Lionel Messi is leaving Barcelona even after the player and club agreed to a 50% cut in his wages, it still can’t get past Spanish Liga regulations, Leo is on a flight to Spain now.
Come on BORO.
So that is the foreigh striker that will shok the Boro fans 🤣🤣🤣. UTB!
I think with the arrival of Payero and him getting the number ten shirt, then it does mean when fit one from Tavernier, Payero, Crooks and Watmore will miss out - let alone when Ameobi is fit or even if Boro sign that 'shocking' striker or another winger.
I'm presuming Ikpeazu is the nailed on starter as a target man and also Morsy will be first choice as the destroyer in midfield but after that then who plays where is matter for whatever tactical game-plan Neil Warnock opts for.
There's an argument that a back three makes it difficult to accommodate the various attacking midfield options - perhaps Boro should be signing wing-backs or even cultivating some of the young players like Sivi and Jones to become genuine attacking wing-backs. If not then it may be hard to play with actual wingers if you've invested in some attacking midfielders to add to Tavernier and Watmore who tends to play off the centre-forward.
A back three with wing-backs, plus two midfielders and a target man only leaves two spare shirts to fit the rest in. OK, not having much in the way of wing-backs at the moment tends to make me think we'll ultimately end up with a back four with Dijksteel and Bola as traditional full-backs. Then again, what is Neil Warnock's game-plan? It has usually involved keeping it tight and having pace out wide and a target man.
Boro seem to be investing a lot in players who may not be able to start in what we'd expect from a Warnock team - perhaps it will mean some key players will not in the end have key roles this season but could need to make an impact from the bench - especially when everyone is fit (should that ever actually happen).
I shall await with interest to see what further arrivals mean for the team and whether the 'options' get much of a run out or if any of the youngsters get to show their talent this season once the transfer window has closed.
Perhaps we still don't know what shape the Boro squad will actually take by the end of August - we appear to be starting the season in a mixture of transitional make do and mend - perhaps Neil Warnock will discover that some decisions and solutions get made for him and alters his plans for new arrivals or even departures.
I see we're on the same page even though we're not actually on the same page 😏
Neil Warnock would probably have him on the bench because he'd argue he couldn't play him without decent full-backs to cover him defensively!
Watching Payero in the Olympics, I was very impressed by his play with the ball but do have some concerns about his work rate. There were plenty of occasions when he allowed the play to pass him by in both directions. I didn't see him chasing back that much but, more unusually, when he played the ball forward he didn't seem to be in a hurry to get forward to be involved in scoring opportunities that might arise. I don't know if this was due to the heat or for some other reason but I'll be interested to see how things pan out.
Anyway, on the positive side, he has bags of skill and he certainly has the size to cope with the Championship and doesn't seem afraid to put in a tackle. If we can get him on the ball, he could just be the spark that we need to ignite others around him.
UTB
@selwynoz have to agree, work rate and putting in a shift didn't strike me as key to his skill set.
That said we don't know about game plans or temperatures and humidity etc. so lets just wait until it's Blackpool at home on a wet and windy Tuesday night in December then we can say I told you so 😉
I see Swansea are set to sign Boro trialist Jamie Paterson, who didn't impress in his pre-season outings - still, at least we got him fitter for someone else...
Most propably NW told him to find another club, too. Soft southener... Up the Boro!
As expected, Boro have agreed to sign Sol Bamba on a one-year deal - he should provide a decent option given his pre-season form and also sounds like a good personality to have around the squad. Could be an important addition.
I shall give him his teal shirt in due course...
No number for Coulson or Hackney!
Numbers 3, 8 and 11 still up for grabs!
Just to note: If you want a photo that you have uploaded to display in your post then just click on the filename with the paperclip icon (i.e. 6CF97772-2B9B-4119-9B36-ACC15437C2C4.png) and then paste the url of that uploaded image (i.e. diasboro.club/wp-content/uploads/etc..) into your post. It will then display as an image. I just edited your post to do that.
It is reported that Boro are signing Luke Daniels, former Brentford keeper, as backup to Lumley on a free transfer.
Come on BORO.
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
I agree totally. The future will revolve around people living with Covid in the community and all the science seems to clearly indicate that vaccination is the best way to reduce both transmission and the effect that the disease has. I'm surprised that this wasn't sorted out quite a while back. I see that the rate of vaccination is slowing in the UK with a lot of European countries reaching a higher %.
Here in Oz, the federal and state governments have concentrated on exclusion/eradication and dropped the ball on vaccinations with only 39% single and 17% double. With low rates, it will be interesting to see where they go on vaccination passports which seems to be the way that Europe is going. Is everybody in Europe buying into this idea?
UTB
@original-fat-bob. Regrettably I do not find this surprising as it seems to be a common theme amongst some of the younger generation, who seem to think they are invincible and if they catch Covid it will be just like having a bad cold or a touch of the flu.
I say this from personal experience as I have two sons, the eldest is in his late thirties and as a serving police officer with the MOD marine division has been fully inoculated as has his wife; my younger son, who is in his early thirties, works for Transport for London and is commuting to London 2/3 times a week but has chosen, at present, not to have the vaccine along with his partner and despite having a 16 month old son!
Their view is that they will have the vaccine if they need to but are not convinced about how fully tested it has been and are concerned that friends who have been inoculated have had bad reactions; they don't have a flu jab so don't see the point in having a Covid jab especially as they can still pass the infection on having had a jab.
We also have a nephew of a similar age, living on Teesside, who is of a similar view to my youngest and has so far declined to have a jab.
Their attitudes trouble me as I am of the view that we have a civic duty to protect one another and am also of the opinion that jabs should be compulsory for particular workers such as clinicians, Teachers, Care Workers etc and that all employers should have the right to make having a jab a condition of service.
I appreciate that this may not accord with everyone's views but I suspect there are more people who think along the same lines than are opposed to this view; we appear, however, to have turned into a society where the minority view prevails and as a consequence the "tail wags the dog".
Apologies, rant over! CoB 😎
... we appear, however, to have turned into a society where the minority view prevails and as a consequence the "tail wags the dog"
Apologies, rant over! CoB 😎
No need to apologise to me KP. I am with you on every word of your post. How so very true of your last line.
@k-p-in-spain I agree totally. We pay heavy price as some does not really understand the big picture. UTB!
I wonder if this is typical of footballers in general and not just at Boro - though given the consequences of a positive test and missing games you would think clubs would be encouraging vaccination. Also, they are possibly at the age where they are heavy social media users and subsequently exposed to all the pseudo science that pervades it, where the bloke in the corner of the pub now has a global platform to spout the latest conspiracy theory. It would be interesting to hear why they have decided not to be vaccinated but then again it may only add to vaccine hesitancy of others if role models start casting doubt on the need or safety of having a vaccine.
I think Neil Warnock was only reported yesterday as saying that they were going to do deal with Bamba in a player/coach capacity - so probably no contract has been signed as yet and therefore hasn't been given a squad number in time for their release.
btw I'm probably tempted to add Sammy Ameobi to the long-term injury list after Neil Warnock said they are unable to stop his knee flaring up and he's just as bad as he was three weeks ago. This doesn't sound like a problem that will go away without intervention and I suspect he may well be facing some form of surgery. Hopefully, they can discover the problem soon but these things tend not to just go away on their own.
YORKSHIRE POST
Fulham v Middlesbrough: Get your vaccinations Neil Warnock tells his Boro players
Neil Warnock is frustrated some of his Middlesbrough players are not yet fully vaccinated as Covid-19 complicates selection for tomorrow’s game at Fulham.
Even though his medium-term future appears to be elsewhere, Hayden Coulson could have filled Boro’s problem area on the left side of defence at Craven Cottage were he not in isolation.
“We’ve had a few sniffs with the virus this summer,” said Warnock, who is set to make former Leeds United defender Sol Bamba a player-coach. “We’re still getting tested every day.
“For whatever reason, the majority of the players don’t have their vaccinations and I think it’s wrong.”
It means difficult decisions on the fitness of Marc Bola, back after injury and isolation, and Marcus Tavernier, who missed the final two friendlies with a muscle problem.
“Boles hasn’t played any minutes this summer so it’s asking a lot,” said Warnock. “We’ll just have to play it by ear. He’s a genuine lad.
OFB
I wonder if the Govt’s rules for nightclubs around vaccination passports applied to football matches, would the take up amongst the young be higher?
It is ludicrous that the club has not absolutely insisted that everyone associated with it has to be vaccinated, given the implications of an outbreak for the financial and playing future of the entire club. These are not matters that can be left to individual whim, in spite of this being official government policy. ("Do as you please" spun as "taking individual responsibility").
On another matter, I found the little video of Payero's first day in training immeasurably sad. After an opening fetishisation of the lad's shirt and boots, we were mainly treated to shots of him working on his own, punctuated by some fist bumps with other passing team mates. It was clear that Payero spoke no English, and, it goes without saying, that no one made any attempt to communicate with him, let alone risk the attempt at even a few words of Spanish.
Then came the "training". Imagine going to a foreign country and on your first day at work you are faced with a one-on-one with Kevin Blackwell. Gloomy at the best of times, and fluent only in four-letter words in his own language, he is not someone, who, in PG Wodehouse's words, you would ever confuse with a ray of sunshine. There appeared to be no communication between them at all as the Argentine did a few little turns and sprints.
Then came the high comedy of a Gazette article dealing with the Payero language problem. I was reminded of the occasion when Ken Swales, then Manchester City chairman, went over to a German club to carry out negotiations over a player. "It was hard", he said, "because they didn't speak very good English".
First of all, in spite of all of the "intensive research" done on the player it was far from clear that anyone had actually seen him play, or that the club knew or had made any preparations for the fact that he spoke no English. I learned more from Selwynoz's analysis of his strengths and possible weaknesses on this blog than I have from anything emanating from either the club or the Gazette.
Given the importance of such an expensively acquired and valuable asset to the club settling quickly and happily, it was astonishing that Leo, who has been something of a spare part since Warnock's arrival at the club and could here have actually been of some use, was still away on his Summer break.
There was, of course, no question that anyone else in the club- Warnock, Blacky or Jepson, for example- might be even remotely bothered to acquire a few phrases of Spanish, to help them do their jobs more effectively and ease the path of a player who could be vital to the success of the club this season. No, it is going to be entirely down to the player to spend the year learning the language. As far as the club is concerned, he's on his own.
And so he is, quite literally. I saw nothing to allay my fear that a young man, far away from home, will be spending many long hours sitting in a room somewhere, or on a coach, by himself, effectively isolated and completely incommunicado.
Immeasurably sad, and the poorest of all possible starts.
And what, by the way, is the club's position this season on taking the knee? The silence on the issue at the club, and indeed throughout football, has been deafening.
I have been a big supporter of this gesture as an act of solidarity with black footballers, and victims of racial intolerance everywhere, but if, after full discussion, it is decided to move on then I would accept that.
But to just let the issue drift would be to dishonour the kind of courage, not least exemplified by Gareth Southgate and the England squad, and the victory for anti-racism that this represented.
Whatever happens, racism remains a cancer within the game and still needs to be rooted out. What strategies for achieving this can be suggested by those who believe that taking the knee is now a gesture past its sell-by date?
Can we have an open discussion please, rather than just an embarrassed sweeping under the carpet? Action rather than drift.
I fear that Tav. Is about to disappear like all tasty morsels, to an upwardly mobile Prem. Club. The signs are there, missing a few prep games, check, vague talk of 'injuries', check, blanket silence concerning him, check. The lucky club will, no doubt, be praying there is no bidding war, as we would not know how to spell the word I would think that he will be sold at their price, not ours
We have a club who always give signings at least a season, and more if they cost money. It is, of course the road to nowhere. If they are awful when making their debut, they generally are a waste of time. When one thinks of Britt. One thinks of the decent players who left the club as he flailed at balls in an attempt to be a striker, (Bamford, anyone). I am afraid that judgement should be followed by execution as a season is soon over and another year has passed us by.