Smoggies 2 Cloggies 1
BORO showed great character and resiience to claw back from a goal down to beat Bolton and clock up a fourth successive league win.
Would they have done that last year? Would they have kept their confidence and swagger? Would they have stepped up the tempo and kept the initiative? There was a time when the 'typical Boro' reaction to bossing a game and then leaking an unlucky goal would be to lose heart and lose shape. Not this time.
That second half show was a massive positive. As was the dogged resistance to the Cloggies late onslaught. As was the reaction of the fans. They too stayed patient as the passing game unfolded, stayed supportive when the Bolton goal went in and they too stepped up a gear when the team was pressing forward. Mogga said it was like when he was a lad cheering on Boro on the Holgate. Some of that is of course spin, part of the on-going attempts to win the hearts and minds and get a sometimes sceptical crowd on board. But it was a cracking atmosphere.
That said Boro got lucky. Bolton may have been fortunate with the deflection off Haroun for their opener but they missed a sitter soon after when Bikey had his disastrous weekly wobble and failed to deal with a routine ball letting Lee (insert your own Dong Gook joke here) through free on goal only to miss the target completely.
Some things of note:
McDonald continues to work his way back into Mogga's good books, taking advantage of injuries to come into games and score (his first goal at the Riverside in 2012 - his last was against Peterborough last December). From naughty step to key player in three short weeks. That's a good thing. Both of his finishes were polished and showed good instincts but perhaps the most important thing is his new willingness to be a team player. If he keeps scoring people will soon forget his spell in internal exile (and will increase the possibilities of a sale because the real issue around him hasn't gone away.)
Big Ish is getting some stick for a string of missed chances - a couple of missed one on ones have been followed by a couple of close range headers going astray. But he scored in midweek and got an assist and played pretty well against Bolton, working their defence well, going on some good runs and adding a troublesome physical presence. He's gradually getting there.
Marvin Emnes injury may only keep him out a couple fo games but he will be a big miss. For all his frustrating moments he still carries a potent threat and the ability to turn the match in a moment. He brings pace and trickery that is hard to replace.
The cross from Ledesma for McDonald's header was fantastic. It was an inch perfect delivery that invited a perfect finish. The low ball in a few minutes earlier for Haroun was perfect too but he stabbed it wide. Ledesma is far from the finished article but he is starting to hint at being a far better football than his early frustrating cameos suggested.
Kevin Davies must be 40. Surely? He played for Chesterfield in the FA Cup semi in 1997 and that is practically pre-history. He's still dirty mind. Poggie's gonna knack you!
Chris Eagles dive was pretty embarrasing really. He deserves public ridicule. Instead of booing the crowd should have laughed. It was a good spot by the referee though. He was quite a distance away and the leg did stretch out inviting his tumble. That said, Bikey scares me the way he dives in. He is a penalty waiting to happen.
Four league wins in a row. Five in all competitions. Four away wins on the bounce. Joint second. A decent crowd - quality and quantity. A pattern starting to emerge along with a growing momentum and the first signs of the kind of consistency that Woodgate is always banging on about. A derby cup clash looming. It's all good.
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Bleeding ell AV, wots happenin ere mate? The Boro of old would have never come back and won this game - Mogga quoted: 'there was actually a positive attitude in the dressing room at HT'. Are we at Old Trafford or Stamford Bridge ??? No we are at the Riverside and Boro have come from a goal down to beat a very mediocre Bolton. This is revolution stuff from the Boro, almost unchartered territory.
So lets not get carried away, Boro have won four on the bounce and are joint second, so easy does it guys. Keep up the good work, get rid of the gremlins bit by bit, mould the team into a tough unit with as Mogga states 'Make the Riverside into a fortress' - the stuff of promotion teams.
No I am not talking promotion just dropping in a mandatory necessity of a promotion winning team. Let's see where we are just after Xmas
A fabulous week. Good atmosphere and results. Let's enjoy it as long as it lasts.
Good points, AV. Only thing I would add is that we played most of the match without our best attacking and defending pairs. And won without Rhys and Woody or Juke and Emnes. Unbelievable and showing the strength of the current squad.
Where was Woody? Not injured again I hope.
And we even don't seem to need Bailey on the field. Remember how we missed him last season when he was away injured. Now he must fight for a starting place in the side.
The league is the priority still. So we can field a second team against Sunderland. Oops, we are winning without our top players already now. Up the Boro!
**AV writes: Woody tweaked a thigh in training on Friday and they decided not to risk him. Should be OK for Sunderland though.
This was Boro's 4th consecutive win. Not bad for a team of missfits journeymen, square pegs and kids. At last the crowds are coming back because there is more than a hint of promotion in the air... err, sorry, no, that was the coke ovens blowing off a bit more than normal!
Tony Mowbray has now completed 102 matches in control of the Boro, and has recorded 46 wins, a strike rate better than any other manager at middlesbrough in living memory!
Not bad for a bloke starved of funds contrasting with Steve Mac, game of two halves Robbo, Gareth Southgate and the mad Jock Gordon Strachen, who, despite spending millions, managed to take the Boro from the top to the bottom in one crazy year!
Very well done Tony Mowbray
Sorry but in the present John Terry/Serbia climate what is the connection between Lee missing the target and the "insert your own Dong Gook joke here" comment?
**AV writes: We had a Korean called Lee who missed sitters from there. Why, what did you think sub-text was?
Another step forward, positive approaches on and off the field bringing an increase in crowds.
Not a huge but a significant increase in numbers from the previous home matches, Notlob didnt bring anymore than Hull so that is a couple of thousand home fans extra.
Even more significantly we dont blow the opportunity though for a while you suspected it wasnt going to be our day.
The win against Hull on Tuesday was important and set up the opportunity. We took it but the injury to Emnes will be a problem in the away matches coming up.
Williams, Main, Juke and Emnes makes a hole in our resources. But we are away from home so can be creative in our line ups as we will play on the break.
Is Miller available for the League Cup and the place by the Trent?
**AV writes: He's not available for the league game or the FA Cup game in January. Never heard the League Cup mentioned. Are Forest still in it?
All is rosy in the Boro garden at the moment, a string of good results and a positive response from the crowd. Good stuff.
I have no memory of Boro ever winning five league games in a row, my memory takes me back to 1973. Am I wrong?
**AV writes: I'll check.
As I keep saying, with the exception of the Blackburn game, we have yet to be convincing this season. Not in the same way we sometimes were were at this stage a year ago.
Yes, we've had spells in which we looked good; yes, we've dominated for 20 minutes in a few matches; yes, the squad has better balance; and yes, we have more pace and penetration and are showing more passing.
However we are often hanging on; the defence is porous; we carry too many injury-prone irregular performers; and, in particular, we have yet to see a coherent, dominating performance that gives confidence that this is a Premiership team in the making.
Nevertheless even I am enouraged.
Despite missing key players, we are equal second (OK, it's because this is a rubbish Championship but you can only beat what's in front of you). There are signs of a playing pattern emerging based on pressing, possession, passing and pace (wow! I didn't set out to alliterate - it just happened).
What particularly warmed me yesterday was the fight-back, resilience and belief. It has been a long time since we've demonstrated such durability and doggedness. For years, once we went behind, you didn't fancy us to even draw. That teamwork, confidence and belief in the management can take any team a long way.
I have hope that this team can click by New Year. Especially if and when our injuries reduce, we can see a maturation of the emerging pattern of play. No doubt one or two clubs will pull clear in the weeks ahead but, generally, there is little to beat.
Having said that, whoever wins this Championship, it won't count for much - they will still be short of Premership standard. If Boro succeed that will only be the start. There will be a huge amount of work to be done and little money with which to do it.
What started off looking comfortable despite some early Bolton possession looked like becoming a whitewash such was Boro's ability to carve apart the Bolton back line only to spurn chance after chance.
Against the run of play when we could and possibly should have been two or even three up a toothless looking Bolton foray into the Boro half about 20 yards out ended in Haroun being caught wrong side of the blue shirt he was picking up and inadvertently jabbing a perfect through ball for Lee to bulge the back of the Boro net totally against the run of play. Typical Boro!
The departure of Emnes hardly helped raise spirits and frustration was starting to set in as the “New Manager Bounce” looked to be winning the day for the Trotters.
There were some below par Boro performances in the first half despite having looked the more dominant side. Reach started brightly then seemed to lose belief whilst on the opposite flank I was wishing that Haroun had half the belief and confidence that our Friend George has. Faris would gain possession then start off and rather than break with pace he seemed to confuse himself with where he was going and what he would do next. His part in the build up to the Bolton goal didn't help his confidence either nor his team mates who took until half time to properly clear their heads.
Davies was up to his old tricks putting himself about clattering Parnaby then Hines before getting clattered himself and then went very quiet after that. I was glad to see Parnaby retain his place in the starting line up even though Hoyte was back, he seems very composed and assured whilst getting up the pitch to add attacking options but in a more subtle way than McMahon and at the same time kept things tight at the back.
Speaking of the Back, Hines was settled and controlled, Bikey was magnificent and cleared danger with his usual aplomb but also managed to clear any constipation problems in the North Stand on a couple of occasions. Jason needs to start watching Bikey's back and shouting as he occasionally has spatial awareness lapses besides lets face it Jason has had little else to do to keep occupied these last two games.
Leadbitter was closing down and chasing everything in the middle alongside McEachran providing passes and through balls to the attack. Miller was in Halloween mode as Jekyll and Hyde. For such a man mountain he failed to impose himself physically on the Bolton defence on many occasions, far too often he was bundled over and failed to get out of the blocks quickly enough and yet he managed to get on the end of balls into the box and run at the defence without ever looking comfortable but enough to come close on a few occasions.
His fitness also looked suspect in the last 20 minutes but as his fitness and composure grows he looks to be linking up well with MacDonald.
The introduction of McDonald for Emnes seemed to not so much turn the game but bring Miller more into it and Scotty himself became a real thorn in Bolton's right side, a thorn on their left side, a thorn scrapping in the middle of the park and a thorn in the box. He has the uncanny knack of knowing where the ball is going to be before it gets there.
To his credit in the last few minutes of added time he found himself on the edge of the Bolton box and having already bagged a brace his first thought was to retain possession and run the clock down rather than going for his hat trick. So amazing was this selflessness he had to beckon Ledesma several times to read his game plan and get wide, not go inside. A puzzled Ledesma eventually twigged and received the ball on the right flank from Scotty.
McDonald clearly had a point to prove and looked a class above this afternoon, on this performance his fee may pay off this season and with dividends.
A special mention must go the the fifteen and a half thousand or so Boro fans who, spurred on by McDonald’s determination, got behind the team, created an up-tempo atmosphere, willing them to fight, scrap and stretch every sinew fpr the last 20 minutes and everyone was rewarded when Mac's deft header from Ledesma's cross justifiably earned all three points.
At the end 10,000 of the Boro faithful stayed behind after the whistle to cheer off the team in red who reciprocated, unity had broken out at the Riverside, a true meeting of hearts and minds!
That result, the performance, and the atmosphere at home to Bolton was like a good hearty stew on a very chilly autumn day. Sustaining, it gives a happy warming feeling deep inside.
Hopefully, it will encourage a few more to return to the restaurant to try out some other dishes on the menu. The cup game at Sunderland is a confection - nice for a little nibble - but the main course is the league.
A good run-out up the coast there in a few days time will test us, and a win (with the prospect of an unheard-of home time in the quarter finals?) would be great and might make the club a bit of money if we draw a Premier League giant. But at this stage it is the main course that provides the fuel to drive the club forward.
Let's enjoy the variety of a cup game before getting our heads down again next week away at Charlton, then away again at "the Trees".
Hi all -
I posted this at the end of the last blog...I don't want to hijack AV's blog but you might not have seen it. PS any resemblance to Kevin Thompson is purely co-inceidental!
South Coast red in Bishops Waltham said:
Hey Everybody!
South Coast Red here.......I hope you all read this very heartfelt thanks to all who send me their best wishes a few weeks ago following my stroke in the summer.... well it was horrible and it happened to me in Mania in the Philippines
In best Teesside tradition it is probably best if I don't go into what I was doing when it happened but without immediate and first class medical care, I was definitely on my way to join the list of venerable Teesside ghosts. I almost died. I was paralysed from the waist down, in a very foreign county and alone.
But as we all know, us Teessiders are made of strong stuff!!! I was airlifted back to Southampton and was able to leave hospital after about six weeks, to find my girlfriend had left me, my son went to live with his mother because I couldn't look after him, my contract at work had been cancelled and I had no money so couldn't pay the rent! There must be a word for Quadruple Whammy!
So Graham, my neighbour who often posts here showed me the comments you had all made and at first I wasn't able to read it without bursting into tears. A stroke hits you in many ways, not all physical. You can become emotionally very fragile and to be honest I lost the ability to read and walk for a while.
So to wind forward, I'm doing fine. I start a new job on Monday which will see me in Paris for a while. I stagger like I've just walked out of the Princess Alice at 11.00 on a saturday night, but it's getting better. My brain doesn''t feel like its been fried so much now, though I still can't find my IPOD anywhere! But otherwise I have to just wait for the full recovery.
I'm leaving the Thai birds alone now, and It's probably best if I knock off the booze for a while and the fits of depression and panic attacks have almost disappeared.
So please all from the bottom of whatever I have inside, I really really appreciated all the best wishes. I have travelled around the world, thankfully at someone else's expense and have met a lot of good people, enough to know that there are good people everywhere, no matter the colour or religion. But there is no doubt in my mind WHATSOEVER that us Teessiders are the friendliest, nicest and most humours of all the tribes that inhibit this planet. I will never forget you all and hope to be back posting properly very soon!!
Cheers
Martin (teessider@mac.com)
**AV writes: Good lad. I bet you are back to full fitness before Kevin Thomson.
The Football Legue show gave us 40 seconds of match time, as long as we win 2-1 they can do it for the rest of the season.
On to Tuesday and I will take a decent display and people fit for Saturday and the trip to the Trent.
Being mischevious, maybe the settled line ups and way of playing is because of the numbers. With a fit squad Mogga might start his guessing games.
Welcome back Martin! I'll get the kettle on when you get back from Paris.
Although back up North for the weekend we had delayed our departure from the South Coast so BWB Junior could play footy. Unfortunately the opposition didn't appear so I was left chuntering all the way up the M1, especially after hearing the 'typical' scoreline at half-time.
The A19 was that much sweeter on hearing the full-time score and seeing Mac's celebration after his second on the box. That he actively sought out Ledesma for his peach of a cross says a lot for the new-found camaraderie that is infecting the team. I look forward to Bailey being unleashed on the mackems, perhaps we will get the Bails/Catt cage-fighting match up we all want.
In Miller's absence will the game against the trees be too soon for Juke?
At the end of 2011 we were around the top at the end of the year and then injuries set in and we started to struggle especially with the loss of Nicky Bailey. This season we have started struggling with injuries and find ouselves joint 2nd and Nicky Bailey stuck on the bench and struggling to get selected.
Just think what we can achieve with Rhys, Woody, Carayol, Juke and Emnes back in the side along with Bails, arguably if you include Hoyte who is just comning back thats six new signings (leaving Emnes out of the calculation as his is a new loss) in footballing terms all of whom would be first choice normally if and when fit.
The fact that Hoyte and Bails were on the bench and not called upon speaks volumes. The fact that McDonald is starting to look like a 25 goals a season striker since his rebirth means more problems for Mogga should Williams (L), Main, Juke, and Emnes get fit again simultaneously.
My point I guess is that if we are achieving joint second with 6 or 7 first Teamers out what will we achieve come the end of 2012 when Mogga can call upon a full squad? Even South Coast Red in Bishop Waltham fits of depression and panic attacks have almost disappeared. Seriously though good to hear things are looking more positive Martin.
Martin Bishops Waltham -
I quite like football, and I'm very fond of Boro. Some things are more important, and one of those things must be YOU.
You are obviously making a good recovery or you wouldn't be starting a new job in Paris! Do the exercises, the occupational therapy and the rest of it...build up those new connections.
Think of it like training for an Olympic event. Daley Thompson: "I knew Jurgen Hingsen would train on Christmas Day - so I trained twice that day!". Same for you.
If you need anything to hold onto, and I realise it is tempting fate to say this, but the sky is a lot more blue than grey these days in Planet Boro. Hopefully it will be blue (or maybe golden) in Planet martin Bishops Waltham. Good Luck!
Come to think of it, how many Boro fans hail from Bishops Waltham? Is there are stray colony left there from the time the ice sheets receded, and the rest of the clan moved north to the land of ironstone, steel, milk and honey?
Bolton seem to be a bit of a tonic for the Boro, can we play them tomorrow night instead and again on Saturday???
Welcome back Martin. I suspect AV didnt set you a tough task in being fit before Thommo. The good thing is we are all able to participate in the blogosphere, I noticed Pauline on the previous thread, it is long time since I recall her posting.
**AV writes: Everyone is back on board the Mogganaut
AV
They must he hiding somewhere, are they in the lifeboats?
Great stuff , Martin. Well done. There's a nice mission for you there in Paris. A bit of French scouting for the Boro. If you could turn up another Adriana Karembeu (available again after their recent split) it would make many of us very happy.
On less serious matters, I hope that we put out the reserves who did so well at Preston for the Sunderland match. The crucial games are at Charlton and Forest over the next week. We could win at Charlton if we put out a strong and rested team. But I fear we will lose if we suffer from major injuries or fatigue as a result of a battle tomorrow night.
Putting out our second string would be an appropriate response to our disgracefully small ticket allocation, demonstrate to Sunderland that we take neither them nor the competition all that seriously, and give us serious bragging rights if we get through. Mogga must be tempted to give the lads who got us through at Preston another crack this time. I would like to encourage him to do just that.
I see that Scott McDonald is already giving us a further insight into what an annoying little chap he can be by picking the team (including himself) for tomorrow's game. In fact he should be the last player under consideration.
We have only two fit strikers, one of whom cannot play at Nottingham. So McDonald has to be kept back for the two games next week. It was at this stage last season that Mac was complaining that he was less than happy at having to play two games every week, because he needed a full week to recover between games. If this is the case then he certainly needs to be kept back for the two crucial league matches. The fact that he obviously has a preference for playing in 'a big match' is neither here nor there.
Last season we lost vital home points against Coventry at this stage of the season by playing our strongest team in a mid-week cup game, and putting in a tired performance the following Saturday. I would not like to see all of the hard graft of the past few weeks thrown away by two below par performances after the Sunderland game.
9 straight wins in 73-4, 7 in 86-7 & 6 91-2.
Hope we can keep the run going. UTB
Len Masterman -
Sign her up, if she scores goals and pulls the shirt over her head that would most certainly boost attendances.
On a more serious note I agree about the Sunderland match, give game time to squad players.
The problem is that players prefer to play rather than train especially when things are going well. Players like McDonald will want to play in what is in theory a big game in front of a decent crowd. It will be a decent pay day for the club plus the chance of a plum draw away if we are succesful - I have discounted a home tie totally.
We view Charlton and the place by the Trent as our priorities, in his heart of hearts so will Mogga but professional pride drives him on.
All is good that is Boro at the moment.
I think why we are not getting clean sheets is the constant changing of the back four. But their goal on Saturday had nothing to do with them. Not complaining as long as it dosnt come down to goals at the end of the season.
I believe this was the first time this season we were unchanged. I would keep Woody for Charlton and leave the back four untouched for Tuesday.
Well done Boro i believe the noise helped.
I didnt see the league football show on saturday on account of being a bit bladdered, but, is it just my boronoia or are we always on nearly last? We always seemed to be in the old days, MoTd and the local news, but do you still feel that no matter how well we do we are always pushed as far towards the next day as possible?
**AV writes: Boro are not "a story" anymore. We were when we first came down and for the first game or so of the last two new managers but apart from that, no one is interested in 'Guy Mowbary's side'. It is very rarely any of the national reporters turn out these days too. I like it that way. Under the radar.
Josh McEachran @JMcEachran20 confirms that he is not allowed to play tomorrow. No cup games at Boro. But I think Ish is OK to play as the Robin Hood team from Trent are not in the Cup anymore.
Bernie insists that no one can beat his record of 17 second goal tomorrow. Hope his is wrong and Ish or Mac beats him to that!
My prediction is a 0-1 win for Boro and an away tie at Man Utd next. Up the Boro!
**Av writes: We want a home game with Man Utd - we need the dosh.
Martin, good to have you back, I have to say you being fully fit before Tommo is a no brainier! Enjoy Paris, great city.
Just to endorse Ian's comment, the more posters the merrier. Are the number of posters on here at any one time proportional to the Riverside crowd size?
As for tomorrow's match, clearly a 2-0 Boro win!
Graham W - are those wins in all competitions or league games only?
Was David Wheater playing on Saturday?
**AV writes: No. Two months away he told me. He's back training but in no rush and has been taking advice from the UK's top cruciate rehab expert - Matty Bates.
Got to say I'm not particularly bothered about tomorrow's result other than a win would keep morale high and the opportunity to maybe get a home draw in the next round and make some cash.
Charlton and the Trees are my main concerns plus not adding to injuries if Clattermole starts kicking everything that moves. Think I'd be inclined to give the likes of Leutwiler, Ledesma, Halliday, Reach, Park and Smallwoood along with Haroun, Bails and Hoyte a run out.
I doubt there's much chance of Tommo being fit and Woody may be a good bet to add experiebce to the kids and try and keep Hines wrapped up as he is probably slightly less injury prone than Woody. That leaves Bikey I guess alongside.
On a more serious topic the thought of Adriana Karembeu doing the penalty shoot out at half time with Bristol City might put another 5,000 on the gate!
AV -
Would we get more money from a cut of a much larger crowd at Old Trafford (say a 55,000 crowd), or our share of a 24,000 crowd at home?
I'd be happy to be certain of playing ANYONE in the next round as that would mean a successful night tomorrow! Home to Man U or, say, Chelsea would be nice though! And we'd probably be on TV again!
**AV writes: Just checked. The gate is shared with 45% to each club and the rest going to the prize pool. So a record breaking 12th away tie on the bounce at Old Trafford it is then. Quids in. And we'd beat their ressies too.
Once again there is a cloud hanging over football. It is only a game isnt it?
Great win on Saturday, Mogga deserves massive praise for how he has handled the McDonald situation, he’s turned an angry man who had a propensity to miss easy chances into a hungry, clinical striker, long may it continue.
Looking forward to tonight, I’m going into the lion’s den with some Mackem colleagues tonight, before trying to sneak into the Boro end. I have to say, they all think we are going to win tonight, it does seem to be perfect for an upset considering our start and theirs but they have to still be massive favourites, they look a better team than last year although we also seem to have improved.
I’d rather we played as strong a team as possible to try and keep the momentum going, but we have such a strong squad at the moment, you couldn’t really argue if players like Bailey, Ledesma, Zemmama came in to the team off the bench. I’d bring Bailey in for Mceachran (can’t understand why he is cup tied, but might benefit from a break anyway), McDonald in for Emnes, Hoyte in for Parnaby and possibly Ledesma in for Haroun.
Nigel reeve said:
Graham W - are those wins in all competitions or league games only?
League games only. 5 of the 9 games were away. Scored 23 and conceded only 3. This came 2 weeks after losing to Forest 5-1 and Wrexham beating us in the cup.
Poor Lee. Hit the post on his debut and never quite felt at home at the Boro after realising he was always going to be in the shadow of Boro's "real" front men (The Yak, Vids, and later Mido, Tuncay, Alves (!) and Ali-ad-i-mostly-anywhere-but-the-net). Sad...
Martin Bishops Waltham -
Good luck lad - sounds like you're picking yourself up, dusting yourself down, and looking for the gadgie that felled yer! Me - heart attack in 2007, ran first half marathon [ever] in 2009 - done quite a few subsequently though maybe I should have done them BEFORE the heart attack?
Anyway - the point is that not only do things get better but smoggies just keep on going!
Have been to Manila quite a few times now - interesting story you must have about what it was like needing urgent medical attention there!
UTB
**AV writes: Just checked. The gate is shared with 45% to each club and the rest going to the prize pool. So a record breaking 12th away tie on the bounce at Old Trafford it is then. Quids in. And we'd beat their ressies too.
No AV, let's get them in a 2 leg semi final and make much more money.
Mac's Mackem Massacre!
Lee (or Dong Goal Less as I named him) was a forlorn sight. He never recovered from hitting that post. Shortly after he played in an FA Cup replay at West Brom and you could see he was never going to score however hard he tried.
Probably his worst match was away at Reading (I think). John, his lad and I watched as this poor soul struggled. He actually kept Tuncay on the bench.
I remember him scoring at Mansfield then having another chance. It was a header, he dived at the ball and I think it went away from goal.
My lad reckoned he was the worst striker he had ever seen
Ian Gill at 8.11am and the cloud hanging over football - I assume we are talking about the allegations surrounding the ref after the Chelsea v Man U game.
There is currently an investigation being carried out. We don't know what will be uncovered. If the allegations about racist/abusive language by a referee are true, it is very worrying that such comments could even be contemplated bearing in mind the John Terry affair - so recent that he is still serving his suspension, and in a game involving the same club!
On the other hand if the allegations were shown to be untrue, that would be equally bad. Suggestions that an un-named Chelsea player threatened to break the ref's legs. And on the other, if no "improper comments" were made, and it were found that the allegations were untrue, perhaps motivated by a wish for revenge after a very unhappy game in which Chelsea players might feel aggrieved at some of the decisions given, you just wonder where it could end. Serious punishments would have to be meted out to the players concerned.
Either way, football cannot come out of this smelling good. Maybe the game has started to eat itself.
Meanwhile, 20 minutes into the League Cup game, it sounds like Boro are giving a good account of themselves at Sunderland. UTB!!
Oh yes!!!!
All I wanted was a good performance and no extra time with limited injuries.
Job done.
Smile, smirk, grin, snigger, laugh, guffaw, howls, stitch in side. Sorry about that.
Black Cats, Bob Stokoe, Steve Cram, sons of monkey hangers, Kate Adie, Makckems in general, Adam Johnson, Lee Catermole, your team took a hell of a beating.
So did my birthday bottle of Talisker.
Totally ignoring the chance of a home draw.