I will be supporting Derby tonight. I think Rooney is doing an excellent work there. Their Bruce Rioch moment.
Huddersfield Town 19:45 Derby County
Up the Boro!
Lewis out in the cold after Deadline Day
Jamal Lewis has been left out in the cold at Newcastle after rejecting Deadline Day moves to Stoke and Birmingham, reports Football Insider.
Now the left-back will not be included in the Magpies' 25-man squad for the coming season, it claims.
No mention of being offered a move to Boro, although it is confirmed that Clark did turn down an approach by MFC.
Come on BORO
I will be supporting Derby tonight. I think Rooney is doing an excellent work there. Their Bruce Rioch moment.
Huddersfield Town 19:45 Derby County
Up the Boro!
This is a difficult one to choose, obviously it helps Boro if Huddersfield lose but considering what Derby fans are allegedly planning for the 12th Feb, I want Derby to get thrashed and be a step closer to relegation.
Come on BORO.
...and everyone criticised Boro when Gareth Southgate was sacked. (I suppose, to be fair, WBA looked good for most of the season, but in recent weeks their team has started to ship water as fast as the Titanic, and it may appear to the Board that even qualification for the play-offs will disappear shortly if they fail to act).
And Warnock needs to choose between the Baggies and Black Cats 🤣🤣🤣. Up the Boro!
Re WBA sack their manager
Interesting to note that Tony Mowbray has been suggested as one of the favourites to take over at WBA.
Tony was deep in conversation with three other guys at a Yarm Coffee Shop at 10:00 am this morning. Had to go back and take a second look to make sure it was him.
Wonder what he was talking about??
mmm, or which football club?
OFB
It would be a mistake for Mogga to go back to the hawthorns.
BREAKING: Sky Sports understands Steve Bruce is in advanced negotiations with West Brom over their vacant head coach role.
Boro have played against Derby County more than against any other club, 141 in League matches and another 9 in Cup matches and I for one would be embarrassed if Steve Gibson’s claim, or should I now call that a vendetta, were to result in the demise of this great club. Don’t get me wrong, Steve Gibson has been the saviour of Middlesbrough FC and has stated that he has no wish to see the demise of the Rams. He has a point that the actions of former chairman Mel Morris deprived Boro of earning a playoff place in 2019, but there’s no guarantee that it cost Boro promotion. If the Football League had taken action as quickly on the original 6 point deduction as the authorities did in deducting Boro 3 points in 1997 we wouldn’t be having this problem. In fact Wycombe Wanderers would have been saved as well from relegation if the points deductions hadn’t taken so long. In fact in my opinion their claim is more relevant than Boro’s.
Maybe Steve Gibson should be suing the Football League instead for dereliction of duty. Whatever happens next I can sympathise with the fans of Derby County as always it’s them that suffer most. Full marks to Wayne Rooney for sticking with the club as his allegiance to Everton must have preyed on his mind whether to apply for the position of manager, although I understand that Frank Lampard was actually head-hunted for that position.
I do hope that Derby accumulate enough points to avoid relegation this season if that will alleviate the situation. As a nation we cannot afford to lose one of the original clubs that have been members since 1888. I’m also wondering what Ian Gill is making of this situation.
Jonathan Woodgate and Roy Keane are under consideration to become Sunderland boss according to the Echo.
Wouldn't be surprised to see Woody up there. He is keen to get back to work. I wish him all the best. Up the Boro!
2 minutes Stearman (Derby) straight red.
Come on BORO.
@Ken As I’ve said before, in any other business we wouldn’t be supporting anyone but our owner. Derby cheated the rules to gain an advantage and at some point there has to be repercussions. You can argue that they’ve been deducted points, so they’ve paid the price and that their fans shouldn’t suffer, but as a result of the owners actions the supporters of both Boro and Wycombe missed out. Being in the play-offs would have been a big deal for us as fans and imagine how we’d have felt if we’d been relegated (like Wycombe).
I fear that the atmosphere when Derby visit will be very toxic. I’m expecting trouble between the two sets if fans. I hope I’m wrong.
I am the complete opposite to your opinion Ken, you blame the EFL but they did not cheat, Derby did and and I remember their fans singing “We are Derby and we will do what we want”. The non reaction (or action) by the EFL was because of delaying tactics by Derby FC (not just Morris).
I hope they get relegated which they should have done last season and if there is any justice, Wycombe will pass them on the way up. Or maybe you do not think they cheated Ken, each to our own opinion.
Come on BORO.
Sunderland make contact with Warnock about the manager’s vacancy.
Come on BORO.
Ikpeazu puts Cardiff 1 up on 71 minutes after coming on 63 minutes. Huddersfield take the lead against Derby and Rhodes now makes it 2 nil.
Come on BORO.
ExMill
I knew it would bring some reaction. Yes the owner and board of directors cheated, but that’s no reason to lambast each and everyone of their fans. There is a groundswell of Boro fans who think that a points deduction of 21 points is sufficient punishment for the misdemeanours of the club but the fans should not be made accountable for that. When you mention that some fans sang “We’re Derby County and we’ll do what we want” it’s not necessarily the opinion of the average supporter. I’m attempting to show some compassion for fellow fans here like we do for example if an opponent who is seriously injured in a match and is stretchered off the field off the field of play by applause. It’s unfair to blame fans or indeed players for what has happened by corrupt employers, etc. It’s like punishment for the sons of one’s fathers.
Nevertheless I hate any sense of schadenfreude, but as you say everyone is entitled to their own opinion.
I’m reading the The Definitive Biography of Tony Hancock at the moment. Those of a certain age will remember his comic radio series of ‘Hancock’s Half Hour’ of the late 1950s starring Sid James, Bill Kerr, Hattie Jacques and Kenneth Williams, and later his television series including The Blood Donor and The Radio Ham, but few would have guessed of his sporting achievements as a child. Not only did he win his school’s welterweight boxing final but also excelled at football and cricket at Durlston prep school. He scored 22 goals in 14 matches, but his cricket records were quite amazing. He took 70 wickets with his medium paced seamers in 13 matches including one match where he took 8 wickets for 12 runs. His 57 wickets for his final season only cost 245 runs, that’s an average of 4.3. He also was adept at shooting winning the Victor Ludorum Cup for his first class marksmanship. One can but wonder at these many sporting achievements as a 14 year old; perhaps a future Oympiad had he not become one of the best situation comedians England has ever produced. Unfortunately he was a worrier about whether his latest show was as good as his previous one and he committed suicide at the age of 44.
Time to concentrate on the FA cup now and let the league take its course now for the next few days. Teams will catch up to us but a good performance on Friday will help us to regenerate our step up in the League. The remuneration from the cup also helps our FFP calculations.
OFB
I’m quite worried that a team currently 4th in the PL will rip us apart on Friday. Everyone is talking about how poor they’ve been this season but if being in the top 5 in that league is poor, then I suspect we’d all swap positions any day.
I really hope we can put up a top performance - I’d settle for a narrow loss if necessary although obviously a win would be great. What I don’t want is a massive defeat that might affect the players’ confidence going forward.
It’s part of every fan of an underdog team to be fearful but it’s also quite normal for players to step up their game for an important match. Those who are young want to measure themselves against the very best, Fry and Jones. Ex Man U players like Paddy and Academy kids like Crooks will want to show what the club have lost. Others like the foreign players want to play at one of the best stadiums in the country in front of a capacity 70k crowd beamed on TV worldwide will want to enjoy the experience.
We’ll be fine honestly 🤞
OFB
OFB
Yes indeed, time to concentrate on the FA Cup. Lovely stories in the Gazette about Alan Duff from Redcar and also Matt Crooks two former youth players at Old Trafford. Also I dare say nostalgic memories for Paddy McNair and Duncan Watmore. Not for nothing is Old Trafford called ‘The Theatre of Dreams’ despite many players not quite making the headlines there. Nevertheless all ex-players have one thing in common, revisiting Old Trafford and determined to win. Not every apprentice at ‘The Theatre of Dreams’ can make it, neither those at Ayresome Park or the Riverside Stadium. It must be a big disappointment for any young apprentice when he’s released, but it’s a credit to those who find another club to continue their dream of becoming a footballer.
It was never always thus though as prior to the Second World War when United spent several seasons in the Second Division they were in financial trouble, and not helped either when Old Trafford was under reconstruction due to war damage and played a couple of seasons at Maine Road where incidentally they held the ground record of 83,260 for any League match on my 10th birthday, the 17th of January 1948 against Arsenal. That record still stands today if you ignore the Spurs matches at Wembley whilst Tottenham’s new ground was being constructed.
So a big match tomorrow with 9,500 Boro fans urging on their team. But let’s not forget the magic of the FA Cup as Hartlepool United also have taken up their full quota of 4,700 for their visit to Crystal Palace on Saturday. A Teesside double success? Unlikely, but you just never know, that’s the magic of the World’s greatest football knockout competition.
Fabulous goal by Uche last night on his Cardiff debut, latching on to a punt upfield, brushing aside two defenders, and placing it in the corner.
Whatever system you choose to play and by whatever criteria you choose to evaluate, I suspect that at the present time we may just have disposed of the best striker on our books. Early days, of course, but replacing him with Connolly doesn't look like the great piece of business it was cracked up to be.
Our cack-handedness might just prove to have an unintended benefit.
If Uche is instrumental in lifting Cardiff out of the relegation zone then, like Spence, his value might well increase (possibly 4 or 5 fold ?) by the end of the season. Since he has only gone out on loan, our failure to sell him might well yield an undeserved financial bonus at the end of the season.
Martin
I know what you mean, but ‘worry’ is a strong emotive word. I prefer using the word ‘concern’. I never worry about sporting events: I just worry about things like my health. I’ve just been recently diagnosed as bowel incontinent, and often remarked that one enters this world incontinent and often leave it incontinent also. I’m now awaiting the results of tests to see if I have bowel cancer, and I am worried about that when I get the results in a couple of weeks time, so keeping my fingers crossed. But it’s very unpleasant and unhealthy having to take imodium capsules every night in case I soil the bed during my sleep.
The referee tomorrow is Anthony Taylor from Wythenshawe. He doesn’t referee us very often as he mainly operates in the Premier League. He had us a few times when we were up there so you can probably guess the results. Also there is VAR tomorrow is this the first time we have played a game with VAR? I wonder what our opinion will be about it after the match?
Yes would agree there Len and as I have said previously, the new incomers have it all to prove.
I always felt Uche was a good guy to have on the bench. Obviously CW does not. I wonder why?
The only point I would make is the following. Was it Sheffield united who went down as some London? Club committed some awful dirty trick to avoid the drop. So awful that even the spineless and London centred authorities punished them for their offence, and then hid as the abuse poured over them, because they said nothing as they were asked about them taking the place of Sheffield united in the champ. Simple justice you would have thought, and you would have been wrong.
Plato,
A bit like the great political 'levelling up'.
'It's levelling up Jim but not as we know it.' Simply it is no change just some more noise and obfuscation.
UTB,
John
Yes would agree there Len and as I have said previously, the new incomers have it all to prove.
I always felt Uche was a good guy to have on the bench. Obviously CW does not. I wonder why?