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Untypical Boro is a lively topical blog by the Evening Gazette's award winning football columnist Anthony Vickers that aims to get behind the headlines to flesh out the stories that Boro fans are talking about.

Incisive, provocative and well informed it seeks to engage with articulate supporters and give them a platform to help set the agenda on the issues that matter.

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May 2007 Archives


Boro Will Win On Maths Of The Day

Posted by on May 2, 2007 11:34 AM

IT WOULD take seven coupon-busting results including Boro failing to take a single point from their last two and West Ham winning at Old Trafford to conspire and drag Boro down. It is virtually unthinkable. But that won't stop Boro fans with a pessimistic streak as wide as the Transporter from believing it is almost inevitable.

The pundits have dimissed it. Reason suggests the vital point at Manchester United helped Boro limp and collapse over the line like a jelly-legged marathon finisher. Woodgate's signing and the renewals forms going out suggest the players and the club think the issue is dead.

But look, hey chickenrun cynics! You can still get 259-1 on Boro going down at Betfair. And given the number of times Boro have been caught in a fatel pincer movement of their rivals' last gasp revival and their own end of season ineptitude there might be quite a few takers. As an insurance against disaster it is worth a daft quid of anyone's money.


Continue reading "Boro Will Win On Maths Of The Day" »

Viva Sevilla!

Posted by on May 3, 2007 10:35 PM

"WHY do you want them to win when they battered us in Eindhoven?" It was a reasonable question my wife posed as I urged on Sevilla to victory in their all-Spanish UEFA Cup semi-final clash with Jamie Pollock's old boys Osasuna. Why did I want them to win when they battered us? And they did. Sevilla gave Boro a ruthless football lesson - but I feel no malice whatsoever.

I think it is partly a fond memory of that sense of occasion. She wasn't there so can't really comprehend the warmth and comraderie in the squares in Eindhoven or the joy with which rival supporters shook hands, swapped scarves and smiled our way through the language barrier on a sunny day that was the crest of Boro's wave. It has been a torrid 12 months since.

The Sevilla fans were brilliant. There was no hostility, no edge with them. Like us they were a small club punching above their weight and celebrating their first European final in style. They were drinking and dancing and singing and smiling and it was a joy to meet them. They were brilliant in the stadium too and gave an awesome masterclass in colour, passion and noise that started long before kick-off and which I think contributed to Boro's muted display on and off the pitch.

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Boro Safe After Wigan Water Own Goal

Posted by on May 5, 2007 10:52 PM

WIGAN fans were furious about a string of decisions going against them as they saw the trapdoor creak open an inch or two below them after a week when everything has gone wrong, not least the pressure piled on by the Premiership's bottle job over relagation rivals West Ham. Paul Jewell fumed and blustered his way into stroke territory in the post match press conference as he grasped at straws and blamed the goal on Stewy Downing's illegal Bolo-style slipping two footed deadball delivery technique that perfected on the training pitch at Hurworth.

But all that is just a bitter deflection of a simple truth: Wigan were awful. All their problems against Boro were self-inflicted. They can blame the refs and the Premier League and devious Downing all they like but the reality is that they put in a high-octane but low threat performance in a must win match against the team with the worst away record in the Premiership and when it looked like slipping away they did precisely nothing to change it.

Wigan were awful and Boro - despite some changes that will have had fans wincing before kick-off - were good. They put in a spirited if scrappy defensive display in a bruising game when the pressure was really on. Wigan had to win but never looked remotely like doing it. A looping header clipped the bar in a frantic start that soon fizzled out then industrious Boro beavered into a position of dogged dominance that finally secured Premiership safety.

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Exit Xavier In Model Departure

Posted by on May 8, 2007 9:53 AM

ABEL XAVIER will leave the club in the Summer after failing to agree a contract extension. That is probably the right decision as although he was among Boro's most consistent and committed performers this season, at 34 he was only ever a stop-gap. It is a priority that the right-back slot can be filled with permanent quality next season as Boro plan for the future.

Xavier was an enigmatic media presence who had a knack for saying the right things at the wrong time. His boat-rocking exercise in January - a veiled 'come and get me' hint to other clubs that he was available if they moved quickly - will not have done him any favours, especially after Boro salvaged his career after his drugs ban. Neither will his impromtu appearance on the Three Legends last month. Although much of what he said about the club's need for passion and direction and leadership had merit and a ring of truth, and he himself came across as a sincere individual, the freelance media operation aimed at putting pressure on to win a new deal and revealing he was the lowest paid players at the club -possibly true - will not have gone down well in certain quarters.

His farewell message though is delivered with good grace, humility and respect. It should become the template for departing players who want to tick all the right boxes and leave with a bit of self-respect and with the fans on side.

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Eindhoven: One Year On

Posted by on May 9, 2007 2:33 PM

A YEAR AGO today we were all in Eindhoven, excited about our Small Club In Europe's biggest day. It was scripted that we would win of course. The steely defiance in the face of provocation in Rome, the two Massimo powered crazy comebacks at the Riverside against Basel and Steaua, the uncanny ability of spawny Steve McClaren to pull something out of the bag in Europe while his domestic regime continued to splinter. It was fated.

Of course it all went horribly wrong. Boro had shot their bolt against Steaua and arrived with confidence wavering after failing to turn up at Villa Park. Boro were battered by a polished Sevilla side that were ready for the late cavalier four up front and clinically picked the team apart. Within days of what should have been Boro's affirmation as a big club, we were picking through the post-Mac debris, emotionally spent, managerless and in need of a major overhaul.

After the game Boro fans in Eindhoven were like a retreating, defeat army making their way in straggling subdued groups through streets awash in cans, bottles and discarded red scarves. I spent the night on the grass outside Eindhoven station waiting for the 5am train to Amsterdam listening to Spanish voices singing victory hymns. The dream was over.

Still, we had a great time. It was a brilliant acheivement for the club and fantastic adventure for the supporters. We clocked up a lot of miles, collected a lot scarves and stored up a lot of incredible memories of trips to games that were inconceivable on the Holgate. Eindhoven was the climax of that. Have a look at the photo gallery on this piece. It could be a long time until we are involved in as big a party as that again.

Past Masters Boro Are Kissing The Badge

Posted by on May 11, 2007 9:29 AM

IT HAS been much leaked and it will now be much derided but here is the new Boro badge. Stand by for outcry from diehard supporters now facing the prospect of ripping up their block-paved drives designed around the old crest and small businesses everywhere are forced to repaint their white vans and change their stationary. Gazette photographers are on stand-by to rush to the house of the first to complain about the now outdated tattoo that covers their back.

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As part of the heralded "rebranding" of the club this falls flat for me. The shield motif is fine and echoes heraldic images of the past, but the scroll is unconvincing and the complexity of its lines seem incongrous with the simplicity of the rest of the design and will be difficult to reproduce on some products. The fonts are clumbsy and of different sizes. The line under the word Middlesbrough' is weak. If the aim was to reinstate the date on the badge why not put that on the body of the shield? If the aim was to tap into the past and reconnect with the heritage of Ayresome where is the blue and black? Why a shield at all when the club badge has always been round? Where are the little ships from the old crest? I liked them.

Continue reading "Past Masters Boro Are Kissing The Badge" »

Delay Ends

Posted by on May 14, 2007 10:08 AM

Sorry if anyone tried to read or post over the weekend but the blog has been knacked. Normal service appears to have been resumed after a weekend of technical difficulties beyond my comprehension. I think the servers did a Michael Owen and were stretcher off after being KO'd.

What Price Viduka?

Posted by on May 14, 2007 10:55 PM

WHAT price Dimitar Berbatov? He's scored a few spectacular goals this season, including one against Boro, so he will be worth a few bob. What about the pricetag on Darren Bent? He is hot property after Charlton went through the trapdoor and will no doubt 'spark a summer scramble'. How about Dirk Kuyt? How much to buy him?

It bears thinking about because they all scored fewer Premiership goals than Mark Viduka this season. Check out the netbusting roll of honour.. And if you want to sign someone who scored more if will take the best part of next year's TV bonanza: Drogba, Ronaldo and Rooney will not come cheap - they will not come at all - while former target Benni McCarthy is unlikely to to rush to Boro: we were close to signing him once but his agent moved the goalposts late on in the talks so Gibbo chased him and McClaren signed Massimo Maccarone instead.

The key to the Mark Viduka dilemma for the Boro big wigs as they bite their nails in the tense contract brinkmanship is not how much it will cost to sign the Aussie hitman on a new deal but how much it will cost to replace him..

Continue reading "What Price Viduka?" »

Help Shape Boro List of Legends

Posted by on May 16, 2007 10:18 AM

RIGHT, I need your help. As part of a Summer Sports Gazette project in conjunction with supporters group the Twe12th Man I need to draw up a 40 strong long list of all time heroes which will be whittled down to a ten man historical elite by a weekly public vote.

Now, as the most knowledgable, articulate and downright sexy custodians of the Boro's history and traditions I need your imput in shaping the list of those players who deserve to be included in not just the decade of demi-gods but also the famous 40 contenders for legend status. The criteria are flexible. It could be longevity at the club and understated stalwart service for season upon season that defines inclusion, a key role in a shorter period of success, an unchallenged iconic, cult status won through fighting spirit or maybe just one unforgetable epoch shaping moment of magic in an other wise humdrum career (yes, that's you Massimo.)

I've provisionally picked the first 30 which was easy but even some of them are open to challenge: Ravanelli was only passing through, was disruptive and disrespectful then fizzled out after Christmas while Tim Williamson may clocked up 600 plus appearances but if you pre-date all living fans and your name is only known by stattos can you really be a legend? Now I want you lot to fill in the gaps, put a case to throw out the ones you don't like and propose the some more candidates to take the numbers to 40. Here's the list so far....


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Engineering Works

Posted by on May 21, 2007 10:13 AM

SORRY, but once again softwear engineering works elsewhere in the network has left the blog in the sidings over the weekend. Normal service will resume shortly

Boro Stars on Maths of the Day

Posted by on May 21, 2007 2:59 PM

DOWNING baiters, listen up. The left footed line hugger is Boro’s most potent creative force - and that’s official!

According to the Premiership’s statistical service the livewire winger has put in more successful crosses than any other player in the Premiership and has been Boro’s best passer, dribbler and the team’s assist king to boot. And Alpine hardman and cult hero Emanuel Pogatetz is fast shaping up as one of the best defenders around too.

Continue reading "Boro Stars on Maths of the Day" »

Boro Fans Tough Love For Juninho

Posted by on May 21, 2007 10:56 PM

WE GOT not one Juninho letter. Not a single desperate plea to bring the newly unemployed Little Fella back to fill the creative void at the heart of his beloved Boro and sprinkle some magic football pixie dust on the Riverside. No tear-stained and emotional missives with important bits underlined , a lot of UPPER CASE STATEMENTS and more exclamation-marks than the EU punctuation mountain!!!!!

Has Teesside's Cult of Juninho finally died out?

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Cards Earn Credit For Boro Cult Heroes

Posted by on May 28, 2007 1:39 PM

EMANUEL Pogatetz has picked up 23 yellow cards in his short time with Boro. The Alpine hardman was voted supporters' player of the year. The two are not unconnected. The crowd love a player who is willing to take a few knocks - and dish a few out - in the service of the shirt.

No matter how much you try to sanitise the game as a fluffly foam fingered family entertainment there remains a brutal kernal of primeval conflict about it and our innate tribalism demands a champion ready to shed blood for the cause. In Mad Dog we have such a man.

Continue reading "Cards Earn Credit For Boro Cult Heroes" »

Time To Press The Panic Button?

Posted by on May 30, 2007 9:23 AM

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THERE'S the panic button; you can reach for it any time you like. If you click on it it sends a painful electric shock up Lambie's spine and activates a sound file screaming "Ow'ee, get yer finger out," in the frenzied tones of stoppage time. It's had more hits than myspace over the past week as an army of itchy-fingered Boro fans come to the boil.

Twitchy Teessiders are alarmed by the doom-laden smoke signals coming out of the club suggesting a downgrading of transfer targets from heroes to zeroes, the sounds of a just a few paltry coins rattling around in the bottom of a once overflowing warchest and ominous quotes from prospective signings who have opted for lesser clubs citing their new employer's ambition. And all that set against the on-going high-risk Viduka brinkmanship, talk of selling before we can buy and the appearance that Portsmouth are buying ever player in sight.

But wait! Don't zap Lambie just yet. Derby haven't even sobered up from the play-offs yet and most of Planet Football is lapping up the sun, sea and San Miguel. There is plenty of time before we move up to Defcon 1.

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Ten Snippets

Posted by on May 31, 2007 9:40 AM

THE SOARAWAY season just gone has been broken down into a century of bite size back page snippets by ace gossip condensers at the Daily Telegraph and an entertaining digest it makes too. My personal favourites were no-necked Welsh karaoke king Craig Bellamy taking a five iron to John Arne Riise in a midnight demonstration of his swing and Leeds Marching On to division three and a clash with mighty Hartlepool.

Boro get into the list twice, first at number 71 for becoming the first team to overturn a lead and beat Chelsea since the fast fading self parody Special One took over and then again at 91 as perma-crock Real Madrid reserve Jonathan Woodgate returns to English football with his local club.

Never one to see a simple format go to waste, here's my top ten

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