@original-fat-bob. My concern is that by the time we get back to the PL most, if not all, of our former players will have retired and I may no longer be around! 😎
@original-fat-bob. My concern is that by the time we get back to the PL most, if not all, of our former players will have retired and I may no longer be around! 😎
I was obviously doubly concerned! 🤣😎
Re Bamford
I have been closely watching the performances of Bamford since he left Boro for Leeds.
He is an intelligent player who is developing into a goal scorer as well as a play maker. 12 goals to date and has created a lot more for the team.
Although Tony Pulis got the blame for selling him it was dictated by Steve Gibson who allegedly needed funds very quickly for other needs other than football and we sold Traore, Bamford and Ben Gibson in a very short period and took the spine out of the team.
It meant Boro were once more a selling club and it dashed the hopes of many supporters.
I look forward to sometime in the future when Boro are in the Premiership and playing against our former players.
OFB
I had heard a similar story about funds being required at the time. Regardless of that I had also heard that we turned down an offer for Gestede from Leeds for roughly what we paid for him. I don't know which story is true or worse still if they are both true.
Anyway it's all water under the bridge now and we can't face the future looking backwards regardless of how much I was and still am incensed at the time when we sold Bamford. Hindsight has since proved me correct in it being an awful piece of business at the time.
What we do know is that Pulis didn't like playing him despite his goals dragging his sorry backside into the play offs. After that concussion incident Pulis more or less froze him out and meekly surrendered to Villa in those shameful play off games. I don't think I have ever been more incensed and angry with a Boro Manager and that includes the worst of Strachan.
@redcarred. Your comments RR regarding Gestede just add insult to injury, unbelievable Jeff! 😎😡
Thanks for that, I was completely unaware of that fact, it explains everything. It was quite worrying that we could have chosen Britt over Bamford. In fact quite amazing.
I thought I was the only one who was enraged, (in fact ballistic!) so that's nice, not being alone. Oh! And it was hogwash about being helpless in the sale of Traore. It is quite amazing that we could be so incredibly stupid in the transfer market, but so it is. One thing stands out , no one is allowed to wander around with Steve's wallet scattering money at will. This Manager is very good at chasing the fantasists. I like the way he openly trashes the dreams of those who quote High prices for very moderate players.
I watched the second half of the Wolves vs Leicester at the weekend, mainly to watch Adama. He doesn’t seemed to have improved greatly, as far as distribution (passing?) is concerned. There’s so much potential there but he’s still got a lot to learn, including finding the right position when Leicester are on the ball moving forward.
I watched the game too. I think Wolves in general are really - REALLY - missing Raul Jimenez and no-one more so than Adama.
I would say that Traore’s passing and particularly his crossing has improved but he’s still guilty of waiting for the game to come to him and too often standing still.
Mind you, if he had natural anticipation and positional sense, he’d never have been allowed to leave Barca in the first place nevermind grace The Riverside.
The Wendies have just beaten Wycombe by 2-0 courtesy of goals scored by Jordan Rhodes & Adam Reach. Meanwhile, Bournemouth, under caretaker manager, Jonathan Woodgate, have dumped Burnley out of the FA Cup by 2-0...
There is a very interesting article by Anthony Vickers on his new Untypicalboro site - it does need a small monthly subscription - where he sets out his thinking about what it means to have a financially sustainable model as a football club rather than just relying on someone writing checks. Put simply, he suggests that all clubs have to be selling clubs when a proper offer comes along. I would then add in my thought that the true skill is then in scouting or developing the replacements.
As an example, we could sell Fry for 20 million ( or whatever higher price he can bring) and we more than cover one years wage bill for the club. We have Wood to take over and we bring on the next in our line of players. Clearly, losing Fry is important but you can’t just hang on to players until they no longer have a sale value.
We have one great plus in having a strong Academy but it needs to generate fees as well as players.
As a final example, maybe the ‘Golden Thread’ acquisitions will turn out to be the best bit of business that the club has done for a long time. How much could we get in a year or two for Dijksteel, Bola and even Browne.
There has to be a longer term model other than ‘we’re going up and that will pay for everything’.
utb
@selwynoz. I couldn't agree more. It is not necessarily being a selling club, I think it is more correct to call it the effective management of club assets which embodies recruitment, development, utilisation and eventually disposal at the right time and right price.
Sadly over the years MFC have not got the asset management process functioning fully in all the relevant areas; this is an aspect which needs more focus and a joined up approach if the club is to survive in a post SG age. 😎
@original-fat-bob. My concern is that by the time we get back to the PL most, if not all, of our former players will have retired and I may no longer be around! 😎
I certainly won’t be around.
lets be positive we’re either going up via the playoffs this season or automatically next season !
So just stay safe and well and keep hoping for promotion!
OFB
It doesn’t help the clubs finances when the chairman who has subsidised the club for so many years suddenly (allegedly) has to find large cash sums to go elsewhere leaving the manager with no alternative to sell key players!
OFB
lets be positive we’re either going up via the playoffs this season or automatically next season !
So just stay safe and well and keep hoping for promotion!
OFB
Maybe next year if we can hang on to Bolasie.
With their 3-1 win at Reading last night, Brentford now are the new Championship Leaders having extended their unbeaten run to 21 matches although 8 of those were draws including a goalless draw at Wycombe. However they have now scored 12 goals more than any other club.
MIDDLESBROUGH have completed the signing of Nathaniel Mendez-Laing.
Mendez-Laing has joined Boro as a free agent, having been released from Cardiff City shortly before the start of the season.
The 28-year-old began his senior career with Wolves, and also spent time with Peterborough United and Rochdale before moving to Cardiff in 2017.
He had a successful spell at the Cardiff City Stadium, playing under Boro boss Neil Warnock and helping the Bluebirds win promotion to the Premier League.
Two questions for me.
1. what happened at Cardiff?
2. if he is a free agent, why did we wait until the last day of the transfer window before we signed him. We could have had him playing the same as Watmore. Does this suggest that either there is still some hangover from the Cardiff blow-up or that there was someone better but we couldn’t get the deal through?
The answer has now been made public, Keith Downie from Sky Sports has reported:
"The FA have confirmed that Middlesbrough’s Nathaniel Mendez-Laing has served a 3-month ban for failing a drug test last summer. The winger’s ban - for the use of cocaine - ended in November".
Interesting comments from NW in the Gazette: https://www.gazettelive.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/neil-warnock-chuba-akpom-transfer-19924744
He doesn’t sound overly impressed with the Recuitment team!
Yes I’ve just read that myself Andy. There is no substitute for getting out and about and watching players play live.
I do know that our recruitment team do normally put the miles and hours in going to games to watch players. Gary Gill has spent a lot of time in Europe watching and identifying players but the last year has been impossible to travel due to the pandemic.
Neil Maddison also spends time travelling to games to watch our players who are on loan and usually looks over the other players in games and reports back if he sees anyone of interest.
The software scouting system was set up by Tony Mowbray when he was the Boro boss and it was enhanced when Karanka was in charge.
All clubs make mistakes in signing players and to be honest we all thought Bola, Brown, Dijksteel and McNair were all poor when they first arrived.
Tony Pulis made a lot of mistakes and I’ve never been impressed with Saville for @£8m.
It’s going to be interesting to see if we do get promotion because of course there are two lists of targets. One for the Premiership and one for the Championship.
If Warnock stays then whatever division we are in next season I expect there to be a lot of changes.
OFB
Good post, OFB.
Recruitment is a bit of an easy hit for disgruntled fans and whilst it’s certainly fair to say that we’ve got a lot wrong and have way overpaid at times, the bigger problem has been the lack of a consistent and coherent approach throughout the club’s wider strategy.
Chopping and changing managers who want to play different types of football and need different skill sets from the squad only leads to cycles of transition periods.
I do like Warnock’s more thrifty approach based on sound, traditional methods but I also wonder where we go next when his inevitably shortish tenure comes to a close.