Does anybody know the wherabouts of djed spence. Missing since 11pm last night. Last seen leaving Warnocks office and entering "City Ground" into his google maps.
@billy. Still showing as a player on the club website; those on loan are marked accordingly. Must mean a deal was not concluded with Forest so he remains as part of the squad.
I am of the view that he either plays for us or we sell him, as I see little point in sending him on loan to a competitor. 😎
I suspect the late Forest loan wasn't particularly appealing to Spence given PL clubs had shown interest - especially if you consider a player can only play for two clubs in one season so that would mean a season-long loan given he's already featured for Boro.
I suspect he will probably bide his time as if Dijksteel gets injured then he'll likely get another chance at Boro plus he may be eyeing the January window and encouraging his agent to sound out better career options.
Northern Echo now unsure if the deal was completed in time.
These bloody fax machines!
As for the new arrivals - well if I'm honest I've barely heard of any of them until they were linked with Boro so I've absolutely no idea if they'll be a hit or a gamble that didn't pay off.
We're still waiting to see what Payero can offer and whether the raw Toyosi Olusanya can emulate Jones. As for Hernandez and Siliki, both have been somewhat peripheral figures at their previous clubs in recent times - at Rennes, Siliki played just 254 minutes last season and the previous season only played 90 minutes on six occasions, so he'll probably need time to get up and running.
In Norwich's promotion season, Hernandez had only played more than 30 minutes on three occasions before injuring his abductor muscle in January and missing all bar the last four games of the rest of the season - mostly he came on as a late sub - So he too will be short of match fitness.
Hopefully Sporar proves to be the goal scorer we need but wasn't particularly prolific in his time in Portugal with just 12 goals with Sporting and on loan at Braga - though in terms of goals per games was better than 1 in 3. He really made his name as a striker in Solvenia, where he netted 30 league goals in 2018-19 to attract Sporting's attention - though I've no idea how strong the Slovenian Super-Liga is.
At least Ikpeazu and Crooks have shown to be an improvement on what they replaced but Warnock will need to get these new recruits blended in to the team as quick as possible if he wants to gain the early lost ground. Although, I'd be surprised if we ever get to see Ameobi become a main starter as he looks to be the new permacrock at Hurworth.
Still, I look forward to see how the new players perform - it's impossible to judge them until they've had time to play a few games as we don't really know if they're as good as advertised or ultimately a little hyped-up and ordinary. At the moment they're just names I'd never heard of until a few weeks ago!
Here’s the Gazette take on Boro transfers
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“That, along with the kind of deals that Boro have chased in the second half of the transfer window are the clearest indication we could have that Boro are, moving forward, changing tact with their approach to player recruitment.”
Changing tact? Crikey, don’t the EG have any subs checking what they’ve written?
@werdermouth. Excellent summary. Like you, most of the players we have recruited I have never heard of before.
I just hope that they are an upgrade on what has gone before and that they can produce the required level of skill and ability to steer us toward the top end of the table.
With so many changes in one season, I am not convinced there is time enough to get them all to form a cohesive unit and it may take two seasons but that also may mean turning loans into permanent deals, finances permitting.
The coming weeks will begin to reveal if MFC's recruitment strategy is on the up or not. 😎
I think Nathan Wood will have a great season at Hibs, with a very good manager in Jack Ross ex Sunderland manager.
Quote
Head coach Jack Ross’ new centre-back from Middlesbrough said of the move: “I’m buzzing to be here, it’s a big club, and I’m really excited to get going. I was speaking with the manager and from the first five or 10 minutes, I got a good feeling straight away about the plans, the squad, the facilities and the fans.
“My gut told me that this was the right move for me, and I wanted to get it done. It’s something out of my comfort zone, but that’s what excited me about it. I see it as a real challenge.”
It is interesting that we can sit here hoping the club do not allow a buy clause in any of our loanees deals. I would have thought that we state what will happen and it happens, period! We do own these players.
Latest in twitter
Djed Spence loan to Forest is likely to go ahead but with no option to buy, instead he's signed a new deal with the club. Likely to be announced soon
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@original-fat-bob. The club website is now confirming that the loan deal for Jed Spence has gone through. 😎
MIDDLESBROUGH have officially confirmed Djed Spence's move to Nottingham Forest 18 hours after the closure of the transfer window.
The Championship side had made a late move for the Boro wing-back and were scrambling to complete all the relevant paperwork before the 11pm deadline last night.
It's understood there was a problem at Forest's end of the deal with regards to the paperwork which has delayed the announcement but Spence has now made the switch to the City Ground.
While Spence has featured for Boro this season, Neil Warnock has maintained that the wing-back has shown problems in training with attitude and commitment. The club have been willing to listen to offers for Spence over the course of the summer but it has taken until deadline day for a move to finally happen. p
Gazette list of current free agent players available
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It’s all very well for the Gazette to put up lists of free agents as if it was some kind of footballer discount supermarket but why should we think that there are hidden gems here that MFC can unearth that no other club has spotted. I’d be happy to be proved wrong but I’m pessimistic that we will be able to round out the squad with more Watmore-like discoveries. We might yet regret letting Johnson and/or Coulson leave.
is there someone here that I am missing? Does anyone else have any suggestions for available players that we should take a punt on?
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I see Morsy red card appeal has been rejected and now has a 3 match ban, unlucky Ipswich 😂😂😂
Come on BORO.
@selwynozselwynoz I think there might be more players without a club than ever before. The clubs are very low on money after the long restrictions caused by the COVID-19. So there might be a desent left-sided full-back available somewhere. I hope so.
And how about Andy Carroll on pay-as-you-play contract? Just saying, like 😉.
Up the Boro!
New Boro signing Andraz Sporar enjoyed a brief introduction off the bench in Ljubljana this evening.
The on-loan forward was introduced for the final seven minutes of his side Slovenia's 1-1 draw against Slovakia in World Cup qualifying.
Robert Bozenik had put Slovakia ahead on the night, but Petar Stojanovic levelled things up before half-time.
As well as a 30th senior international cap and a point towards his country's qualification efforts, the significance for Sporar is that it was his first competitive minutes of the new season.
He'll have two more chances for match action over the international break - Slovenia play Malta on Saturday and travel to Croatia the following Tuesday.
So better not to expect too much of him too early. He might be a bit rusty having not played much this season and needing to adjust to the Championship, too.
Up the Boro!
Pretty much agree with that. With the window closed, I suspect Premier League clubs will be sending out lists of who’s now available for loan if indeed loans are permitted. I seem to recall last year that there was another three weeks or so that EFL clubs could take PL loans. Anyone know if that’s the case again or is it finished now?
As far as I recall, the transfer and loan window are now the same date after the practise of short-term loans was ended. I think the emergency loan of keepers still remains if a club has no fit keeper registered. So the only possibility now is to sign out-of-contract players providing a club has not exceeded the 25 player squad limit.
Thank God the transfer window is finished. It’s been such a bore signing players that most of us have never heard of. I’m now stuck at home with shingles so looking forward to watching some real sport starting today with the final cricket test at the Oval and Rugby League’s Magic Weekend of 6 televised matches at St James Park on Saturday and Sunday if only I can stay awake, and we still have the Ryder Cup to look forward to at the end of the month. Football ‘the beautiful game’ with England playing Andorra next week? Someone’s having a laugh!
Thank God the transfer window is finished. It’s been such a bore signing players that most of us have never heard of. I’m now stuck at home with shingles so looking forward to watching some real sport starting today with the final cricket test at the Oval and Rugby League’s Magic Weekend of 6 televised matches at St James Park on Saturday and Sunday if only I can stay awake, and we still have the Ryder Cup to look forward to at the end of the month. Football ‘the beautiful game’ with England playing Andorra next week? Someone’s having a laugh!
There’s always the Solheim cup as well this weekend. I have to admit that I get more fun out of watching the top women because they hit it about as far as I used to at my best. The men are playing a different game which has nothing to do with the golf most normal people play. I’ll still watch the Ryder cup but it’s with a sense of awe rather than admiration.
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@selwynoz. Most of the women hit it further than I have ever done even at my best! 😎
you’re probably right but it feels like the same universe.
I must admit that the signing of Sporar seems to me to be quite risky. Some quotes from the Gazette's article.
"He is not exactly clinical. At least he wasn't at Sporting, ...He often put himself in great positions to score, but tended to miss badly a bit too regularly.
He is definitely a centre-forward who would benefit from a strike partner. ... A team that looks to be taking the initiative and attacking most of the time, i.e. not playing on the break, would suit him best."
As Warnock's teams tend to play with one striker on the break and given that we just got rid of Britt who made an art form out of not being clinical this seems odd.
On the plus side, the article does also say he "is a hard worker and combines well with his teammates."
Fundamentally that implies that he needs to play along with another striker rather than as a lone striker. I hope he works out but his track record and ours combined don't instil a lot of confidence right now.
@deleriad. This will show how well MFC/NW have done their homework and working out how to get the best out of a player.
If he scored goals when played with two up front then surely NW has to do the same to get the best from him.
At the moment it is watch this space, he will be either a great success or another in the line of MFC expensive failures; I hope it’s the former and come the end of the season we want to activate the purchase clause in the contract. 😎
In the past we have signed strikers who score for fun then dry up at Boro, maybe this time it will work in reverse. I personally will wait until I have seen Sporar (and Hernandez, Siliki) have a few competitive matches in a first eleven match before I make judgement. It is irrelevant how he performed at his last club (or even former clubs Bratislava 53 goals in 44 matches) it is what he does with the players at MFC that will form my opinion of him (them).
Come on BORO.
It seems fair enough to judge a player on what he does at our club, but, and there is always a but in these affairs, we should be able to describe the player we are going to sign before we even see him. I'll make a complete know nothing's attempt at doing just that. First, and foremost, he must be Young, no more than 23, then, he must be a regular handful, very fast and strong, confident, dominant, good in the air, free of injuries. Ready to force his way into our team by sheer force of will. Not a giant fee (they invariably bring baggage ) we should be wasting our money on scouts who live for the game and know it inside out, and are rewarded if they pick a winner.
I’ve always liked Andy Carroll as an old fashioned big bustling good in the air centre forward.
Your idea of a pay per games played is interesting and perhaps NW could offer our training facilities for him to use as we did with Watmore.
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I don't think Carroll has been fit for over 5 years now or at least it feels that long. We have a few gambles in already fitness wise as Werder has pointed out in his review above. I wouldn't waste my time with Carroll considering that a few Clubs now have jettisoned him because of his fitness. I'd rather we played Coburn than see Carroll eat up a place on the bench or coming on to limp around for a few minutes like an even more unfit version of Gestede.
Here’s the Gazette take on the Boro transfer status and squad
https://www.gazettelive.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/best-signing-biggest-surprise--21468083
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