Mackem Weep: Cup Clash Sparks Season
PLANET BORO is buzzing after a fantastic FA Cup draw that can light the blue touch paper on a slow burner of a season.
The fourth round trip to Sunderland has already caught the imagination and fired up the spirits of supporters in the wake of the dream draw.
The mouthwatering trip into hostile territory offers a golden opportunity to galvanise the Teesside public and for the Mogganaut to gain vital momentum on the road to promotion with an inspirational display and a famous victory.
The internet was crackling with fans making plans and rubbing their hands at the prospect of a sizzling showdown. And not just the supporters.
Players were quick to join the banter with former Boro man (and fan) turned Sunderland skipper Lee Cattermole engaging in some early sabre rattling while the Teesside cyber chanting was led by diehard fan Jonathan Franks, taunting touchy Mackems on twitter and announcing in unequivocal terms he harbours some hostility to our friends in the north and was definitely travelling to the Lightbulb Stadium to be right in there with the fans. Probably with the Red Faction waving a banner.
There will be plenty of that in the build up to the crunch.
It is a mammoth match that matters, one that carries real cultural weight. One that will be relished and relived long after the scrappy Shrewsbury game is deleted from the collective memory banks.
This is an occasion that can set this simmering season alight.
After an amazing sprint start Boro have been solid but not spectacular so far this season and at times the public perception in wider Gazetteshire has lagged behind the reality of the team's meteoric rise.
A low profile in a national media obsessed with the top flight elite has left Boro to fly under the radar as Tony Mowbray has set about his task of reorganisation and renewal.
But this a game that will not only stoke up regulars to thermonuclear temperatures but also fan flames of passion among the waverers, part timers and lapsed loyalists and get them roaring too. It is a game that everyone - apart from possibly in the Billingham badlands where there is a high stripe count along the frontier - will be desperate to win. There is a primal pride at stake.
The derby will raise interest levels and the temperature and give Boro a chance to seize the bragging rights and put down a marker as the outside world are forced to sit up and take notice. You won't need to stay up after midnight for the highlights of this one.
Boro will be entitled to up to 6,000 tickets and with a couple of decent results in the run up have a decent time of selling them. Even if the game is picked for television or the police insist on a dawn kick-off (an unfortunate ironic phrase) it won't dampen the enthusiasm for the encounter.
The Teesside travelling army have been absolutely fantastic this season already and have turned out in staggering numbers and made a right racket everywhere and this one will a three party whip for the army away day heroes.
Being there will be a badge of honour for future generations if - when - Boro win. And we can. We will travel with belief after some spirited displays away from home this year. Bring it on.
It is going to be a tense, adrenaline soaked and volatile atmosphere. It always is. On and off the pitch. It is a fixture littered with red cards and injuries. Over the years nine Boro players have been sent off in the fixtures including Archie Stephens, Dean Glover for nutting Gary Bennett, John Hendrie after a bust-up with Paul Hardyman and Gianluca Festa following a distasteful blood and phlegm spit-spat with Kevin Phillips.
The chances of more this time are probably high. There will be some "combative" card magnets involved - especially in the no-quarter midfield tackle zone - and stakes and passions will be high.
I'm wincing even thinking about what is going to happen in the snarl-weight showdown between Barry Robson and Cattermole, who in the past has grappled his way through the fixture in a Boro shirt. I've heard the WBO are looking to handle the promotion and purse for that particular bout.
We just need to pray to the Gods of football that we don't get key players crocked. The aftermath of these is usually like an episode of Casualty. At the height of the battle against relegation Mido, Julio Arca and Didier Digard were all sidelined in real rumble.
It will be tough. In many ways it is the worst possible draw. Away to a middling Premier League would normally be a relatively gentle prospect; if had been Bolton or Wigan or even a team from the high reaches of the table they would have been far more complacent for a game with little at stake. They don't expect to win the cup and for a game like this would probably be resting key players ahead of the bread and butter games in the battle for survival or lucrative mid-table mediocrity.
That would normally give an in-form Championship side with a decent record on the road a fighting chance to nick something without any real weight of expectation.
For Boro a game like that would be a far better prospect. If you do down fighting, well it is not the end of the world, there is no shame and with a bit of luck it raises a few bob in gate money to throw in the transfer kitty too.
If you get through, great, it's a bonus. But the only really important thing is that it doesn't distract from the main aim of the campaign: promotion.
But at Sunderland there will be no leeway. There is a price to pay for failure. Defeat would leave us smarting and facing the taunting of colleagues - equal opportunities legislation means we all have to work with a Mackem or two.
That makes it dangerous. It is a derby for Sunderland too so they will be just as motivated. There is real domestic political pressure from supporters to win. Plus they are still playing to impress a new boss. And one who, like Mogga, supported the team he manages as a kid. So the stakes are high .They can't afford to lose either.
So it will be tough. But pressure makes diamonds. With heightened passion and expectations, the stage is set for someone to produce some derby dynamite, to seize the moment and become an instant folk hero.
There are plenty of iconic images from clashes against the Mackems in the past.
Penalty hero John Hickton taking a run up from the Cenotaph to twice ram home from the spot in a 3-1 home win, the last FA Cup fourth round meeting back in 1975; a Bosco Jankovic back-heeled winner in 1980; Big Billy Ashcroft and Mick Baxter scoring in a 2-0 win the following year; Gleeful Glaswegian goal getter Bernie Slaven scrambling the Holgate fence after just 17 seconds at Ayresome; Jamie Pollock being taunted as and "ugly bastard" by the ever welcoming Roker Park crowd for 64 minutes before he trundled home the winner; Emerson rehabilitating himself with a rocket shot and samba jig in the last game at the old ground; Noel Whelan netting in a 1-0 win played under a state of seige with helicopters overhead and fans bussed in and out; new boys Chris Riggott getting two and Malcolm Christie adding a third on an instant hero debut on Wearside.
Derby days - especially as underdogs - are the perfect platform to carve out a permanent place in terrace legend.
Come on lads: history beckons
******
Meanwhile, January 10th is Super Jan Fjortoft's birthday. Which is as good as reason as any to stick your arms out aeroplane style and run around the office celebrating some of these beauties.....
Boro's one time deadline day record signing - under Robbo we tended to shatter club records on frontmen if we went a few games without scoring a hatful - is on twitter. You can wish him happy birthday and talk to him @JanAageFjortoft
****MEANWHILE, I'm told some people can't read some or all of the comments below blog posts. I'm getting this checked out by the techies. In the meantime, if this is an issue, you should be able to see them by going to the bottom of the comment box and clicking the 'preview' button.
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Anthony Vickers
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If Shrews made it difficult for us in the third round, we'll certainly make it much more difficult for Sunderland I am sure. So no easy win for either side.
What are odds on a Cattermole red card then?
Cracking tie - what a season this could pan out. Could we start to book hotels near Wembley now and start dreaming? The smell of foam is starting to fill my study here...
Up the Boro!
'Downing arrested on suscpicion of assault...' That's one headline I'd never thought I'd read!
We'll beat Sunderland I can smell it in my foam hand.
When we scraped through against Shrewsbury Town on Saturday my first thoughts on the 4th round draw was for us to get Newcastle at home or a nice away day at either Manchester United/City or Arsenal.
Normally I want us to go on a cup run - which fan doesn't - but this season we have more important things to achieve with the obvious being competing to the death for promotion.The other being securing some further cash into a rather empty looking transfer fund.
Drawing a Premiership side away will hopefully give the fans a great day out whilst knowing the clubs coffers will be getting a bit of a boost and if we are unfortunate to get knocked out then at least we can concentrate on the league and promotion.
Getting a draw against Sunderland away will hopefully guarantee another good following from the Boro fans and may be a sell out at the Stadium of Light (unless its screened on TV then their fans will watch it in the pub).
It will be great to see if Cattermole is 1) brave or 2) daft enough to start a midfield battle with Barry Robson. Its just a shame that this game will come too early for our Ginger General Nicky Bailey.
It should be a great day out and a win would be ever so sweet against the Mackems,it wont be easy as we know but Im not writing us off just yet.
Went to the POSH game yesterday and predicted the 4th round draw before the game started. Shame about the result.
Sunderland looked very strong against a disappointing POSH team and a below par performance. Sunderland were hardly tested. I have no doubt we will give them a much greater test.
Hoping for a full house, on TV, and have a real go at them. Then, if we get knocked out, so be it and concentrate on the league.
Well it wasn't the draw that I wanted.
Our results have been better than our performances for some time and Sunderland are rejuventated under O'Neill. In a packed SOL it'll take a magnificent performance as well as some luck to get past them. I can't see any other result than defeat I'm afraid, though you never really know.
Personally, I'd have preferred a couple of easier draws where we could play the fringe players and pocket the cash not only from gate receipts but also from the round by round prize money that's often forgotten.
I think that losing quarter-finalists recieve something like £500k. It would have been much better to get through to the quarters then play Man Utd or Arsenal away.
But Sunderland it is, and if we can beat them it'll be a heck a moment - one that could make our season.
For all the right reasons, for once I disagree with you, AV.
Why should it be tense? If there's any tension it will be the Mackem's - they're the Prem team and not long ago we were heading towards League 1. No debate. They have everything to lose and we have nothing other than imagined Tees-Wear bragging rights. They're currently a better team than us - deal with it and move on.
We have bigger fish to fry. Let's get this out of the way and get back to the major job in hand. We were never going to win the Cup so why get bogged down in a Cup run?
This tie is perfect for us. Minimal travel, no expectations, gate money to be made and we can slip quietly and shamelessly out of the Cup.
Happy New Year all, Happy New Year yet to come if you are Chinese, we´ll have no potentially, regionally racist comments on here. (unless some complete pillock fancies a big shout out from the stands....)
What's the point in a WBO match up AV? The winner will be known by some way before the fight kicks off. How's about something less staged like a WWE match up?
Well here we are 12 months on from doom and disaster. I like a good stat and Boro were the highest point scoring team in 2011 in the Championship. That is brilliant.
Well done to the boys. More accurately, well done to the Gaffer!
Jan window wide open.....got any inside gossip for us AV? Who is the mercurial front man we will bring in that will be a massive success (for a change)?
I just hope it continues. Its not rocket science. Mowbray has brought in more points with a smaller, cheaper squad than the last guy. Now he needs a bigger squad, realistically on less money, to push us into the prem. Simplez. Who else could do it?
We have a half time raffle ticket for half a chance to go up! Exciting isn't it? We need to keep pushing now to take that ticket and turn it into a prize. The money spinning, cash consuming prize of the almighty Premier League. Where we belong.
COB! 2012, the year we went back to the Prem.
It's there, it's waiting. Who goes? The team decides.
**AV writes: Some that had to come out. It was very funny but refers to an active case so we are not legally allowed to comment for fear of prejudicing proceedings.
Sunderland MMMMmmmm....
So it should be a magic test for us and will I think be a football test not a physical test like the last time out. Then we had Catt’s proving that he was the main man cutting the frilly French peacock in half with a totally legal Teesside tackle then patrolling the midfield like a bull inside a bull ring. Showing to Gareth Southgate what a fool he had been to sell him.
However both managers this time out will have their teams concentrating on the football and so the game should be a cracker and help Tony assess which of his players will be able to adapt to the premiership next year
Would have preferred a home draw against a top prem team, full house with the cameras there to get loadsa dosh. A draw, then a valiant defeat before a big crowd with TV there again.
But mackems away it is. Should be a decent crowd and I think we get a third of the gate receipts in the FA Cup.
I for one think this is a fabulous draw. Since relegation we have fallen from the North East football map and here is a chance for us to get right back on it. What an opportunity for the whole town to get behind us against the old enemy. We really have nothing to lose and everything to gain.
I remember Tony McAndrew knocking Shaun Elliot spark out with a punch at Roker Park, and then walking off without waiting for the Red card. Not that I condone that sort of thing of course.....
**AV writes: I remember Dean Glover putting the nut on Gary Bennett, John Hendrie squaring up to Paul Notsohardyman and Luca Festa spraying phlegm and blood all over Kevin Phillips in a distasteful incident after a tussle. A Mackem colleague - we have to have them under equal opportunities legislation - said Karembeu got pedalled as well but I don't remember that one. It's a fiesty fixture, that's for sure.
There should be a ban on footballers being in Yarm High Street after 6.00pm.
Memories of Mackems in the cup? The day we won 3-1 after being 1-0 down is my favourite. Mills through on goal in a one on one situation and pulled down twice for Sunderland to suffer two devasting attacks of Hicktonite.
The daft thing is that Montie was the only person on the pitch who didnt know Mills couldn't score when he had time to think about it. Reaction goals great, one on ones a bit shaky. On both occasions my heart sank as he approached the goal only to explode in joy as he was brought down.
The other joy was the backpass that stuck in the mud for the fleet footed Murdoch to score. So much time elapsed I had chance to go for a Bovril.
**AV writes: My favourite moment was the slow-motion time bubble that enveloped Ayresome as a woeful back pass trickled to the edge of the box letting Bernie amble through to score after just 17 seconds.
Pre-match prediction: Cattermole to crock glass legs Thommo. I'm hoping against hope that it won't come to that, but you know Catts - he'll be dying to demonstrate once again what we're missing.
On another note - imagine a midfield two of him and Robbo? The opposition would just be hoofing it straight over the top to avoid having to run into the pair of them!
O'Neill v Mogga, is that the never quite made it to the top v the up and coming?
As the match is an FA cup tie and a local 'derby' then that levels the playing field somewhat, it should be a straight forward home win for Sunderland but they'll be under pressure and we'll be under dogs.
My prediction is a 1-1 draw.
AV -
Sorry - don't agree that this FA Cup sideshow should become the focus of sparking anything about this season.
This term is all about The Championship - or should be. That should be what sparks fans, players and the manager and coaches and not this one off game which is a distraction at best - and mustn't be allowed to become even that.
I don't think that even a win would make the slightest difference to a Riverside gate or to whether we'd win any of the League games around it. A draw would bring a lucrative replay - the money would be nice but do we really need another midweek game just when resources are becoming more stretched by injuries and suspensions. And losing - especially heavily - would have to be 'quarantined' so as not to infect the rest of what is around it.
I think that playing it down now (and beyond) and concentrating on securing a win against Burnley on Saturday - much more important in the grand scheme of things - rather than re-establishing some tribal dispute.
**AV writes: That would be ideal ... but among those layers outside the Riverside regulars who have drifted away from immediate emotional engagement, this is the kind of "event" that can reignite interest.
Get to sleep, you lot. Unless you are tossing and turning, worrying whether any large-club predators will come sniffing around some of our better players (Rhys Williams, Matthew Bates?), or whether we will poke a toe into the January transfer window "waters".
In which case, carry on tossing and turning, because nothing I say will stop you worrying. (Or is it excitement about the forthcoming visit to Sunderland?). EEK!
John Powls -
I think the Cup clash with Blunderland will take the focus of media and fans away from our promotion push. But don't worry about the Boro players - I think Mogga will make sure of that.
I rather like us being the underdogs in the league. I think we'll surprise a lot of people in the end. A put smile on Boro fans faces!
AV, do you think this FA Cup tie could add financially to our buying power this January?
Up the Boro!
**AV writes: The visiting team are entitled to a third of gate receipts but they don't get it for months until all the paperwork is done. If you want to please the bean-counters you would be aiming for a replay. And hoping it is on TV.
My memories of the 3-1 win over Sunderland were wrong, it was a Sounness pass that stuck in the mud for Murdoch to scoreand Montie wasnt in goal but what the heck, dont let facts get in the way.
Will the cup become a distraction? I suspect more for the fans than the players, they are all professionals (allegedly) and many dont come from the area.
As a fan from far away it is a cup match with a bit more interest and a chance for some banter with a friend but staying up is his main priority. A good cup run wouldn't go amiss but he wont lose any sleep over the result.
Of the players people like Robbo and McDonald are used to the old firm game so you cant see them going to pieces.
I suppose the most likely player to self destruct is Catts and he can do that walking down Roker beach with no one within a hundred yards. Shin guards front and back will be called for unless he has changed dramatically.
Bit off topic but something cropped up.
Caught a bit about Barcelona falling further behind Real so had a gander at the table. I knew I knew it but it was just tucked away in the back of my mind but the Liga has 20 clubs the same as the premiership.
They only have one cup competition but it is two legged.
How come our players are tired and theirs are not. Must be the tempo. Or an excuse. Or maybe just not good enough.
Don't know if my memory is playing tricks with me again, (it's an age thing) but I remember us playing at Joker Park, we were one up then suddenly found ourselves down to 9 men. Obviously I was fearing the worst until I think Degga Downing went through and made it 2.
Could be wrong though.
**AV writes: There was a 2-2 in 1970 that Downing played in where Hickton scored twice and a 4-1 battering the following year but I can't see in the record where Stewie's Dad scored against the Mackems. Come on golden oldies, help out.
Ian -
You could come up with all kinds of reasons for it but they would all sound like excuses.
Tempo, the winter break, number of easy games (there are now only two teams in the division), the fact that they are generally better in possession and spend less time chasing around the pitch, possibly better diet/lifestyle etc etc
Ian -
The difference between La Liga players and Prem players is that in La Liga they pass the ball around where as Prem players do a lot of running around. I bet if Sam Allardyce did his pro-zone analysis on Messi he wouldnt let him in his team because he doent run around enough!
The Mogga game plan has to be to wind Catts up 'early doors' so Sunderland play the game with ten men - simples...
Ian G -
Yes it was Trevor Swinburne in goal me thinks.
Equal opportunities extends to residential dwellings because here I am sat 300 miles away with a Sunderland supporter next door and to add spice to the equation our sons play for two rival local sides. You will appreciate we are hoping for a televised match.
It is difficult to not be excited about the draw - wonder what the logic is that we were number 1, I had always presumed numbers were assigned alphabetically - but you are right to encourage us not to lose sight of the prize as the Burnley/Coventry games are of significance.
Fingers crossed for two good results, then we can enjoy our trip to Sunderland.
AV and Percypie -
I went to the 2-2 and 4-1 games AV mentions.
The 2-2 draw was bizarre as we totally battered them and but for a Colin Todd masterclass could have declared just after halftime. We should have been that far ahead they could have played with us in the dressing room and still not caught us up.
That game was memorable for a ticket cock up that made our cup allocations a silky smooth operation. Derrick Downing got us tickets but when we turned up Sunderland had given Boro tickets for their season ticket holders seats! Chaos ensued with possession being 9/10ths of the law. No one went to the toilet just in case. 42,617 attended and no wonder selling seats twice!
Went to the 4-1, It was early doors in the season, 29th September. Very depressing but I dont think anyone was sent off, just played like 9 men.
That was the season of the Boam punch in the 0-0 draw at ManU in the fith round of the cup. Dennis Law punched Stewie off the ball just outside our box. Dennis wrung his hands and stood expectantly and he was not disappointed as Boam layed him out, I think we all laughed including the ref because it was so comical, ManU carved us up in a daytime, midweek replay because of the miners strike.
We had beaten Citeh in a third round replay. One nil to the good and me the only Boro fan cheering in the Kippax stand, did feel lonely. They equalised when Lee Wun Pen rang in to the box and threw himself down.
In the replay one nil up again and Lee tried the same trick, Maddren went to tackle him but stepped back a couple of paces. Lee did a Triple Salko with Pike but Maddren was now yards away. Ref gave and lino gave him straight sixes for artistic impressionn only got fours for the technical element.
I was there for the Jamie Pollock one at Roker which was very funny. They were chanting "ugby b****d" to him until the goal and then he scored and did a funny gurning face to the crowd and then we started chanting the same thing at him and he gave us the thumbs up. Very funny.
Also was there for the Emerson sizzler. That was the last game at Roker I think.
Newcastle South is not my favourite place to go. Always loads of chew going back to the 70s. Very aggressive police and stewards too. Especially considering it is "not a derby" (unless they win of course). For me, Sunderland has always been the worst away ground. They have never really stepped out of the bad old days.
And banterwise they are generally poor too. Very thin-skinned. They can dish out but can't take it. Not a lot of the self deprecating humour you usualy get from real fans of middle ranking clubs like us. Over high expectations of how people see them I think (and maybe a little bit jealous of the attention the Trophy Virgins get. Surprising really because all my life they have been a mediocre team and you'd think they got used to it by now. Ha ha.
BTW AV, seen your tweet about being shortlisted for top NE sports reporter. Well deserved. Always good stuff. Keep up the good work.
**AV writes: Thanks. Let's see if I can get the silverware this time after so many near misses last year. #thereorthereabouts
I'm afraid I'm with John Powls on this one. The Sunderland match does absolutely nothing for me. If we win 2-0 brilliant, but no doubt we will get a few crippling injuries plus a minimum of two yellow cards and perhaps worse a red or even two then through in another game in the next round to squeeze into an already overloaded Championship Programme.
Whilst we have the chance of a return to the Premiership with a small over-achieving squad lacking quality in depth (as was borne out against Shrewsbury) we cannot afford FA Cup distractions. I would play the likes of Reach, Ripley, Pilatos, Main, Hines etc. at the SOL and if they pull off a result then great and if they lose then the experience will do them good.
A mid to lower table Prem season next year and a Cup run would be something to get excited about but right now my ruthless 100% focus does not permit the luxury of petty local rivalry over something that could be our Achilles heel come May.
Woot woot... pedant alert: We were ball number 1 because in the third round draw we were the first tie out the hat.
Sunderland memories:
Took the future Mrs Smog to her first ever game, a 0-0 bore draw in 99 I think.
Took mrs smog to the SOL for the 3-0 win. I still think about Jimmy's goal. Swerve, pace, goal.
Went on my own to the last game at the SOL. How did stewie miss that pen? Sat right next to the home fans in what they call 'crazy corner'. Constant abuse coming from the Sunderland fans if a rather disappointing but predictable nature. It was like being at the monkey enclosure of a zoo.
Being kept behind for an hour, forced on to a train you do not need or want to go on. Don't think I'll go this time
Good luck AV by the way
You are right about our results against the Mackems, AV in 1970-72 - but Downing did score against Millwall twice in February 1972, once in each cup match (the first of which was a 2-2, so possibly confusable with the other 2-2).
There was a Downing goal against Watford in another 2-2 in 1970, and he also scored in our 2-1 third round Cup victory over the Mancs, not far off "Mackems" in orthographical as well as loathesomeness terms.)
BTW, I have always believed Derrick was unrelated to Stewie! Am I wrong, or just missing a humorous quip?
You can keep your Alan Hansen, Lawro, Sky Sports Girls, and football on at a reasonable hour. Over here in Kualar lumpur we have Robbie Mustoe on ESPN. Yes, the Robbie Mustoe - suited and booted and spitting lyrics on the state of the game. Booya.
There may be more out there - perhaps Trevor Putney is a big name on late night Kiwi soccer. Maybe Richard Liburd and Andy Payton do Cambodian Football Focus.
This is a sprawling, octupus of a club and bigger than anyone of us has ever realised.
Smog On -
Many thanks for the tip.Looking forward to regaling BWB Jr and all and sundry with my new found knowledge.
Good Luck AV on the awards front, loved your Stewie Downing tee-shirt solidarity quip. LOL as the youth would say
Steady AV, Steady.
At least let us get the Burnley game out of the way first with hopefully three more precious points before you whip us all into a frenzy.
I understand your point of view with gates at the Riverside not reaching the levels Tony Mowbray deserves and maybe it would be better to fail this season stay down and build the team the club and importantly the support for yet another charge next season
I agree with John Powls his comments are spot on
I went home and away to many derby games over many years, personally I preferred playing the Mags as I have more family interest playing them but in the years that we had something special to win or lose the Derby games were just side shows
Going into this game at full strength with nothing to lose, Yes I think we could give them a game on equal terms and maybe win and possibly win well.
However without Bailey or possibly his first game back Lee Cattlemore will cut our midfield to ribbons
Although I think young Richie Smallwood will become a better player than Catts eventually as things stand Catts is a far better player than Ritchie or Bailey and will destroy our current midfield.
With Bruce at the helm we could have achieved the win. The prestige and the glory with a few bumps and bruises. However with Martin O'Neil in charge (the manager we should have had after McClaren) the focus will be on winning and sorry folks he will out think us. His team will out play us and if we get aggressive his team will out fight us.
I understand what a win could do for us with fans coming back and an extra game in the F.A.Cup The pride the passion the prestige etc etc. However the down side could be a disaster:
IIjuries to key players
A heavy defeat destroying confidence
A disruption to our promotion push
Sorry A.V. I am an optimist, but a realist also. It’s the poison chalace this F.A. CUP draw.
,
MOBRAY will for sure go for it and when the whistle sounds there is no one more fervent or eager on a win than I.
It would be heaven sent to win and stay injury free
So lets wait and see and keep our fingers crossed
UP THE BORO
So life in the high profile Championship has become so exciting that the fans don't need to be distracted with a FA Cup game against local rivals Sunderland?
Come on guys! this is what football is all about - if we miss out on promotion this year it might be a few more years before another local derby takes place.
Besides we're just as likely to pick up a couple of injuries playing a dull 0-0 away to Coventry.
OK promotion is the still the main aim but can we at least keep 'The cup is not important' comments until after we've been knocked out.
AV -
You are going to have to consult your oracle regarding the 2-0 win at Joker Park, I'm positive we went down to 9 men and then scored the second goal. 71/72 season is about right, I was going to write that Big John had scored but for some reason Degga Downing's name came into my head.
There is something in my mind about him being involved in the game, either breaking away and crossing for Big John or even being one of the men sent off.
Can you find out as it's driving me mad.
PS. Do you have any contact with former players (Big John would rememeber).
Werdermouth, life in the Championship isn't exciting, its nailbiting but its a task thats achievable.....just!
The FA cup is not and will not be achievable even if we get to the Final. Arsenal, Chelski, Spurs, Liverpool or Manure will win it regardless of the remaining rounds and draw permutations. It could bring in some needed revenue but nowhere even remotely near to the Premiership. I'm certain, if say we did get all the way to the final the drain on our playing resources would mean us struggling to make the Play-offs. I don't think thats a price worth paying at the moment.
Don't get me wrong, on the day if we stuff the Mackems I will be delighted and cheering loudly but Football sadly has become a numbers game and the "magic" of the Cup was lost back in the 70,s or possibly 80's. The FA backed withdrawal of Manure some years ago just confirmed that to me.
As an outside bet I fancy the Barcodes to maybe spoil it for those that now believe it is their Financial and Sky given right to be this years Finalists.
Come May I would rather be celebrating Promotion than another year in the Championship but running around Wembley with the Cup unless of course its in the Play Off Final :-)
Right that's made my mind up. I'm not going to Sunderland.
In retaliation to this mythical safety comittee stating we can only have 3k tickets I'm gonna boycott this fixture. Fellow boro fans I urge you to do the same. It's not fair.
I big ask I know, but boro fans in the states, boro gams in Auz, boro fans in Liberia and of course boro fans in Finland I urge you not to go.
Stand firm brothers!!
Surely no reasonable person could take Jonathon Franks' tweets to be his considered views. No insults, no swearwords, just a preference for fundament based pyrotechnics to watching Sunderland. No cause for an apology in my view.
I had always hoped Franksy would become a flare player.
Let's hope there are some outbreaks of football during the match but I would be perfectly relaxed if we were to lose.
Percy
We won at home 2-0 in 71/72 with two goals by big John. I cant remember any early baths and my Boro book shows none - it has all dismisals from the year John Powls was born (1899) to 2003.
We did win 2-0 at Norwich City 14th August 1968 with Hickton and McMordie getting first use of the showers. Horsfield scored in the first half and Downing in the second.
Hope that helps.
Finally a bizarre thought. Coventry have allowed us to speak to Lutamebob because they have brought in Nimely on loan.
GULP!
NE sports reporter of the year?
Get to the final, not win owt' and let us all down...
Typical Vickers.
Jeffrey Wood calls himself an optimist - blimey, I wouldnt want to be stuck in the pub with him when hes being pessimistic. Obviously, Sunlun will start big favourites but Jeffrey is giving O'Neil god-like status.You never know in footy and just remember - he aint God
Halifaxp - I was wondering the same. As far as I knew the two Downings are not related but please confirm. Was it so that Ritchie Smallwood's grand dad played for Boro - but Downing?
Secondly we're joint top in the form table in C'ship now. But Burnley is just a point behind us having won four out of six. So a very important game ahead - and not certainly easy.
So the league is our bread and butter but I like that Sunderland game's hype takes some spotlight off Boro. We are doing nicely off the radar of National media.
Sky is reporting: "Middlesbrough are understood to have sealed signing of striker Lukas Jutkiewicz from Championship rivals Coventry." Your comments on this, AV?
Up the Boro!
Did you hear about the Polish striker taking his eye test. The optician asked him if he could read the fourth line down.
"Read it" he said. "I know him!"
I see only 3000 tickets allocated seems our away fans credentials preceeds them for all the right reasons.
Obviously the Makem fans dont want to be outshone by 6000 Boro fans.
Good news on transfer if true money available, hope it comes off and he is in by the weekend.
I can't wait, I think you have to be a bit miserable if you can't get carried away with the excitement of a chance to prove ourselves against one of our local rivals. We have nothing to lose, we can go up there and have a good go.
Instead of focussing on the negative, what about the positives? Imagine the confidence going up there and winning will bring? And why should we get injuries there and not in another game?
Also - working with a load of mackems it would give make a lot more enjoyable the week after if we win!
Sounds like good news on the new striker as well.
AV: Bit of a none comment, but i have a few spare minutes.
I am in sales and the use of language is important. Now I don't want to the term "lazy journalism", but by saying so, I actually do.
The term "crippling wage bill". As used in today's story on the lad joining..... its become a bit of BS bingo when referring to our wages. Now whilst still potentially true, we are half of what we were last year. If you search the term (yes it bothered me that much!) on the Gazette site, it come up quite frequently...over a number of years.
Now far be it for a salesman to tell someone else on how to do their job, with limited experience,.....but...aren't their other phrases or terms the highly talented Gazette Team could start to use instead and reflecting with pain that has already go into the wage reduction?
Unsustainable
Extremely high
Unhealthy
Inflated
Unmanageable
Greek
Half of were we where and we are still crippled, yet the same term is used.....hmmm
Minor moan over...back to work. (Best check on my production team first though...)
**AV writes: I usually say "bloated" "millstone" or "Premier League legacy".
Clarets Drained by Boro Juggernaut!
Is the Blog sleeping, or are the techies on strike?
Holgate Ender 11th January -
Sunderland the worst away ground to go to? Surely you must have meant Leeds? Oh, the cheery banter of those jolly, fair minded and ever-so-welcoming supporters of the West Yorkshire team!
Forgive us for not understanding that Yorkshire IS Leeds. It was like entering an occupied zone. Mind you, I never went to Millwall so it's difficult to judge whether Leeds gets the automatic promotion spot in the "affable locals" league, or whether they are fighting it out for a play-off spot.
Missing in the ether.
Posted some time ago to put Percypie out of his misery but it appears it is somewhere in the void despite being told held for approval.
Back to soothing Percypie's feavoured brow. There were no sending offs against the Mackems in that period.
We did win 2-0 at Norwich in August 1968 with Hickton and McMordie getting first use of the showers. Horsfield scored in the first half and Downing in the second. The dismissals were late on.
Hope that helps if you ever see the post.
I also commented on the bizarre fact that Coventry allowed us to sign Lutamabob because they had taken Nimely on loan.
GULP!!
**AV writes: Worse, they failed to fill out and fax a document properly so he wasn't eligible to play today. Insert your own joke here.
Could you name the Boro captains who have worn the arm band since Gareth Southgate?
I think we have missed a leader on the field since Gareth hang up his boots but now Mogga has solved that problem, too. I think Bates is a perfect leader for the team during the trip to the moon.
My prediction tonight: 2-1 victory for the Boro. Up the Boro!