If the Play-Offs turn out to be a successful campaign for Boro, I hope everyone on this blog realises it will mean a change of name for our club. In the future it will, in the Press at least, officially be known as "Michael Carrick's Boro". We will see reference to that new name in almost every article written and every match preview or report. And, of course, there will be LOTS of those in the season ahead because, as we know, football teams only come into the spotlight when they are in the Premier League. Oh, the obscurity that awaits the three poor teams to be relegated this season from the PL...!
Really enjoyed season since MC took over, very nervous about Wednesday, think it may go to penalties, would be nice if club let fans make noise before match rather than having tannoy blasting out. Fingers crossed that we make it to Wembley, a place I really hate going to watch us play.
Many thanks for those kind words it’s appreciated.
It’s been a pleasure to write the opening previews in conjunction with Andy this season and whilst sometimes the games came thick and fast and Covid knocked me for a couple of weeks it’s been enjoyable.
We have so many talented writers on this blog whose posts make me stop and think “did I get it right?” as their well worded responses keep the discourse going.
The Diasboro philosophy of not playing the man and being respectful of everyone’s opinions make this the best Boro blog by far.
I know a few people who want to join us and be part of the Diasborians.
Other new is that Simon Fallaha is coming back to join us and has a wealth of stories to keep us going through the close season.
Hopefully we can all contribute to a Wembley special and a subsequent Promotion special !
OFB
Well, Si's return will be welcomed by me...
And if there are others lurking in the background, reading the comments but feeling too shy to join in, don't fear. You'll be welcomed, too. The more comments the merrier. Different people may have different views and, as OFB has mentioned, so long as we "play the ball, not the man" we can all learn from each other. Come on in! So long as it's mostly about the Boro and in a friendly rather than an antogonistic tone, people want to hear your views. Join in the converstation with the others already on here...
Great news that Si is coming back to write in here. He is another of whose posts I miss.
If the Play-Offs turn out to be a successful campaign for Boro, I hope everyone on this blog realises it will mean a change of name for our club. In the future it will, in the Press at least, officially be known as "Michael Carrick's Boro". We will see reference to that new name in almost every article written and every match preview or report. And, of course, there will be LOTS of those in the season ahead because, as we know, football teams only come into the spotlight when they are in the Premier League. Oh, the obscurity that awaits the three poor teams to be relegated this season from the PL...!
There's a sort of foretaste of that in the headline of the Times report on Sunday's match which I posted in the other thread yesterday, FD: "... Michael Carrick's wasteful forwards ...". 😉
Better late than never: the preview of play-off semi-final from Saturday's Times:
Some interesting comments.
At the end of the report on the first leg which I posted yesterday is a link to Rod Liddle's column in The Sunday Times which takes a few pot shots at the Mackems for doing his lot, Millwall, out of a play-off place, The link doesn't work in the archived version, but this is it:
This particular paragraph made me smile:
A sporting and measured man would take the defeat on the chin and wish the Mackems the best of luck for the play-offs. But sadly I am not that man and I hope they rot. Or better still, Middlesbrough defeat them with a patently offside goal in the final. They are the form team, mind.
Liddle was actually brought up in Nunthorpe and went to a comprehensive in Guisborough, so there may be some vestigial support for the Boro behind his remarks. He is a pretty obnoxious individual however.
Great news about Si returning. Welcome back!
Liddle was actually brought up in Nunthorpe and went to a comprehensive in Guisborough, so there may be some vestigial support for the Boro behind his remarks. He is a pretty obnoxious individual however.
Great news about Si returning. Welcome back!
I wasn't aware of that, Len, so thanks for pointing it out. Agree about his obnoxiousness.
I'll echo the welcome back to Si. 🙂
Guisborough means three things for me: G'boro Town at Wembley in 1980 (I think), market and the ruins of the Priory. Up the Boro!
Guisborough means three things for me: G'boro Town at Wembley in 1980 (I think), market and the ruins of the Priory. Up the Boro!
Guisborough means much more to me, although I was at Wembley for the Guisborough Town final (another Wembley loss!).
I went to Guisborough Grammar School, which later became Prior Pursglove Sixth Form College, married my first wife in the town, then bought my first house there (for £4,000) in 1976. My first daughter was born there in 1981 and later my Mam and Dad lived their last years there in sheltered accommodation. My brother still lives there.
So, it'll be Luton at Wembley - IF we get there too...
Just watched the other Semi, Luton probably deserved it , due to Sunderlands depleted defence and their inexperience ,but I have to say the ref didn't help them much, Luton set out to intimidate and he let alot of dodgy things go, every set piece Luton were climbing all over the backs of Sunderland players blocking off ,the first goal came from that, Sunderland could have had a penalty on another day at 1-0 , Luton were very physical.
Now if we get there, I hope the ref gets all over the Luton tactics and protects our skilled players, having said that I think we'll be too clever for them, if we play the way we can I'm confident well reach the big time once again ,first Coventry COB
Just watched the other Semi, Luton probably deserved it , due to Sunderlands depleted defence and their inexperience ,but I have to say the ref didn't help them much, Luton set out to intimidate and he let alot of dodgy things go, every set piece Luton were climbing all over the backs of Sunderland players blocking off ,the first goal came from that, Sunderland could have had a penalty on another day at 1-0 , Luton were very physical.
Now if we get there, I hope the ref gets all over the Luton tactics and protects our skilled players, having said that I think we'll be too clever for them, if we play the way we can I'm confident well reach the big time once again ,first Coventry COB
Don’t forget there will be VAR at Wembley for the final 👍
Come on BORO.
@martin-bellamy @jarko
I bought my first property (flat) in Guisborough in 1975 and lived there for 5 years before moving back to New Marske. I also went to Wembley only to see Guisborough lose!
I was partially following the Luton v Sunderland commentary. It sounded as if the Sunderland makeshift defence couldn't cope with the powerful Luton attacks and Sunderland's dominance of possession didn't result in them creating good scoring chances.
Thanks for the great opener OFB and hopefully there will be another one next week. The game on Sunday was our first away clean sheet this year. The last one was at Blackpool in MC's 4th game and the first anywhere since Preston at home 4 home games ago. In fact those are the only away clean sheets all season. I think that we need to have a repeat tonight if we are to be successful. Hopefully the crowd will be patient with the team if things are not going too well.
Looking forward to the game tonight. Let’s face it these are the make or break games that define a season and define our reason for supporting MFC.
It would be a sorry state of affairs if we just plodded on mid table with no promotion hopes or reason for hope.
Boro have done their best to create an atmosphere for tonight’s game and all seats have been prepared with a Boro flag (see photo) so at least I’ll have some pleasant memento of tonight’s game.
Sorry for Sunderland but it should make the Boro team more determined to get to Wembley and win as all the Sky pundits are saying won’t it be great to see a small club U.K. the Premiership. Loo who ?
OFB
Feeling very nervous about tonight. Fingers and everything crossed for a victory. If we do it will be a very very tough game against Luton. Boro will have to play their best game ever to beat them with their very aggressive tactics.
I defer to Bob's experience and knowledge on refereeing and the laws of the game, of which we have all been beneficiaries on the blog, but I thought Bobby Madley had a good match last Sunday.
He made a great start by giving a Coventry defender a severe ticking off for his first foul against Akpom, and every subsequent foul against Chuba was punished.
That alone was a major improvement on every other ref this season. Away from home at least 50% of the fouls on the striker go unpunished, frequently leaving us exposed on the transition.
I also thought Madley communicated well with the players, from his brief chat with the skippers in the tunnel, to his running commentary explaining his decisions throughout the game. On one occasion the entire Coventry team appealed for a handball, but the Boro player was on the ground with his back to the referee, who simply explained that he couldn't see it. Enough said.
He was firm throughout, a physically imposing presence who would not tolerate the kind of mass protest which so disfigures the modern game. Whenever this threatened or he appeared to be sworn at by an aggrieved player, he responded robustly making sure the player knew exactly why the decision had been made.
I didn't think the Boro had a legitimate penalty claim, not least because Jones too often looks for the contact rather than making the most of his situation. In any case the penalty decision was not one that the ref was in the best position to make, the assistant referee having the clearest view.
Madley's biggest error was his booking of Akpom. But in real time it was a good decision. With the Coventry players appealing for a red card for what looked like a really bad late tackle by a player who had let the ball get away from him, Madley produced a yellow, much to the relief of every Boro fan. No one thought it a good tackle, least of all the TV commentary team.
Until, that is, the slo-mo replay.
After which everyone was in agreement that the ref had got it wrong, without the slightest acknowledgment that they had too.
Play-offs are high pressure games played for the highest stakes before partisan crowds. The Luton-Sunderland games with their multiple yellow cards, career-threatening tackles, personal vendettas carried on over two legs and the perpetual threat of the game bubbling over out of control were all too typical
Coventry-Boro was a competitive game with some fiercely fought personal duels but the referee was firmly in control throughout. He produced only one yellow card and made an important contribution to the whole spectacle.
I only hope that we get as competent an official in the second leg, and above all, if we make it, in the final against an "uncompromising" Luton team.
Apologies, Bob.
... Sorry for Sunderland but it should make the Boro team more determined to get to Wembley and win as all the Sky pundits are saying won’t it be great to see a small club U.K. the Premiership. Loo who ?
OFB
And since when has the media considered Middlesbrough to be a big club...... SO I'll go along with Sky and say how refreshing it will be to see small club UK (but make that northern England] in the premiership 🙂
@lenmasterman. Excellent post on the referees performance last Sunday.
I didn’t see the match, other than the highlights, so I am not sufficiently informed to enable me to comment, other than to say your piece is, as always, well written, reasoned and balanced.
Thanks Len, it was a pleasure to read. 😎
.. and yet another excellent and well argued posting. Never mind "SEVERRRRN", I would say "ITS A TEN FOR LEN".
I have to say I also thought the referee handled the game well. The three non-issues (penalty/free kick for Jones, off-side goal for Jones and Apkom's booking) were all decisions that were perfectly reasonable in real time and in real context.
We have a different set of officials for this evening. My hope is that the referee will stamp down on any early over-enthusiastic aggression from Coventry. The thing that worries me most about the game tonight is that Coventry will be straight out of the traps (as they were in the regular league fixture last Monday) and we don't get the chance to move the ball around as easily as we would like. One or two bookings (but only if deserved) will mean their players will have to ease off the intensity of their press and make it easier for us to control the tempo and rhythm of the game.
Reading the comments about the referee for the first playoff game reminded me of my refereeing days many moons ago. I disliked referring semi final cup competitions because some players were so determined to get to the final that they were too competitive and I can remember games where a team was effectively beaten , eg losing 1-4 with a few minutes to go and 1 or 2 players would decide that if they weren’t playing in the final then some of their opponents also wouldn’t be playing !!
By comparison I can’t remember difficult finals - my theory was that both teams having got to the final believed they must be good and passed the ball around. In reality, they were easier to referee because there was less physical contact as the games were played on bigger pitches than they were used to , eg Huddersfield Town or Halifax Town’ s pitch. Enough of this reminiscing.
Although I can’t get Sky Sports here in Rotterdam on the boat , I can get TalkSPORT and listened to the Sunderland game last night. It seemed as though they couldn’t repel Luton’s power at corners and free kicks into the penalty area. Special credit must go to Tony Mowbray and what he has achieved with such a young depleted team which play attractive football.
And so to tonight- for me it’s early dinner and then the radio. I’m expecting a low scoring close game with the hope that whilst Boro no longer have a spring in their step, they will produce enough glimpses of magic to create a few chances for Archer and Akpom. I just hope it doesn’t go to penalties which I hate.
So fingers and everything else crossed !!
👍👋😂
Philip of Huddersfield
Anyone who has read Arthur Appleton’s “Hot Bed of Soccer” can be in no doubt that Middlesbrough Football Club IS and always HAS BEEN a big club. I agree that Tyne Tees Television has always placed both Newcastle United and Sunderland on a higher level as between the pair of them they have won 10 League Championships and 7 FA Cup Finals whilst Boro’s only fame to glory has been one League Cup Final win.
But historically Boro has produced as many famous footballers as their North East counterparts given the comparatively smaller size of Teesside to our neighbours. I sense a bit of an inferiority complex amongst Diasborians, but let’s remember that the whole country and even the Portuguese were behind Boro in their second venture into Europe in 2006, and that Middlesbrough FC were the only club to have more than one player in the Great Britain side that thrashed a Rest of Europe XI 6-1 in the Victory International at Hampden Park in 1947.
Ken,
That is an excellent book, a recommended read for anyone from the North East. On the subject of Tyne Tees Television my mum used say they should just rename it and call it Tyne Wear Television, we do know how to hold a grudge on Teesside.
On to tonight, I'm just a complete bag of nerves, playing in a match like this must be unbelievable, just being able to control your nerves is a big task never mind the game itself.
Will Boro be Wembley bound? Over to you Mr Carrick and the team. Just start well. Please.
UTB,
John
Boro have yet to be in front over 3 games with sky blues.
Hopefully tonigh
UTB
@billy - If we are ahead at the time the final whistle blows, that will be good enough for me. It would be great to be three goals up in the first 10 minutes so we could enjoy the rest of the game in confidence but ANY win will do.
What I don't want is to be having a discussion with my mate in the next seat to me at the Riverside, commenting on how "up for it" Coventry are, how they have been "quick out of the blocks" as opposed to the Boro at the start of the game. I'd like to see the BORO players impose themselves on the game rather than the other way around. It's an all-or-nothing game for both teams. Let's hope it is Luton Town that gets nothing.
@billy - If we are ahead at the time the final whistle blows, that will be good enough for me. It would be great to be three goals up in the first 10 minutes so we could enjoy the rest of the game in confidence but ANY win will do.
What I don't want is to be having a discussion with my mate in the next seat to me at the Riverside, commenting on how "up for it" Coventry are, how they have been "quick out of the blocks" as opposed to the Boro at the start of the game. I'd like to see the BORO players impose themselves on the game rather than the other way around. It's an all-or-nothing game for both teams. Let's hope it is Luton Town that gets nothing.
Luton Town ???????
Come on BORO.