contacts that made him aware of the flying Billericay Town winger, and when the Boro boss started watching clips he immediately knew he was onto something.
The same contact nudged Warnock in the direction of Ciaron Brown three years ago, the defender being plucked from Wealdstone to sign for Cardiff City.
That proved to be something of a masterstroke, Brown, who cost £10,000, now a Northern Ireland international, who Warnock has tried to bring to Boro this summer.
There are countless other examples of Warnock taking a talent from the lower leagues, and as soon as he clapped eyes on Olusanya he had a "hunch" about the former AFC Wimbledon youngster.
"I’ve always had a chap who’s helped me," said Warnock, explaining how the move came about.
He mentioned that there were two or three players in that area so I said is there any chance of getting some clips? Because when you’re at Championship level, it’s highly unlikely you’re going to go into non-league because you don’t look that far down
They managed to get me some clips and the chap who looks after them was Ciaron Brown’s man who I’d spoken to regarding Ciaron, are you with me?
“I’ve always liked him, he’s always been straight with me. I took Ciaron from Wealdstone. Nobody would have touched him and then there’s me saying I’ve got a hunch about Ciaron, I like Ciaron. We paid nothing for him, ten grand I think, low wages at Cardiff. He’s a Northern Ireland international now played with Paddy (McNair) and Sav (George Saville). The lads done brilliant.
“So when I saw these clips of him (Olusanya), I just love exciting players. I love watching Tav when he’s on form and Duncan (Watmore) when he goes past people and Isaiah (Jones). That’s what we pay money to watch as a supporter. You want to watch these people and that’s where I see him.
OFB
RE: Joe Bennett and left back position
Has anyone seen the young lad from our academy, Jack Robinson, play? I think he played in pre-season matches while Bola was injured. Do you think he could cover Bola as per now?
Or does Robinson need a season on loan in the League One or Two first.
Up the Boro!
Jack Robinson has been included in the squad and given the number 33.
I would think a stint on loan would be the ideal solution
OFB
I think it's too early to throw him in at this level. He needs to go out on loan and prove himself and make his mistakes away from the Riverside glare.
Yes, that might be true. I cannot remember Robinson to make many mistakes when playing during the pre-season but he needs to get some game time to learn and get experience. If he stayed at 1st team, he would not play except when both Bola and Peltier might get injured.
Up the Boro!
He struggled in the game against Blackpool but I think it was unfair on the U23s to throw so many into the same game. It is difficult when the only way to get better is to play regularly in games of a higher standard. Probably needs to go out on loan to league one while someone like Bennett comes in to plug the gap.
Boro are still looking for offensive reinforcements and have turned their attention to Zulte Waregem winger Jean-Luc Dompe (VoetbalNieuws.be - Belgium)
OFB
What a wonderful performance by Michail Antonio in his demolition of Leicester last night. And what a fantastic post-match interview, one of the best ever.
As someone who said on here that we should buy him seven years ago before we committed the ultimate folly on gifting £7 million to West Ham for Downing, which gave the Hammers the funds to buy the ex-Nottingham Forest man, might I now suggest that we invest a million or two in the cut-out cardboard figure of the striker, which Hammers' fans produced to celebrate his becoming the club's top Premier League goalscorer.
In terms of prescience, I do, of course, bow the knee to Redcar Red who said at about the same time that we should go for Harry Maguire, then a little known Sheffield United defender, for a couple of million smackers.
It's a fair bet that had we signed either or both of those stalwarts we would now be a very different club from the rather sad one we now appear to be.
Neil Warnock’s squad were hard at it on the Rockliffe training pitches before a number linked up with Olympic sprinter Richard Kilty in the afternoon.
The Teesside Tornado, a huge Boro fan, was joined by a group of players to work on movement mechanics and the prevention of injuries when sprinting.
Richard is a familiar face around the training ground having worked with a number of players previously.
OFB
Boro are still looking for offensive reinforcements and have turned their attention to Zulte Waregem winger Jean-Luc Dompe (VoetbalNieuws.be - Belgium)
OFB
Middlesbrough have €2m offer for winger rejected ‘immediately’ according to SportsWitness. Also said that Newcastle and Burnley also interested.
I doubt the Magpies have more money to spend than Boro. Or will to pay, I intended to say. Up the Boro!
Apparently Spurs want Traore on loan with signing on for £40m
Boro have thrown a lot of money away and wasted a lot on useless players
OFB
I wonder what the sell on clause will yield for us.....
Lights blue touch paper and stands well back 🤫
How much did we pay Villa for Traore? I’ve never seen the figure confirmed only the 14 million release clause.
utb