Season Over? Cardiff Again!
BLOODY Cardiff again! Game over? Defeat has left Boro hopelessly adrift, five points behind the Welsh side and having played two more games. And with rampant Newcastle to come next week. And West Brom and Leicester still to play away. Making the play-offs isn't impossible - yet - but it would take a dramatically improved Boro beating the Geordies and then embarking on a spectacular winning run to force our way back into it with seven wins, maybe eight wins, from the last 11 games.
And on the evidence of the frustratiing display at Cardiff I wouldn't put money on it.
Cardiff were there for the taking: a bitterly divided club with chairman and manager at loggerheads, fans in open revolt against a board that has taken them to the brink of administration and a team in the middle of a recent wobble that has left them vulnerable to their annual play-off bottle job. But Boro could not take advantage of that brittle mindset by piling on the pressure.
Boro knew that it was a decisive match, that they had to be organised, motivated and focussed from the start and they had to win. And once again against Cardiff, when the moment came and the stakes were high they simply failed to deliver, either a display or a result. In truth, it was over after three minutes.
The first half was as poor a performance as any under Strachan. Disorganised from the off, lack-lustre, without spirit or spark or creativity. There was no coherent shape, no tempo, no drive and no response to the sickening and cheaply conceded early goal. For all the recent signs of growing mental strength, it was a shambolic 45 minutes in which there were no leaders visible in the team and as individuals they lost every personal battle in every area of the pitch.
Yes, Boro improved after the break. Yes there were chances: Leroy Lita headed over with a close range header, Wheater's goal was ruled out because Lita stuck his hand up vaguely in the flightpath of the ball then in a fast and furious final ten minutes Marshall made two excellent saves from Gary O'Neil and one from Barry Robson and arguably they should have got something - although Cardiff could counter by saying they should have had a penalty and then they hit the bar in a stoppage time break.
But for Boro it was too little, too late. They had conceded the early goal and the initiative and in a game they really needed to win and there was no way back. Not without a cutting edge, For an hour after the goal they looked totally bereft of ideas, inspiration or quality. It was poor fare and does not bode well for the run in.
Three demoralising away defeats in a row to play-off rivals without scoring a goal suggests this team is well short of what is needed to make it to the knockout out phase or make progress should by some miracle they get there.
And worse still, it could be Newcastle that ram the last few nails into the coffin next week.
Oh well, there's always next year.
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To rebuild in January and push for a play off place without showing any real form or killer instinct was just too much to hope for.
I only hope we can secure Macmanus, Roberts, Flood for next seasons campaign and that Macdonald delivers. A big surprise for me is Lita's lack of goals. Some canny summer bargains needed.
The Geordies, especially after Saturdays result, are waiting to finish us off like a pack of wolves. We'd be the same and wouldn't want it any other way. If we're to be put to the sword Saturday better by our neighbours than others.
On the other hand knowing the history of the Boro no matter who plays, we could well win this one, other teams implode, and we're only a couple of points away again. I have a feeling getting into the playoffs is going to go down to the wire.
'now in this present day climate we cannot compete any more so we need to get use to life in the championship but lets start playing attractive football no square pegs etc..'
3/1/2010 11:55 AM GMT on gazettelive.co.uk
Above was posted by Normanbysmoggy back in January. Looks like we aren't going forward but simply staggnating. Hardly surprising when you sell all you're best players. Even now I'm getting a little tired of berating Gibbo et al for the poor management as I'm coming to the point of stoic acceptance. 'Stuck in the Middle with You', name that tune.
What will really stick in my gullet is a heavy loss to the barcodes but then again when you tie your colours to a lame horse you deserve all you get. We could of gone the Pompey route and disappeared into oblivion. Whats worse a quick death or watching the Boro without a single current player in double figures (goals that is).
Anyways management's got its agenda, the ginger one will continue to struggle along and the team will pick up its wages. Life goes on. "Who's that team we call the Boro, who's that team we all adore." Fat chance at the present time.
The quality of this league is summed up by Blackpool's winning goal scorer. Didn't we release him 3 years ago? As a team we're just not good enough, simple as that. Massive clear out in the summer has to be done.
One question though. Is Miller fit? Why cant he get a game? You would think he would start alongside Lita, no?
I am struggling to understand how they keep being paid so much week after week, These are lower division players they should be paid accordingly, we could then have lower entrance fees we might even see the odd packed stadium. Its time these guys started working for the team and the club.
I think the other thing that needs mentioning about this Cardiff side was that according to Dave Jones they had 6 first team regulars missing.
I feel very disappointed, the only thing this will achieve is to make me feel better so I will say it anyway - Southgate was always a risk (although I think he may have done better at a different lower league club) ; it was a bad idea to sack him at the time we did.
The circumstances of Strachans appointment will come back to haunt us, he was semi-retired or on a 'gap year'; he alienates some people, there are some players who he fancies and others who just don't want to play for him; we will lose our best players at the end of this season; we will have to rebuild and will be faced with our perennial problem - the fact that the Boro is located in Middlesbrough.
The only way to combat this is to get McClaren's replacement right. In our recent history we have succeeded in kick-starting this club with untried (charismatic) player/managers (Charlton and Robson) from outside the club. There seem to be several candidates around, perhaps we should be bumping into them in the stands and having conversations with them about how they like to play the game.
Once again in a game we had to try to win Arca is selected on the left wing following his abysmal performance in that position at Forest.Why?
It could be argued that in the last 3 away matches we deserved something and got nothing.However the familiar theme is that we come out slowly and only attack the opposition when we have gone a goal behind.
Negative team selection, a negative mental approach invariably produces negative results and has 3 times in a row without scoring. If you have Flood[a grafter] on one flank surely you need an attacking threat down the other. How is Arca playing in front of Franks,Bennett, Emnes?.I dont understand it.
Now I know I do not have UEFA qualifications but how about for a change we send a team out to start fast, attack, and try to score the first goal.It cannot produce any less than sitting back waiting for the opposition to score which is the current game plan devised by Strachan and his coaching team.
...There is always next year, provided we don't crumble further like Leeds. Granted they had bigger financial problems, but then they also at least made it into the play-offs.
No I am optimistic, we can learn and build from this season, maybe even end it on a high and beat Newcastle; From hell's heart we stab at thee.
Spot on av..season is over without a doubt.. lets try and not get a drubbing next week..
that is all we can hope for. Even though I am a Strachan fan, after yesterdays shambolic display I am beginning to have serious doubts...
"Oh well, there's always next year."
Surely you can't get more TYPICAL Boro than that!
AV, "Oh well, there's always next year".
Judging by the current playing personnel, even that could be viewed as highly optimistic.
"And worse still, it could be Newcastle that ram the last few nails into the coffin next week. "
What would be worse would be that Boro fluke promotion through the play offs and have a "Derby County 11 points" type season next year.
Get the 2 wins needed to guarantee staying up, then chuck the young uns for the last half a dozen or so games. We wont go back up until the next batch of talented youngsters emerge and its a waste of time hoping that we do go up seeing as it would be a pointless venture
I see absolutely nothing at all from this team that gives me the impression things are in any way improved over the previous Southgate regime. Perhaps on paper there are more "Men" than lightweights but there is no return from them.
The Cardiff debacle (sound familiar?) was firmly down to Strachans inability to play his best 11 or more importantly his stubborn resistance to acknowledge what the fans have been telling him for months about certain players.
The way defenders cowered away from the cross that led to the opening goal showed exactly what is wrong with the team as a whole, no fight, no drive, no belief and definitely no passion.
OK there are a few who show desire but how a team as a whole can capitulate the way they did from the off when they as a minimum should have been "up for it" is down to the Manager. We used to blame Gareth for the exact same "Rabbits in headlamp" mentality and the same is down to Strachan. For 45 minutes we were well and truly Stricken!
To actually start a game in the Championship with two lightweight Strikers who couldn't score in the Bongo when big men are sat on the bench was quite frankly insulting. If that's what constitutes tactical nous then somebody somewhere needs a serious reality check.
The next game could be a massive turning point for what remains of the Boro faithful. The likelihood is that we will get stuffed and humiliated by the Barcodes based on the ineptitude of the current manager's inability to have a game plan, pick a functioning organised team and then to motivate and inspire them. Was the belated second half revival down to the half time team talk or because Hardlyeverthere went off with what appears to yet another injury forcing a tactical change?
This season is over and the rebuilding must begin now. That means certain individuals who have no future with the club should be left out of the reckoning and work with what we will have for next season and try to get a headstart instead of waiting until July.
And I know it's over - still I cling
I don't know where else I can go
Over and over and over and over
Over and over, la ...
I know it's over
And it never really began
But in my heart it was so real
And you even spoke to me, and said .............
Next season is only 5 months away. in the meantime we have a general election and a world cup to keep us amused. When was the last time our season was effectively over in the first week of march?
now back to the more pressing issue of potholes...........
To all the Southgate slayers - keep remembering, after the win against Derby,1 point from top, now 27. And we've played a game more. And don't give me all the 'Southgate had only played poor teams' story - he could only play the ones scheduled. Would his detractors have been happier if we had lost them before making a storming charge to the top.
Gordan is taking us nowhere fast
John Aus
It just sad. Thinking about how it could have been with Southgate in charge. Second place, third place, battling for automatic promotion, playing creative fast-flowing football. Fielding the young local players and still compete with the top. What a sad story this has become. But the worst is not the result. The worst is that Strachan is showing two visible signs of his management:
1. Not using the young local lads. In the last games. Its more and more obvious that Strachan have no loyalty to the academy politics of his predecessor. Which could mean Boro losing the only acclaimed pride left. The chairman was the other, and that was lost some months ago.
2. Playing the dullest muscle and grit game in the league. His philosophy will see Boro become the classic British no-style long-ball team. What a bummer. We can only dream about the Souhgate and the Robson days of at least trying to entertain, trying to create art.
Its hard to admit, but these two factors has recently made made me lose some of the enthusiasm. Results isnt everything. But when you sacrifice both entertainment AND youngsters WITHOUT getting results ... Its just sad.
Four months of Strachan and £4million spent that most other managers in the league would give their right eye for. And what have we to show for it?
Still fielding sides with Ali and Lita up front and with Arca and Flood on the wings, the two least effective attacking widemen the fizzy pop league has ever seen.
Wee gordon has a strange understanding of the word 'progress'.
Well the Cardiff game was a crossroads and unfortunately we couldn’t take the high road and there will be no grandstand finish, our season is in casualty and the prognosis is not good.
Much like the game at Blackpool where they were on a dodgy run, a draw would have been a great result. But as we know we couldn’t do it. Giving away poor goals doesn’t help but then you very rarely, especially in this league, give good ones away. What is more important is that we failed to score, again. This has been our achilles heel all season. With our top scorer sold in January, sadly I think he will still be our top scorer in May.
I think there is still reasons for optimism for next season. We are not millions of miles away from the teams in the play off spots, we just need to find a cutting edge. I think Killen and McDonald when fit will score provided they are given the right service.
That is the tricky part. A complete overhaul of the midfields creativity is needed. We know it, Strachan knows it so hopefully he will get it done and this time next year we should be comfortably in the top six.
As for Saturday when our Neighbours come to visit I think we will get a good performance, Some of the team will be looking for contracts either at home or away and should put a god shift in. Some may even hit top gear. If not work will be awful as I will be the mock of the week.
Time for a few Sunday afternoon beers and to put my thinking cap on. There must be some good points to being in the chimp leg. again next year, non readily spring to mind but there must be some
I didn't see the game but it seems like we deserved a draw at the least. I rarely felt that in Gareth's last year.
This defeat cannot be compared to the FA cup loss against Cardiff. We, arguably deserved to draw or even win yesterday. When we played Cardiff in the cup we were 'hammered' by a club with inferior players in a league below us. Without doubt the worst performance I have ever seen in any art form and that includes those poor inadequate 'saddo's' on X factor.
We are still in with a chance and we will beat Newcastle next week.
Redcar Red / John Gibson:
No chairman will offer Gareth Southgate a job which involves any form of genuine decision making. Gareth has found his niche which is a seat on the sofa musing over things that he doesn't really care about. I find it painful to hear him commentate because his personality and performance 'on the box' make it obvious (to me at least) that he should never have been given the managers job.
It's particularly baffling because I can only remember him as being a brave, clever, honest, admirable and skilful player. He has no aptitude for football management. He can't tell a good footballer from a crap one. He's naive in every sense.
I'll stop posting to this blog if he get's offered a two year contract to any club in the Prem, Championship or 1st Division.
Watch Ryan Bertrand for Reading - very good player
"Oh well, there's always next year!"
Well there will be for me (even if I will probably feel a bit grumpy about it). But be sure there won't be a next year at the Boro for some of the present playing staff and, more importantly, for some of the supporters.
In the "Throttled Toad" last night I met a long-standing season ticket holder. In some ways he is one of the four or five people who got me into the Red Book Thing at the start of the Riverside Revolution. I had been to occasional games since the 1960's with my father, and a few on my own, but there had then been a lengthy gap until I put away my own sporting kit and decided to commit to regular attendance as the new stadium opened.
I used to call this lad "Hooligan" because of his appearance (including skinhead haircut) and his hard-line support of the Boro, which obviously dominated much of his conversation and his leisure time, going to all home and many away games. He had a very healthy dislike of all things Sunderland and Newcastle.
He is, like many of us, more complex than at first appearance (for example he has always been a musical fan - favourite: Brigadoon for example). But he was one of those whose encouragement made me decide to by a Red Book to bring down my own sporting curtain while raising another.
As he stood at the bar, and thought about yesterday's game he sadly announced that, for him "That was that". He will not be buying a Season Ticket next year. I guess he must have had one for about 25 years, but he said he had had enough. That is no doubt being echoed in pubs and clubs around the area.
People sometimes say things but, on reflection, decide they were too hasty. However unless there was a miraculous turnaround in the next few weeks, I really don't expect my friend to be going back next season. The club won't be getting his £400 or whatever it is, in June or July. And that is likely to be mirrored in thousands of other local homes.
In that event we might be seeing record low crowds next season. There won't be a large bank of non-attending Season Ticket holders to lump onto the attendance figures. So, while there's always another year, it may get lonely on the terraces and in the concourses (on the other hand the queues to get served will be shorter).
Can you imagine a cold Tuesday night in February next year, and a home game against, say Bristol City or Swindon (say the Wiltshire club goes up in the play-offs)? Is there a chance the 10,000 barrier might be broken for the first time in a league game at the Riverside? And what would that do to the business model as the end of the parachute money was looming up in the near future?
**AV writes: *shudder*
Woke up this morning to the sound of somebody gargling. My first impression was the fat lady getting ready but it was only my daughter who had a sore throat.
John Gibson -
Southgate's team didnt only play the bad teams but they had the same problem as Strachan's.
Get points off the poor teams, very little off the good teams though the definition of poor and good in this division is tricky. And that is why we are mid table because that is how good we are at the moment.
Until Johnson left he could torture poor teams. Without him we appear to be more solid (all relative of course) but havent that cutting edge.
Something else GS1&2 have in common is the beleif that Arca can do a job for us. Baffling.
Anyway, Toon next followed by own personal derby at Derby.
We still have a good chance of making the playoffs. Newcastle are by far the best team in the championship, but that's not to say we can't beat them!
However, as stated time and again we are nowhere near good enough - so we won't reach the playoffs. Has anyone checked the table? We probably stand more chance of being dragged into a relegation scrap than the top six.
I keep hearing about the improved second-half performance; well, I suppose so, maybe, just, but Cardiff deserved to win both halves, and 3-0 would have been a fair result. 4-0 would too.
We were very poor and we need to make sure that we avoid relegation next year, in my opinion, at least as much as pushing for the Premier League.
I had a good day, surpisingly. I arrived early, around 10.20 a.m., too early for the people who opened the visitors' car park. I went to ask Ian (the guy who runs the HSS hire shop near the ground) what would be best to do, and he told me to leave my car and go into town (which I'd mentioned as my intention in arriving so early). He asked me to make sure I left room for the burger van who occupies his space after he knocks off at 1.00, so I did, and toddled off to the city centre.
Cardiff people are great, but they are also great wind-up merchants! I went to town and indulged in memories of THAT DAY. (Pub quiz question, "Which city have Boro played games in on three different grounds?")
I met a Bluebird fanatic outside Wagamama's and lunched with him and his father, walked up to the ground and joined in the march of around 1500 people demonstrating against the board. My colours were obviously on show and I was treated with great respect and friendship. I joined in the chanting about "Where's our money gone?" quite happily.
Then, I took my purchases from town to the HSS car park so I could stick them in the boot of my car, and, when I got there, the car park's barriers were very firmly down!! Oh, my God! I asked the guy on the burger van whether Ian had told him about my early arrival etc. He said, "No, Ian just said some guy left his car and just walked off. He told me I should clamp him!" EEK!
The guy had a very straight face, and my panic was only diffused when his wife said, "He never said that. He told you all about this man!" Then we all had a laugh and I went into the match with the burger man saying I'd be all right until he left around six, unless Boro won, in which case I'd be clamped!!
So, thanks to the Cardiff side of the match, I had a lot of fun. We were dire, though, including Willo Flood, who the Cardiff fans I talked to all thought of as a shoddy bit of goods. I could not think of any men of the match on this occasion either, which is quite unusual for me (a game I like to play).
Coyne had little to do, so maybe him; Wheater was OK, and Taylor wasn't too bad, although the lad running at him was a major danger. I see O'Neil got the vote on the official web site, but I can't or the life of me see why. Summing up, I enjoyed the Cardiff side of things more than anything the Boro served up. But it's a long way to go to enjoy things supplied by a club you don't love!
Usual fare - outcompeted and limited ability, Strachan has been a disapointment. Gareth had to go but Strachs , what a mess. No fight no ability and no character, where are your men now STRACH.
What net improvement has there been in results or just performances since Strachan came in?
NONE! Zilch. Nowt. Rien.
This bloke will take us nowhere, as many predicted when he was appointed. He just isn't what we need.
I had us down to lose that one yesterday but actually other results, Sheff U, Leicester and Swansea all went for us and in my predictor that I've done for the top 10 we still make the playoffs.
Starting next week with a point against newcastle then followed by a 5 match streak of back to back wins
DERBY(A)
READ(H)
PRES(H)
WATF(A)
CPAL(H)
All very very winnable. Anyone with me?
Must admit for a game we needed to win I was amazed to see such players as Lita, Allyoops-I'm-injured and the Argy bloke on from the start. Listening to the 2nd half it sounded like we gave it a go. All we can do now is just get the players we have playing as a team and get ready for next year. Cardiff could go bust yet!
CMON BORO
A reality check....
Willo Flood. Rubbish
Chris Killen. Rubbish
Lee Miller. Rubbish
Jeremie Aliadiere. Rubbish.
Julio Arca. Rubbish.
Andrew Taylor. Rubbish.
Leroy Lita. Rubbish.
Justin Hoyte. Rubbish.
Any one who says otherwise has red and white glasses on.
John Aus -
I'm In agreement with you. Southgate would of took us back up. He had a point to prove to the board and the fans and sadly he was treated with the most disrespectful way ever Ive EVER seen A manager treated.
Want too thank all the fans and board that we let go of a fantastic up coming english manager the club has ever had. Patience is a virtue. What goes round comes around. This is the end of an era. This is worse than relegation.
AV, after 3 mins yesterday I said just that...SEASON OVER.
Full stop, thats it, done for. We have now had nearly 3 full seasons of disappointment and poor football.
Forget this Southgate v Strachan debate, Southgate was garbage and Strachan is turning out to be the same. I don't think it was unrealistic to think Strachan would be able to get some results out of this team but the last three away games proves the team is more than a season away from even the play-offs.
I am very annoyed at this recent result as you may have guessed from the above words but this club infuriates the life out of me. It is now time to re-build for next season, do not play any players from now on if they will not be here next year. Start identifying players to bring in and agree deals to sign as soon as the transfer window opens.
Forget what I have just said, this is the Boro, Arca will still be on the left next week.
I went to bed a half time.... That's unheard of in my house when the Boro are on, the missus even said to me what are you doing here it's only 2am!!.
I am more dispondant than any time in my Boro life. I have renewed my season ticket from the other side of the world since the old 100 club days. That faith paid off handsomely in Cardiff, then Eindhoven. But what's the point now.
We ask Gibbo to plough millions in (only for unqualified managers to waste it)so now many won't even put their 400 quid in, and I'm starting to think the same way, so here's my deal. My ticket gets used about half the time by family and friends, but even they don't want to go to watch that rubbish any more, so.... No more money from me. Do what you want with your club, SG.
I'll always love the Boro, I'll stay up late and watch. When I'm over I'll get a ticket but there's no need for the security of my season ticket anymore. It seems like money runs things and we will never be able to generate enough, so the only thing left to do is find passion.
Maybe McBoro will have that next season but since we haven't had passion for the last 3 years, why would we find any now. Time for an almighty clear out forced on us by ability (lack of) and wage restrictions.
I support GS2 (anything's better than GS1) so wee man you might as well get started. The rest of our jewels will go (GON, Pogi and Wheats)in the summer for certain (all have quality but also monetary value), as should Hoyte, Taylor, Riggs, Arca, Lita, Jones, Digard, Emnes, Ali (such an inappropriate nickname), almost a team full of mistakes.
Get these merceneries out of my club. I don't care if it's just a job - if you don't want to be here and can't be passionate about 20k per week then get lost. Find some other mug to pay you. This is GS1's legacy to the club and SG bankrolled it so I'll come back to the party when he does.
When Gibbo puts something forward worthwhile I will buy another season card. Now, Having said all of that, maybe in the summer I'll give it just 1 more year but don't spin me any more BS!!
Very disapointed but not suprised. We were underdogs in this one and any pools punter who bets on form would have put home win.
So to next season. We need a new keeper; spend money to upgrade Wheater and GON contracts; Mcmanus permanant deal in place now to come in when window opens - still very worried that Mowbrey will be out up the road soon and a new manager wants him back.
Creative midfielder (sound familier) and another striker big like Killen and try for Phillips as Macliesh will buy strikers in the summer.
Out - Emmes,Arca,Ali,Miller,Lita,Hoyte,Digard,Mido,Jones.
Keep - Wheater, Oneil, McDonald, Killen, Flood, Riggot, Bates, Coyne, Pogi, Robson, McManus,Taylor,
KEEP ALL OUR CURRENT YOUNGSTERS.
Finally up top clean out coaching staff and bring in a QUALIFIED COACH for the strikers. If that dosnt work you can fire me too.
Forever Dormo and AV
What about a cold Tuesday night in March at Derby with a whole raft of Derby supporting colleagues and friends looking forward to Wednesday morning. Shudder, shudder, thrice shudder.
I think we have done the Southgate and Strachan debate almost to death.
My individual view stays the same. Gate wouldnt have got us back, Strachan may do so but my faith is waning by the week. It certainly wont be this season.
Like many I look forward (not) to next season with some misgivings.
It's a case of the same old same old - Nearly three years after Viduka and Yakubu left we're still searching for someone who can put the ball in the net. Football isn't rocket science but if you don't score the best you can hope for is 0-0.
So until Strachan has had a chance of a pre-season with a few more arrivals and is able to get his own team playing the way he wants then I'll give him the benefit of the doubt - any new manager taking over now will have the same problems and even less money to change things around again.
Plus it's all very well naming a list of players to ditch, but unless someone wants to buy them or their contracts run out then they're going nowhere and their wages are preventing new arrivals - that's why it's important not to panic in the transfer market.
Though it certainly looks like it's time to prepare for next season but football people are notorious for not seeing a lost cause until it's been stapled to their noses - so don't expect any experimentation with youth any time soon.
Looking on the bright side - there's always the hope that Cardiff are deducted ten points to cling to - but would Boro be able to take advantage? not unless there's a drastic improvement!
Agreed, I think the season is over but you never know with the way that other teams are faltering too!
If you keep a clean sheet, you stand a chance of winning the game and we havent kept enough of those. Too many chasing the game scenarios to be consistent. If you compare the goals records, we are not too bad in the for column, but terrible in the against column.
Cardiff was just the same old same old! early silly goal given away and then left to consolidate before chasing the game.
Yes the team has more physical and mental strength than Southgate's, but still not enough! I think the players believe we are good enough and think we have a divine right to win! we have to earn the win and you dont do that by playing for 45 mins!
I wasn't at the match so didnt see the disallowed goal at first instant but replays suggested to me that Lita DID handle the ball and in fact he definitely went for it! and was rightly booked. Perhaps the players should look at Lita for his poor performance and the amount of bookings that were issued whilst complaining because of his cheatung!
We didnt deserve anything from the game and got what we deserved, nothing! No good blaming the refs and linesman anymore, we are just not good enough!
Smogontyne.... quote re Toon game on sat...
"Some Boro players may even hit top gear...If not work will be awful as I will be the mock of the week!"... Mock of the Week is looking a good bet!
After months of grinding out ugly wins the Mags whole team are now moving into 'Top Gear' and scoring goals for fun.
Having a bit of a soft spot for the Boro here's a few tips to assist.... Boro must win the high balls to Carroll 'cos Lovenkrands will murder you. Stop the midfield runs of Nolan and Spiderman, play your best right back to try (and I mean 'try') to stop a proper, world cup bound Argie who is on fire! Don't let Guthrie within shooting distance. Restrict high balls to your strikers as Williamson (the snip of the season) will win them all.
It looks like 'the bull' left back Jose Enrique will be missing so that's a plus point for Boro, as his partnership down the left with the spider has been a joy to watch this season. Saying that the young Hungarian Kadar is a class act and with him and Simpson overlapping full backs always a danger.
Then all you have to do is get round the most improved Mag of them all this season, Argentinian international Coloccini... oh... and then you gotta beat Harper!
... now, where does that leave Routledge, Smith, Best, Pancrate (secret weapon), Barton, Butt and Ranger?
Mags:
scored 21 goals in last 7
1 defeat in last 21
Boro:
scored 7 goals in last 7
11 defeats in last 21
...who said 'Mock of the week?'
PS Suprised our game not on TV ... Mags the will have been on live TV 18 times this season! Bring on the TV revenue!
Reasons to be cheerful... 1, 2, 3
Football is cheaper to watch in the chimps league. But there are more games so probably it is just as expensive in the long run.
If we stay in this division long enough then we may be able to visit all 92 clubs. I'd rather go to Macclesfield than Milan or Madrid.
Lower attendances at home games means shorter queues for Pies and a quicker get away. Or stay away entirely and keep Mosso on his toes on a Saturday afternoon.
Smaller crowds also mean less volume in the ground. Now the players can hear every ‘encouraging comment. I don’t think I laughed enough at seeing Darren Moore play. I will have another 180 mins next season.
West Brom, The Unmentionables, Swansea, Cardiff, Blackpool, Leicester and Sheff Utd have all had better seasons than us but only two of that list can go up. Five disappointed teams and sets of fans. At least the boro had the courtesy to bow out of the play off race in early march. Schadenfreude? You bet!
What would we prefer, last minute Wembley heart ache or just let this season just f-f-f-f-fade away?
Avoidance of national humiliation when we get tonked 5-0 at home in front of the Sky Cameras. When West Brom stuffed us it hardly got a mention nationally. Anonymity in Obscurity. We could have a new club motto silentium in subobscurus
Our dip in league status should bring less young fans into the games, there by ensuing they have long and hope filled existence. The Boro putting something back into the community.
There are plusses and minus of supporting a team in the chimpship rather than the premier league. I am still undecided as to which division I prefer. I’m just glad I’ve got another season to be able to make my mind up.
We need snookers now!
Paying good money to go and see what is on offer Home or Away from the Boro at the mo hurts! It is very depressing.
AV apart from a "shudder" no other comments or feedback. Are you okay or did you go off the transporter!!
If not fear not it's the Boro, just when they thought it was all over
**AV writes: I was busy yesterday (watching my bouncetastic boy qualify for the national gymnastics championship) but I have written a bit for today's paper about how Boro have failed repeatedly when tested against their play-off peers.
Well done Vickers Jnr. Let’s just hope boro can show some Bouncebackability. Unfortunately under Strachan when we lose one game we lose the next too.
When is the blog untypical Gymnastics starting? I think we all could do with some good sporting news.
Nigel Reeve
On the snooker analogy I wonder if the refs can call a miss in football? At least it is only three points in our games although you could argue most of them are 'pinks' and six pointers.
At least I broke my home goal drought with Robson's two pens against QPR.
Ian Gill at 7.52am -
whilst I am decidedly unhappy about the way things are going, I agree with you (for various reasons) that GS1 had to go. I had hoped that GS2 might get us up this year via the play-offs, but that now seems as likely as a fairly tale coming true ("Hello Little Red Riding Hood").
I am sure that when he joined the club, (just a point from the top, weren't we?) GS2 will have thought that he only had to tweak a little bit here and there and maybe get a player or two in, and he would be back in the Premier League next year - the easy way. But it hasn't turned out like that.
He has obviously had a look at the players on the training ground (as if it weren't bad enough to watch them during games!) and realised many didn't have their hearts in it, many weren't good enough, and many had been bought at inflated prices and were being paid on sizeable contracts that most of our Championship competitors could only dream about.
Those players are difficult to lever out of the door as no-one at a higher level will want them and Championship clubs could not afford them.
For example I was having a chat yesterday with somebody very closely connected to the club (no names, no pack drill). He described Emnes as someone who was probably worth a punt at, at maybe a few hundred thousand pounds - but not at £3.2m and on presumably Premier wages to match.
Something similar has happended several times in the last few years, with other players. When GS2 came we had Mido still on our books but loaned out elsewhere (with us playing most of his enormous wages) and Shawky still on our books and being paid but never seen.
I suppose it could get worse. West Ham might not take Mido on at the end of his loan there! But AV, you will know who wanted to buy him despite MASSIVE evidence against it being a good idea (and a massive expenditure for the club) - a clue, the person is not still at the club.
We don't have massive resources. Even when in the Premier League we didn't, when compared with our competitors there. So it was a pity (to be fairly neutral about it) that the slender resources we had were not used to better effect instead of being squandered.
Having said that, we STILL have more resources than most of our competitors in the Championship, at least for this and the next season. Even after that, compared to a Scunny, Donny or Bristol City, we are not exactly impoverished.
To have been a settled Premier League side for a decade, and then relegated to the Championship, on being relegated we were a favourite for immediate promotion back up to the PL. Obviously Newcastle and WBA were up there, too, and one would have looked at Forest and a couple of others as possibles.
But not to be able to get into the Play Offs from our position is an indictment against the way the club has been run as well as the performance of the players.
We will not go up this year. It is as if the players have known it for months, and almost as if they gave up months ago. But if we don't improve next year, we won't go up then either, and we will have to look forward possibly to many years of bumbling around the middle reaches of the Championship (and maybe worse) with the hope of the odd cup upset every few years.
So: no chance this year. A diminished chance next year, but hopefully GS2 can improve the squad (as I appreciate it might be a bigger repair job than either of us expected whern he took over the job) and get them playing more like a team, and we could make a decent challenge. But after that......(I agree - "shudder").
I've just read PT's article regarding the huge turnover of players we can expect to see in the Summer (especially after Saturday's result making it more likely than not we will be playing in th Championship).
My thought is that apart from Wheater, Pogatez and O'Neil there isn't a single player that I'd be sad to see leave. In fact I'd be happy to contribute to the cost of the coach hire to do a round robin trip of Europe to drop most of them off home.
We may face a summer of change but god knows we need it.
I'm as sick as a parrot but at least I can kick back and relax now that the season is over.
Why oh why did we get rid of Southgate? I am 100% certain that we would be up challenging for the Championship title if we had kept him. If anything he should have resigned when we sold Huth and Tuncay.
I believe that SG gave in to fan pressure. We now have a team full of workmen who run around with no real direction. I would much rather have Johnson, Tuncay and Huth than the rabble that have been brought in. I don't see that financially we would have been that much worse off.
Strachan has to go.
Forever Dormo
Couldnt agree with you more but never mind the training pitch for GS2, West Brom, Leicester and Watford told me plenty.
850 miles of travelling, two wasted Saturdays and a very late evening, £80+ in tickets and not a semblance of a goal in 270 minutes of purgatory.
We had a squad that was not good enough to be Arsenal Lite or strong enough to be a subtle Stoke. But all we can do is look forward and hope that next year is better. There is still a chance for this season and I just hope we can finish it well. We do not want to go into the summer with our tails between our legs and that applies to fans as well as players.
All the feelgood factor from passing teams to death from the nether regions of the Championship on good dry surfaces in the autumn has faded on poor pitches against stronger, more capable teams over the winter period.
We will beat Newcastle which will give us the boost and belief to beat Derby.
The game against Reading is the critical match. That's where it will be determined whether or not we make the playoffs.
I have never believed luck evens itself out over a season but I don't believe bad luck goes on forever. As a team we deserved more from some of the games we have lost in the last 2 months.
As a team we don't need good luck because we have some good players who are very committed but we could do with a break from the bad luck. It looks like three Cardiff players were offside when the first cross came over for their goal.
I felt a lot better after seeing Gareth on the TV, relaxed and cheerful in an environment where all decisions and opinions are made after the event with benefit of loads of slow motions. He joined the ranks of partisan 'old boy' network who say nothing of value. He fitted in well.
Ian - We certainly missed the pink on Saturday.
I see Aliadiere has 'broken' a toe, words fail me, I was always a supporter of GS1 but his buying record wasn't great was it? He seemed to like players of a somewhat delicate disposition, perhaps after he packed in playing he forgot footie was a contact sport.
We will beat Newcastle which will give us the boost and belief to beat Derby.
-
The game against Reading is the critical match. That's where it will be determined whether or not we make the playoffs.
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I have never believed luck evens itself out over a season but I don't believe bad luck goes on forever. As a team we deserved more from some of the games we have lost in the last 2 months.
-
As a team we don't need good luck because we have some good players who are very committed but we could do with a break from the bad luck. It looks like 3 Cardiff players were offside when the first cross came over for their goal.
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I felt a lot better after seeing Gareth on the TV, relaxed and cheerful in an environment where all decisions and opinions are made after the event with benefit of loads of slow motions. He joined the ranks of partisan 'old boy' network who say nothing of value. He fitted in well.
We will beat Newcastle which will give us the boost and belief to beat Derby.
-
The game against Reading is the critical match. That's where it will be determined whether or not we make the playoffs.
-
I have never believed luck evens itself out over a season but I don't believe bad luck goes on forever. As a team we deserved more from some of the games we have lost in the last 2 months.
-
As a team we don't need good luck because we have some good players who are very committed but we could do with a break from the bad luck. It looks like 3 Cardiff players were offside when the first cross came over for their goal.
-
I felt a lot better after seeing Gareth on the TV, relaxed and cheerful in an environment where all decisions and opinions are made after the event with benefit of loads of slow motions. He joined the ranks of partisan 'old boy' network who say nothing of value. He fitted in well.
The one positive thing I will say is that the play-offs gives pretty much anyone a chance of getting into them if they put a good run together at the end of the season. I notice Preston are still talking about them in today's papers and they are 4pts behind us with a game in hand.
I suppose Reading must be in contention as well since they are 9pts behind us with 3 games in hand, yet they are only 1pt above the drop zone!
By the way AV, was that you on the family panel in Friday's Gazette or a different, similarly-looking AV?!
**AV writes: That was a better looking younger AV the Gazette uses from time to time.
They are: Willo Flood, Danny Coyne, Tony McMahon, Lee Miller, Barry Robson, Rhys Williams, Seb Hines, and Scott McDonald.
The above from PT on the Gazette website, describing the core members of GS's team.
We're all doomed!!!
Nigel Reeve
Tried looking for PT's article (Phil Tallentire I assume) but cant find it. Is it in the paper edition of the Gazette or am I being dimmer than usual?
AV, any clues?
**AV writes: It should be on www.gazettelive.co.uk under the Boro news section.
So Brisbane Phil went to bed at 2-00am, I wonder if he scored !!
The season is far from over.
Based on Saturday's performance, with most of the top teams still to play and sitting only 10 points above the drop zone, relegation is still a real possibility.
No wonder we are where we are
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ofCoIWMbbvc
It seems some people's pessimism knows no bounds and think having failed to make a play-off place at the weekend Boro are now in a relegation battle.
Relax only one team in the last ten years has been relegated with more than 51 points - so that's a win and a draw needed from the last eleven games.
Though what is depressing is Phil Tallentire potential core team for next year - i'm not sure that will make the fans dash out to buy a season ticket.
As my "Handle" implies, I'm an OLD Boro fan and like many others I have endured many frustrating years supporting the team.
However, regarding this season, it's time for a reality check. The worst thing that could happen to Boro at this point in time is to be promoted since Boro have neither the talent nor the depth to survive in the Premiership and would undoubtably be demoted immediately.
As I have noted several times in the past, GS1 was a great player is a fine gentleman but was a poor manager and has serious flaw when it comes to judging football talent. As far as I'm concerned, about the only really talented player signed by him is GON.
On the other hand, I believe that GS2 has the potential to be a very manager for the Boro. He has an eye for talent and does not pay through the nose for good and average players as per GS1. GS2 needs the summer to bring in more players with talent and a desire to succeed i.e. players with HEART and who want to play for Boro.
Just wondering, has any other club in the top divisions of British football suffered from as many injuries as Boro during the past couple of seasons? Perhaps there is something wrong with Boro's training methods? Perhaps we need to sign tougher, stronger players? Speed and skill are very nice to watch but it is players in the trenches who play week in and week out that win championships.
Hopefully Boro can put together a nice run in the home stretch to allow GS2 to continue to sort out the wheat from the chaff - more chaff than wheat at the moment.
UTB
Having witnessed Boro's latest fall from grace at the weekend the situation is simple. We are a mediocre Championship team and the days of the Premiership are far out of reach.
The only player in our current set-up who is Premiership class is GON. To get into the play-offs with this squad is a disaster waiting to happen. The club need to start again - consolidate in the Championship and start building for the future properly.
We have produced some quality players from the Academy - keep that going - Get in a proven manager. For so many years we have had rookie managers who have wasted millions. The investment should of started years ago with a quality manager in the first place and SG should of known that.
An expensive manager at the outset and I wonder where we have been now with wiseful purchasing of players. I know Hindsight is a wonderful thing. So learn from the mistakes - get and pay for a manager who has a proven record.
Strachen is a coach not a manager and the 2 are very different - Alex Ferguson is a manager and not a coach. Looking forward to the day when we have a proper team again. Anything like Charlton's Champs would do.
AV, thanks for that. As I was away all day Saturday and out a good part of Sunday the article had slipped below the horizon.
Phil's article was certainly interesting but how much was hard core knowledge and how much journalistic assessment?
Of one thing I am certain, Leroy Lita has done himself no favours in the last few weeks by
1. Getting sent off against Scunnie in a pointless skirmish and leaving us very exposed for strikers. Marcus Bent up front on his own - if Carlsberg did non scoring strikers....
2. Losing the ball at Forest then having a hissy fit and allowing them to move up the field unhindered to score. Not all his fault but he 'started' the move.
3. Waving his mit in the box at Cardiff and getting the goal disallowed. Whether he handled it or not he gave the officials all the encouragement they needed to do so. You cannot blame the linesmen and ref for that.
4. Showing the calmness in the box of a dog on heat.
I dont think Gordon will be inviting him round for a Saturday night pizza and film.
But we cant blame everything on Lita, there is an alarming lack of creativity in the squad allied to no end product from many of the players, eg Aliadiere and Emnes.
Like many I am baffled about what purpose Miller serves in the squad. But like all the other strikers, if the team doesnt play well they cannot strut their stuff.
Time to look forward to the visit of Toon. Points from unexpected sources wouldnt go amiss.
Why do we want to get into the play offs? IF by chance we won the game at Wembley and we were promoted it would not be for long. We would struggle in the Premiership and be relegated again. Stay where we are. We may be able to afford this league but not the one above. Last year was an embarressment..not to be repeated.
**AV writes: The time to be promoted is always now. Do you think it will be easier next year? Two strong Prem teams (plus Portsmouth come down), possibly Leeds, Norwich and Charlton and come up with momentum in place of minnows Peterborough and Plymouth while if Boro don't go up they will be shedding the likes of O'Neil, Poggi, maybe Wheater. It won't be any easier next season.
Poor performance overall, despite more bad luck with that "goal" being struck off. But no excuses, we are failing to deliver up front, and with injuries to players brought in by Strachan, and continued poor performances from two Southgate "old boys" Ali and the terrible Lita, both managers must take equal share of the blame when we fail to make the play-offs.
How about a new thread .. are you up for renewing your season card next season or pay as u go?
I wish I had a dose of whatever Scoredraw imbibes. His eternal rose tinted optimism with Strachan is commendable but I fear destined to end in tears.
How a manager can publicly denounce the existing strikers at the club for their lack of goals (bit of a career drawback that one!), then sign three strikers of his own but start the most important game in his management tenure with two out of his three getting splinters in their respective derrieres whilst Hardlyeverthere lived up to his predictable role and the enigmatic Lita who continually manages to create dramas but fails to score beggars belief.
Now thats without mentioning reliance upon a Land Crab to supply ammunition which was always destined to end in abject sideways shuffles not to mention failure to close down players.
The sad reality is that this manager has failed Steve Gibson and the fans miserably. He has absolutely no ability to pick or organise a team of professional footballers and clearly does not believe in the players he has signed just weeks previously. If he doesn't believe in himself then how will the 11 who start the game believe, then again thats the point, they don't!
Saturday is the day he either stops his self indulgent nonsense (because the Cardiff game was far more important to the Boro faithful, few as we are since his appointment) and beats the Barcodes comprehensively (unlikely) or the abuse Southgate endured will be childs play by comparison.
There are two distinct factions (three including the away support!) already at the Riverside and the only thing which unifies them is their growing collective frustration at the tactics and selections.
A humiliating capitulation allied to a headless chicken 45 minutes (predictable) will see some interesting chants and opinions far greater than Gareth ever endured. Its not yet at the level to be directed at the Board as past history is still respected but murmurings are starting to emanate albeit remote and at low levels.
"We will beat Newcastle which will give us the boost and belief to beat Derby."
No we won't.
Boroexile ~ Relegation? Really? Discuss.
Barring a nigh on miracle I cannot see us making the play offs and always had "us" down for a couple of seasons in the Championship right from the off.
Keeping hold of the likes of Wheats, Pogi and O'Neil and bringing in a few more like minded and worthwhile "workers" like them is crucial for a promotion push next season.
And that is what the Strach did in January -brought in some "workers" who give 100% on the day but just need a few more around them to bring out the best in them!
Wigan, who have become something of a nemesis for us recently are playing Liverpool tonight. Ticket prices range from £5 for under 11's to £30 for adults. Average attendance is around 18,000. Perhaps the commercial director at MFC should take a look at the Wigan business plan?
Anlov:
Do you just cut and paste the same Southgate comments ot save yourself time after we lose and play the same old tune? Southgate was manger for three years. It is over now and the debate should be also. Otherwise lets bring up Steve McClaren winning a trophy every time we lose. That is far more significant than Southgate's 'achievements' no?
Read all the blog and the greatest credit Southgate ever gets is the timing of when he was sacked and suggesting what he 'could' have done. Little praise of what he actually did.
If you wish to respond do not just rehash the same old yawn-worthy material answer the following questions;
1. Southgate said he had no money yet signed Dong-Gook, Mido, Emnes, Alves, and Digard for £20-30 mill. Stoke spent 5 mill on James Beattie and Matt Etherington. Who had more impact?
Birmingham signed Roger Johnson for less. The point is good managers spot good players for affordable prices and Sotugate failed that task.
2. You talk of attractive, enterprising and attacking football. Who is better at that, Adam Johnson or Julio Arca? How many times did Johnson sit the bench while Arca played? Before you go the 'they are both left wingers' route turn your TV on and watch Villa. See how proven quality manager O'Neil incorporates Downing and Young. We could have done that and had Downing and Johnson in the teams. Check back on your game reports and see how many times Arca was preferred to that lineup.
3. We played West Brom and lost 0-5 at home. The captain was interviewed and stated at 0-2 it felt like "one of those days". If that mentality and weakness had set in the manager takes responsibility.
4. How many late winning, or equalising goals did we concede late? Either mental weakness or lack of fitness, some of Southgate's defeatist post match interviews where he repeated the same thing, much like you do, suggests the latter.
You need to let go of the past. You need to support your team or go and root for the next team Southgate manages, as it seems questionable who you support, Southgate or Middlesbrough?
My money is on Southgate getting a lower league job next and achieving....not much. People will like him though, really nice bloke.
And forgive me but one more explanation of some Southgate 'management'. We all watched in horror as Arca and Rochemback were bullied in the FA cup Quarter FInal and this whole Cardiff curse began.
Boateng returned to the lineup as part of the shake up and stayed there as we proceeded to draw with Villa, Liverpool (where he scored)and Man U. The solidifying experience of Boateng was never acknowledged, thought it was obvious. He was then sold. As was Cattermole.
I would say it is not unfair to suggest work ethic, ball winning, interceptions, and running off the ball were oft overlooked for pretty technical players in this quest for 'attacking football.
The game at the end of the day is about graft as much as it is craft. I would not be surprised to see Southgate use this lesson more and not be so naive in his next job.
My daughter gave me an amusing card for my birthday a few weeks ago. It said, "For a moment Boro were in with a chance. Then the game started."
Well, it was funny then. For someone who knows very little about football my daughter showed remarkable insight there.
Stewart Flaherty ~ In total agreement. There is zero scope for extolling the virtues of Southgate and his ear, eh?
Just back on computer Tuesday morning (2 days off) and tomorrow yippee on the plane back to the BORO.
I am not going to say anything else I have had my say about Strachan and posted statistics only to be slated on more than one occassion. I see my friend AZURE is nearly becoming an ASBO this shows how serious it is.
Yet another game without a goal against a team above us in the league. I must be missing something. The reports say the game was very poor yet again, and still he leaves players on the bench and continues with Arca. Miller a centre forward and we cant score a goal left on the bench, just what did he sign this player for?
I am sorry. Saturday was a great chance to put a little pressure on those above us, especially with some of them getting beat. I am sorry my friends, but Strachan does nothing for me whatsoever.
Today's talking topics...
Jet heeled French falling overist Jeremie Aliadiere has a broken toe the club have confirmed. It will be a long lay off and he is out of contract in the summer. Has he played his last game for the club?
With a crowd of 30k expected for the least eagerly anticiapted derby clash I can remember, is Saturday Boro's last chance for a stirring performance that can offer hope for the future and put bums on seats next season?
If Boro lose it (and lose badly) and then don't go up what will the crowd be for next season's opener against Barnsley? What will the team be?
AV
Hopefully it will be Aliadiere's last game for the club. Maybe we will go on a winning streak and then even Strachan will realise that JA is useless.
Nothing short of a win on saturday will be good enough for the Boro, if we lose existing ST holders may not return this season never mind next season!
I can see a crowd of 18k been at the Barnsley match? More if we make some decent signing. Boro fans may be pessimistic but we live in hope that something good may happen, for at least the first match of the season.
C'Mon Boro!
av....30,000...more like 20,000
**AV writes: I'd be surprised if it is much more than that but the upper estimate is the optimistic whispering I am hearing. Maybe people like a good funeral.
AV...
Crowd of 30,000 anticipated? with Boro's last few home games drawing around 17-18k including, let's say a couple of thousand away fans, that leaves a home crowd of around 16,000. The Mags are bringing 3,600 so that takes it up to 17,600.
Where are the other 12,400 coming from?
Are you suggesting that several 1000 Jawdees will be gate crashing the party? Surely not, given that the police have already stated that away fans in home enclosures will be ejected!
Or are you saying that the Boro public will wish to witness, as you so eloquently put it.... the least eagerly anticipated derby clash you can remember?
I really hope they do turn up in numbers and get behind the Boro making for a cracking atmosphere and, hopefully, an exciting end-to-end match.
Is the game not on live tv?
I would have thought 20K is only possible due to 100% takeup of the away allocation.
Au revoir Jeremie. Tu est tres joli, mais un meilleur buteur du but assez pauvres? Je ne pense pas!
30,000 as in Thirty Thousand. AV is someone holding a gun to your head, is it KL1, has he eventually turned you, and you are now the mouthpiece of the propaganda machine?
Unfortunately not much is riding on this derby game. I don’t think we can now go up, we can’t finish above Newcastle, and so what is there to play for?
EVERYTHING
Every ridiculous, ill informed and malicious comment made by the vocal minority. For the Boro to be best that they can be must surely include bloodying the nose of the ‘giants’ from up the road. We have not had a derby win for far too long, and we might not have a derby game at all for a while.
If the bond between club and fans is fracturing then what better remedy is there? We might not be favourites to win it, and we might get beat. But we must give it 100%, give us something to cheer and get behind. This is either the springboard for next season or the pre curser to a darker future.
As for attendances for next season I can see anything from 14,000 to this season’s average of about 16,000. If we are successful we could be looking at 20k plus.
As for the team next year I think that will depend on the sales of Wheater and O’Neil and the releasing of other players on prem wages. If Strachan continues to wheel and deal in Scotland he could bring in 6/7 players for £2/3m. Next season will be when we have to judge Strachan but he must get off to a good start.
Cue Brain Hewitson and friends
*AV writes: I am not saying I believe a 30k figure, just that it is optmistically hinted in some quarters. I'm not so sure we won't have a 'derby' next term. Sunderland are doing their best to make sure we have at least on egate over 20,000 and if they fail there is always dirty Leeds. Unless they blow it in the play-offs again.
Greetings from Pune (Poona in old money)
Aliadiere may have played his last game for the club? Well at least there's some decent news this week.
Do you think you could get me a similar assurance about Arca, AV? I thought not. I bet he's in the side again on Saturday.
Like others, I struggle to see where any sort of high figure of Riverside attendance for the Barcodes is coming from - beyond a small 'tribalism' dividend. Were it to happen, the 3,500 in the South Stand would have every justification in singing 'You're only here to see the Magpies'.
AV
It appears the Boro attendance exchange rate is approaching that of Zimbawe.
Mabye it is a case of buy one, get one free and even then we may struggle to get a magic figure.
Mind you I should keep quiet because I wont be there but I will be at Derby on Tuesday along with 1300 (at the moment) brave souls. For several years we have been able to look down in disdain upon the Rams but one has to be concerned.
The way things are going we may struggle for fit players, Gordon may be searching the far reaches of the universe to try and find the black hole where Emnes is hiding. At least the Flying Dutchman has a bit of pace.
It seems like the attitude is one of disappointment in everyone and everything at the moment, with a sense of resignation that Boro are and will be a for the foreseeable future an upper mid table championship team that if they are lucky may get to spend one season in the premiership again sometime in the next five years.
There seems to be a general view that the team is not good enough to go up, and if it did then there would be little or no resources to improve the squad, it would be embarrassingly ripped apart by PL teams and we are best staying in the championship until we can strengthen further.
That just isn't a good reason not to go up as it would likely happen at any point in the next five years should we be promoted and after hoping I would enjoy this season watching Boro win regularly for a change, beating lower opposition Man U style and watching that dream shatter, I'd rather watch us lose to the big boys and cheering an occasional win rather than another season of this turgid rubbish.
I just can't see the ability to strengthen further to premiership standards ever arising without big change - the parachute money will be less next year, there are no signs that ICI will be expanding its operation on Teesside so Bulkhaul will probably see a similar or lower return than this year, meaning SG will have no more cash to lend to MFC next yr than he does now, and no more faith that the manager will spend it more wisely than previous generations.
I see a further inflood in the summer of Scottish grafters with positive attitudes but lacking in creativity, guile or the ability to excite fans, and the Riverside crowds settling down at the 15,000 mark for a long slog in the championship.
If we are to wish for promotion it should be ASAP and hope for a lucky run in the PL early doors to try and cement some points before the inevitable post Xmas slide as other teams strengthen and bed in new players whilst the Boro racks up the injuries.
It's depressing writing this stuff but I hope also cathartic, probably the main purpose of this blog at the moment!
John
Are there many Boro replica shirts out there?
Do they sell Parmo Tikka Masala or tarka pease pudding?
Neil
By ending your post with "eh", I have little doubt 'aboot' the fact you are really in Canada ;-).
TFC fan?
If Lee Miller is one of Strachan's key eight, how come he can't even get off the bench in place of the utterly woeful Ali?
Lita has to stop missing sitters, by the way.
I notice in the Gazette today(on line) an article attributed to Rhys Williams, in which he states that Boro can still reach the play offs.
Why oh why do the Gazette and other papers print such rubbish.Now I quite like young Rhys, seems a nice lad and has a good future in the game, maybe even in the premier league.
I know that other players also come up with the same sort of statements so I can only assume that it's not the players but the papers including the Gazette that encourages such stupid statements.
Honestly AV, is it just because there's nothing of real interest to say and the Gazette has space it has to fill..'I know, lets get a statement from one of the players. Nothing controversial, eg "We've got no chance and are playing rubbish". Obviously a player or anyone from the club can't say that,but surely the paper can do a bit better and not see most of us as thick idiots, who after all can look at the clubs own web pages for such drivel if they are so inclined.
I'm going to be at the match on Saturday. I hope we win, but don't expect us to and even if we do, it changes nothing other than to make Saturday night happier for a few hours. or at best until the next match.
**AV writes: We ask the questions - in this case I asked him if we had we blown it with the Cardiff result and was the season over now - then we write down what a player says. You can't get stroppy if you don't like the answers. What do you suggest I do? Argue with him? Brand him of being a deluded ra-ra and accuse him of being a blinkered Strachophant? Maybe demand some form of penitence?
If you take too assertive line in questioning or invite them to criticise team-mates or slate the boss for his tactics - which is what many fans want to hear (ie confirmation of their own perspective by someone committing professional suicide in the media) then they either get prickly and defensive or neatly wriggle out of it and throw you a cliche. And to be fair most people in every profession would react in the same way if you had a pop at their work, especially if they believed they had personally done a good job, which generally most players do .
Very few players are prepared to slam a performance, a team-mate of a boss. Most of the ones who are tend to be Dutch. Rjies van der Willems?
Aliadiere may have played his last game for Boro? If ever there was a personification of Gareth Southgate's 'Arsenal lite' project it is Monsieur Aliadiere.
30000 at the Riverside? Is there a Lady Ga Ga concert on after the match?
You can tell the Boro have given up on the play off's as there is suddenly a deathly silence over the 'strengthening on loan' comments coming from the club.
They desperately needed a creative midfield player but now as it is pointless bringing anyone in they are clearly going to make do with what they have until the summer, they are just not saying anything to keep the fans hanging on to the forlorn hope of the playoffs and to keep the crowds coming in. Typical Boro.
That's the spirit Rhys ! There's over 30 points up for grabs.
I know there is no justice in football but I've been praying for an Arsenal win, a Beckham hatrick, a Boro double, a Rangers collapse, a Terry own goal and the Boro scouts to find a budding Romario or David Villa and another Rangers collapse .....
Not much to ask when you consider how good I've been all my life.
If you don't ask you don't get !
Any news on Tony McMahon and Scott McDonald? I'm planning a big punt on Scott to score the first against the Magpies. I'll be laughing fatty cakes.
Jaguar Boy ~ Cathartic is good.
Ian Gill ~ Parmo Tikka Masala sounds scrumptious but I don't think I could wear it!
AV ~ How about 23,500 against the barcodes with lots of Teessiders sporting funny accents?
That is indeed the last we will see of Mr Aliadiere.
I fear a long-term pessimism has taken over the smogzone layer which will see attendances plummet next season to new all-time Riverside lows. Will it be that bad? I truly hope not but there is so much negativity floating around the ether that it looks more likely than not.
I also get the feeling that the anti-Strachan brigade are starting to surface more and more and that it is only a matter of time before they start showing their discord vocally and in earshot of Steve Gibson and the man himself.
There is an uprising afoot which will start manifesting itself in the weeks and months ahead and will serve to undermine all the hard work that has gone on behind the scenes to fix all that was inherently wrong with the Southgate era.
This uprising will set us back years if it's allowed to fester, simmer and then bubble over. There is a huge split in the way Boro Fans see the direction the club are now being taken in.
Splintered like this will do us more harm than good and somehow, someway Steve Gibson and his management team have to find a way to heal the growing rift that exists. That can only be achieved by fighting performances and wins in which case we are far from being geared up to do that.
Players like Aliadiere, Arca and Lita, who fail time and time again to be effective, create chances for others and/or put the ball in the back of the net but still get their chance not only helped to bring down Southgate but they're now in large part responsible for our continued demise under Strachan.
But they're all we've got and until they are shown the door and we bring in players who can be effective within the new team ethic and tactics Strachan is trying to instil in our new-look squad.
Time is not on Strachan's side. The vultures are already circling and the ginger genius represents a big fat T-bone steak to them as they slaver and clamber for blood.
I keep promising myself not to go to the Gazette website, therefore avoiding the latest pearls of football wisdom churned out by GS. But, like a serial hatchet killer returning to the teenage sororiety house I just can't seem to help it. Here is one of his latest gems.
"Cardiff got going in the first 15 mins. They played the pitch but we didn't". "We had to start to play the pitch before we could play Cardiff, but before we could do that we were a goal down".
Now correct me if I am wrong, but don't teams walk the pitch before they play it? The pitch should hold no surprises. Just another in a long line of pitiful excuses. Whatever next? Boro in muddy pitch shock? Uneven Flymo tracks?
Less than 19,000 to see Newcastle saunter to an easy win. Unless the groundsman can give us some inside information on the playing surface for Saturday.
Jeremie Aliadiere probably broke his toe tripping over a rogue Daffodil! Damn those pesky Welsh groundsmen.
Stewart Flaherty ~ TFC fan?
No, I can't bear to bring myself to watch any MLS stuff being served up, it's that dire. Their threat of strike action sums it up for me. Other than players like Donovan and 'bend it', it's not worth watching. As much as I hate to admit it, I prefer to watch ice hockey, curling and the National Geographic channel.
Instead, we try every which way to get our regular 'fix' of proper footy but the coverage is so bad that my wife, son and I are forced to watch games 'muted', especially at half time when the likes of Craig Forrest give their 'expert' opinions. Arrrgggghhh!
Mercifully-ish, there are occasions when British pundits can be heard above all the dross but sometimes that makes you cringe too, eh?
AV said: If you take too assertive line in questioning or invite them to criticise team-mates or slate the boss for his tactics then they either get prickly and defensive or neatly wriggle out of it and throw you a cliche. And to be fair most people in every profession would react in the same way if you had a pop at their work,
Gordon Brown on looking after our troops and the economy and his role in both situations? Personally I think GS2 is too blame. Or was it GS1? I forget.
Hi AV and fellow threaders.
Back from my winter sun jaunt in Mehico, nice to see nothing has changed. Same old, same old. One thing you can bank on with Boro is continuity. I should be chomping at the bit for Saturday, but to be honest, I think lethargy has set in - big style.
Redcar Red
You should always use Argentinean Land Crab to differentiate him from other crabs such as the Cuban Land Crab (apparently able to run faster than a horse – clearly a totally different creature). This is an estuarine crab.
He comes from Quilmes – a suburb of Buenos Aires on the estuary of the River Plate – so it is no surprise that he has played for Sunderland and Middlesbrough which are both estuarine conurbations.
Finally an extract from Wikipedia about Julio Arca: "An attack minded player, his key attributes are dribbling, losing the ball and hard work."
I think someone has been a tad mischievous.
AV, are we to assume that MFC are no longer actively seeking new playing personnel for this season?
**AV writes: No one will admit it publicly but Boro bosses now seem resigned to not going up this term and so are concentrating on getting full-time signings lined up for the summer rather than pay wages and big loan fees on long term targets just to tread water now. They know who they want and are hinting heavily they are making good progress but that won't help the atmosphere in the run-in. That said (looks over shoulder, taps nose, whispers) there could be one in next week.
Has this season been worse than last year? It’s a close one considering what we were expecting at the start of this season. If we can finish the season with a bit of momentum then hopefully we can view this season as ‘transitional’. Other wise it will be remembered as the middle of the beginning of the end.
Looking at some stats on the championship website (http://www.football-league.co.uk/page/DivisionalPlayersUsed/0,,10794~20097,00.html) it is no surprise to see the unmentionables with the least players used or players with most appearances.
Swansea have only conceded 23 goals all season, and we scored four of them. But three of those were in a side which has had over £15m of talent sold. Looking back there was no way we were going to sustain a promotion challenge with all the change. Next year we must have a settled side, so fingers crossed for Gordon’s summer rebuilding.
AV how much do you think he will have to spend? There was £3m ish available for Adam, but I think we will also lose some current first teamers too.
**AV writes: Just guesswork but I think the Adam money is still ear-marked for him in the summer, plus there will be money from sales (the big earners will be cashed in) while savings on the wage bill (the likes of Poggi and Aliadiere are out of contract, Brad Jones will probably move on and a couple of others) can also be recycled. On top of that I think Steve Gibson will throw in a few bob. I think there will be a decent warchest in Championship terms.
Ian
No Boro shirts spotted, yet, on the indigenous youth in either Pune or Chennai (Madras in old money).
Plenty of - yes, you've guessed it - ManUre ones, though.
No parmo of any description yet, even Parmo Madras - but the hotel I'm staying at (big international chain) has an Italian restaurant and I have been trying to persuade the Tamil chef that crossover South East Indian/Italian would be great!
Of course, I've had more dahl of different regional recipes than you thought was possible - but, strangely, my stories of Smoggies of my acquaint calling it 'wattery pease puddin' haven't gone down that well!
Culturally sensitive, moi?
Still, they do a mean pint of Kingfisher!
The big deal here at the moment is all the shenanigans on the IPL and The Chennai Kings.
Ah - Premier League. I remember that - but only just.
http://www.mfc.co.uk/articles/20100309/job-openings-for-cleaning-operatives_2207680_1984747
This is a link from the MFC official website.
Whatever happened to the club's apprentice's doing the cleaning around the Stadium and Training areas? I suppose they are being groomed to have the right mentality to become professional footballers. No menial tasks for these boy's, they are probably on advanced Bentley driving courses.
Come to think of it, if some of the clubs higher earners are not figuring in the first team on a matchday, then they could ease their consciences on pay day by doing some cleaning around the club. Or would that be deemed to be beneath them? It's about time these highly paid Prima Donna's were brought down to earth and did a proper days work for a change. Come on lads, take one for the team.
Get the marigolds out....
**AV writes: Oooooooh.... he's missed!
The results of the other teams fighting for play off spots are going our way. Shame we dont have the class fight or both to take advantage.
If Lita could just mature up a bit then we might get more out of games, recently he has thrown Boro's points away almost single handed- did you see what I did there.
Come back Mido all is forgiven!
OK, Ignorant. You can now release GHw from the cupboard under the stairs. He'll be livid though.
GHW
Failing to get Adam or Boyd probably blew plans A&B out of the water and that left us sunk below the water line.
Now we are adrift without a rudder but all is not lost. Whilst we are close to the point of writing off this season, if we can finish on a high note we would a least go into the summer feeling a bit better.
Mnnnf Gnnnnnff, AV, how about moving that sideboard from in front of the gas cupboard?
The change from Zonal Defence, to being bundled into a cupboard under the stairs caught me completely by surprise! I can just hear Alan Hansen now...they finally learned their... Zzzz Zzzzz Zzzz..
Disappointing news on Tuncay today. It’s no wonder we were running up massive debts when a free transfer was costing us £1.2m in agent fees. I’m not blaming the club for this, it’s the sorry state football finds itself in. Part of me is glad we are out of that whole circus. And the other part of me wants us back in the PL.
Also £3m for image rights? That’s over 70,000 shirts we’d have to shift. It’s a miracle, us and other teams haven’t gone bust…….yet.
**AV writes: Image rights is generally a mechanism to allow a lump sum payment to a separate wholly owned "tax efficient" company, usually offshore.
Us Dutch boys may have a habit of slagging each other off now and again, but we know what to do with a football - you boys up on Teesside could do with a couple of orange men (??) at the moment!
How about giving Ruud Gullit a ring to appease the anti Strachan brigade?
Blooming Heck! It's dark in here!
Tuncay paid £3 million in 'image rights' offshore? What the Dardenelles!! The truth is that there is no such thing as a free transfer
I agree with Ian (it happens more often than you think!) - it's important we finish the season on a high, as well as giving us a 'warm glow' over the Summer, it creates momentum for the team heading into next season.
Tuncay 1.2 million for image rights !!!
The ball bounced off him - he had no control of the ball whatsoever. He was okay for those who value the 'headless chicken' type of player but for purists like me he was vastly overrated. I was surprised we had any offers for him (Stoke bench warmer sums it up really)
Hopefully the club had the sense to make him relinquish his 'image rights' when he signed for the 'Barcelona of the midlands'.
The notion of image rights for him is seriously funny. Next you will be telling me Emile Heskey, Carlton Cole, Mark Schwarzer, Zat Knight have cut similar deals.
That reminds me - did anyone hear Graham Le Saux on Saturday morning ? He was comparing Peter Crouch, who he played with at Southampton, with Emile Heskey and he said (paraphrasing) : "Peter hasn't got natural speed or the raw strength that allows him to tear defences apart like Emile Heskey has ..."
And that was from the 'Bamber Gascoigne' of footballers. When I heard him say it I was overwhelmed with despair.
What's the next bit of bad news - Loyalty bonus for Mido ? No claims bonus for Aliadiare ? Living away allowance for Shawky ?
Image rights for Tuncay - God Help Us All !!!!!!!
You do know that I can still hear you. Don't you?
Ian Gill
Your extract from Wikipedia about Julio Arca: "An attack minded player, his key attributes are dribbling, losing the ball and hard work."
All credit to the Wikipedia site, the accuracy of their data knows no bounds although I don't think they mentioned the Estuarine Crab bit. At least not yet!
Hellooooo..........
AV writes: *tapes sound proofed insulation over door jamb and turns up stereo*
Redcar Red
Dont worry about the crab part, it is tempting.
The history for ALC came when I was doing a piece about the Boro elsewhere and the thought came into my mind that he played like a @@@@@@@ crab, scuttling from side to side on his little claws, spinning round and being eratic in his movements. He is Argentinean and lives on land so the term leapt into my head.
Quickly checked that such a crustacean existed and away we went.
It is only in the last month or so that I have checked more deeply into the beastie to find all these 'interesting' facts. The fact they suffer from a build up of CO2 when out of the water for too long, this is manna from heaven. Throw in the coincidence that he came from a suburb by an estuary and it was too good to miss.
I apologise to all readers for this nonesense in advance of any adverse comments.
So it appears football clubs really are run by people who seemingly have some addiction to throwing away money faster than they can get their hands on it - and all for the benefit of overpaid mercenaries and their entourages.
Sorry but in what world is shelling out nearly £10m (wages + image rights + agents fees) for two years worth of Tuncay justified for a club of Boro's resources? Wasn't a lesser deal for Viduka deemed uncomfortable by Gibson only weeks earlier?
Added to the Alves and Mido deals - not to mention the Digard and Emnes wastage - I've got no sympathy for MFC when they complain of being unable to compete financially. I dread to think what these five deals have cost the club in total expenditure - £20-30m plus their under-performance has ultimately cost us relegation.
If this is the norm for the privilege of acquiring a B-List foreign star then why bother unless it's just an ego trip thing. How many games does this kind of player win for you? I'm sure the money could and should have been better spent - at least Viduka would win you a game every now and then.
someone please let the Harry Potter of Grove Hill out of the cupboard please.
Oh dear it must be a slow afternoon.
Just put some Boro players through the spell check. Some interesting results.
Hoyed, Theater, Ragout, Probated, Laughton, Acre, Balladeer, Mad,
Can you guess them all?
But the home of the Spell check XI has to be the Emirates.
Nickels Bunter
Cuss Faberge
Semi Nazi
Ammonia
Gales
Vermilion
Cossack
Époque
Bakery Sauna
Arsenic Wenger
Other Notable Premier league players
Frank Limper
Didier Dogma
Hillary
Digital Barbados
Verdant Carload
Luka Modicum
John Terry, he just makes me laugh
Bossy Bunion
Lunacy Snail
Robert Hutu
Manmade Sidebar
Also tried it with some posters name.
Scored raw
Grove Hill Allah
John Prowls
Shogun teatime
Forever Dermot
'Ignorant' of foreland
Biro bothered
**AV writes: Get to work Untypical Biro bloggers....
Werdermouth,
If Tuncay did cost us £10m then at least Stoke paid half of that for us. I think it was the zero sell on value which scupperd the Viduka deal.
When scrutinised the finances of football are frightening and with HMRC getting tough there will be some casualties.
MFC the club that likes to say NO.
**AV writes: Image rights deals can be ridiculously expensive but they are routine arrangements and it must be noted that Boro dispute the amount being claimed by Tuncay and his agent.
Come on, it's easy to look back in hindsight and say we shouldn't have spent silly money on stars like Tuncay, but at the time we were loving it. We can't really bash the club now, when we all know if they hadn't made signings like that they'd have been bashed for that instead. Again, they simply can't win.
Stewart Flaherty:
Please, stop the "get on with it" stuff.
Disagree with me or not, thats kind of the whole point ... But dont do that rhetorics thing, please. I could turn it around, but I wont.
An incident which ocurred just a few months ago involving the whole squad and club is quite relevant, isnt it? So, lets keep on discussing it. For a broader view lets even descuss it more, the long Riverside-lines and beyond.
GHw: Wait a minute. You aren't seriously suggesting that if I get through the tunnel... and the wire... and case everything out there... and don't get picked up... to turn myself in.. and get thrown back in the cooler for a couple of months.. so you can get the information you need?
Squadron Leader Bartlett: Yes.
GHw: What about Von Lamb?
Squadron Leader Bartlett:We'll worry about him later.
De der.. de der.. der de..dede de de
I didn't realise that GHw had an internet connection in the understairs cupboard, but I suppose the objective was to punish by removing his freedom to move about, put on the kettle, cut another slice of cherry cake etc. Nice idea about the soundproof tape and turning the stereo up to 11 though!
How about a compromise? If he promises not to loiter about the 100-mark all the time (maybe to do some of the donkey work in midfield every now and then and perhaps slide a nice ball through to us other youngsters toiling up front but without much service), and if he agreed to share some of that cherry cake, could we think about letting him out soon? Maybe after the Man Utd v Milan game?
Surely he hasn't got a TV in there, too?
Chris from Beverley ... Lethargy? You've been in the mexican sun too long! Welcome back - your fiver is waiting for you in Navi on Saturday!
As for me .. can't wait for next season. No Ali or Lita .. I'm getting excited! Two more ex Southgaters out of the club!
BTW . . yes, if by some miracle we did get promoted via the Wembley route, better to be in the Prem than out of it. As for history, ye who don't secure promotion at the first attempt,shall ye suffer further. Corinthians Chapter 1 V25.
Image rights? Is that something from the old fashioned, snail mail, paper Gazette? I'll be sick if it is, as today is the first one in a couple of weeks (apart from Sunday) I didn't get the darned thing - what with the Telegraph collected every day and an Independent for a change, I thought there might be a news overload in prospect.
Actually, if I remember correctly, it isn't only overpaid Premier League players who receive the misnamed image rights. Wasn't good old Lee Trundle one of the first in the UK to receive a substantil payment for image rights when at Swansea? Or was I dreaming?
But realistically, for the profit on how many shirts, or photos or CD's on which the player's image might be seen, would have to be sold to recoup that outlay? For Tuncay alone probably more than Boro's entire merchandise sales.
I accept it might be different for a club like Man Utd with their world wide fan-base, but for clubs like ours any such figures would be a complete fiction. A made up figure to justify a large figure plucked out of the sky, into a player's foreign bank account/hedge fund/pension!
Maybe we should start a thread asking how contributors would describe the "images" of, say such luminaries of the game as Joey Barton from Newcastle or, since we wouldn't wish to appear subject to bias, Duncan McKenzie, Frank McAvennie, Lee Hughes and a few others? On second thoughts, perhaps it's better not to. We don't want the Blog taken off the net.
**AV writes: When he was convicted of his latest act of thuggery Barton had to give a submission of his income and assets to court. It revealed that he earned £675,0000 a year in image rights - that's £13,000 a week .... even while he was in jail. That's some brand power.
Ex-star Tuncay Sanli and agent sue Boro for £900k
Smogonthetyne - "£Sum$" up today's game - also glad we are getting out of the circus.
As for the PL - stuff it - until the FA wake up and kick out the likes of Sky and have all clubs battling it out at 3pm every Saturday on an equal financial footing the beautiful "game" will remain nothing more than a "business" with it's own rules!
Darn right HM Revenue should be getting tough!
De der.. de der.. der de..dede de de
De der.. de der.. der de..dede de de
De der.. de der.. der de..dede de de
De der.. de der.. der de..dede de de
Haven't we mentioned Nazi's twice now?
New Blog please. Maybe one looking at great derby games that haven't taken place for a while like Stoke V Port Vale, The Bristols as it might be a while before we have a tees tyne and or wear derby
**AV writes: You say that but I've got Sunderland pencilled in for next year. And what the hell, Newcastle too. It's a funny old game.
The Shawkyshank Redemption
Red: [narrating] In 2010, Grove Hill wallah escaped from Shawkyshank cupboard. All they found of him was a muddy set of prison clothes, a bar of soap, and an old rock hammer, damn near worn down to the nub.
I remember thinking it would take a man six hundred years to tunnel through the wall with it. Old GHw did it in less than twenty posts. Oh, GHw loved The Boro. I imagine it appealed to his meticulous nature. An ice age here, million years of disappointment building there.
Supporting the Boro is the study of pressure and time. That's all it takes really, pressure, and time. That, and a big goddamn poster. Like I said, in a cupboard a man will do most anything to keep his mind occupied.
Turns out GHw’s favourite hobby was posting the 100 comment during his time on the blog, a few posts at a time. I guess after promotion was becoming unlikely, GHw decided he'd been here just about long enough. GHw did like he was told, buffed those shoes to a high mirror shine. The stewards simply didn't notice. Neither did I... I mean, seriously, how often do you really look at a mans shoes?
GHw crawled to freedom through five hundred yards of foulness I can't even imagine, or maybe I just don't want to. Five hundred yards... that's the length of five football fields, just shy of half a mile. He surfaced in Rockliffe, and that’s the last I heard.
So far anyway....
All this talk about finances within the club is a joke. We are the wealthies club outside the Prem by my calculation counting the sale of players, parachute payment, season tickets, walk up tickets, sponsorship etc.
Since the end of last season we have taken in close to £50m. The sale of Oneil (over rated) and Wheater in the summer another £12-14m plus Parachute £11m will enhance it even more. Get a grip, its rank bad management from the top team is the reason we are where we are. NO MORE EXCUSES PLEASE
Anlov
You did not answer a single question. Maybe because every answer reflects negatively on your perception of the glorious Southgate regime of free flowing football.
Suggests you just like to repeat yourself, sorry to take you off topic. I look forward to your next monotone self repetition.
If you do have any answers, or any Southgate fans do to those questions, I would be fascinated to hear them.
Dormo, the Tuncay article only appears online in the News section of the Gazette and not the Boro FC one.
But the concept of Image Rights is probably better seen as a sweetner since as many have pointed out it is extremely unlikely that a players outside the global branded clubs could possible achieve the extra revenue in merchandising sales.
But awarding these massive tax-free incentives always seems to be given to so called foreign stars to induce them to come to the club.
For example, I can't imagine Downing was in receipt of £3m in Image Rights despite being a more consistent and effective player than Tuncay - let alone Mido who was also on strike last summer because he believed he wasn't being paid his image rights (even though he didn't want to play for Boro) - though it could also be argued that Tuncay was mentally on strike after his reported transfer failed to materialise last January.
We can regard ourselves lucky that Stoke needed someone to warm their bench so that we could recoup some of the outlay - very few clubs rated Tuncay and saw him as a player who covered a lot of grass but rarely had an end product and was somewhere between a midfielder and striker.
So whether you agree with Strachan or not, at least the type of players he is bringing in are here for the right reasons and not because we gave them an offer they couldn't refuse.
This former strategy has continued to fail and has only succeeded in making a few players unbelievably rich, regardless of their performances on the pitch, despite the club not having the income to afford such deals.
AV... you keep having sly digs at the Mags, Joey Barton... derby next season... among others.
As you so rightly state.. "Football is a funny old game"... how's this for 'funny'...
A team in Division One hits top form and surges into the play-offs. Wins said play-offs and enters the championship for next season. The REAL derby day for the Boro ensues... HARTLEPOOL UNITED v MIDDLESBROUGH!
... now that would be 'funny'.. but a REAL DERBY for the Smogs!
Getting back to the Mags... Stoke went up with 79 points in 2008, Brum with 83 last year. Mags at present stand on 72. So let's be conservative and say 84 points will do it. Home games to come Scunny, Ipswich and Sheff U... 9 points, Forest 1 point, Blackpool 0 points. That's 10 points at home.
Away games include Peterborough and Plymouth both draws and 2 points
That's 12 points from those games and promotion!
plus... worse case scenario Other away games... all defeats... Bristol, Donny, Reading, QPR, ok and yes... the Boro!
Just a thought... if Boro win THIRTY THREE - NIL on Saturday our goal differences will be reversed... still leaving the Mags on +7 tho!
.. yes, as you say... funny old game this football.
PS.. I know you are not looking forward to the game on Saturday, I am, but with a hint of trepidation... however, let's hope for an entertaining game with both sides looking to win it and serving up a classic, in what may be the last 'derby' between our two sides for quite a few years.
**AV writes: Don't be so touchy. The barton reference was because he is one of the few footballers who has actually been forced to reveal his image rights payments and that is what we discussed. And the derby I hadn't ruled out for next season was Sunderland. Other than that... carry on.
Werdermouth
The whole picture about footballers pay is set in sharp contrast at Portsmouth where 85 employees have lost their jobs and many have offered to reduce hours to cut costs and others have wages deferred.
Meanwhile one or two players have offered to take a pay cut. As one of the dismissed employees said, he gets paid a year what some players get in three days. May not be accurate but we all get the gist of the situation.
I know footballers careers are short but so were some of those who were employed at British Steel and Leyland (as were) and lost their jobs.
The Portsmouth players who have refused wage cuts are a disgrace to modern society. Especially given that the 'cut' is effectively temporary as the majority of them will change clubs in June.
**AV writes: You say that but I've got Sunderland pencilled in for next year. And what the hell, Newcastle too. It's a funny old game.
AV... you wrote the above!... and I am getting 'touchy' ... aren't you with just a couple of days to go before kick-off?
Looks like you may be in for a treat... heard on the grapevine that both Enrique and Routledge are going to be fit!! Look out for Jose Enrique... if there's a better left back in this league, I have not seen him.
His link up play with Spiderman has been pivotal to our success this season. He walks like John Wayne (remember him?... 'Get off your horse and drink yur milk') he struts about like he's on holiday, looks like he couldn't catch cold.... but he really is quick .... very quick!
Strachan article from Glasgow paper:
Scottish football has missed Gordon Strachan. His acerbic wit, his withering one-liners, his ability to take a team to three SPL titles in a row and the last 16 of the Champions League.
But, 10 months after he announced – and considerably longer since he decided – he no longer wished to be manager of Celtic, does he miss Scottish football?
Listening to him holding court in the splendour of Middlesbrough’s training complex adjacent to the magnificent Rockcliffe Hall Hotel, which Boro owner Steve Gibson has put together in a little village just outside Darlington, it does not take a degree in psychology to establish the answer is a resounding no. At 53, he is in a happy place, in every sense.
Sure, it would be even better if Boro had beaten Cardiff last weekend to put themselves into a play-off spot instead of dropping five points off the pace.
But the prospect of this weekend’s pseudo local derby against table-toppers Newcastle can take the edge off that particular pain.
In the course of the past year, Strachan has been manager of a Celtic side chasing a fourth consecutive title, a full-time husband and travel companion to wife Lesley, and boss of a side expected to bounce straight back up to the Premiership, even if it was a challenge which had to be met on a something of a shoestring budget.
So, on reflection, can he say he is content? “I’m content with the three things that I’ve had in the past year,” was the carefully considered reply as he settled into a one of two dark sofas in his large office.
“You are proud to be the Celtic manager. It’s a great honour and a great club to work for. It’s also nice to be where I was in California, driving down the Big Sur highway with my wife, going around the West Coast of Ireland, and doing all those things.
“This is different. It’s real hard work, but I’m all right with it.”
The previous occasion he walked away from the game, electing to vacate the manager’s chair at Southampton, it took 15 months to get back on board the merry-go-round.
When his guard is dropped, he will admit the latter part of that time was spent worrying the game had moved on without him. Until Celtic called.
This downtime was always going to be shorter. “Yes, I overstretched it the last time,” he said ruefully. “I wanted to get something I really wanted to do. Then, after a while I thought, ‘I’ve turned down some really smashing jobs a lot of people would like. Are you being an arrogant sod here, Gordon?’
“It was not that I thought I should have a top-level job, it was just that I wanted something different.”
Celtic provided that, in spades. “It was probably one of the most exciting, stressful, intense, fulfilling, call it what you like, jobs in the world. If I got one like that again, I’d know how to deal with the stress and the pressure and the hopes of millions of fans.
“But the jobs that looked as though they would be on the horizon this time were the second-bottom-of-the-league-type. And I’ve done that with Coventry and Southampton and didn’t feel I wanted to do it again. This is different altogether. At Middlesbrough, the expectation is that, having come down, you have to go back up.
“But there’s always expectation wherever you go. You can’t find a job that’s well paid with no stress. The more you are paid, you tend to find the the more stress you will get.”
If it was stress that gives him his football fix, why walk away from Celtic Park? And is the lasting frustration not that he did not do so on the back of another title win, as he could have done 12 months earlier.
The answer is unequivocal: “No. I’d have loved to have done that. But I can look back and point the finger only at ourselves. We had a few injuries which affected the firepower, but it was just about scoring goals. In that last season I thought we’d played some of the best football in the four years I was there.
“We went to Aalborg in the Champions League, and played as well as we played anywhere in Europe. We should never have lost that night. We went to Villarreal and faced a good side and played really well there, too.
“We got to the League Cup Final, took on Rangers, and played them off the park. So, I thought there were some things going which were good. We just dried up on goals, especially in the last two games. If we scored one at Hibs, and we made so many chances, we win the league. That was it.”
No conspiracy theories, agendas, accusations of referees failing to be impartial. Just an admission it should all have ended on a much happier note.
As it was, while Rangers celebrated their first title in four years, Strachan and family headed for the haven of their holiday home in Spain while the club prepared to confirm he was not coming back.
It was not a knee-jerk reaction, however. He was quitting, title or no title. But how far from the finishing line had he made the decision?
“Long before the end of the season people already knew,” he revealed. “The players didn’t, which was good because I’d seen what happened at Southampton when the news came out I was leaving, though that wasn’t my fault. It was leaked by someone in the Press.”
He had mulled over calling it a day 12 months earlier, in the dark days after Tommy Burns’ death and the clinching of the first hat-trick of titles since the days of Jock Stein.
Regrets? “No, because I’d not have beaten Rangers in the League Cup Final, the first time in 20 years Celtic had won an Old Firm final. A lot of the football was nice, and I loved watching these good players.”
But, signing off with that entry into the history books. Surely that would have been preferable?
“That doesn’t matter. I’m not interested in that kind of thing,” came the stern reply.
So, why go? What tipped the balance? “Lots of things,” he smiled. “I thought we could get better and it is hard to give it up when you feel that. But there are times when you think to yourself, right, I think people have had enough of me here now.”
He qualified that: “I’m not talking about people within the club. Dermot Desmond was not having it, right up until the last minute. But I’d made my mind up. The people at the club are fantastic. I just thought, what am I now, 52? I need another break, I want to see other things. I thought Lesley and me needed a bit of time on our own again.
“People think it’s strange, but it’s not. We do everything together. And, in the short time I was not in work, we packed in a lot of things we could not have done if I’d still been a manager.”
Now the good life is being led in the north east of England, just off the M1, though Strachan does confess there are aspects of life in the Dear Green Place which he misses.
“You miss the humour, the madness of it,” he explained. “But here I’m not so much on my front foot waiting for confrontation when I go out, that’s for sure. I can walk with my head up looking at people instead of trying to avoid eye contact.
“Having said that, I think Glasgow would be a fantastic place to live – so long as you’re not the manager of Celtic or Rangers. That’s because every-one wants to talk to you and shout at you. You don’t mind speaking to people. But, in Glasgow, they don’t just say hello. They will come over and give their opinion on everything in life.
“A lot of it was supportive, which was good, and I met some smashing people there. Some great characters.”
The irony is Strachan is more appreciated now than at any time he was domiciled in the city. But, how would he like to be remembered? For once, the answer does not come right back at you.
“I really don’t know,” he admitted, the brows furrowing. “That’s hard. Someone who took a real pride in being the Celtic manager and who had a sense of humour. That’s about it really.”
And who delivered six trophies? “Yes, but in life forget what you’ve won and what you’ve done. You have to be judged at the end of the day by how you are as a person, how you deal with people round about you.
“I’ve said to players, when you finish playing, there will be nothing better in life than sitting down with your team-mates and them saying, I played with him, what a good lad he was.
“That’s better than winning nine or 10 medals. To be judged as a person is much better – because there are some real backsides who won medals and who are idolised.
“It’s only a small part of your life being a football player. But you are judged as a person, and that can only really be done by people who know you.”
I understand why Paul said no going back
Gordon Strachan knows all about the madness and mayhem which can surround you while you try to live your life as manager of Celtic in the goldfish bowl of Glasgow.
Paul Lambert has gone on record as saying that, if a vacancy ever occurred and he got the call, he would not subject his family to it.
Having learned to handle all that comes with the position during his four years in the hot seat, Strachan is well placed to evaluate the rewards – and the costs.
He said: “I can understand what Paul means. But I’ve said to lots of people I meet, guys like Alan Curbishley, Steve Bruce, Mick McCarthy, that if you ever get the chance to take this job, you have got to do it.
“Where else are you going to get the opportunity to stand at the Nou Camp and the San Siro, wondering how you are going to stop Messi or Kaka from playing?
“Or where else will you get that feeling when you are winning an Old Firm cup final or leading a team to another title?
“In Paul’s case, what I agree with is that his reputation is such he does not want to damage it and not be able to live with the memories of what he achieved.
“If you go back to a club, as Mark McGhee has done at Aberdeen, all the great memories can get soured by a couple of bad results and a few morons screaming and shouting at you.
“That can take away all the happiness you had. It can chew you up and leave you asking, ‘What have I done to deserve this? I’m one of the guys who has helped you to have history of which you are proud.’
“I was all right, I didn’t have a history at Celtic as a player.
“But if I had to go back to Leeds, or Aberdeen, then that might wipe away a lot of the great memories you hold.”
Of course, in the case of McGhee, it is more than memories that have had to be wiped away. When the Dons lost at home in the cup to Raith Rovers, one spectator spat at the manager as he walked to the dressing room.
It brought back bitter memories for Strachan who revealed: “There’s an unfortunate similarity between Coventry and Aberdeen in that you have a long walk from the technical area to the tunnel at the end of the pitch.
“I had an incident at Coventry when a supporter came onto the track and threw his shirt down at my feet.
“But, do you know, when I took Celtic to Coventry for Richard Shaw’s testimonial a few years ago, that same guy approached me again. He said, ‘You won’t remember me, but I’m the ‘backside’ who threw the strip at you. I can’t apologise enough.
“That was good enough for me because, when we, as supporters, see what we think is our club going down the tubes, we get nervous.
“And, when we get nervous, we do silly things.
“Mark has had to do that walk at Pittodrie. And I know what it can be like.
“When I went back there with Celtic, the abuse I got took me aback.
“I thought, ‘Where’s this coming from? I was someone who played for seven years at the club, my family grew up here, I worked so hard with my team-mates to give you a bit of history. But, when I come back I’m this and I’m that. Honestly, it’s just a job.’
“So I can see why Paul would not want to go back because his relationship with the Celtic support is so good he wants to preserve that as a memory.
“If every Celtic fan said, ‘Right Paul, come back and we will never ever give you abuse and we’ll never write into the papers or call phone-ins about you,’ then he could come back.
“But that will never happen.”
**AV writes: Good stuff.
AV,
Whats the deal with Cardiff? If they fail to pay HMRC and get docked 10pts on the 5th May does that drop them out of the playoffs or do they start next season with -10? Is there an opportunity for Boro here if we finish 7th?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/c/cardiff_city/8557188.stm
Thanks and keep up the good work.
**AV writes: Yes, I think that is the wishful thinking scenario but they say they are close to completing a land sale that should raise th ebulk of what they owe.
UTB
Talking of money the cub has/hasnt got ,I would sell Wheater and O'Neil for £11,12/14m whatever we get,and use £10/11m of that to sign these players I believe would make us a stronger team,
Davis Glasgow Rangers 3.5m
Kilgallon Sunderland 2.5m
Adam Blackpool 1.5m
Gosling Everton 1.5m
Mcmanus Celtic 1.5 m
Killen free
We get Creativity in midfield,Strengh and speed at the back,a scoring winger
**AV writes: Yes, I think that is the wishful thinking scenario but they say they are close to completing a land sale that should raise th ebulk of what they owe.
The talk on the town in Cardiff is that they have already sold the land and have spent the money from the sale. Below is an extract from a Cardiff message board.
"I share your concern as to where the money is coming from to pay the ongoing costs.We know that the £2.6m of season ticket money was used to plug the cash hole and that the £1.7m from the land sale has now gone the same way , but there seems nothing else obviously available for future use unless the Malaysian money comes in (and quickly)."
http://www.ccmb.co.uk/fudforum/index.php?t=msg&goto=1783174&rid=0&S=fa05cb50339a9265cabe142017657096&srch=land#msg_1783174
brian hewitson - Yeah it is a funny old game, I've never seen a geordie lift a cup! (apart from in the colours of another team). However I have seen them throw away a twelve point lead in the past and that was hilarious!!
One major boost for Boro is the return of Australian international Rhys Williams - who been resting a pelvic problem in recent weeks.
"It's huge because we've only got four recognized midfield players," said Strachan.
Yes, only four. Why don't we get a loan player from PL?
Anyway our luck with injuries is horrible. Absolutely. I think GS2 has said all alone he likes to field the same players week in week out but there has been no chance with all these injuries so far. Horrible.
Up the Boro!
Stewart Flaherty:
No problem:
"1. Southgate said he had no money yet signed Dong-Gook, Mido, Emnes, Alves, and Digard for £20-30 mill. Stoke spent £5 mill on James"
Well, if you remove Alves from this there isnt much left, is it? Of course he did mistakes in the transfer market, no one i disputing that. As Ferguson did in the late eighties with Man U. We all know Alves partly was a result of pressure from way over Southgates head.
Emnes need time and I still believe he can be quite good. But as hes not getting the minutes, its hard to discuss. Dong-Gook was a joke. I believe Strachan did a major mistake in offloading Digard, he is a talent beyond most of our own players.
"2. You talk of attractive, enterprising and attacking football. Who is better at that, Adam Johnson or Julio Arca?
Oh yeah, Ive been frustrated with Arca lots of times myself, and never more than after Strachan decided hes top notch... Do you seriously suggest Gareth should have dropped Downing for Johnson last year or the year before???
"3. We played West Brom and lost 0-5 at home. The captain was interviewed and stated at 0-2 it felt like "one of those days". If that mentality and weakness had set in the manager takes responsibility."
Yeah, and? Since you attack my "love" for Southgate lets agree to basic facts: we were one point from the top when he was sacked, right? or do you actually deny this.
Losing games along the way is something happeing even to Barca or United. Singling out a single game, whats the point?
"4. How many late winning, or equalising goals did we concede late? Either mental weakness or lack of fitness, some of Southgate's defeatist post match interviews where he repeated the same thing, much like you do, suggests the latter."
No disagreement here. Lots of questionable things about Southgates management, but how many fresh managers kick off with perfect decision making in the first three years? Show me someone, please.
Braveheart1
Brilliant article pal, thanks for sharing it.
AV - Can you help me out. I notice Portsmouth haven't been docked their 9 points yet. I thought it had been confirmed that they had gone into administration, and that the PL rules were clear. Or are the PL trying to bend the rules?
I have nothing against Portsmouth, and feel for their fans. But like most football fans, I am very concerned about those that run the Premier League. Do I smell a rat?
**AV writes: The points deduction was suspended pending the Revenue's legal challenge to the club being put into administration. The Revenue have now accepted their case for administration after a new package was put forward today (including the 85 redundancies) so the PL management committee will now meet to comfirm the deduction, probably tomorrow.
What's happened to our fabulous Boronet posts? I miss them, badly. It's either laughs-aplenty or miserable-galore and I know which one I prefer.
Smogonthetyne's spell checker post did have me chortling to myself. More of that and Boronet please!
**AV writes: I think the author is still locked in a cupboard somewhere.
And the weekend is just around the corner. I'm not really sure I want it to arrive at all.
One thing is for certain - the game against Newcastle is a lot less important than our recent games against the likes of Cardiff City, Nottingham Forest and Swansea City were, and we lost those games. We WERE in direct competition with the other three (hoping to get into a play-off place) but we havn't been in competition with Newcastle for ages.
Let's be serious! Newcastle on 72 points and top of the table are almost out of our sight (as we languish on 47 points - a massive 25 points behind). They are almost in another league to us, and probably will literally be in that other league in a few weeks' time.
So three points against Newcastle, unlikely as it now seems, would be little more than a temporary diversion - it wouldn't derail their likely outcome any more than it would get us into a play off place.
AV - didn't he apologise, and therefore earn his freedom (or is he lurking there, ready to pounce on 150?).
And on that subject, bearing in mind our relative positions, it is a surprise that Geordia Lurker hasn't poked his head above the parapet recently.
*AV writes: Yes, and the Paul Bells ;)
Anlov
Finally, constructive and interesting.
1. If you take Alves off that is £17 million, that absolutely IS significant money, and enough to buy productive players.
Emnes and Digard are supported by many, and all the comments state what they COULD do, or what they are GOING to do. Sorry but far more stock should go on what players HAVE done in their career.
2. Regarding Downing and Johnson you are caught in the same narrow minded thinking Southgate was. Drop Downing for Johnson, why? If Martin O'Neill was that simple he would drop Downing for Ashley Young. He hasn't though, Downing has played well in a central role, and also played out right to accomodate two very good players.
Southgate did not do this and the attacking talents of Johnson sat on the bench for too many games. Johnson has also excelled out right for Man City. It is worth mentioning Coty and Villa are far better teams than Boro were under Gareth, so no reason we should not or could not have used these players effectively.
You completely ducked the 0-5 question. We were 1 point off the top yes. I also remember a Bryan Robson team playing at Everton to go third on Boxing day. Mentally weak and teams with flaws can be one point from the top in October, and Robson's were even there in December, they are never there in May. Let me know when a Strachan team lays down 0-5 at home, and yes I will see irony should it happen on Saturday!
Comparing Boro to Barca or Man United, I will leave that one as I just don't get it.
The funny thing is we both deep down agree on a key thing. It was his first 3 years in management so mistakes are not that big a shock, his first 3 years however should NOT have taken place at a UEFA cup finalist premier league team, and we should NOT act as if he succeeded in his time here and pine for him back.
On a football side of things look back and during his reign you will see little and relatively light criticism from me on any boards, I do not get caught up in hating the manager as you end up gaining some pseudo "told you so" enjoyment when your own team loses, and I dislike that in any fan. However...he will not, and should not be missed.
And just to clarify, the Bryan Bobson team battling for third on Boxing day, they were relegated.
interesting article
"GORDON STRACHAN admits failure to secure promotion could result in some of his best players leaving this summer, but reassured supporters that star striker Scott McDonald will be at Middlesbrough next season.
Victory over Championship leaders Newcastle United on Saturday would re-ignite Boro’s stuttering bid for a play-off spot and Strachan remains convinced his side are still capable of securing a return to the Premier League at the first time of asking.
But the manager acknowledges that the prospect of a second season in the Championship could see some of Boro’s most prized assets fall prey to top flight clubs.
David Wheater and Gary O’Neil are among the players Strachan would struggle to hang on to should their promotion bid fail.
With Emanuel Pogatetz, Jeremie Aliadiere and Chris Riggott among those out of contract at the end of the season the club are set for another summer of upheaval.
But news that former Celtic forward McDonald will remain at Middlesbrough next season is a massive boost ahead of the Tees-Tyne encounter that could prove crucial to their fate this season.
“If we don’t go up this summer then we could lose some players,” admitted the manager. “I am aware of that but it’s part of football. You get on and try to replace them or manage without them.
“We didn’t want to lose Adam (Johnson) in January but you understand for all parties that it was probably time to move on. That might also be the case this summer, whichever division we’re in.
“All of us want Middlesbrough to be playing in the Premier League next season.
There is a chance that if we don’t go up there will be players who’ll attract interest from Premier League clubs. It’s a fact of life.
“One of the things that convinced Scott to come here was the chance to play in the Premier League. But am I concerned he could leave if we’re not promoted? No, I trust him. I trust all of the boys I brought down from Celtic.
“I trust him to do his job and honour the contract. Saying that, it’s a four-year-deal and someone may offer £20m for him and he’d be out of the door in a flash!
“Is any player totally committed to their club? There are no cast-iron guarantees but I’m confident Scott will still be here next season. I think I know Scott quite well and when he puts his mind to something you cannot change it.”
Strachan will put the £3.5m marksman through his paces on the training ground before selecting his starting XI to face the Magpies but he’ll resist the temptation to unleash McDonald on the Newcastle back-four if he has any doubts about the player’s fitness.
Strachan said: “He told me he wasn’t totally right when he first joined us but he wanted to play. I knew how important just having his presence on the field would be so he played.
“He’s a hard taskmaster with his team-mates and even if he’s not at his best I knew that he’d be demanding the players around him were on top of their game. He is no shrinking violet believe me.
"He got away with it the first couple of games but then it started getting a bit worse. That’s life. Sometimes you try something with the best intentions and it ends up turning out bad.
“People talk about players being fully-fit but when I played I can’t remember being fully-fit after I was 26. You deal with wee knocks and bruises. I even had what Scott’s got. I had three hernia operations and managed to play afterwards.
“In my day you needed around six weeks before you recovered from a hernia op whereas nowadays doctors are claiming you’ll be okay two weeks later. Sometimes it’s best to take the medical guys propaganda with a pinch of salt.
“It’s like when they sell you anti-wrinkle cream to make you 30 years younger, we all know it’s bumpf but we fall for it. It’s the same sometimes with operations. The first one I had kept me out for six weeks but I came back right, Scott has rushed back after two and we’ve paid the price.”
Talking of being locked in the cupboard AV. I can assure you that Shogun Teatime has been put back in there and will never be allowed out, not even under the most extreme provocation.
I could do with some help though. If the worst does happen on Saturday, what is my best line of defence on Monday morning? Feign apathy?
Or if his merciful lord blesses us with three points, how shall I behave?
**AV writes: I find a combination of adult decorum, self deprecating humour and a thin veneer of world weary cynicism works well.
Gutted....
will the Championship winner's cup in April count? You know, that cup the 'stable' Boro would lift this year with committed owner and manager, Huth, Tucay, Johnson, Alves (will score goals for fun in Championship). Jawdees in disarray, nutter for an owner, no manager, top players leaving and, according to many smogs, destined for Division 1.
Football really is funny....
'Joke' club Jawdees now stable, more committed owner, great manager, committed players, big crowds... winners. Smogs now in disarray, less committed owner, manager changed mis-season when 1 point off the leaders, huge turnover in players, low crowds ... loosers.
'Joke Club?' .... if the cap fits ....
**AV writes: Where would we be without football's fickle pendulum?
Anlov
The biggest problem for Gate was in the 2008 window when the whole of central midfield left plus Swarzer.
Bringing in Digard and Emnes for the future was not the issue but the fact it was instead of recruting for the there and then. That took out the engine room of the team, the element that controlled the football. I am not saying we should have kept Boat, Rocky and Cats but done some replacing.
From then on we were either attacking or holding on for grim death. If you look back at the games, like Liverpool away, it seems like we were robbed but in reality we were under the cosh for long periods with twice as much possession and shots for the opposition. We were running out of steam in matches, something had to give and we started drifting before Xmas.
As the window approached, instead of looking to bolster central midfield we were told by Gate he was doing a Blondie by hanging on a telephone waiting for bids for Downing, O'Neill, Wheats, Tuncay etc.
The message was sent out there was no money and we were downsizing. Gate sounded and looked more and more like Eeyore. Teams knew they just had to ride out the Boro storm to nick the points, as the season drew to a close it became easier for the opposition as belief dissipated.
The summer came and went without strengthening central midfield but now we could pass the poor teams to death. The more organised teams with a bit of skill turned us over.
I wont even dwell on the keeper situation or Young being replaced by Hoyte.
Gate's departure was inevitable.
Will Strachan turn it round? We will have to wait and see.
Can we now put the Gate issue to bed? He was a great servant to the club and we are in danger of it dragging on forever.
Never seen geordies lift a cup or seen the burra win a real trophy either. LOL!
http://www.clubcall.com/arsenal/league-cup-not-trophy-wenger-1018423.html
2-1
FTM
I've noticed lately (the last month) that the Northern Echo seem to be getting some interesting inside "scoops" with the manager et al, as opposed to the weekly roll out of a player whose turn it seems to be that your paper gets. Have you and yours fallen out with somebody? Has someone said something out of turn? Have you been a naughty boy?
**AV writes: Scoops? Print schedules mean that after the weekend's match and after the routine Weds/Thursday pre-match press conference that the Echo can publish before us but if everyone has the same quotes is it really a scoop?
This week there has only been one Boro scoop - that is, a fresh hard news line that nobody else has - and that was the Tuncay High Court writ over unpaid cash story. It was exclsuive in the Gazette.
brian hewitson - your like a hungary fish......... Can't stop biting, could even call you touchy?........
Hiya Brian,
Good to see you back on the blog. It’s a shame you only pop up when it’s derby time. We miss your excellent, in depth non reactionary posts. The downside of Newcastle going up is that we won’t see you on here for a while. Will you come back and visit us? I’ll try and pop over and see you on blog on the tyne (http://www.blogonthetyne.co.uk/) as you see to be a bit short of people to talk to.
Fingers crossed for the trip to Victoria Park. Would you come and support your boys?
I submitted my last post prior to braveheart1 posting his "interesting article" which is from none other than the Northern Echo. Interest is purely a personal thing I know but the daily articles that come out from EG are really tedious at times. I'm not including the subject matter in this blog by the way, he says, slightly grovelling...
**AV writes: Not being picky, but didn't we have the same quotes on Tuesday? Which kind of illustrates the point. Generally everyone has pretty much the same quotes because press conferences are limited and formuleaic. But because the Echo/Journal/Times don't have to have a Boro story every day they can put them all together in one big piece on a slack day (when they aren't leading with a Newcastle story). We tend to break them down into several bits over the week.
We, the Gazette, also get a private one-to-one with Strachan where we try to get a couple of news lines to break into bits and the odd 'exclusive' that add something to packets of quotes that everyone else has. Occasionally one of the nationals will arrange a one-to-one with the boss to do a feature where something nice (the John Wayne or X-Factor things for instance) will come out but it is only very, very rarely that anyone has quotes or news that we don't have.
Brian Hewitson - agree. I think most Boro fans and Newcastle fans were thinking that at the start of the season and it has been mirrored more and more as the season roles on.
The problem with the Boro is that we were led to believe that we would be keeping most of the 'bigger' players and adding to them (bar the loss of Downing) to make us a 'stronger squad than last season'.
All of that talk from the club was just not true and the squad is as bad now as it was in August, or even the August the season before. We all accept the financial situation to a certain point but where will it end.
I am not bothered about the game tomorrow, the season finished last weekend.
We seem to have a couple of barcodes on this blog which is good to see for the banter. Much more light hearted than some of the dull geordie blogs I glanced at from newsnow, think they must be the usual demented souls that believe Kevin Keegan is a god.
Anyway, carry on...
Stewart Flaherty and Ian Gill:
Lots of good points. I think we all agree that its a bad idea to hire unproven managers. But that being said I grew to admire Southgates philosophy and approach, obviously a bit (lot) more than the average fan.
To be hounest I didnt enjoy McLarens time much, because of the style of play. I supported, cried, screamed and celebrated, of course. But there was something missing from the days of Robson. The magic, or to be precise: the WILL to magic.
Robsons team had bad days, not to say years.. Southgate had his 08/09, which was unimpressing. But regarding what Gill mention about losing almost every key element in the squad, that was surely not Souhtgates choice.
The likes of Boateng, Schwarzer, Viduka, Yakubu (on and on), couldnt stay, because of high salaries. We all know that. But then again, selling Cats was a different story.
I do agree to the Southgate-critics calling him soft. Cause, when you have disciplinary problems as a young player like Cats, a manager with proper balls should do whatever it takes to set him straight BEFORE taking the easy way out.
In my eyes selling Cats and not replacing Schwarzer with experience was Southgates biggest mistake (in desicions which he had a say). Im not sure that Southgate was the main drive behind the transfer of Alves, though i remember us fans going bersek with optimism, myself included.
Regarding the 0-5 loss to WBrom. If Strachans 0-3 to Blackpool or 0-1 to Cardiff is any better, I dont know. But the amount of goals in one single match doesnt seem too relevant.
One point from the top still remains as a fact. If you like or dislike Southgate as a manager. My main argument is that Southgate did a really good job this season, and the one-point-from-the-top thing proves it.
The fact that so many fans argues that the squad he had was very, very weak, his table position is even more impressing.
Try and compare Strachans stats with Southgate, and youll get my point.
Brian Hewitson:
Fair play the bar codes are doing well this season. Boro less so.
I am sure you will be singing the praises of your owner to all your own fans. Happy to stand up and be counted that Big Mike is a top bloke who you would happily go drinking with and been seen in public with. Especially at kick out (in) time.
The £30m he has been required to invest in order to keep the club afloat this season, must surely impress you and the fans greatly. I am sure we will see banners of "Cheers for the £30m Mike. You are the best thing that has happened to our club since Bobby Robson"
In this modern age of huge football invest when, in warmer economic times, he could not sell the club at a loss let alone a profit. His shrewd decision to buy the club without checking the accounts possibly hindered his ability to sell but not to buy bubbly on the evening of King Kev's sacking. Now with a further £30m of personal debt I am sure his departure from the club is all the more closer with the hugely appreciative crowd that colourfully sing his name.
With your books looking more and more stable by the week I am sure that the giddy days of Kevin Keegan could well be back soon - depending on the small print from the contracts he signed after he sued you last time round. The cash he took out of the club probably wasn’t needed to help you stay up in the first place. He is a hero in all our eyes.
I am looking forward to the weekend. It should be a great game.
As you are stuck on 153 since 10.40am I suspect a new thread is on the way. Will we be also be getting a pre toon video preview?
And are we sure Mosso is up to speed and had no reaction follwing Cardiff?
**AV writes: I'll dig out some footage.
FT Maxwell
Having not done so for 5 years, maybe Wenger should win some trophies before he starts comparing them.
The Munchkinurian Candidate...
Gazette Towers basement...
Mrs Lamb: It has been decided that you will be dressed as a Steward, to help you get away in the pandemonium afterwards. Coops will give you a two-piece Soviet Army sniper's rifle that fits nicely into a special bag.
There's a spotlight booth that won't be in use. It's up under the roof on the West Stand Upper. You will have absolutely clear, protected shooting. You are to shoot Strachan through the head. And Steve Agnew will rise gallantly to his feet and lift his body in his arms, stand in front of the microphones and begin to speak.
The speech is short. But it's the most rousing speech I've ever read. It's been worked on, here and in Rockliffe, on and off, for over eight years. I shall force someone to take the body away from him and Steve will really hit those microphones and those cameras with blood all over him, fighting off anyone who tries to help him, defending The Boro even if it means his own death, rallying a nation of television viewers to hysteria, to sweep us up into the Managers office with powers that will make martial law seem like anarchy!
Now, this is very important. I want him to be dead two minutes after he begins his pre match speech - depending on his reading time under pressure. You are to hit him right at the point that he finishes the phrase, "Nor would I ask of any fellow Celts in defence of his freedom that which I would not gladly give myself - my life before my liberty." Is that absolutely clear?
Mrs Lamb: I know you will never entirely comprehend this, Gareth, but you must believe I did not know it would be you. I served them. I fought for them. I was on the point of winning for them the greatest football victory they would ever have in this club. And they paid me back by taking your soul away from you.
I told them to build me an assassin. I wanted a killer from a world filled with killers and they chose you because they thought it would bind me closer to them.
[Puts her hands on Gareth's face]
Mrs Lamb: But now, we have come almost to the end. One last step. And then when I take power, they will be pulled down and ground into dirt for what they did to you. And what they did in so contemptuously underestimating me.
[Kisses Gareth on the forehead, then his cheek.]
Gareth: [taken slightly aback] You’re joking, of course?
Mrs Lamb: Mr. Gibson makes jokes, I do not.
AV: You're seriously trying for the manager’s job, for Gareth?
Mrs Lamb: No, we couldn't make it. But he has a good chance for the second spot. Now, I've answered your question, but you haven't answered mine. Will you block us?
AV: Would I block you? I would spend every penny I own, and all I could borrow, to block you. There are people who think of Gordon as a clown and a buffoon, but I do not. I do not despise Keith Lamb and everything that Lambism has come to stand for. I think, if Keith Lamb were a paid Geordie agent, he could not do more to harm this club than he's doing now. But to assassinate Gordon in front of 28,000 (16,340) witnesses is just madness.
Mrs Lamb: Think carefully AV, there is a reason The Northern Echo is getting all the top stories....
[Mrs. Lamb leaves without a word, the discussion clearly over, for the present]
Preview of tomorrows game for all interested
http://www.comeonboro.com/columns/314040.php
A video stream of the game can likely be found on http://www.atdhe.net
The game is on Setanta Canada, the previous 4 Boro games that were on this channel streamed at this website and it was a pretty good quality feed.
For any boxing fans you will also get the Pacquiao and Mayweather fights tomorrow night up there.
I do NOT work for atdhe or anything, just trying to "hit you with some knowledge".....name that movie.
Anlov
Been a pleasure but I think Ian raises a good point, the Southgate debate needs dropping. Lets do as you suggest and compare stats...when Strachan has been in the job for 3 seasons like Southgate was.
I will still be here, likely so will you, we tend to be stickers us Boro fans.
"FT Maxwell
Having not done so for 5 years, maybe Wenger should win some trophies before he starts comparing them."
better 5 years than never as in your clubs case. hur hur!
2-1
FTM
Hi Smoggy, just trying to stoke up a tad of passion and a bit of banter prior to the game tomorrow, but believe me I would rather we were battling it out for top spot and both on the threshold of promotion.
Boro Doug & redcartim... I couldn't give a naf who owns the club, who the manager is, or KK for that matter. All I want is to see entertaining and, hopefully, winning football... that's what we all want isn't it? Just so happens it's our 'time' at the mo... but as we all well know, Boro's time will come around again... sooner, rather than later, we hope.
.... but NOT tomorrow - eh?
PS.. it will take me 10 minutes to get to the Riverside tomorrow.. 40 mins for a home game! Used to support the Boro... Eric McMordie, Stuart Boam, Alan Peacock and all... in fact I still have a signed Jim Platt jersey!
24
(Plus whatever time the referee decides to add on)
Jack “Gibbo” Bauer: I know you think you're doing the right thing,
[raising his voice]
Jack “Gibbo” Bauer: but this is not going to happen.
Gareth: Somebody has to do it!
Jack “Gibbo” Bauer: Someone will, not you!
Gareth: [raising his voice] I'm the best match!
Jack “Gibbo” Bauer: [raising his voice even more] You're not a Manager!
Gareth: I have a EUFA Pro licence. This is easy work. Strachan’s' people won't even come close to me.
Jack “Gibbo” Bauer: [shouting] Gareth, you don't know what you're talking about. Even If everything was to go right in this scenario. Which is not a chance, I'm willing to take!
Gareth: [shouting] You're not taking it! I am!
Jack “Gibbo” Bauer: [grabs Gareth and puts him up against the wall] The reason why you got this job, [shouting] the reason why I GAVE you this job is so that I could make sure you'd be safe!
Gareth: [voice breaking] I took this job because I wanted it, not because you wanted me here. I know that this is hard for you, but this is not your decision. This is my job; better yet, my duty. I'm gonna be safe.
[crying): Jack “Gibbo” Bauer: Gareth I want you to live your life. I want you to be happy. That's all I've ever wanted. I want you to try and grow up to be the kind of person that would've made your mam proud. Okay?
Gareth: [sobbing] Oh, God.
Jack “Gibbo” Bauer: Promise me that.
Gareth: I promise.
Jack “Gibbo” Bauer: Gareth, I've got to start focusing on what I'm doing up here, I'm running out of time, okay? So -I'm gonna have to say good-bye. I love you more than anything in the world and I'll always be with you, okay? Remember that.
Gareth: Oh. I'm proud of you, and I love you.
Jack “Gibbo” Bauer: I love you too sweetheart... Bye.
GHw ~ ROFLMAO!
AV ~ We need laughing smileys to show the wallah we truly love his uplifting and inspirational tales! Or am I the only one thinking he's really very, very funny? Thanks for letting him out of the closet, AV!
Brian Hewitson ~ "Used to support the Boro..."
How did you come to switch allegiance? That's something that I could never ever contemplate and must have taken some guts to do. That or madness, depending on your point of view.
Stewart ~ I am very grateful to you for the ATDHE link! Thanks! Lots of basketball, ice hockey, rugger and footy, eh? Good mix of stuff there. Underpins the importance of great internet friends.
Come on Boro, we can do this! Big performance from the lads to put a big smile on our faces for seven days! The extra shooting practice this week will pay dividends!
Riverside Dawn
Lieutenant John Chard: The Boro doesn't like more than one disaster in a day.
Bromhead: Looks bad in the newspapers and upsets civilians at their breakfast.
Colour Sergeant Bourne: A prayer's as good as bayonet on a day like this.
Lieutenant John Chard: I came here to build a Temenos.
Pte. Thomas Cole: Why is it us? Why us?
Colour Sergeant Bourne: Because we're here, lad. Nobody else. Just us.
Reverend Otto Witt: One thousand Boro soldiers have been massacred. While I stood here talking peace, a war has started.
Pte. Henry Hook: Riversides Drift... It'd take a Scotsman to give his name to a rotten stinking middle o' nowhere hole like this.
Lieutenant John Chard: What's our strength?
Lieutenant Gonville Bromhead: Seven players including 1midfielder, 5 Left Backs and 2 Strikers ; wounded and sick 36, fit for duty 4 and about 3 Tea Ladies. Not much of an army for you.
Lieutenant Gonville Bromhead: Damn the Tea Ladies... Cowardly Physios!
Adendorff: What the hell do you mean "cowardly physios?" They tried on your side, didn't they? And who the hell do you think is coming to wipe out your little command? Doncaster Rovers?
Lieutenant Gonville Bromhead: Sixty! We dropped at least 60, wouldn't you say?
Adendorff: That leaves only 3,940.
Colour Sergeant Bourne: It's a miracle.
Lieutenant John Chard: If it's a miracle, Colour Sergeant, it's a short Lita in the box miracle.
Colour Sergeant Bourne: And a bayonet, sir, with some guts behind.
Lieutenant John Chard: Mr. Bourne, there should be 12 more men working on this redoubt.
Color Sgt. Bourne: They're very tired, sir.
[Chard whirls around]
Lieutenant John Chard: I don't give a damn! And I want this wall nine feet high, firing steps on the inside. Form details to clear away the Geordie bodies, rebuild the south stand, keep 'em moving! Do you understand?
Color Sgt. Bourne: Yes sir... very good, sir.
Surgeon Maj. Reynolds: You know this boy?
Orderly: Name is Emnes, sir. He's a work in progress.
Surgeon Maj. Reynolds: Well, he's a dead work in progress now.
Lieutenant Gonville Bromhead: Now there's a bitter pill. Our own damned supporters!
Surgeon Maj. Reynolds: Orderly, Damn it! Will you keep the posts away. Fan it!
Damn you, Chard! Damn all you journos!
Private Henry Hook: [after being ordered to help prepare for the Geordie attack] What for? Did I ever see a Geordie walk down Linthorpe road? No! So what am I doing here?
Bromhead: If 11 men couldn't hold a defensive position this morning, what chance have we with 8?
[Bourne calls the roll after the battle]
Colour Sergeant Bourne: Wheats... Wheats, I saw you. You're alive.
Pte. Dave Wheater: I am? Oh, thanks very much.
Boro 3 Newcastle 0
GHw at 6.48pm yesterday (particularly) and also 9.07pm: this is getting surreal for a football blog!
When you ate those mushrooms in the dark understairs cupboard, before your release by AV, were you able to take a look at them? If you can tell me the colours and their markings, I could look them up in a book I've got.....
Well it is billed as Untypical.
Mind you, without the editorial excellence of AV, it wouldn't be printable. Nor many other posters I suspect.