Normal Service Is Resumed
RIGHT. I'm back, bronzed and with batteries fully recharged and ready to resume spraying defence splitting hyperbole through midfield. Game on.
I didn't mean to leave you all so abruptly. In fact I took the laptop with me (that's the kind of obsessively entangled saddo I am) and planned to keep in touch with Planet Boro and keep the blog ticking over but I had technical problems to do with "roaming." That was a blow for me and the younger faction of the family who have MSN hardwired but a major victory for family fun. Hurray!
So anyway, I have been out of the loop for a fortnight. I didn't even buy a paper, although I looked over a few shoulder on sunbeds to keep in touch with the big stories... Andy Murray's brief annual transformation from surly Scottish moaner to best of British beefcake, Man City's audacious £3000m quadruple bid for Tevez, Beckham, Pele and Formula 1. I presume there was the odd small paragraph about Boro tucked away inside but it doesn't do to lean in that close to tattooed Glaswegian muscle men when you are oiled up and wearing speedos.
In fact - watching the 21s getting dismantled by Germany aside - football barely intruded at all. I was in Portugal (yes, very nice thanks). On the drive out from Faro to the resort we went past the now redundant sad stadium at Loule purpose built for the 2004 Euros. The taxi driver said it was an inexplicable waste of money as the Algarve have never had a team big enough to even quarter fill it and it was destined to be a white elephant from day one. A monument to bureaucratic stupidity and waste, I suggested. "No", he said. "A monument to when we beat England." How we laughed.
And there was another taxi-driver moment one night in Albufeira when I picked up Joao Martim de Souza's copy of Record, one of the football dailies, that had a massive front page story about Javier Saviola's move to Benfica. The driver was a big, big fan (they are the Man U of Portugal ).
In pidgin football I conveyed that I thought Saviola was 'mint,' had been brilliant at Sevilla but had been wasted for two years picking up money on the bench at Real Madrid and he got all Latin and animated on me and was almost in tears as he explained that they had also signed Pablo Aimar and were poised to win the Champions League and they would thrash "your" Manchester United along the way.
When I told him I had been in Lisbon to see Boro play Sporting he was treating me like a long lost son and shaking my hand alarmingly with only scant regard for the road. A friend for life. See, the universal language of football.
But I digress. The bottom line is I've missed a fortnight. I can catch up on the backlog of Gazette's and stories on the official site but there will now be big gaps in my knowledge of the rumour, ranting, nuance and sub-text that we do so well on here.
So what have I missed?
Are we happy with signing a Colchester winger with bags of enthusiasm and who thinks Boro are the biggest club in the Championship? Is that an indication of ambition and drive or of mild delusion? And what of the new Coca-Cola can style shirt fit for the fizzy pop league? Will we get a black 'zero' flavoured away kit too? What news of the none-scapegoating backroom purge? Haven't we signed Michael Brown yet?
*********
MEANWHILE, the surly but shrewd Glaswegian one may have been persuaded to offer Little Micky Owen a deal - maybe he needs someone to share racing gossip with or to keep Owen Hargreaves company in the treatment room - but that doesn't stop this Dragons' Den spoof about the fading former England man being brilliant....
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Anthony Vickers
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I think you've missed very little AV.
In truth the signing of a winger from Colchester was never going to get us excited, but then are any of this summer's signings? I'm not bothered if they're not exciting, what I want to see is a group of players who play as a team with clear leadership and plenty of determination. Whether we get those characteristics we won't know until a few games in. I suspect the most exciting signing would be a Scholes or a Neville or both.
That said I'm looking forward to the new season, we have an opportunity for a season of exciting competitive football and if Alves stays and starts scoring it could be a blinder. Will he be our 'Pierre van Hooijdonk' (no idea if that spelling is right, but you know who I mean the gadgie who played for Forest when we last graced the Championship).
In the meantime I intend to enjoy Wimbledon, The Ashes and some hot weather.
Welcome back!! Now we can look forward to the resumption of informed debates rather than peppering Boro News Article 'Comments' with pithy one liners.
Welcome back!
What news of the boro? Good news: Bates stay, Wheater stay, new kit is way better than errea but the white wavey shoulder stripe?
Bad news:No bids for our big name losers,A colchester winger seen as our salvation, no sign of new keeper or experienced assistant manager.
Talking points: If Alves stays, would he shine? Why arent Boro stating categorically they will not sell Johnson?
Southgate to draw on the experience of an old manager? Woopdidoo. It did him a lot of good last season didnt it? Hopefully Boro will lose the first five games of the season, sack Southgate and his band of not so merry men, then we employ a proper manager who wins every other game and gets us promoted back to where we belong, THEN normal service will be resumed. heres hoping.........
Welcome back Anthony, you have been missed!
Nothing much has changed since you have been away. The double talk coming out of Rockliffe Holiday Park is just the same.
"We cannot get on with our intended purge of unwanted players because everyone in football is on holiday" really translates into "we are finding it difficult to move these players because they are on high Premiership wages and no other club is willing to pay them".
I think that Mark Yeates is the intended replacement for Tuncay. He can reputedly play left or right midfield or just behind the strikers. But, if it takes as long for the management team to find his best position as it did with Tuncay then we are in for a long frustrating bedding in period.
However, I wish Mark well. I hope he has the opportunity to "hit the ground running".
*AV writes: Everyone has been on holiday. The main reason there is so little early activity (and why I go away in these couple of weeks) is that contracts in football run until June 30th.
Players don't want to move before then because that is usually the date that triggers the next slice of their loyalty bonus/structured signing on fee and clubs don't want to move in to sign them before then as the selling club tries to get the buyers to pick up all the due payments as part of the deal.
AV,
Welcome back. Just back myself. What have you missed? Typically, with Boro as it has come to be under The Triumverate, not much.
Three bootroom and backroom leavers - richly deserved and necessary but not yet enough and no sign of any effective replacements or re-jigging of those left.
On the player front - attempts to get us excited about a third division winger and Matt Bates re-signing, Digard (like everyone else, not certain to stay) might be fit and nothing else. Still, never mind, eh - it's only pre-season on Monday and the first game only a month away.
Seems like we weren't the only ones on holiday, AV - most of those allegedly at work at The Riverside have been too.
How about Ross Turnbull's move to Chelsea, of all places? :(
The lad can hardly be blamed for wanting to better himself, especially through a move to one of the Big Four, so good luck to him, but if he's good enough for the Blues, even if only as one of Petr Cech's understudies, how come he wasn't deemed good enough for Boro? *baffled* Why a more concerted effort wasn't made to keep him on Teesside instead of the butter-fingered Corporal is beyond me!
"*AV writes: Everyone has been on holiday. The main reason there is so little early activity (and why I go away in these couple of weeks) is that contracts in football run until June 31st. [...]"
June 31st, AV? Tut tut. All that Portuguese sun must have fried your "leettle grey cells"! ;)
Welcome back, by the way.
**AV writes: It is all that Superbok. I will tippex it out.
Good to have you back AV. You seem to have timed your holiday very well as it's been deathly quiet on the football front - though frequenting a bar full of glaswegian muscle men whilst being oiled up and donning a pair of speedo's definitely makes you a slippery customer - it's amazing how useful a weapon a rolled up tabloid can be in those circumstances.
Other than signing the enthusiastic Yeates and Bates the plan at Boro seems to be that we need a Neville - though this 'any Neville will do' approach will probably only end up with signing Neville Southall as back up to the rather lonely figure of Brad Jones - the fact that chelsea have signed Turnbull confirms he wasn't dropped on ability.
Also the replacement for a number two to Southgate remains a mystery - he can't be too good otherwise he'll be seen as Gareth's replacement in waiting and it's impossible to conceive of the point in someone less experienced than Southgate.
So we definitely need some exciting news soon from Boro to wake up the summer break.
AV
June 31st? Rarer than a leap year! No wonder nothing's been happening!
Dates are dates - that's all they are. Nothing stopping the prep work being sorted and the contract effective date being 1 July.
No sign of that either, of course. And all this from a club that you set out as being 'major attractions' in The Championship.
**AV writes: I don't doubt a lot of work has been going on behind the scenes - we are told they have been doing preparatory work on a long list of names for weeks - but I think the priority is get a few big earning under-producers out first.
AV
Even if everybody was on holiday, how come they haven't been working behind the scenes to secure someone come ist July.......
I assume that not all agents nash off on holiday, seeing as this the busiest time of year for them.
anyhows wellcome back
**AV writes: You misunderstand. It is very, very busy and yes all the deals are being beavered away at but very few contracts with be signed until the new football year starts and the old club is fleeced completely with all last term's bonuses, image rights pay-outs and contractual entitlements paid in full.
AV
And I thought you went on holiday at this time of year because it is cheaper.
Odd to think that this time last year we were talking of training camps in the Algarve, a mini tournament involving some good teams, a trim and hungry squad (best ever, pacy, attacking etc, etc, etc).
Now we look forward to the lads going to Loch Lomond - I await the incredible bad luck of someone being bitten by a Scottish midge and missing the start of the season. We have a top class line up of friendlies with Dumbarton, Carlisle, Darlo finishing off with a trip to the capital to face the might of, er, Millwall.
Lambie has screwed up negotiations and we have missed out on Tevez, Ronaldo, Kaka and even little Michael Owen.
We have brought in Yeates who is multi talented so along with Bates that is five players we have signed.
Turnbull has decided he prefers being No2 to Cech at Chelsea, going on European campaigns, getting medals and maybe a run in the premiership rather than No2 to the Corporal secure in the knowledge that if Yeates is good at basket ball he would have been No3.
Crosby has taken the blame for all the incompetence of last season.
Richard Foy hasnt renewed his season ticket, Borophil still thinks we may avoid relegation from the Premiership as Sunderland and Hull have ten points deducted, the new kit is a blessed relief compared to the Tango job up the A1. No announcement about the away kit as, in light of our away record and in order to reduce costs we wont be playing any away games so we wont need one.
We already have one excuse gifted to us. Due to TV our players can be tired by 'having to start their season earlier than the other teams'.
Well with around a month to go we need to see some positive movements or else they will be like strangers when they meet for the kick off. So Wake up GIbbo
It's all been quite boring really, a bit like the Beebs coverage of Glasto - all predictably dull.
Yeates looks a good signing IF hes kept to the right or in the hole, the whole Turnbull thing is just a repetition of any other sulky Lambist "negotiation" (what you want tuppence a week extra? Get out on yer bike Granville) ...tell me I'm wrong!
ben in london said:
"new kit is way better than Errea but the white wavey shoulder stripe?"
Ahem. Way better than Errea? I struggle to recall a more ghastly concoction than that embarrasment of a new shirt. It is the sort than an 8 yr old would dream up to win a competition in 'Shoot' (is that still going?) It is horrific, dire beyond belief.
Mind you, put next to the Mags new away kit it looks positively cutting edge! Did you see any replicas of that banana monostrosity on your hols AV?
**AV writes: I saw surprising few large gentlemen squeezed into replica tops this year. Looking at the playground popularity poll I would estimate the market leaders in descending order as Man U, Barca, Chelsea/Liverpool, Celtic then Portugal tops with C.Ronaldo on the back (although that will be distorted by local conditions) plus a scattering of England and Brazil. And that's official!
The other factor to take into account was the massive proportion of sun-seekers from the Republic of Ireland, reflected in the impressive "we support our local team" presence of Gaelic football tops.
I saw one sad solitary Boro top.
I don't expect you to state each and every one of our potential transfer targets, AV, but have you heard anything from you Gazette colleagues to suggest that Boro have made any progress with signing Red Nev?
I'm wondering who or new club captain will be.
**AV writes: I think that one is pretty much on the back burner.
Superbok eh A.V ? I'm suprised you can remember your name after drinking that stuff. Three years based in Lisbon, taught one to stay on Sagres or seek a lobotomy!
As far as the wavy white shouldered shirt is concerned, I will be wearing mine with pride next weekend. Touring France for 10 days on my big red BMW cruiser, with a Boro badge emblazened on my windshield, and my personal number plate loyally displaying MFC.
Alles Didier Digard..... (not forgetting Frankie Queuedrue).
p.s. A.V, you also might have missed North Korea qualifying for the 2010 World Cup.
Do you think they will go for all-out attack?
**AV writes: How good would it be if they play Italy again. Or even get drawn against the USA. Talk about the Group of Death To Imperialism!
I know its old news but I would like to see a return to the 86 badge and then a proper white band as per the public consultation, not this Biggles scarf affectation!
I saw it in the club shop window, doesn't look a that much better quality than Errea, the collars clumsy as well, someone slipped with the mouse!
I couldn't care less what the kit looks like, as long as we have a great season (for great, read promotion whatever form it takes). All this summer sun must have gone to my head, I'm excited about the new season.
Have a great hol Chris - see you in the Navi around 4PM on Friday 7th Aug!!
Just when I thought I was going to have a year off and quiet contemplation reading match reports I see we are on the box first match of the season.
Glutton for punishment?
AV
Michael spoof is excellent.
Following the argument that everyone was on holiday I had a quick gander at SkySports transfer centre. Noticed there has been loads of activity.
The problem we have is that we are way down the pecking order and there needs to be movement amongst the apex predators at the top of the food chain, the scraps will then cascade down. This has always been the case but we are further down the chain than in recent years.
I also suspect clubs will be looking at our saleable assets and will wait until there are either real pressures on us to sell and get a bargain or someone else makes a move and they have to get into a beauty contest.
I may have to find a SkySports feed when I am on holiday 31st August.
And I am not going to blame it all on Lambie, it is the consequences of the serious mismanagement of our resources.
Welcome back AV as above not much going on yet.
But our fall from grace has definatly been easier to take after all the goings on up the road. Mags back in training a few days before us.The stand in coach spent the whole first day getting Owen up to speed for the trip to Old Trafford he thought for the match not the move. Martins has been docked 15 mins from wages for being late. You could write a best seller on that lot.
Back to us new blood needed urgently friendlies not far away and they need to be playing not trying out against Sheff Utd.
SG needs to gamble a bit and get the targets in and get his money back when Downing,Tuncay,Oneil and Mido goes. If we have to sell them first I see big problems.
Welcome back AV.
I've just got back from Korea hence the new (Yarm) monogram. Sadly I'll be away somewhere else overseas when the season kicks off against The Blades.
You haven't missed a lot, and like most, I'm seriously under-whelmed by MFC's lack of movement in the in's and out's department. I still don't feel "up for it" quite yet, probably because up to now the club have given me nothing to get excited about.
Only time will tell, but if MFC are waiting to shed some of the "outs" before investing in the "ins" then I fear they will not be as prepared for the new "assault on the Championship" as some at the club would have us believe.
But I'll trust in what you say (at least for now) and hope that the club ARE busy behind the scenes lining up new players, back room staff etc.
Kev Bouttell: Thanks mate, looking forward to meeting up with you and the gang for another season of rollercoaster banter.
Viva le Boro !
Goodness me AV. Your choice of holiday destination shows real Middlesbrough taste. Beefy Glasgow types, footy tops etc etc. Did you arrive back at the airport wearing a sombrero and with a fluffy donkey under your arm and a bottle of Mateus Rose in your hand. You can take the boy out of Teesside etc etc.
Welcome home, now back to the grind.
**AV writes: NO, if you read it properly I stress there WEREN'T many football tops at all. I gave Calla Millor a miss this year and went where the players go instead, swanning around the posh marina at Vilamoura with my Henley's polo shirt and three-quarter cargos. And I didn't buy a donkey - if only because I spent every spare hour scouring the Algarve for somewhere that would sell me a parmo.
I think Ian's on to something with the multi-role Yeates and Bates - not more players in the squad but fewer - and all called 'Jack'.
The other advantage for Gate is that if none of them have a position then he can't be accused of square-pegging either!
An economic triumph of squad building for The Count!
Of course, we all know that the girls are better at multi-tasking. Better not let Jezza go to Brum then - the Frenchie is the biggest girl we've got!
AV
Why was 'femmer' edited out? Aside from its alliterative value it is a perfectly proper, dictionaried word with absolutely no connotations in its definition other than 'weakness', whatever its original etymology, which I can only hazard a guess at.
It's certainly no worse than referring to Alliadiere as a big girl. Strange.
**AV writes: Fair enough, it is now an officially sanctioned blog word. I'm not really down with the kids and I wasn't to know that you weren't getting all ghetto gang patois on my ass.
AV
Just checked the etymology of 'femmer' as I should have done before my last.
It's a mining term referring to a weak overhead seam liable to collapse.
Seems exactly apt.
Vilamoura? Bit like Teesport with sun!
Interestingly (or not) many years ago stayed at a fishing village (giggish) not far along the Algarve called Olhos D'Agua.
It was just after easter, weather was gorgeous but there were more people on the postcards than the beach. Sat in a beachside restaurant with my son wearing our 'Argentina' away shirt. The waiter came up and asked if TLF would be going back to Middlesbrough and about the Boro in general.
We were astonished to find someone so knowledgable about the Boro so asked how he knew about the club. His response was that Mister Gibson ate at the restaurant.
John
I recall Jack was a master of none.
Don’t get me wrong, I am trying very hard to look forward with enthusiasm and confidence to Boro’s new venture as a Championship club. Unfortunately the “ghost of season past” just won’t leave me alone.
Steve Gibson’s radio revelations of the relegation season are still at the front of my mind. According to the chairman the club is run by the gang of three, who have collective responsibility. They discuss any problems together and come up with collective solutions. Very democratic.
Now to me this implies that all three of them have a big say in all areas…like for example team selection and tactics. I can imagine that it could easily evolve into a situation where the whole team could be picked by Steve Gibson on his own. This could even include substitutions during games with his instructions being relayed to the bench.
Keith Lamb could handle the motivational pre-match and half time team talks, leaving Gareth Southgate to deal with the touchline area during the game and the media summary at the end.
It all may sound very far from reality, but how else can you explain games like the
FA Cup quarter final against Cardiff City when Boro inexplicably performed so badly, and last season when it all started so confidently with our “best-ever squad” and ended with a club full of totally demotivated players who could not defend, create or score goals.
That squad of players has taken an awful lot of stick, but in my opinion they are a lot better than the league table suggests.
Steve Gibson wouldn't be the first chairman to think he has enough football experience to do the manager's job, would he? If the same situation carries on next season then we are doomed.
Please convince me I’m wrong so I can move on!
**AV writes: I think it takes an incredible leap of imagination to deduce from what has been said about collective responsibility and corporate strategy that Steve Gibson is picking the team, driving the team bus and is only one surge of meglomania from playing himself and Lambie up front against Sheffield United.
I live 5 minutes from Loch Lomond but will be in Pompey when they get there and will miss the Dumbarton match. How frustrating is that?
What a week!
AV returns from the dead.
One Michael's final resting place is Neverland.
The other is Never-never Land!
Spooky!
Just occured to me - how appropriate that England's former diminutive striker should be so strongly involved with both Newcastle and Manchester United - both heavily financed clubs.
It's all in the surname!
Ian Wood
God moves in mysterious ways/the Devil looks after his own. *
* Delete as applicable.
On to football. I must admit that I hope the ins and outs are sorted quickly. Especially the outs, they are merely getting in the way of sorting the out team structure and style of play.
Also, it cant help with morale and team building having players going through the motions. I dont doubt they are putting in the time and effort but if they and gate and co know they are going it must hinder preparations.
Ian
Quite!
New keeper from Tranmere... whoopee! That's the news i have been waiting for. Now I know theres no money. What price Turnbull?
At a time when people ask us to be positive 35 years old can only be back up for Jones which means he is no 1 for the season. How old was Schwarz when he left? Must have been around 49 as he was deemed too old.
It is frustrating that transfer activity is currently very slow, but more frustrating for me is to read yet again GS being quoted as saying his aim is to get players in early.
If contracts dont end until 30th June or indeed the 31st! Then clearly with pre-season kicking off today it was always going to be unlikely that we would have signed many players.
Also at odds with the aim of getting plyers in early is the intention of achieving the best possible price for players being sold, which effectively means playing brinkmanship and holding out for the highest prices.
We'll still be buying and selling players well into August that's the reality and the club and GS should be open about that.
Getting worried AV. We've just signed a second League One player in a row.
Signing players of a lower level always means you end up in that level !
Seems we have signed on a free the 35 year old Wales goalkeeper Danny Coyne ... .hmmm...so why didn't we just give Schwarz the 3 year contract he wanted? Seems to me the powers that be have decided the youngsters didn't work so we will try the pensioners.... watch out for Southgate strapping on his boots. lol
Loved the Mickey Owen spoof!
Cheers AV and welcome back.
AV, what do you think about our new goalkeeper from Tranmere? Played a lot last season but in the 1st Division. Experienced as we hoped but signed only for two seasons. I bet J Steele is highly regarded by Boro.
Up the Boro!
**AV writes: The main question is whether he is better than Jones. If he is, it's a plus.
Chris -I think the answer to your question as to why we did'nt give Schwarzer a 3 year contract is probably to do with the fact that he will be on four times the money that Coyne is.
Had a look on the BBC website.Tranmere fans seem to be upset at his departure and he did have the most clean sheets in league 1 last season.
I think fans need to be realistic. We have gone down and as a result will lose at least £20m in revenue because of the TV. deal. I cant see us spending any serious money on players until we generate the funds through departures and getting rid of at least three or four big earners off the wage bill.
Turnbull was better than Jones, Vic and he got dropped ... and eventually left.. to no other than Chelski, so obviously it's not talent that decides if you start a game.
I think Coyne will be better than Jones, but anybody would be. Problem is Jones will be no.1 whatever. Mark Yeates seems like he could be a good buy, time will tell.
The kit.....oh dear, I saw it in the club shop at the weekend and people walking around the town.
Stockton Red
I think most fans are realistic. They are also brighter than many give them credit for.
We are in the Championship and are there on 'merit'. We keep debating about how much money the club has or hasnt got. Many of us think that is a side issue, we are where we are due to the ability of those who run the club to manage the resources that were available.
Turnbull going to Chelsea is a sign that we do have talent but not the skills to manage and develop it. He is a far better keeper than the Corporal, whilst we do not know details I guess he may be better off being No2 to Cech than bench warming as Jones careers around the penalty area.
For those in any doubt as to the problems within the club, once again I suggest they go and look at the results from the reserves and the academy. There will be a myriad of reasons why their results are no better than the first team but it does not instill one with confidence.
I hope that the Supreme Soviet, sorry, Holy Trinity have a cunning plan.
I think that redcartim is right about Coyne on all counts.
I see in this signing an affordable (cheap) option to allow the Unholy Trinity to argue they've got an experienced goalie whilst never allowing him to seriously challenge 'Gate's Favourite', The Corporal, for the No. 1 slot.
And - as Steve says - buy enough League 1 players and you'll soon have a League 1 team.
That's it! Let's burn the Riverside, massacre the team, and let the Borosheviks execute Tsar Gibbov & his cohorts in front of the Ayresome Gates.
If this football lark is so depressing and painful why not seek another avenue of enjoyment? Or is this site a cover for the MiseraBoro Masochists Society?
No disrespect to the new keeper, but I never ever thought I'd see the day again when Boro got into such a state that they felt signing a 35year old from Tranmere on a free was a step forward. Might not have been quite so bad if they had part exchanged him for Jones.
After 11 years in the premiership and our supposedly excellent academy, is this really what we've come to? Oh dear, here comes that dark cloud again.
Ian Gill
At the end of the day Turnbull will be getting more money at Chelsea than he was offered here. It happens at all clubs - players run their contracts down then play the field to get the best deal.I dont see what all the fuss is about.
Presumably Yeates is a lot better off playing for Boro than Colchester hence his enthusiasm to move here. Does that mean Colchester cannot manage their players? Does the departure of Ronaldo and Tevez show that Man.Utd cannot manage their players?
For most of last summer people were screaming we should sign an experienced goalkeeper.We've got one now. An international, well thought of by his club's supporters and with the best record of clean sheets in League One last year. He replaces Turnbull so what's the problem?
It never ceases to amaze me how in the analysis of last season's failure the players avoid any criticism.The season before Downing scored 10 goals. Last year he failed to score and arguably he could be said to be on -2 as a result of his two missed penalties.
At the end of the season before even the most pessimistic of fans would have had Alves down for 10 goals this time. He scored four. It is an absolute certainty that if Alves had scored 10 and Downing even five we would not have gone down.
Whilst the "Holy Trinity" as you put it made a lot of mistakes both in strategic planning and management last year a number of players failed to deliver what could reasonably be expected of them and that applies regardless of the aptitude or lack of it of the manager/coaches /chief exec/chairman.
Am I the only one to be under-whelmed by Boro's pre-season friendlies? Darlo, Carlisle, Dumbarton, Macclesfield, Millwall. Hmmm. Last season we had Atletico Madrid (I think), Porto, Hibs, and a top German side?
So 3 alternative theories spring to mind:
1) Relegation bites hard and we're now paying the price because big clubs don't want to know or
2) this is a brilliant master plan by Southgate to actually win some games and thus give the squad back some much needed confidence ; or
3) he knows we'll lose them all and thus lull other Championship sides into a false sense of security before we launch into a blistering six game winning streak.
Whatever, I can't help thinking we ought to be testing ourselves against rather stronger opposition - the ones who might just test out our well-known defensive capabilities, for instance!
I'm OK with the Coyne signing. Free, international and experienced. Seems to fit the bill - if only he replaces the Corporal!
What I'm not OK with is the kit. It's an abomination. Who designed it - a committee? Or a triumverate? Where's my beloved, iconic white band gone? When was I consulted? And whose brilliant idea was it to play in white socks? White shorts I can just about cope with, but the combination makes us look like a bunch of girlies. Pathetic. Another PR howler from MFC, just when we thought we'd left Lettergate behind us.
Still, could be worse. The Geordies still haven't got a new manager or a new owner, they haven't bought anybody and they've got a banana yellow kit. And what's even better is that the arch-loyalist and 200% commitment-man Viduka looks set to leave them as his contract`has run out. What a great servant he was for them and how richly player and club deserved one another!
Welcome back, Vic! I see you managed to return just in time for The Ashes. It surely can't have been the footie as next season lumbers menacingly into view through a small gap in the black storm clouds above, could it?
Sky today reporting Tuncay, Mido and Alves not reporting for training. I understand Tuncay has been given an extra week off, but don't know about the other two. They won't be missed, that's for sure. Attitude and skills both lacking.
The club will probably have to pay them to leave, as no one in their right minds would buy them. We don't have a good record in signing good players. 'Someone' at the club is not a good judge of players, and we usually end up with crap.
Clive, I think the plan is B. At least that is how I understood GS's message at www.mfc.premiumtv.co.uk/page/News/NewsDetail/0,,1~1713036,00.html
I hope we finally end the away day blues and win some matches in the C'ship. It would be a great change after last season.
Up the Boro!
There is a general consensus of feeling underwhelmed on these boards as the reality of building for a campaign in the Championship sinks in.
The latest transfers from League 1's Colchester and Tranmere for a bit of loose change contrast starkly from the multi-million signings of yester-year. They both sounded a bit star struck after seeing our facilities so I hope they're able to avoid thinking that they've already made it.
Also the exodus of 'top stars' has yet to begin but it looks like we eventually end up with a collection of hard-working, no frills footballers who are prepared to put in a shift - Maybe that's what you need to be successful in the championship -
Along with the pre-season friendlies, it appears Boro are in the process of stripping all associated glamour from the club. I'm afraid there will be no escapism at the Riverside this season - there is a job to be done and entertainment is not a priority (again).
So we're stuck waiting for scraps to fall off the top table after the likes of Stoke and Hull have tossed them aside - in the meantime we're looking to pluck a few unpolished gems from the obscurity of League 1.
Still, some things never change - our Brazillian has failed to show up for training along with our sulking misunderstood genius from Egypt, who's showing why he's had more clubs than a secondhand golf bag.
How do you solve a problem like Alves? We're probably set to take a massive massimo style hit that will probably prevent the word brazillian being banned from any future transfer discussions.
AV
I see that a couple of newspapers have taken a different line on the Tuncay non-appearance (and, allegedly, that of Mido and Alves) than the Gazette reported from MFC.
They allege that the three (at least) were unauthorised 'no-shows' and that other players who want away but turned up for pre-season as required have got resentful. It paints the whole situation as 'Gate loses control (even more) of a squad in turmoil'.
I take into account that the main progenitor is the Daily Mail and that the article is labelled 'Exclusive' - which usually means 'so outrageous that no-one else will touch the story with a bargepole'.
So what's your view of this? Or has my last paragraph answered my question?
**AV writes: Mido and Alves were AWOL yesterday. They were due to report for training and did not appear. They did not have permission but Tuncay and a few other sid. We don't know if the deadly duo will show today as training doesn't start until 10am. With a bit of luck they are talking to clubs.
Can anyone shed any light on the reported failure to attend training of Mido, Alves, Tuncay and Shawky? AV?
**AV writes: I refer the honorable gentleman to my previous answer.
Still think our new keeper is a backward step but I hope I am wrong.
Playing in goal for Wales will proberbly have had him picking the ball out of the net more often than not. Secondly, is if he was so good why didnt Tranmere offer him a new contract.
You have got to get in seasoned Championship players and a couple of premier bench warmers but we are buying league one players and thats where we will end up. This also will not sell season tickets and current squad players sitting on the fence wondering to stay or go are having their minds made up for them.
Very very worrying and frustrating.
I share the concerns that we could do with a bit more urgency, we just seem to be drifting along at the moment, waiting for something to happen.
We could well be in for a very unsettled August, especially if our outgoing players don't leave til the end of the window. What is our strategy there - surely we couldn't let people go if we had no way of bringing replacements in? This sell before we buy idea might sound alright, but it might not be very practical.
Did I read Ched Evans might be going to Sheff Utd? Surely he'd be a cracking player in the championship.
People keep saying we should be buying Championship players and not League One players but both of these players have played most of their career in the Championship.
Why do people think we will make major signings when we didnt even do it last summer as a Prem club? I'm as bored as anyone at the moment but unfortuantly thats the level we are at at the moment. Its not the first time and it probably wont be the last.
No matter what people think of Southgate the new boys should be given a chance, they are boro players now and at least they want to play for us unlike most of the overpaid rubbish we have at the moment.
AV
So, if the story about the refuseniks was true - at least in part - do we know whether the other assertions are right (resentment and turmoil etc)?
If so, things are even worse than we thought - and that was bad enough.
**AV writes: I think there is a certain amount of journalistic licence but there is no question that it is a direct challenge to Southgate's authority.
If Alves has really gone awol, I'm staggered. As far as I'm concerned, the man solely responsible for our relegation last season, this would be absolutely unbelievable.
Stockton Red
The players should take their share of responsibility for the relegation. Alves and Downing should have scored more goals, come to think of it the whole team should have scored more. I got fed up at being on time for a game only to find the players turned up late, left early or just didnt bother
But my concerns are not just with the goals scored.
Last August the club took a number of gambles with the squad, gambles that failed. It was not strong enough, lacked depth and had weaknesses through most positions.
The first team were a major flop but the reserves and academy team were little better. The reserves finished second bottom of their league, the results for last seasons academy games are no longer on the MFC site but the results were basically poor.
That tells me, at face value, there are similar problems throughout the club. I may be wrong but from afar I can only use the evidence of my own eyes. There appeared to be a malaise at the club that set in pre Xmas and just got worse.
Looking at the summer so far, there is nothing yet to encourage me that we are going to turn it round. It cant all have been Crosby's fault.
Leaves and the Sphinx not turning up may be a blessing in disguise but we look extremely light up front and we didnt start from a strong base.
I see we are being linked with Webber who has just been released by Sheff Utd! Yeates should prove a good buy, Coyne is window dressing to allow the Corporal to cement his place.
The pre season friendlies are uninspiring. Distinctly underwhelming springs to mind.
Local talk in Derby is Hulse for £2million
**AV writes: We heard that, we asked the question and both clubs have categorically denied there is anything in it.
Oww Vick, I told yer Bryan was on his way but yer never printed me letter, like!