Obviously it is good news for me. It's always nice to win stuff and have people buy you beer. But I think it is good too in a wider sense that a football column can shrug off the challenges of the why-oh-why handwringinging worthies and parish pump parochial pontification that so often dominate local newspaper columns that usually win these things. It is nice to have reflections on the elemental importance of the game break out of the solitary isolation of the back page ghetto and be recognised for what it is: the cultural glue that holds post-industrial towns together.

Football - whether Boro, Newcastle, Pools, Sunderland, Quakers, Barnsley or whatever - remains the only unifying collective experience that most ordinary people have, it is the often the central point of our identity as individuals and as communities. It is of vital importance. It is when I write about it anyway.

I've won awards before for my columns in the Gazette but this time I consciously entered exclusively on-line material that deliberately showed the range of possibilities of a blog: embedded video, links to the original news stories that had prompted the prose riffing, links to primary source material on other sites, links to parallel discussions on twitter and on-going lively debates on the blog between myself and contributors and the ensuing internal sub-debates between posters, all contained within one easy to digest package.

I entered the journalistic juggernaut of the Deadline Day Live blog from August, a breakfast to Big Ben bongs 15 hour spectacular updated every half-hour or so to highlight that a blog was not a single set-piece text but a living, developing entity, a fluid conversation that can be reshaped on the hoof, that can reflect the changing events and moods and the momentum of the story.

I was a bit worried that I was wasting my time and that in an industry wedded to paper the mechanics and methodolgy of blogging, especially when semi-detached from the parent paper - would be seen as alien, a novelty and not really what we, the local press, do. You never know what the demographics or interests of a judging panel will be. It could easily have given the gong to a column chronicling the rural county show jam wars.

So please forgive the trumpet blowing. Yes I am chuffed and it is nice to get recognition for the time and effort blah blah blah, but I also think it is good that a new frontier is being recognised. Thanks to you lot out there too. It is the constant feedback of an active audience that makes this blog worthwhile, makes it a living entity, gives it momentum and encourages readers to come back, make that tentative first comment and then find a confident voice, speak up and feel part of a community.

Those of you who are regular posters, thanks. Those that are not, speak up. Feel free to comment. Every contribution is welcome. I don't bite. I can't speak for the others.

The official citation said:

"Untypical Boro is an enjoyable and admirable on-line product that superbly complements the Evening Gazette's newspaper service. A writer with an existing profile in print starts out in his usual realm of sport but reaches out into extraordinary areas that here strayed into classical philosophical paradoxes and reflection on the essentially bi-polar nature of football fans. Another strength is the blogger's engagement with his audience through feedback and responses. An overall combination of good ideas, good writing and good use of new media."

******

I'LL get back to writing about football soon. Honest.

Here in a nutshell is my thoughts on the 0-0 draw with Crystal Palace:

We were lucky to get away with a draw in a dismal game and they will be gutted. It was completely unmemorable as a match. Only the Baltic weather was notable.

Another two injuries (Haroun and Emnes) anded to Barry Robson's broken hand means I might need to take my boots next on Wednesday. With seven on the bench in the FA Cup it could be me, Mogga and Proc to make up the numbers.

Steele, even though not fit, made three good saves. He wasn't jeered. Either people are starting to accept he is a decent keeper or it was too cold to boo.

It was nice to see the man behind the myth as Curtis Main finally made an appearance - although after months of saying he isn't ready and trying to play down expectations on the stiffs goal machine it shows the depth of the injury crisis that he got a game.

More later.

I'll update throughout the day. I'm here until the Big Ben Bongs. You know the routine. F5. Refresh Vickers' useless blog. Check club website. F5. Refresh FMTTM in case someone there knows someone who knows Mogga's brother's neighbour's Mam. F5. F5. Fidget through office hours then get home and assume the position in thrall to an exciteable android scoopbot Jim White with beer in hand and five windows open on the laptop as the clock ticks down. FOR GOD'S SAKE MOWBRAY SIGN SOMEONE. Sign a Montenegran keeper. Sign a Bulgarian winger. Sign Lee Miller.... he's a goal machine!

****TECHNICAL NOTE*** a bug in the system has meant you can't see the whole of the blog if you click on the "continue reading" button. Try the "comments" button instead then scroll up. That should do it. There's a knack to, like the choke on my old Fiesta.

The main way that will happen is if one of the bigger earners goes through the exit door. Stephen McManus, come on down! Big Mick has had a few nibbles. Ipswich made a vague inquiry last week, sniffed the bait then swum away but are in dire straits and may come back. Bristol City made a firmer inquiry at the weekend and seem very keen but will need some help to make the numbers add up. City's Scots boss Derek McInnes knows Mick from Jockshire and is sure he "can do a job" there.

Mick Mac would need to take a cut in wages, Boro would need to take a hit on the transfer fee, Bristol would need to maybe do something on bonuses to make it work.

McManus will be on big money. Not Premier League Hummer in every colour big money but in the Championship he will certainly be among the top few earners in his position. Probably - *licks finger, holds it up* - between £10-15k a week, depending on playing and with loyalty bonuses and bits on top. That is probably enough in this division two or three players wages. If they come in on frees that is. Or certainly a decent transfer fee and LuaLua's wages. Hey ho.

He's not a bad player and ideally you may want to keep him because he is a big unit and good in the air and gives something different from what we already have but he is not in the first choice pair at the back and we are in no poistion to have £15k a week sat on the bench. It's nothing personal.

McManus 'loves it' here and may not be inclined to move - or take a drop in wages - but he needs to be playing first team football or his career will stall and recent selections here may have sharpened his mind. Even when we have been playing against Land of the Giants strikers - his forte - he hasn't had a sniff of action; even when playing three at the back; even when Rhys is pushed forward into midfield and Seb Hines is played ahead of him he doesn't make the bench. *Sound of penny dropping*.

So that could happen today. If the sums add up. Maybe.

The other main hoped for exit is the lugubrious Baltic cloud of unfulfilled potential Tarmo Kink. He has repeatedly had his first team chance and insisted on shooting from 40 yards with his first touch. He has his talents but he doesn't take direction well and hasn't bought in to the Mowbray ethos that requires tactical adaptability and a willingness to follow instructions closely. Or shoot. Whatever.

Tarmo, the grey ghost of Hurworth, had talks with a couple of Polish clubs last week but nothing concrete has emerged. His wages, not massive here, (*plucks figure*) maybe £4k a week, are top dollar in Poland. His people are trying elsewhere to find a club more compatible with his ambitions: Germany's second string? East Europe? Turkey? Again, squads this season show where he stands in the pecking order.

So, the phone lines are open. What are we bid for these two top international players?

If neither of those happen - of if no-one comes in with a bid for another fringe figure, Halliday say - then it could be a case of waiting for the loan window to open next week and then drafting in short-term stop gaps to get us through to the summer.

Meanwhile Sunderland are poised to add Poggi's mate, the creaky battle-scarred veteran warhorse Kevin Davies - now officially the most ponderous elbow powered Poundshop poacher in Europe - on a free transfer and Wayne Bridge, a player most people only barely remember in action, on loan from Manchester City reserves.

Davies should add a bit of glacial pace and, er, guile to their forward line. Presumably O'Neill couldn't get his preferred lumbering OAP targetman Emile Heskey.

Bridge is reported to be on his way to Sunderland for a medical.

*******

9 AM UPDATE:

Bloody repeats! Boro's FA Cup clash with Sunderland will be televised by ITV1 again. It has been moved back to Wednesday. In tIcket news, Boro have confirmed that prices for the game will be £20 and £10 for concessions. Season ticket holders have until close of play on Saturday to book their own seats.

Nothing has been said about the South East corner yet but if away fans take up the whole South Stand I can't image the club safety chiefs or the bobbies who erected a metal wall to keep the not derby rivals apart at the SoL would fancy the Red Faction bang up against the Mackem Massive. They will need a sterile area somewhere or we may have to endure once more the sad spectacle of some beer bellied shaven headed middle-aged man in a striped shirt clambering over the segregation netting, floundering pathetically like a beached whale. I think those lads may find their own seats are not available for this particular game. Cue angry phone calls to Gazette.

*******

9.15 AM UPDATE:

Sky "understands" that Boro and Leeds are interested in Coventry play-maker Sammy Clingan. I can't see it. He's their main man and while they are cash-strapped and desperate for cash and while no doubt Mogga would see him as a quality player he would certainly cost decent money and Coventry have already taken all ours for Juke.

Besides, where would he play? We are overloaded with midfielders. Unless it was a straight swap for Thomson. But Coventry couldn't afford his wages anyway. No it doesn't add up. Leeds may have dosh after selling Jonny Howson. Could be just his agent or Coventry trying to generate a bit of interest or start an auction.

We are checking it with our Coventry paper and with Mogga.

*******

9.30 AM UPDATE

No. Mogga has dismissed any link with Clingan in no uncertain terms. Or maybe he said "Slight" and there was a predictive text mix-up.

We have also checked with our Coventry opposite numbers and they say 'no chance.' I trust them. We worked closely on the Juke transfer last August. The Cov answer Uncle Eric (or Mr Phil in new money) has a great relationship with the manager there and between us we fitted the bits together and we were bang on.

It is interesting to look back at that one as it was an object lesson in how much a paper can know that doesn't get made public and how you have to be careful before jumping in to splash with a story so you don't look daft.

In August we knew that Juke had been to Hurworth long before he deadline, met Mogga and been impressed with his vision and philosophy and been very impressed with the training set-up (everyone is). They had outlined terms, done the medical and everything was agreed. After training on deadline day he had emptied his locker at City's raining ground and said his goodbyes.

At the Coventry paper they knew all about the mechanics at that end, how the owners wanted to sell (but boss Andy Thorn didn't) because they were desperate for money - far more so than we are - but it rested on getting Jon Parkin in from Cardiff as part of the deal that took Ben Turner the other way. That fell through because 'The Beast' wouldn't take a wage cut but at 5pm City were still anxious do the deal. They got Jody McDonald in on loan from Norwich and Juke was in the swanky suites at Rockliffe Hall pen in hand.

Then suddenly at 6pm Coventry got an unexpected windfall bonus as Birmingham sold Scott Dann to Blackburn for £7m and City had a 10% sell on clause. The cheque came in pronto and solved their immediate pressing cash flow problems and then they got cocky and tried it on with Boro and, no longer so desperate to sell, hiked the price. Boro had no more cash, not least because a mooted Swansea bid for Bates had never materialised - but even if they had were angry at the audacity and walked away.

We had earlier discussed splashing big with 'poised to sign' on the morning (I think we had it exclusive) but Mogga had warned us although most of the deal was agreed there was no guarantee and there were a few unknowns outside of Boro's control, so we held off - although we were exchanging calls and texts with the Coventry people every hour and we had a story written on the website and were ready to press the 'publish' button. I was sat there right up until midnight finger poised.

These things happen. We had it with Benni Carbone on the old March deadline day once, maybe the year before he eventually joined us on loan. Uncle Eric had bumped into him and interviewed him in the reception on condition the deal it went ahead and everything but it all fell through at the last minute. Keith Lamb rang up and asked us not to print anything and even denied point blank that he had been there. While laughing.

You have to respect those requests. Who knows, his club (Bradford then) may not have known he was there. We may have dropped them in it. Besides, if you don't they can pretty soon deny you the chance to hang around the ground/tunneland you don't get to overhear these bits of gossip or bump into people like that.

We haven't got anything like that written up this year though.

*******

10 AM UPDATE

Boro are at training now. Stand easy for an hour or so. Meanwhile if you are interested in other stuff:

Rangers Nikica Jelavic to Everton
Bolton have offered £7m for Palace's speed merchant Wilfried Zaha (ace against Boro)
Chelsea have signed Kevin de Bruyne then loaned him back to Genk.
West Ham are talking to Barnsley about Ricado Vaz Te
Millwall have signed Wolves striker Andy Keogh for an undisclosed fee.
Spurs are said to be weighing up bid for Fulham striker Clint Dempsey.
Wigan's Hugo Hugo Rodallega "may play v Spurs then sign for them after the whistle.

Harry Redknapp does know you are not allowed to use a mobile in the dock doesn't he?

Amusingly, after a ripple through the Twittersphere as Mackems tried to persuade themselves he would be a canny signing, the North West press are reporting that Kevin Davies could snub Sunderland and sign a new one year deal at Bolton and the weezkeezers are now denouncing him as 'worst than Jon Stead.'

Meanwhile Newcastle, desperate for a defender, look set to go back to Watford for Adrian Mariappa after last week's take it or leave it £3.5m offer was laughed away with contempt. Let's hope that goes through because Rhys Williams is also on their list. Peter Beardsley has practically had a season ticket at the Riverside this term watching the Rolls Rhys, although helpfully, on the day when Alan Pardew turned up with his own eyes Williams had a mare and was roasted by Burnley's Jay Rodriguez.

Come on you lot, join in. Hasn't anyone seem Mogga and Bausor at the Tontine with Michael Chopra and Jonathan Greening? Or any cars driving into Rockliffe with cryptic registration plates like WH3AT3R or T1 TUS?

********

11AM UPDATE:

West Ham are going for it. They are making sure they have enough to ensure promotion and are in talks with Ricardo Vaz, AND Bristol City's former Boro target Nicky Maynard and have all but completed the signing of Man United wonder-kid Ravel Morrison.

Fulham are thrashing out terms with Rhys Williams' kid brother Ryan, currently worried about not getting paid as Portsmouth once again have their accounts frozen and face yet another winding up order over yet another unpaid tax bill, this time £1.6m.

Meanwhile the big deadline deal locally could be Darlington, transferred to new owners for a lot less money than Pompey have still managed to pay Dave Kitson every three months despite being in administration for ever.

*****

11.30AM UPDATE

The transfer runes have shifted a bit for the neighbours. Bolton are struggling to seal their £7m move for Palace prodigy Wilf Zaha so are looking less likely to let Kevin Davies leave to help MO'N turn Sunderland into a second hand Stoke-lite. They want him to stay and sulk on the bench for the rest of the season as cover.

Another few hours stewing and Martin will have to dig out Emile's number.

But Newcastle could be in luck. Watford have approached Scunthorpe for defender David Mirfin on loan in preparation for letting Adrian Mariappa join the ailing Magpies... if they reach the £5m valuation.

Meanwhile Mogga is waiting for the Batphone to ring. *Taps fingers on desk*

And I am being strongly linked with a lunchtime swoop for a highly rated BLT.

******

NOON UPDATE

The kids know where it is at. Here's a perceptive CBBC spoof of the excitable Sky Sport Rolling Hysteria, starring Jeff Voetballs of Kickabout Sports News.

Meanwhile QPR are said to be in close to signing Lazio striker Djibril Cisse after he passed a medical and are also after Fulham man Bobby Zamora. We are waiting for Joey Barton to confirm it on twitter once he has finished his daily dose of Nietsche.

Latest speculative rumourgoround lunacy - Jordan Rhodes to Villa > Darren Bent to Liverpool > Andy Carroll back to Newcastle (on loan) > Demba Ba to Spurs > Adebayor out to unnamed foreign side. It could happen.


12.30PM UPDATE

*sigh* Sky Sports 'understands' that Boro have turned down a £6m bid from Bolton for Rhys Williams. That would throw a spanner in the works. If true.

But it doesn't ring true. Mogga has been adamant throughout January that Rhys and Bates will not be leaving in January unless "silly money" is offered. And he tends to be straight down the line with us.

Is £6m silly money? Yes, in the Championship it is ridiculous. If the club want to be in the play-off chase and push for promotion they need to keep their best players but at the same time there is a massive pressure to restructure too and as we have discussed endlessly, cash is short so that kind of carrot would be very tempting, especially if there is a gentleman's agreement to let him go in the summer anyway.

A hefty sum like £6m certainly could fund a new defender, another quality striker and a genuine wide man with pace - but the key to it is that they would need to be willing to come and available today. And slot straight straight in to Mogga's ethic.

Mogga has repeatedly knocked back these stories. We don't ask because we've got the message but every couple of weeks one of the lads from the nationals wanders along - probably because Newcastle don't have a game . Then the heavy-hearted sighing Rhys Not For Sale mantra is a press conference staple, along with We've Got No Money, No Really, He's Not Hiding It Behind The Sofa.

But for Sky who have to fill 286 hectares of yellow ticker tape today a Williams line like that is a God send. It is an easy story on a day when 2+2 is allowed to make not just 5 but pretty much anything you want. Owen Coyle has had Rhys before at Burnley, clearly likes him and Bolton scouts have been sat there next to Beardsley all year watching him. They also have vacancy after flogging Cahill to Chelsea. It makes sense.

BUT... does it make sense for Rhys? Is he ready to step straight into a struggling Premier League side? I'm not sure. He has bags of potential but can he step up smoothly? And more importantly, would he want too? Bolton are deep in relegation trouble and a few months time Coyle could easily be gone. A few months later Rhys could be playing in the Championship with a Bolton in disarray, in financial chaos and with a new manager who doesn't fancy him. Although, to be fair, he's been there before.

He should also take a good long look at David Wheater, struggling to hold down a place, slated by his new fans and having a torrid time in a club sleepwalking to disaster.

What do you lot think? Rhys Williams - should he stay or should he go? If he goes there could be trouble. Insert your own Clash reference here.

Anyway, there is a routine press conference scheduled for 1pm so no doubt that will be the first questions asked. Mr Phil is down there. Watch this space.

*****

1.30PM UPDATE

Mogga has dismissed out of hand the reports of a Bolton bid for Rhys Williams.

"There have been no bids for any of my players today," he told the routine pre-Leicester press conference. "We know there has been interest, we know other teams have watched our players and sometimes you get a tentative inquiry but as far as I'm aware there have been no bids at all."

He then reiterated the default position: He doesn't want to sell his best players and he is under no pressure to sell his best players but that should a firm offer come in that is too good to turn down then he would have to do what is best for the club - but no offers, silly money or otherwise, have come in nor would he welcome them.

Reading between the lines some feelers have been put out, one of them from our friends in the North, but having been told 'put up or shut up' and 'forget the idea that you can mug us because we are desperate' no concrete offers have materialised.

Newcastle boss Alan Pardew today has insisted at his routine pre-match presser that Adrian Mariappa is the only defender he is actively pursuing and that he has made Watford a final take-it-or-leave it offer. Within minutes of him saying that Wigan put in a higher bid so down to brinkmanship up there now.

Has Wayne Bridge arrived in Sunderland yet? Will he get through the 'peace wall'?

*******

2.15PM UPDATE

Bridge has signed for Sunderland. "Is he Cup tied?" people ask. Don't be daft, he hasn't played for about two years. The last time I can remember him denting the nation's consciousness was during the soap opera tabloid love rat saga involving John Terry and that was at least two 'didn't shake hands' media storms involving Mr Chelsea ago. He's been a £80k a week unused sub in the Man City stiffs for a year.

Actually, I don't think he will be eligible to play against Boro. Usually in the FA Cup you have to be registered at a club and eligible to play in the first game in order to play in the replay. I'll have to check.,

Elsewhere twitter wags are suggesting that Spurs bizarre move for Everton's stiff kneed permacrock Louis Saha is part of Harry Redknapp preparing an insanity defence in his tax dodging trial, He can always get it annulled later saying his dog Rosie made the bid.

*****

3PM UPDATE

Mr Phil is back from Hurworth well chilled. There's nothing much going on up there. Just boring stuff like pre-match training and the usual footballer japes, young lads swapping iPad apps, comparing tattoo sleeves and making plans for Nandos later.

I'm taking advantage of the lull to switch operations to our Acklamshire Office.

*******

4PM UPDATE

Well, I haven't missed much. All that has really come out of the presser at Hurworth is that Jason Steele has an outside chance of playing at Leicester tomorrow but the club are still running the rule over keeper loan possibilities. There was nothing on any possible exits with no phonecall from Bristol City on BIg Mick as yet.

Sky are rubbish. They still "understand" that Boro have turned down a £6m bid for Rhys Williams for Bolton - three hours after Mogga expressly rubbished the story at an official press conference. If only they bothered to attend these tiresome things. Surely the denial is the story now. Especailly when there are quotes to back it up. Still, the rumour if it is out there and alive on the unmanned cutandpastebot circuit, why check?

Meanwhile there has been a suggestion from Scotland that Boro may be one of the several Championship sides who have inquired about Hearts skipper Marius Zaliukas. That is not a name that has been mentioned at this end but we'll check.

Why we are twiddling our thumbs here's some left field ideas to liven up deadline day.

And with just four hours to go before SSN Net become self aware and the Series TX400 Hunter-Killer Scoopbot "Jim White" is unleashed those ever canny PR operators at Paddy Power have opened a market on the first cliche he will use. I'll have a fiver on "clock is ticking" at 5/1 and a daft quid on 25/1 outsider "sensational breaking news". Unusual betting patterns ahoy.

*******

5PM UPDATE:

SSN have reacted to the Williams denial story and given it a bit of superlative spin. David Craig, live from Sunderland's car park, has rung up Steve Gibson to be handed a personal rebuttal.

Craig reports that having had a £6m bid - which Mogga denied has been formally lodged - turned down, Bolton have gone above his head to make an improved offer to the chairman which has been emphatically snubbed. "I'm getting the message loud an clear that Rhys Williams is not for sale even for TEN MILLION POUNDS!" he bellows.

For me something doesn't add up. It would be very difficult for a club with Boro's current financial profile - not exactly borassic but certainly not flush and still with a pressing need to restructure and juggle a few things - to turn down £6m if it was offered (as mulled over above). And Mogga said it wasn't. But it would be impossible to turn down £10m. Hyperbole? Brinkmanship? Bad line from the Channel Islands? Hmmmm

Even it was true the problem is spending the money now anyway. A pile of eight million quid right now is useless. Unless it can central defence and be equally comfortable in the Nicky Bailey role for the next three weeks.

*****

6PM UPDATE:

Well,I've had my tea. Steak pie. Hmmm.

Nothing doing on the transfer front but there has been some tweaking of fixtures announced. ITV have picked Arsenal for their fifth round game on Saturday 18th 5.15pmkick-off no matter who they play. That'll be us then after we beat the Mackems.

And the match at Birmingham on Saturday March 17 has been moved back a bit from 1pm to 3pm. It was initially moved to the earler time so it didn't clash with an Aston Villa match but that has now been switched to the Sunday. Hoep you haven't booked your train tickets.

Transfer news: the window has closed in Italy meaning neither of the Milan sides can sign Tevez leaving us to endure another tedious few months of pecker contest pouting, posturing, moaning and manoevering as he looks to extract the maximum possible money out of Man City before he does exactly what he wants: retire to Argentina.

Newcastle target Adrian Mariappa has turned down a move to Wigan and has let it be known through his agent that he will only go to the Sports Direct Arena. But Newcastle's offer falls below Watford's valuation. And they say they won't increase it. Let the brinkmanship begin.

Anoraks report that in January in 2011 window shopping went well over £200m and so far this year it is stuck around £40m. So that's austerity Britain biting for you.

****

7PM UPDATE

Van just turned up at Hurworth marked Acme Tumbleweed Co.

The big question now is what will happen on SSN come 8pm when all the big Premier League games kick-off with the battle at the top and the scrap for fourth spot hotting up? Will the exclusive right holders throw their cultural weight behind push their prime product or will they admit that no-one is bothered with a few forgone conclusions and Phil Thompson salivating over Liverpool v Wolves and instead focus on pandering to hysterical self-referential tittle-tattle, reporters realying uncritical regurgitation of the gossip machine stood in front of a car park doyle-fest and the Jim White hyperbole solo?

To be honest I'm amazed Sky have let the deadline fall on a matchday. Games get in the way. Newcastle's move for Mariappa looks scuppered: he's been named in Watford's team tonight at Millwall so unless Pardew gets the Ashleycopter down there with the paperwork that isn't going to happen. Although rumours persist that Rodellaga is going to play for Wigan v Spurs then sign for Harry after the game so at least it shows it is possible to combine the two with a bit of imagination.

******

9PM UPDATE:

Nothing. Nowt. Nadda. Zilch.

Football is mental sometimes isn't it. Just when you think you've seen everything the totally unpredictable happens that stuns the crowd into silence and has the pundits shaking their heads in disbelief. No, not serial sporting show-off and all round doyle Jimmy Jump chaining himself to the Goodison goalpost - Andy Carroll has scored!

I see they have powered up android cliche machine Jim White on SSN. Luckily most of the footballing public are watching the match rather than this preposterous parody.

News has come in that the Joe Hart back-stick cuff protest is not Jimmy Jump after all but could be either Dave Kelly, leader of Everton dissident group Blue Union who are complaining about the fading former Big Fivers falling slowly into penury under Bill Kenwright.. Or this bloke complaining about Ryanair. We'll know for sure if his luggage turns up at Eastlands.

But the best news of all is that despite spending most of the day buying players West Ham are being battered 4-1 at lowly Ipswich. Result. Helpfully, Blackpool and Leeds just behind us are losing while Southampton and Cardiff are cancelling each other out and Hull are drawing with Doncaster.

Elsewhere bad news - Birmingham are winning so will go above us but good news as they are mullering Leeds 4-1 at Elland Road. Lethal lampost Zigic has got four goals including a seven minute second half hat-trick then been subbed soon after out of pity for the troubled and punch drunk outfit. Very funny.

*****

10PM UPDATE

Nothing on transfers but Boro are down to eighth in a very tightly bunched pack. It could have been far worse though. West Ham got battered 5-1 at Ipswich and everyone else around us drew bar Birmingham, 4-1 winners at Leeds.

Eighth is the lowest we've been all season but we are third on goal difference in a group on 45 points - Reading and Blackpool who came from behind late on to beat Coventry - with two more teams, Birmingham and Hull, on 46. If Boro can win tomorrow at Leicester we will go back up to fourth. If we can't then it has been the worst January ever and there will be widespread frosty chuntering. The pressure is really on now.

Meanwhile reports from Newcastle suggest they are still interested in Mariappa, who played for Watford at Millwall. They had better get a move on. He'll be out of the shower now. They've only got until 11 before the bongs. Outgoing at the Sports Direct could be Leon Best. The former Boro target (18 months ago under Strachan) is said to be talking to Celtic according to the Toon lads at the Chronicle/Journal.

Cancel that Best stuff. They say he has talked to Celtic and told them he doesn't fancy it.

Contrived link of the night so far has just been delivered: "What a transfer window for QPR: Quality. Players. Recruited...." Jim White loved that one. Queasy. Pantomine. Reporter.

*****

10.30PM UPDATE

West Ham have completed a £1.65m deal for Nicky Maynard which means they now have a squad about 48 strong. It means Bristol City now have cash but it is probably a bit late now to push through anything on Stephen McManus unless he has already done the prelims and medical and is down there pen in hand. Still opens the door to a possible loan move next week though I suppose.

Rhys Williams' kid brother Ryan has escaped the sinking ship of Pompey and joined Fulham for £500k plus clauses.

*****

11PM UPDATE

There's the bongs. Unless somehas pulled a fast one, nothing has happened. Not even a Maxi Haas. Mixed blessings. The window has brought in Lukas Jutkiewicz, Mogga's top target, even if it is four months late but the other pressing concerns - a keeper, maybe a specialist wide man, maybe a cheap but functional left-sided defender - remain.

That said, they can be still be tweaked on loans and Mogga has indicated he has a little bit of wriggle room on that. And Boro have kept their squad intact. They made it clear from early on that Williams and Bates wee not for sale and were clear and consistent in discouraging the lurking Premier League shoppers.

Now we can get back down to business with no distractions: Leicester tomorrow then Palace on Saturday are massive matches. Let's focus on those.

With the physicality and aerial power of Jutkiewicz adding an extra element up front and McDonald and Emnes dropping deep and buzzing about behind him Boro had plenty going forward. They created a couple of decent chances as well as the goal. Juke had a few good opportinities to become an instant hero and open his account in a derby, not least before his double effort on the stroke of half-time, and he gave the two former Man United centre backs (and Turner when he came on too) a torrid time. That bodes well..

Boro had the edge in midfield with Robson omnipotent in a textbook display of box-to-box battling, Sadly with Lee Cattermole pulling out with injury we were denied the krakatoan explosion between the pair that harnessed could solve the Western world's looming energy crisis. Williams slotted in neatly into the engine room and playing some deft stuff and Faris Haroun - awful in his past few outings - was magnificent in a display of perpetual motion on the right. Boro never let them settle.

At the back there were spells of uncertainty and the odd wobble but with Seb Hines in the middle (further nudging Steve McManus towards the exit door?) and Justin Hoyte in the unaccustomed left back slot (thus giving Joe Bennett a timely rocket up his pants?) it was always going to be a bit clunky. It worked. Just about. There were a couple of jitters and scrambles and twice in the first half Coyne had to make good saves from James McClean but the expected long spells of pressure didn't materialise.

Sunderland's goal was against the run of play - in fact it was from a corner cock up when Boro opted for an over elaborate short set-play (possibly based on the Burnley one that caught us cold a few weeks ago?) when they had a centre-back off the pitch and it should have been thrown in the mixer.

It was poorly executed and Emnes weak toe poke into the box was easily pumped clear then Barry Robson's square ball when he tried to tidy up - and should have row zedded - was a disaster. His underhit pass back towards Hoyte was easily cut out and set Sunderland surging forward for their leveller. No wonder he threw the Man of the Match champagne in the bin in protest and self-disgust.

Sunderland did have some good spells and will no doubt moan about the "goal" that was ruled out for offside but could easily have been equally disallowed for handball. Take your pick, it wasn't a goal. In the first 20 minutes of so Sessignon was a livewire and there were some hairy moments. Then late on McClean had a sizzling spell and looked their liveliest player but, again, they rarely did enough to force their way through.

Boro defendied bravely - Wiliams got a nut in the mouth and looked to have lost a tooth - and in numbers. They threw their bodies in the way, battled and generally coped well.

The Sunderland press pack were keen to point out that they had had an off day. Equally you could say that they were reverting to type and the poor side assembled by Steve Bruce was shining through the veneer of the Martin O'Neill revival. Whatever, credit has to go for Boro who forced them out of their stride with a spirited and enterprising display.

Now we have a couple of big league games coming up before the replay and have to take the same attitude and approach into those. The cup diversion has allowed the league table to squeeze up a bit and Reading have nudged ahead on goal difference and Hull are just behind by the same criteria. We need to quickly shrug off the three game Black January blip now and get something at Leicester.

Let's make sure that "not a derby" energy can galvanise the season and get the Mogganaut rolling again in the Championship.

That was a nightmare.

Yes, the ref was poor. He started very liberal and let a lot of go to help set a robust tone to the game then suddenly adopted a far more draconian approach and clamped down in fussy spell that led to a rising sense of frustration. And yes, at goal down with ten men it was always going to be a difficult task to claw back. Difficult but not impossible.

But let's not look at excuses. Boro lost because they failed in every department individually and collectively and were comprehensively out-played and out-fought by a team that kicked off seven points adrift for a reason.

And for the first 20 minutes it patently obvious why City are bottom. Boro won every loose ball in midfield, passed crisply and swept forward in numbers with Emnes having a free run down the left. In a one-sided opening spell they created four decent chances, three falling to McDonald, none of them sitters but certainly good enough to expect that at least one of them should have been tucked away. They were well on top.

After that Boro quickly fell to bits. The problems had already surfaced before Coventry's opener and before the sending off. After a rocky start they realised that man mountain Clive Platt was running riot in the box as what until a few weeks ago was the tightest defence in the league failed completely to get to grips with an archetypal Championship front man while Nimely - totally anonymous at Boro - and McSheffrey found acres down the flanks as they repeatedly burst past unchallenged. Their goal looked inevitable.

Boro managed to make ponderous Platt look an unstoppable powerhouse and Nimely a world-beater. Fans of football's Inevitability Drive and students of "typical Boro" no doubt had their daft quid on Nimely's nailed on goal but would be staggered at the thought that he would also have a hand in two more, bring a couple of good saves from DD Coyne and cut past Boro with embarrassing ease. Rhys Williams had his weakest game of the season and lost his man for the opener and gave away the free-kick that led indirectly to the third after being easily skinned (although you could argue he should have been in midfield anyway) and sluggish Matthew Bates popped home his second oggie of the season to cap a poor day at the office.

Incredibly the Gazette may have to name Nimely as the pick of the opposition as the regular "sign him on" candidate just a few weeks after his departure was marked with the same low key one paragraph shrug as the exit of Jay O'Shea and Caleb Folan.

Boro's midfield was disjointed again and without linchpin Nicky Bailey looks alarmingly bereft of composure, energy, steel, cohesion and time. Kevin Thomson was woeful. Not ring rusty but poor in distribution and decision making and while he may feel hard done by with his first yellow the second was crazy, a pointless tackle in a harmless area of the field when already walking the line. It dropped Boro right in it, not just in this game but also next week at the Stadium of Light. Faris Haroun ran around a lot but rarely had any impact on the game and Arca was pedestrian and ineffective then rounded the game off with a rash tackle that was a red card before contact was made.

Robson was Boro's best outfield player if only for drive and determination but even he was ragged and undisciplined as the game wore on. At the back Joe Bennett can also at least claim to have tried to get forward and he had a cracking shot well saved in the first half that may have changed the shape of the game. Coyne too is exempt from the worst of the criticism. He made a few good saves and was left largely unprotected for the goals.

Maybe we should have expected a disaster. The cameras were there. Plus Mogga won the December manager of the month award: since then we have lost three league games and been battered in them all plus squeezed past Shrewsbury in the cup, collapsed into the void left by Bailey and been ravaged by suspensions and injuries. Jutkiewisz must have wondered what the hell he had done.

On the plus side... er ... I'll get back to you on that.

Boro fans have been left fuming over the harsh and opaque decision to hand the club just 3,000 tickets for the mouthwatering FA Cup derby clash at the Stadium of Light. And you can see why. The arbitrary decision flies in the face of the competition rules, the long and proud traditions of "the magic of the cup" and of common sense.

We all have stories of crackling derby games where passions ran high and we stood among like minded loyalists and sang our hearts out. Iconic occasions like that are rites of passage and a powerful part of the narcotic attraction that makes football the most vibrant cultural force in the nation.

But we can't be having that.

For the health and safety overlords anything out of the ordinary that is not predictable and that creates unusual or heightened atmospheres and volatility is bad! Bad! Bad!

The grey men who licence the game - at all clubs, not just Sunderland - believe passion is the problem. They want you to sit down, shut up, clap when prompted by Pavlovian music and be passively fed a soulless "matchday experience" in a stifling emotional void then file out quietly packing the debris of your club crested generic burger, popcorn and cola-style drink with you.

That runs counter to the instinct of supporters and is at odds with the compelling drama of a game.

We have had our share of problems at Boro with fans objecting to increasingly fussy stewarding, arguments and ejections over standing, letters of complaint left on seats demanding fans curb excessive persistent noisy celebrations that out-last the goal music and the recent wrangles with the headstrong loyalists of the Red Faction.

It is bad enough having excitable fans on a mundane matchday. A one-off, high-stakes showdown with an unusually high away contingent and local rivalry thrown into the mix - a battle for bragging rights - is anathema to safety chiefs.

The Sunderland ticket decision was taken in the name of "public safety" by people who seem not to understand - or care about - or overtly opposed to - the dynamics of fandom or the drive to see the biggest games, whatever the cost, the logistics or the risk to life and limb.

The move is more likely to provoke trouble than prevent it as diehard Boro fans denied the chance to enjoy themselves overtly in the away end will instead inevitably try to see the game surreptiously, sneaking in back door and forced to sit on their hands and bite their tongues behind enemy lines. Good luck.

We've all been there. I've stood in the main stand at Roker Park at derby games trying to focus on the pitch and resist the subliminal pressure to hum along to the chanting from the away end or join in the EIOing when Jamie Pollock scored.

It is a high risk strategy that requires nerves of steel, Oscar winning acting, a command of the nuances of regional accents, a degree of blaze stupidity and an uncanny ability to mask your body language that would put a confidence trickster to shame.

You may wonder why anyone would want to spend good money to be restrained from joining the celebrations and get thrown out or sparked out after 20 minutes is a different matter but it will happen and at a flashpoint - hopefully Boro goals - there will be scuffles and ejections as involuntary twitches give the game away.

Then rather than admit it may have been maybe easier all round in policing terms to hand over an extra few thousand tickets in the first place there will be grave hand-wringing condemnation to retro-validate the decision and next time Boro's allocation will be cut further still. You know it makes sense. It's for your own good.

The FA Cup rules state that away clubs are entitled to request up to 15% of the host stadium's capacity, if they think they can sell them and generally, give or take a bit for segregation here or the physical limitations of the ground lay-out, they get them.

And why shouldn't they? The Stadium of Light is a well engineered modern ground with wide concourses and aisles, excellent access and the kind of well drilled stewarding that comes with regularly hosting 46,000 plus crowds including thousands of away supporters on a regular basis. Even those notorious Take That fans.

Are the powers that be suggesting Sunderland are unable to control a number of away fans the FA believe is normal and appropriate in their national ? Surely not. It seems a harsh criticism of their stewarding operation.

Grounds less well designed will house larger travelling contingents this term and some of those games will involve just as passionate parochial rivalry. Manchester City and United have already clashed with over 6,000 away fans.

Every round throws up a few fruity ties. The default position should be to ensure they go ahead with the full complement of away fans - if there is the demand for travellers' tickets - and the onus should be on the safety officials to accommodate that, not to resort to the intricacies of the rulebook to legislate the problem away.

The rationale for the cut by Sunderland's safety committee - being spun in brassnecked Orwellian fashion as a fantastic and generous increase - is that Boro fans have previous form for persistent standing at the Stadium of Light. Of course they have.

The committee say that in the last visit, in the costly Premier League defeat in 2009, Boro were given 3,200 tickets but vast numbers of that number stood throughout the game so it was decided that for the next visit it would be cut to 2,700.

So now, instead of a cut it is actually a 10% increase. Hurray! Hi-vis vests all round!

But don't let us give in to Boronoia. They are not singling us out. They are not seeking to restrict numbers to give their heroes as strategic advantage in the game. It's nothing personal. Sunderland have already come in for stick in the past year from fans of both neighbours Newcastle and Manchester United for cutting their usual away day allocation on the same grounds.

Such dictats are now the norm. It is part of the culture within the hidden apparatus of the game that appears openly hostile to supporters and sees them primarily as a potential public order problem to be controlled and corralled rather than as valued customers and law abiding citizens engaging in a legal pursuit.

It is the same mentality that sees Robocop police pushing video cameras in your face at railway stations or herding fans into pubs before a game whether they want to go or not. As a fan you are expected to surrender all your civil and legal rights. Heavy handed policing and insensitive stewarding is the norm. We are routinely treated in draconian ways that would not be tolerated in any other sphere of life.

And you can't object without being ordered to leave town or get carted off under Section 27 of the catch-all Violent Crime Reduction Act.

The 'persistent standing' issue is a red herring and part of the on-going bureaucratic sterilisation and beigefication of a game fuelled by passion.

All away fans routinely stand. They are usually the hardcore sing-yer-hearts-out-for-the-lads type. It's part of the day out. At every level of the league. Hundreds of people. Thousands. From every part of the demographic. It is not mandatory but it is the norm. And no one objects. It has no correlation to trouble. People stand, they shout, they sing, they dance a bit if there's a goal and then they go home happy.

Very rarely do stewards worry about visiting fans breaking the ground regulations. It would cause more disruption and led to more safety problems if they went into the crowd to remonstrate with standers or to try to eject them. Besides, they are too busy hassling home fans for bringing contraband bottles of coke WITH TOPS into the ground.

If we allow the safety police to cut out the wriggle room of sensible stewarding and routinely zealously apply the rules on standing it will cause trouble - which will lead to reduced future allocations and then the logic is that very soon there will be NO away fans. Which safety chiefs (and some clubs) may well see as a costly problem solved - although it will further corrode atmosphere and also cut off a vital revenue stream.

The way forward in this trick area is not 'no standing' but 'safe standing'.

That will diffuse not just the current ticket row (and others that are simmering away under the radar) but also remove the most contentious routine stewarding problem for clubs up and down and a potential point of friction between clubs and their own fans.

If the cup games goes to a replay many Boro fans will want a punative retaliation against Sunderland supporters and will want their own allocation cut. But we should resist the temptation to demand a tit-for-tat cut. Give them the full whack - even if they did stand last time. We shouldn't get drawn into a divide-and-rule squabble with rival fans.

Fans shouldn't be lured into the safety chiefs' mindset. Don't play the numbers game. It's more important than scoring points against old enemies. It is about the supporters' right to travel unhindered to games and the need to prevent key decisions about matchday mechanics slipping away from the orbit of football and football people into town hall offices and onto the desks of people who neither know nor care about

It is time to unite and defend the culture of our game.

**This is the Hi-Viz ft AwayDaze Remix of this week's Big Picture column.

The second half was marginally better, although that was as much because Burnley sat back to defend in depth as anything that Boro were doing. They had far more possession but did very little with it. Boro's first real shot on target came two minutes from time as Tony McMahon blasted a close range angled effort straight at the keeper.

It was, to sum up the concourse chuntering consensus, absolutely bloody awful. Rubbish. It was the worst home display this season and possibly the worst under Mowbray. Yes, it was only the second defeat in 22 games and just short of a full year and yes we remain well placed and no-one should forget that, but it was an alarming performance as a muted and meek team slumped to back-to-back defeats for the first time since last February.

Hot on the heels of the demolition at Blackpool and the stodgy draw with Peterborough it certainly represents the worst run of results and perfromances in 12 months: one point from nine, one goal in three games, six conceded by what was until the turn of the year the best defence in the Championship, and since Bailey limped off at half-time against Posh, a team lacking solidity, shape or self-belief.

If the recent run has shown us anything it is the importance of linchpin Bailey. And that, whatever else he is, or isn't, Kevin Thomson can not fill that role. The most generous thing you can say is that he remains ring rusty after (another) long spell sidelined by injury - but now, with key men missing, is exactly when he is required to step up and deliver. He hasn't and whatever the mitigation, the critics are gathering. He won't get many more chances before the mumbles become outright opposition as he slides into the role of boo-boy elect. Which will at least take some of the heat off Justin Hoyte and Jason Steele.

The defeat has also rammed home the lack of firepower. Against both Peterborough and Shrewsbury Boro created about 20 chances yet only brought three or four saves and could only manage a single goal. Blackpool created about six good chances and scored three. Burnley created maybe four and scored twice.

In the past two homes games Scott McDonald has had the ball played into his feet by Hoyte, unmarked six feet out at the far post - and faiiled to connect. He can't complain about a lack of service. There's a cypher for blunt Boro's problem. They have squandered chances but got away with it because of a solid defence that eeked out 1-0 wins despite the poor conversion rate. Without Bailey (and to a lesser extent Robson) to add a layer of protection that rearguard looks far more vulnerable. We must start scoring again.

Lukas Jutkiewisc has been brought in to help address that problem and offer a different dimension. He is physical, direct and has an aerial presence. He can give defenders a problem that McDonald and Emnes can't. And we put plenty of balls into the box so there is a supply line there to exploit. He is a desperately needed Plan B.

More later.....

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.

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.

On the other hand Boro could have, should have wrapped it up long before that. Emnes fired just wide, Ogbeche was through one-on-one with the keeper but a stuttering run and a poor first touch left him stabbing a weak shot straight at the advancing Neal and McDonald brought a good full-length save after a neat back-heel. Poor finishing to possession ratio again.

Despite victory there were some frustrated boos on the whistle. Some people obviously expect the league positions to mean that Boro would cruise it in a one sided goal fest. Others were left frustrated by a sloppy and flat-footed mix-and-match three man midfield that never gelled and never got to grips with the more mechanical familairity of the opposing unit.

Theer was plenty to criticise in Boro's below par perfromance. The usually solid defence looked porous and sluggish. Possession was squandered alarmingly with ring-rusty Kevin Thomson the chief offender but Richie Smallwood, Malaury Martin and Tarmo Kink gave the ball away cheaply in dangerous areas setting up good chances for Shrewsbury.

But it wasn't just Boro being bad. Shrewsbury did well and forced Boro out of their stride. You've got to feel for them. They will feel they did more than enough to get a draw and it is a long way home fuelled by a sense of injustice. We've all been there. Often.

But at the end of the day it doesn't matter. Emnes got the goal that mattered, Boro are in the hat for the fourth round draw and that is all that counts. We played far better and lost last year at Burton Albion. Far stronger teams slip at this stage without fail in the annual historic cull of the complacent and the unfortunate.

More later. In the meantime, judge the Shrewsbury display and result against some of these classic third round games of the past....

Parrky scores "a worldie" as second division strugglers Boro get stuck into yet another three match saga with mighty Everton in 1990:

Brucie Rioch's promotion chasing side make hard work of a home clash with Sutton United:

UEFA Cup big boys Boro are held to a draw by non-league Nuneaton. Checlk out the Mendieta goal. Check out Poggy's hair:

Terry Cochrane bags a slot on the Match of the Day credits and provokes a wave of playground injuries with some iconic acrobatics as Boro refuse to play patsy in what was scripted to be a televised giant-killing...

David Shearer gets two as Boro see off non-league Bishop Stortford at the second attempt...

A moment of shame as crisis club Boro are humbled by Darlington. Look at that pitch. Look at that crowd. Luckily no footage of the joey riot carnage outside the station...

And another sheepish "sing when you're fishing" moment of shame as Brucie's Boro were nicely positioned in mid-table in the top flight but were hauled aboard by the Trawlermen who I think were second bottom of the entire Football League...

Just to show that we do win some of the time, here's Lennie's Lions leaving it late to beat Chelsea at Ayresome Park...

And it was Boro's worst display of the season so far.

At Blackpool though Boro were second best. They failed to perform in every department. Toothless up front and with no Plan B; in midfield they laboured hard enough (Robson was tenacious and Smallwood got in some crunching tackles on his first start of the season) but were out-paced and as the game wore on out-passed too; and at the back they were shaky and sluggish and failed to clear danger quickly and cleanly. All three goals resulted from avoidable mistakes at the back being punished ruthlessly.

It was a bad day at the office. A very bad day. It was frustrating and a harsh reality check and the team's inherent shortcomings were exposed. It was a major disappointment and another chance to go top missed. - but it wasn't a disaster. Losing to a good side who were better on the day stings a bit but it is a normal part of the Championship landscape.
This is a division where even the better teams suffer slip-ups. Ask West Ham and Southampton who have had far worse returns over the holidays than Boro.

In the past six games the top four's vital statistics look like this:

BORO W4 D1 L1 Pts 13
CARDIFF W3 D2 L1 Pts 11
WEST HAM W2 D1 L3 Pts 7
SOUTHAMPTON W1 D2 L3 Pts 5

Boro's run also includes three wins over play-off hopefuls. The bigger picture is that we are still well placed and in better form than the wobbling top two. We'll bounce back.

*****

MEANWHILE, some good number-crunching by the excellent Football League blog The Seventy Two has looked at tables past and present and reports that the current top of the table log-jam makes this the tightest second tier title race since 1992 - when Lennie's Lions burst out of the pack to snatch promotion.

Boro were in fourth and two points off the top at this stage, omen fans.

****

NUMBER-CRUNCHING 2: Ace anoraks Sporting Intelligence have compiled a league table of all the teams who spent 2011 in the Football League - and Boro finished fifth overall with a hefty 83 points and ahead off all the side who spent the year in the Championship.

The only sides to have racked up more points than Boro over the entire year were promoted League One duo Southampton and Brighton plus Huddersfield - unbeaten since the Beatles split - and MK Dons.

******

AND while we are still looking back over 2011, here Andrew Glover of the Ayresome Gates blog and Fly Me fanzine regular selects his best most important goals of the year.

Personally I would have found room for McDonald's quickfire equaliser away at Barnsley in August. It showed that this new look Boro had mental strength and could hit from behind plus it released a flood of self-confidence that had the side playing with incredible belief and swagger in a record breaking run.

And for similar reasons possibly Barry Robson's leveller at Doncaster dragged Boro back into a game against the weight of Billy Sharp's emotional opener and put Boro back on track to victory after two successive away-day defeats.

Any more?

Now it is time for my contractual obligation flick through the highlights of the year looking at how that revival started to shape itself out of the chaos Tony Mowbray inherited. Rather than writing something I thought I'd point your browsers at some of the threads on the blog over the past 12 months, that way we not only recall the events but also get a flavour of how we reacted to them at the time, what posters were saying and how the consensus has changed. Plus I've thrown a few cultural landmarks in and, reality TV style, some of my best bits.

Read on....

Dropped Points Of View - Boro had just drawn against both Leeds and Norwich. I thought they were great points and signficant building blocks and was delighted, others were upset at not winning the game and saw serious flaws. Some interesting points were raised in the ensuing debate.

"He's Like Messy In Training" - So farewell then Mido, perma-crocker serial sulker...

FEBRUARY:

Star Trek: The Next Generation - looking at Tony Mowbray's enforced turn to youth, the role of the Academy and wondering how many would be fixtures in the team in the year(s) to come.

Pigbag, Pavlov And The Death of Success - the word was out that Pigback was being scrapped in favour of the Ayresome Park fan's favourite cheesy small screen theme tune hotel organist bossanova classic... almost everyone EIOed with glee.

MARCH:

Right Royal Battering - Boro got butchered at Reading and there was some real kneejerking squealing about relegation and impending doom. But it was to be the last time we were really monstered as the pieces started to fall into place.

Rhys Is The Word - a few weeks later with Rhys Williams back and with a new shape, Boro looked a different prospect away at POmpey.

You Never Forget Your First Time - A celebration of the 21st anniversary of the ZDS Cup final, the old Boro's emotional first time at the Twin Towers.

APRIL:

Unusual Voting Patterns Revealed As Fat Lass Is Put On Hold - Boro were 10 points clear and bookies had taken them off the relegation odds - but old habits die hard and the Gazetteshire public were still expecting to go down. A look back to the lingering cynicism and the psychic grip of 'typical Boro.' Again, some interesting comments.

Gibson Breaks Silence On Admin Rumours - after months (years?) of tittle-tattle and cyber-space amateur accountancy, the chairman told the Gazette exclusively that the club was safe and sound but operating within a new prudent model. An interesting debate ensued.

The Moggalution: Phase One Complete - with Boro safe after a swaggering victory at Hull, a look back over the transformation the new boss had brought about with the same personnel, no money and very little time.

Spirit of Steaua - five years on from that pulsating fightback... seems like a good excuse to relive the excitement.

MAY:

Mid-table Mediocrity! Yes, Let's Party! - end of term report.

"One Of Our Own" - my tear-stained review of an emotionally charged gathering of the Ayresome clan for the superb Gary Parkinson Dinner at Tall Trees.

Liquidation: 25 Years On - it does what it says on the tin, a look back at when the club climbed out of the coffin and the lasting legacy of that bleak summer and the pulsating period that followed.

JUNE:

Boro, Fanzines, Writing And Me... - someone asked to interview me. And it came out quite well.

Boro, Identity And Trigger's Broom - on continuity, cultural capital and the soul of a club, a bit of abstract musing encompassing Only Fools And Horse, Greek paradox and, er, the Sugababes. My second favourite bit of writing this year.

Eric Paylor: Teesside's Mr Football - a tribute to a Boro legend.

JULY:

Boro Turnstiles In A Spin Over Dole Queue - number crunching 40 years of stats to plot the realtionship between Teesside's unemployment figures and Boro crowds.

AUGUST:

Operation Arch: Wembley Here We Come? - a pre-season preview and predictions post in which I pin my colours to the mast, set sights on the play-offs and book our Wembley hotel.

Deadline Day Live - the ever popular 18 hour rolling interactive stream of consciousness live blog with songs, jokes, boozing and a few gratuitous insults aimed at Sky Sports androids and carpark doyle-fests - but no signings.

SEPTEMBER:

Record Breaking Awayday Heroes Roll On - Euphoric ra-ra soapboxing over Boro's superlative start. It was fantastic wasn't it?

Fire Warning For Armchair Angry Brigade - a health and safety warning about the imminent danger of spontaneous human combustion for krakatoan members of Teeside's post-match speed-dial spleen-venting community.

OCTOBER:

Raise A Glass To Boro's Record Start - after a record breaking start started to go flat with - gasp! - a few draws, there was a half-full/half-empty divide in the assessment of the season so far.

Chain Reaction: Boro Chemistry Revealed - School of science? My Boro periodic table charting the diverse elements of fandom caused a bit of a reaction; some people with chemistry 'O' Level understood it and loved it, some others questioned my sanity.

NOVEMBER:

Poignant Pressure, Perspective and Professionalism - Boro showed an admirable mental strength to resist the emotional weight behind Billy Sharp on a testing night at Doncaster. It said much about a new mindset and focus in the squad.

Hammered? No, But Boro Still Fell Short Mind the gap! Boro were given a football lesson by West Ham that showed how far short they were of being considered as automatic promotion contenders ... yet.

DECEMBER:

Crimewatch: Boro In Frame For Late Mugging - Malaury Martin cracks home a stoppage time winner as long time sucker punch victims Boro show they have started to develop criminal tendencies.

2011: Twelve Months of Moggalution - My end of year assessment hails a year of Mogga inspired rehabilitation and record-breaking.

A creaky post-Strachan side were above Crystal Palace by a fraction. They had scored just 21 goals and had taken a 21 points from 22 games - and most of those were banked after the arrival of Tony Mowbray in October. Fragile and unbalanced, Boro were just two points above rock bottom Preston with a trip to the basement boys up next. In that momentous game they actually slipped behind and were briefly dumped on the bottom.

Since then they have been galvanised and transformed in a spectacular year of renewal and revival. Now bubbling Boro are just outside the promotion places on goal difference and are a tantilising three points off the Championship top spot. From one defeat away from rock bottom to one win away from the summit. It has been an amazing year of deep seated change. It has been a year of Moggalution at Middlesbrough.

So far in 2011 Boro have taken a hefty 82 points from 46 games to top the annual adjusted Championship table discussed last week. That is promotion form in anyone's book - certainly play-off form by a good 10 point margin - and week by week as the patchy form of January slips off the annual calculations to be replaced by relentless, ground out wins and the points-per-game ratio creeps slowly upwards, it looks healthier still.

The breakdown of league results in 2011 is impressive: Boro have won 22, drawn 16 and lost just eight with 73 scored and 54 conceded. And a once brittle and porous team have kept 16 clean sheets in that sequence too.

Since the watershed win at Preston year ago, Boro have clawed away from danger and steadily climbed up to the business end of the table and it has been a relentless if under-stated improvement by the match. They have gathered momentum and belief as they have slowly put in place the basic components of a team capable of winning promotion.

They have tightened up at the back, evolved an impressive tactical flexibility to counter the strenths of the opposition, found a steely will to win, developed an ability to see games out and concentrate through to the final whistle and learned to hit from behind. All the fundemental weaknesses of just a year ago have been addressed.

Compare the realistic optimism of going into New Year today with last year's sense of relief at the exit of Gordon Strachan mixed with trepidation over an uncertain January (liquidation rumours were still common currency on the grapevine) and the icy hearted fear that the old boss had done deep seated permanent structural damage to the squad and the wage bill and that even under Mogga it was too late.

December has seen all the crucial pieces slotting together nicely as a deternined Boro bounced back from a stinging 2-0 defeat at home to pace-setters West Ham - the team who are setting the standard - to rattle off a significant sequence of four straight wins.

Boro have played a string of teams slap bang in the middle of a run of red hot form and come away with all the points by hook or by crook.

Bristol City were unbeaten at home under a new manager and had won five out of six - including leaders Southampton - but Boro survived a torrid time in the first half to mug them at the death and win 1-0 with a stoppage time Malaury Martin screamer.

August hotshots Brighton had bounced back from a wobble to battle to four wins out of five and were in high spirits as they came to snarl and scrap their way to a result at the Riverside but Boro matched that robust approach and again nicked it.

Cardiff were top of the form table, were unbeaten in 15 and had won six in a row at home and kept five clean sheets on the bounce. They were buzzing as they took a commanding half-time lead after a dead ball assault but assertive Boro, playing yet another new system, came out fired up after the break and went for the jugular and in a storming fight-back won a pulsating game 3-2 to go back above the dragon botherers.

Then Hull arrived on the back of four straight wins under Riverside boo boy favourite Nick Barmby and just two points behind. They perhaps edged the scrappy game in terms of clear cut chances but once again resilient Boro knuckled down, tactically stifled them, gradually took territorial control and then plundered the points at the death with a Robson Rocket that sparked this celebration in the packed North Stand.

It is a football cliche that good teams are those that can play badly but win. Boro have showed a capacity to do that.

Not that Boro have been playing particular badly - but they have certainly been far from in their sparkling, expansive early season form that produced a flying start. With a few routine knocks and bruises and suspensions the team has been tweaked in recent weeks while opposition managers are increasingly setting out to contain them and none of the past four games have been eye-pleasing classics.

At Cardiff Boro were superb after the break but were under the cosh in the first half, the Brighton game was physical rather than flowing while both Bristol City and Hull will feel deeply agrieved not to have got something from games they bossed for long spells and in which they created the bulk of the chances only to be mugged late on. Tough.

This re-engineered Boro are fit for purpose.They can match whatever challenges are posed physically and tactically and have the drive and determination to grind something out of scrappy close fought games. And there are a lot of those in the Championship.

Boro have come through their toughest run of fixtures so far this season and despite being under the cosh for spells in every one of them have come away with maximum points and well placed to push for promotion.

Hopefully the display - spirited, steely, successful - and the excitement and buzz over a favourable position in the Championship table will help win back on a full time basis some of the waverers who helped swell the Boxing Day crowd.

The bumper gate of 27,794 was 10,000 up on the normal Riverside crowd and was the biggest since Boro slipped out of the Premier League. The biggest in fact since 33,767 turned up to watch Gareth Southgate's Boro slump to a 2-0 defeat to Manchester United in May 2009. Just two games before that Boro hosted Hull in another six pointer, a top flight relegation rumble, in front of a crowd of 32,255.

Since then Riverside crowds have followed Boro's dip in profile, ambition and league position. Last season's best was the 23,550 who turned out last October to see a 2-1 defeat to Leeds, Strachan's swansong but the general trend was plummeting. At the end of the Strachan era gates were distorted by a counting method that included season ticket holders even though many were not attending and while they were regularly announced as below the 16,000 mark they were in reality well below that.

In the 2009/10 season, the campaign that saw the end of Southgate with falling gates cited as one of the reasons, the best crowd was the 27,347 who turned out for a 2-2 draw with Newcastle in March. That was a sharp spike in the graph and while the first four games of that season had been above 20,000 the trend was again downwards with increasingly regular figures of between 16 and 17,000. The crowd was flat, beaten, broken and demoralised. Stewarding was heavy-handed. Matchday was a joyless chore.

Those trends were reflections of crowds voting with their feet on a team in disarray and a club on the slide under Southgate then left directionless, toothless and heartless after the culture shock of the Strachan Year Zero.

But under Mogga, as with the team, crowds have recovered from rock bottom and are also showing signs of revival in terms of quantity and quality, spirit and passion. It's a much better team now, stronger, tighter, better organised and much more likely to win and the crowd has responded by producing consistently better atmospheres home and away this term, combining unstinting vocal support with patience, good humour and realistic expectations. It has been a pleasure to go to games again. .

Fans who came along as a one off for the Hull game and enjoyed it, get yourself aboard the Mogganaut now. If the next year follows the same relentless upward curve as the last one, it could be a fantastic second half of the season.

It's crazy to think that back in the austere post-war grainy black and white Pathe News universe there were full programmes - and decent public transport - on Christmas Day. Except when it fell on a Sunday, which of course was a real no, no. Would you fast forward through th epresents, turkey and stuffing and clamber aboard the M bus now to see Boro play Doncaster Rovers on Christmas Day? (*Puts hand up sheepishly*) I would. I know a lot of people who see it as a serious erosion of their right to over eat and watch rubbish TV but for this household it would be a routine to don those Christmas jumpers and go.

I've just been doing a bit for next Tuesday's column (we have to work in advance a bit at this time of the year) on festive football and looking back through a selection box of seasonal sizzlers. There have been some brilliant games on Boxing Day. You'll have to wait to read the fruits of my labour... but here's a reminder of two tinseltastic results to get you in the mood.

Paaaaaaaauuuuuuulllllll Wilkinson mugs the Magpies -

Meanwhile, it may be Boxing Day but the usual rules apply... make your predictions here and we'll gasp at your prescience/laugh later on. Later on I'll get a blog up for all your analysis and observational needs.

In between, if you are not at the match, don't forget to follow the action and banter on twitter (ask a young person to show you) via me on @untypicalboro or in the heart of the cyber-terrace babble by searching for the tag #borolive.

A positive, polished second half show swept Boro to a fantastic coupon-busting win in a top of the table seasonal sizzler at Cardiff. Cardiff were unbeaten in 11 and had won six in a row at home and kept three clean sheets on the bounce. Boro were forced into changes, e without Marvin Emnes, gave a new striker his first start in English football and were playing an experimental 4-3-1-2 system.

We had travelled to Wales with trepidation. Here be Dragons. Their fans and officials were buzzing before the game and totally convinced they would win. But then again, they were last time we visited too, so much so that before the game they issued the press with details and timings of their planned lap of honour. We laughed the way home. All five hours. Party poopers again. LOL. As I believe the young people say.

Cardiff pumelling Boro for long spells with Peter Whittingham's dead ball deliveries causing all kinds of chaos in the box with jittery Jason Steele adding to the confusion with another couple of nervous fumbles, poor punches and a lack of communication.

He also wiped out prematurely aged McNaughton as he charged out to challenge for a ball into the box. It looked as clear cut a penalty as any you will see this season.

They levelled with an unchallenged header from Ben Turner and then went ahead as sleepy Rhys Williams was bundled off the ball then Gunnarson ran into the box untracked to welly home a superb cheeky back-heel from Kenny Miller just before the break.

At that point it was hard to see how Boro would get back into the game. It was cold and miserable and it looked like a very long five hours home.

But in the second half Boro were far more assertive. Nicky Bailey and Barry Robson got a grip of midfield, stopped Whittingham pulling the strings and started to push play deeper into the Cardiff half.

They got the ball forward quickly with Justin Hoyte looking lively down the right and Haroun and Arca pressing forward more playing good balls behind the Cardiff defence.

The leveller was a cracker. Superbly engineered, well worked and simple. A delightful perceptive ball from Bailey sent Hoyte into the box on the right and he cushioned a ball to the near post for reignited McDonald to stroke home his fifth goal in seven games.

The winner was good too. A poor ball by Robson played Arca into trouble but he recovered to control the ball and chip neatly to the far post where Haroun had appeared unmarked and with everyone willing him to head it he instead chested it calmly down and slotted the ball through the keeper's legs.

It was the usual torrid finish as Cardiff piled forward in TEN minutes of added time but I was never nervous. Or possibly I was numb with cold by that point. Whatever. We held on.

Two points off the top. Another mooted in-form rival dented. Three wins in a row. Goals flowing again. The Mogganaut rolls on. Merry Bloody Christmas.

******

Comments imported from last night's emergency hosting on Gazettelive:

Jarkko said...

AV, a great win. More pleasing than the win at Cardiff in the spring time. We spoiled their chances then but we're already safe then.

Now we have a lot to play for (as they did, too) as we go for the pr*****on. So what a performance! I think we played better in the first half already but let two goals in easily. But we kept the ball more and irritated the home team.

I missed the second half (I was visiting my daughters and had promised them a night out). So what a feeling to take a peep in the mobile at the restaurant and see that Boro had won.

This was very, very important win morally. We have a top match next against Hull now. Hope we get a similar performance as at Hull in April. The Riverside crowd would deserve it. But again it won't be easy.

Up the Boro!

***

fatcassie said:

Cardiff deserved the 3points.

DETDET said:

RED ARMY RED ARMY .

Fantastic result and hopefully many more like it to come .
Just read in the Sunday Mirror that Billy Sharp has a 1.75 m buy out clause in his contract and must be worth considering at that price

***

BishopsWalthamBoro Said:

Great, great result, especially so for Bart's first and the assists from Hoyte and Arca. Appreciate it is a year too late but I couldn't help but chuckle at this YouTube contribution based on last year's Cardiff game. How they must hate us

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KuqtNt1l7nY&feature=fvsr

Season's greetings. Up?

****

Yes, I know, it seems that we say that every week or two with the sombre tomes of the stern unheeded warnings of an "End is Nigh" Biblical sect. We have battled through stern examinations of our play-off credentials, a series of Titanic games that are all the biggest test so far and watershed moments have whizzed past with dizzying regularity

But this time, it may just be true. How Boro do in the festive fixtures could have a massive agenda setting impact on exactly how the rest of the campaign pans out.

Obviously the points return will help determine whether we are seen as serious contenders and whether or not the schedulers nudge us up the running order on the Football League Show. Anytime before midnight would be nice lads.

It may well also have a positive impact on the gate. An inspirational win away at Cardiff could scupper the sceptic and galvanise a gung-ho optimism, get the Mogganaut rolling again and the town buzzing enough to persuade the economic expats back at their Mam's for a few days to don their Christmas jumpers and take in a couple of games.

There will be the half-season ticket dividend kicking in as people get the present they really always wanted ("did you keep the receipt?") and maybe some younger waverers will opt to spend their cash bonanza from aunties who didn't know what to get on scrambling aboard the Boro bandwagon. What else are they going to do with a big wad of cash. Kids have got everything already. They don't know the're born. Apparently.

Perhaps more importantly, where Boro sit in the table going into the New Year could have a distinct bearing on exactly how much is rattling around in Mogga's Rockcliffe biscuit tin when the transfer window opens again.

For all the fiscal discipline and prudent book-balancing at a club still weighed down by the legacy of the bloated years of the Premier League, the big-wigs at the club are fans and acutely aware of the limitations of a small squad.

They, like us, know exactly what Mogga needs to add options, especially up front.

If Boro were two points off the automatic promotion spots going into the New Year the adrenaline would be surging, the hopes and dreams would be starting to bubble through the protective layers of cynicism and a light-headed optimism would take hold.

The chairman, who has been running a tight and prudent ship through a choppy ocean of austerity may be persuaded to change course a little bit and gamble on catching a fair wind that can take us billowing back to the big time.

There may never be a better chance to get promoted than this year. Generally in football there is never a better time than now. That time honoured truism has been reinforced by the top flight's moves to pull up the ladder. The parachute money has been almost doubled from this year and extended to four years so anyone who comes down now is relatively insulated from the financial shock. They will be more able to maintain a Premier League squad and under less compulsion to launch into a frantic fire sale. For the rest it will get harder and harder to compete. It could be now or never for Boro.

So a good run of results now could mean a sudden seismic shift in Boro's favour in the table and could increase Gibbo's willingness to squeeze out an extra few bob. We know that there was "around" £1m available for Lukas Jutkiewisc on deadline day. Crowds have not swelled Boro's coffers but costs have been controlled tightly and we must assume that is still there for the right man. Maybe, just maybe, a bit more would be found if Boro were, say, one point and a few goals and creativity from the automatic spots.

Everyone: close your eyes and concentrate on sending out the collective psychic message: "Gibbo, we are only a striker and wideman away. Give Mogga some money."

Of course it is not just down to what we do. Mogga and the players may insist in every interview that they don't even look at the table yet or take any notice whatsoever of the other teams' forms and fixtures but I do. We all do. Incessantly. Quantifying, calculating, balancing the shifting probabilities with new weightings every week as each result, trend in form and but of injury news is factored in.

Sadly, some of us may even have the BBC Championship predictor as our home page!

So what can we expect in the next four games. And what can we expect from our "promotion rivals" - there I've said it. We are jinxed now.

Boro's festive foursome start with a the toughest possible test as Cardiff are top of the form table. Over the last eight games Andrew Taylor's Dragon Botherers have taken 18 points from 25 winning five and drawing three. Not bad.

Ominously they have only leaked three goals in that sizzling sequence too although they have only scored 11. As Boro have the tightest defence in the Championship - they have leaked only 17 in 21 games - so no doubt the bookies have it down as a goalless draw. I'd take that right now.

Cue seven goal thriller

Then comes Hull on Boxing Day. They are "flying" under historically tainted boo boy target Nick Barmby and are now just two points behind Boro after three wins in a row and yes, it will be difficult as most games in this division are - but, to be honest, I'm not quaking in my boots.

Peterborough is a more generous fixture. After a good run Posh are fading. They are fourth bottom of the form table with just six points from 24 and although their eight games have featured a net-busting 31 goals they have only managed one win.

Gulp. Typical Boro looming? No, I don't think so. If Boro have any serious ambitions of promotion - and being well placed in the window - that is a game that realistically must be won. We owe them one after battering them for 70 minutes then letting them wriggle off the hook last month.

Then Blackpool away on January. Blackpool are on of the most unpredictable sides in a crazy division and they are better at home than away but we were a far better team in the 2-2 and we owe them one after battering... stop me if you've heard this one before.

That's Boro's festive fixtures. Eight points from that lot would be an excellent return.

And to be honest I'd be happy with six if that included status quo stabilising draw with Cardiff and at least one morale-boosting home win.

So what about our top of the table rivals' prospects in their seasonal showdowns?

Southampton - who are showing little signs of vertigo - face a tricky run with games at Portsmouth, who have won three out of four at home, at home to Palace and then Bristol City who beat them convincingly a few weeks ago, then in the New Year they go to Brighton for what is sure to be a simmering derby clash.

West Ham have what looks on paper the easiest run. After a home game with upwardly mobile Barnsley they face three teams in the bottom half of the form table including rock bottom Coventry and dawdling Derby. You would expect them to finish that run as Championship table-toppers.

Cardiff have a potentially rocky run of games. They start with Boro, travel to Watford who are fourth in the form table having lost just one in eight then they go to iffy Forest and host Reading, just outside the play-off places and who have just beaten West Ham.

Watch out for Hull. As well as Boro they play Millwall, Burnley and Derby, all in the bottom half of the form table. But if we can dent them and take the steam out of them it will help reduce that threat.

Unpredictable Leeds' biggest test could be the derby trip to in-form Barnsley but Reading at home could also be tricky. Brighton have a tough trip to Reading and take on the Saints but also have troubled relegation bound Coventry. And Blackpool, not far adrift, take on form table dark horses Watford and Barnsley plus Birmingham before Boro.

So as well as Boro's form the shape of the New Year table is going to come down to other teams - especially Barnsley who play three of our rivals.

COME ON BORO.

Here's the fixtures for the top eight. How many points will we get? How will it look come the New Year? Who will fade? Who will barge into contention?

SOUTHAMPTON

Dec 18 - A PORTSMOUTH

Dec 26 - H CRYSTAL PALACE

Dec 30 - H BRISTOL C

Jan 2 - A BRIGHTON

***

WEST HAM

Dec 17 - H BARNSLEY

Dec 26 - A BIRMINGHAM

Dec 31 - A DERBY

Jan 2 - H COVENTRY

***

CARDIFF

Dec 17 - H BORO

Dec 26 - A WATFORD

Dec 31 - A FOREST

Jan 2 - H READING

***

BORO

Dec 17 - A CARDIFF

Dec 26 - H HULL

Dec 31 - H PETERBOROUGH

Jan 2 - A BLACKPOOL

***

HULL CITY

Dec 17 - H MILLWALL

Dec 26 - A BORO

Dec 31 - H BURNLEY

Jan 2 - H DERBY

***

LEEDS UNITED

Dec 17 - H READING

Dec 26 - A DERBY

Dec 31 - A BARNSLEY

Jan 2 - H BURNLEY

****

BRIGHTON

Dec 17 - H BURNLEY

Dec 26 - A READING

Dec 31 - A COVENTRY

Jan 2 - H SOUTHAMPTON

***

BLACKPOOL

Dec 17 - H WATFORD

Dec 26 - A BARNSLEY

Dec 31 - A BIRMINGHAM

Jan 2 - H BORO

Robust tackling, diving and bodychecking went unnoticed or unpunished leading the players to dish out summary justice. Boro had two decent shouts for a penalty waved away. A flying elbow on Emnes was missed. McDonald chased snapping for 30 yards and had two swipes at a Brighton man before finally barging him over only to have play waved on.

Then there were sudden flurries of cards that were only vaguely related to the offence just committed. They did little to bring discipline to proceedings, if anything, the opposite was true. It was a surprise that the game finished with a full complement.

At one point it seemed the ref was playing out a Two Ronnies sketch and making decisions based on the previous offence. At times it seemed like guesswork. Both managers, both sets of players and both sets of fans were going simultaneously ballistic. That kind of unity is rare indeed.

But Boro kept their heads and kept their shape - with titanium plated dynamo Nicky Bailey the fulcrum - and played their way through the chaos to impose their style and tempo on the game for long spells.

Amid the chaos they played some neat, crisp passing football as they looked to pick and probe forward. They created some decent chances and as well as the two squandered golden opportunities for Matthew Bates and Bart Ogbeche, Scott McDonald had two decent shots saved late on. More goals would be nice and you get the feeling that someday soon it will all click and someone will get absolutely battered. Let's hope it happens at home.

Once the goal went in it was just a question of hanging on. Brighton had some untidy urgent possession late on and it was a nail-biting last 10 but bar a wayward header late on, Brighton rarely threatened.

It was a vital victory that has swung the table back our way. Over the last two games Boro may have been jittery at times; they may have rode their luck at times - at Bristol victory was secured thanks to some good saves, Brighton hit the post - and they may squandered some good chances; but they held on to claim back-to-back wins in a week when West Ham lost two and Southampton took one point from six. Cardiff dropped points. Leeds lost. It has been a good week's work.

There are negatives - not least the knock to Emnes and the lack of striking options in reserve - but Boro are two points off the automatic spots with the teams above us wobbling and fourth placed Cardiff to play next. Hands up who expected Boro to be in a position to go into the top two for Christmas? Liars.

*****

Meanwhile, I've been off for a week and I've been:

Laughing at the hilarious metal bending exit of the evil money fuelled Red/Blue juggernaut's expensive implosion and the impending rebranding of the new Europa League as a credible, nay, prestigious, competition. And the look of horror in the ITV pundits' eyes. Ha bloody ha!

Wondering what division Boro are in on in the parallel world of Earth 2. Maybe Ironoplis are Pan-Galactic champions.

Been to watch Boro's 37 Minutes, a gutsy if over-long am-dram lionisation of love and life in the Infant Hercules set to a backdrop of the club's fortunes from liquidation to Eindhoven.

Listening without sneering at Steve McClaren's superficial and far from revealing but harmless enough Radio Tees chat with John Foster.

Laughing out loud at sassy X-Factor judge Kelly Rowland subtley pressing Teesside's cultural buttons by praising the parmo

And trawled through some old YouTube footage of Bruce Rioch's side being put through their paces at a pre-season boot camp with the Green Howards.