Middlesbrough FC Blog » The Long And Winding Road

Crystal Palace Notes

BA — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 04:39:47 +0000

Deferred notes on the Crystal Palace match are enclosed. We agonised over not being able to use ‘quality and imagination’ in a laconic fashion – Vic and Uncle Eric had the market cornered, and it is what they do and all…

We enjoyed the usual feast consisting of a battered, deep-fried live blog escalope served w/ a hearty portion of chipped BBC Radio Tees…satisfying post-meal fag optional…

Jones; Hoyte, Wheater, McManus, Taylor; Robson, O’Neil, Williams, Franks; McDonald, Killen

‘Cracking day for a match’ according to the broadcast team
Palace an old side – 5 players over age 30
Alan Lee opens the action on 5 minutes by smashing the post! The well-proportioned Irish striker – long a target in eyes of this blog – romps forward and cuts inside of Wheats to unleash a screamer that left Brad Jones flailing…
Boro fashion a lead out of nothing: Gary O’Neil is unlocked down the right channel by a terrific ball from Justin Hoyte – he squares the ball to Scott McDonald who taps it in – Boro 1-0 Palace
‘The intelligence of Gary O’Neil’ crafted that goal says GG…a real poacher’s finish…proper strikers goal
Time to raise the intensity after the goal – apply more pressure
Everyone has a hearty laugh at Jay O’Shea’s banana-like boots…ah, hazing the new fish
Great linkage between the midfield and attack, notably GON and Mac
Mark Drury checks in pitchside w/ the latest instructions from the gaffer: take on the fullbacks – Ertl is a centre back and Matt Lawrence just arrived – get wide and test them
AV confirmed the latest in a string of denied stonewall pens – Mac got to long ball over the top – Paddy McCarthy defends it sloppily, though not enough to stimulate referee Graham Salisbury…did he not see Paddy tugging him down?
Andrew Taylor limps off after re-aggravating one of his seemingly many maladies…Kyle Naughton replaces him on 42 minutes
Gordo remonstrating w/ the fourth official over the missed penalty call – the deep frustration surrenders to unlikely laughter
The comic relief is short-lived as Palace get an equalizer deep into stoppage time – Alan Lee operated freely on the left to pick out Alassane N’Diaye – the young Frenchman finished w/ a fancy header from 12 yards out – Boro 1-1 Palace
‘Poor goal…good header’ is the supposition from above
HT Boro 1-1 Palace
Poor time and manner in which to concede – forces us to do something creative in the second half
interval repast: tea/fags/Sports section of local rag
Gary Gill begs of Justin Hoyte: ‘have a bit more belief son…use your pace…’
Robbo tells everyone – probably in a menacing way – just calm down a little bit after a frantic spell
Attendance – 18,028 (459 from Croydon)
Palace defender Claude Davis suffers from karmic retribution after suspected hand ball and a terrible lumbering foul on Leroy Lita…Robbo poleaxing him moments later offers a measure of justice…Ali thinks it’ll ‘clear his head…when he finds it…’. Boom!
Jonathan Franks is a key ingredient in this Boro surge – he’s finding space down the left and working hard to provide good crosses – the peach he stood up at the back post for Mac – the header is looped over Julian Speroni and onto his net…later he switches up w/ substitute Jay O’Shea and buzzes down the right
Despite all the turmoil – remember, Palace would be battling w/ us for playoff positioning if not for their points deduction – the visitors lay claim to the 3rd best away record in the league…with a point already secured will they blag a win?
3 minutes added
GG MOM – Jonathan Franks
FT Boro 1-1 Crystal Palace
10 unbeaten at home, but ultimately not good enough – feels like a draw should: 2 points wasted instead of 1 gained
The body language of the players trudging off the pitch confirms as much – it wasn’t an overly-physical affair and the conditions were more than acceptable – this dejection comes from within the team
Paul Hart brought a resolute, compact, and organised side to our place…eerily similar to the Pompey match last spring when we desperately needed something then too…what ever could be the correlation?
Gordo has the last words: we lacked in bravery – mentally – not a strong enough performance – this he feels is the most dominant performance of since his arrival, inferring it to be better than Newcastle a few weeks back – quality and imagination were the key missing factors

Boro Fever Overcomes Preston And Midfield Cover For A Month

BA — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 04:54:41 +0000

Credit Preston for trying it. The tested script to banjax Boro at home reads: put them under the cosh for the first 15 mins – let the supporters shower them in abuse – watch them shrivel – score as much as you need. It used to work; not anymore though. Nine on the bounce unbeaten in the league – five wins – and a return to modest respectability. Hate and doubt still persist, with the playoff hopes flickering harmlessly, but there remains cause for optimism…

Cheers to the lads in the virtual end for being our conduit to the match Tuesday - our latent paranoia had the boss increasingly leery of the note-scribbling and fierce application-toggling on the work PC during Derby, so we experimented w/ an unfiltered micro-blogesque approach on the mobile:

Jones/Hoyte/Wheats/Mick/Pogi/Franks/Robbo/Rhys/Bennett/Miller/Killen

Cameron Park on the bench
No Mac or GON
Tight hamstring for Mac – not too serious
SSL roundly booed on first touch
Wheats header – 3 mins – from Robbo cross…harmlessly over…
12 mins – not much happening @ all
Miller goes close on 15…square pass from Franks foraging down the right…shot goes wide
23 mins – 2nd hand ball call - Robbo before the Wallace free kick…Killen this time
PNE pen shout as Mick floored a tricking Wallace near 20 mins
GOAL – Killen from a Robbo beauty cross – off the post – 29 mins…
BBC gossip says he wants to stay also…
YC Darren Carter – 31 mins
YC Ross Wallace – 32 mins
YC Mick – 40 mins
Wallace dangerous w/ pace and flair + the thumping free kicks
HT Boro 1-0 PNE
2nd half – Bennett off – Naughton on
Other scores: Pool tonking Swansea/Brizzle Barnsley goal explosion/Toon up on Donny/Plymouth over Town/Scunny murdering Posh 4 nil
Boro start brightly: Franks/Naughton/Wheats all have a go @ A Lonergan early in the half
B Jones winning them back? Early fave for MOM 2nd match running…
Pogi off – Tayls on – 58 mins
Brown and Hart off – Jones/Parkin on – 63 mins…will we weather a tactical change from the opposition?
Att – 16794 (560 away)
Miller dreadful at holding up the long balls we’ve been reduced to…he’s off – LL on – 71 mins
Another PNE pen shout waved off? Mick foul on Carter? Away fans go mental…
3 mins added
GG MOM – B Jones
GOAL – Boro kill it off – Franks tucks it in after a hilarious mishit clearance from SSL - Boro 2-0 PNE
FT Boro 2-0 PNE

Gordo said post match that sometimes it has nothing to do with football – doubtful he said as much during a reportedly blistering half-time bollocking. The following performance and result – coupled w/ the outcomes of other fixtures – ensured the visit to Vicarage Road is as must-win as the last. Jay O’Shea is in on loan from Birmingham City and goes straight into the squad. Serendipitous on two fronts: Gordo is maintaining his och-aye ties w/ countryman Alex McLeish – and the Irish lad was a rumoured target of Gaz. Alas, pipped again by a club consolidating in the Prem positions we used to occupy…

Derby County Notes

BA — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 03:16:38 +0000

Feel the heat in the following notes. The Derby live blog was a sexually liberating experience, just like we’d always imagined. Men openly loving men, achieving emotional nirvana…this is who we are, and we’re okay with that. Barry Robson invoked it. It’s not his fault though, with the tackling, passing, commitment, deathly frozen stare – these attributes would drive any red-blooded male Boro supporter tethered to a keyboard last Tuesday evening into wild gyrations…

Coyne; Naughton, Wheater, McManus, Taylor; Robson, O’Neil, Williams, Arca; Killen, McDonald

Marvin Emnes no longer missing in action – he’s back on the bench…still no Nani though
Barry Robson continues his recent brilliance – inside 3 minutes his free kick seems destined for the Derby net, only to be headed away to safety at the last
Talk about fine fettle: Robbo opens the scoring for us again! A wonder strike from the edge of the area into the top right corner past a helpless David Martin – Derby 0-1 Boro – 15 mins
Gordon Strachan Appreciation Society thriving on AV’s live blog – the old resistance to the new gaffer it certainly isn’t on display here
Danny Coyne earning the virtual platitudes too for his overall composure
And it’s gone straight to his head around 30 minutes as he tries to invoke some of the past goalkeeping calamities – some butterfingers moments are mitigated nicely by intervention from Mick
Results at this stage – 40 mins in – going our way…sort of: Coventry losing…to Cardiff – but oh, Blackpool are down…to Sheff Utd…double balls!
Completely unrelated to the goings on at Pride Park, and maybe best kept to ourselves…we’ve quite the soft spot for plucky Plymouth…Paul Mariner seems a good geezer and he’s quite familiar w/ our part of the world
HT Derby 0-1 Boro
Gary Gill thinks we look quite comfortable – Ali Brownlee goes further, saying we’re bossing the middle of the park and doing what we please
30 seconds into the 2^nd half GON is clattered – down momentarily but good to continue – Gordo only has 4 recognised midfielders you know
AV chimes in amid the love-in for Barry Robson: ‘To be fair you wouldn’t want Robson to look at you… he has the black cold eyes of a shark, totally focused on the prey, and he has the tetchy Caledonian growl of of David Moyes too. Scary. Respect.’
Boro continue the search for a second goal which could well kill off this affair – Mac looked to have bagged it in the 57^th min if not for a questionable off side decision
Failure to step on the throat is finally punished: Chris Porter – recently on for Robbie Savage – powers home a header at the far post…Coyne lacked the inches to properly divert the ball…67 mins – Derby 1-1 Boro
Double bugger as they say…6 minutes later it’s Michael Tonge – on loan from Stoke – volleying home from 25 yards to give the hosts a shock lead…Derby 2-1 Boro…two Derby crosses dealt with before the clearance fell nicely to the former Blades midfielder
Gordo is going for it though – Lee Miller on for Arca in the 83^rd min to join recent sub Leroy Lita up front w/ Scott McDonald
Hope is substituted for resignation after Rhys Williams commits a second bookable offence – first yellow given in 1^st half stoppage time – and is correctly sent off in the 88^th min – petulant foul on Dean Leacock
Amazing spirit and fight under less than ideal circumstances! Leroy Lita atones for past transgressions by heading home an unlikely equalizer in stoppage time – Derby 2-2 Boro
The rediscovered goodwill is quickly eviscerated – keep your damn kit on man…please fine and/or rollick him
GG MOM – Barry Robson
FT Derby 2-2 Boro

Road To Nowhere – Following A Lost Boro

BA — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 05:34:57 +0000

No Elvis, Beatles or the Rolling Stones. The Long And Winding Road we were forced down has morphed into the Road To Nowhere…

The run up to the next installment of the Tyne-Tees derby evokes unconceivable pain. Newcastle is going straight back up to the Premier League, rendering all the pleasure and consolation derived from mutual relegation quite nugatory. Who went back up the quickest was always meant to trump any of the casual prodding doled out to the Geordies who thought they were too big to fail. Our prognostications – historically miles off as they are – had us finishing second and gaining automatic promotion. For what it’s worth, Cardiff won the league and Forest the playoffs in our pre-season predictor. That 33% success rate would place us ahead of the two most recent gaffers…maybe it isn’t so hopeless after all?

Our Arsenal supporting mate had all sorts of unsavoury things to say after we procured the services one Tuncay Sanli back in the summer of 2007. He instantly became a personal favourite after this ever-so-reliable scouting tool tantalysed us with unyielding class. The parochial miasma subsided enough since those halcyon days to make us at least tacitly agree w/ some of those nasty assertions – the Turk and his people are suing the club for lack of payment over perceived image rights totaling somewhere in the neighbourhood of £544,000…fucking Ricardo Fuller understudy!

The Willo Flood Appreciation Society is in tatters – the Irish terrier is set for a spell on the sidelines w/ a knee issue suffered at Cardiff. Fortunately Rhys Williams is back after a pelvic injury, so expect him to be thrust into the vacated position in the Boro midfield…

Gary O’Neil reckons we can still negotiate the warren separating us from the current playoff positions…a bit early for that Thursday rally war cry, eh?

Championship Roundabout – New Posh, Newcastle Exasperate, And The Jacks Are Royal

BA — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 00:54:33 +0000

We like variety. Like the variety of more adult-oriented social networking sites currently on offer. Footballing variety too, and that’s why we have license to deviate from the Middlesbrough FC minutiae from time to time – it’s Championship Roundabout! We start our spin at the top:

Fucking Newcastle keep winning – their perpetual off-season turmoil may have actually helped galvanise the squad. The personnel embargo limited the movement of potential assets like Kevin Nolan, Steve Harper, Jonas Gutierrez, and Andy Carroll. Throw in the extra grit of Alan Smith, Joey Barton, Danny Guthrie, the wise permanent appointment of caretaker Chris Hughton, and it’s not exactly shocking that the Toon have organised effectively and made short work of their new league thus far. The Geordies have been largely injury-free – it needs to stay that way if they wish to continue their rapid ascent back to the top flight.

Peterborough are convinced Mark Cooper is their man to mount next seasons Championship promotion push. The managing prodigy leaves his post at Conference side Kettering Town to fill the vacancy caused by the divorce between silver-spooned Darren Ferguson and Darragh MacAnthony’s plaything, who for a rich bloke has a shit Wikipedia page… The real estate magnate’s puppets are convinced SAF junior has another gig lined up, in no way influenced by his familial connections, possibly to change the bigarade hue that has ensconced greater Hull for the past 3 years.

Paolo Sousa is devilishly handsome. And he backed Boro for promotion after receiving a 3-0 thrashing from the Teessiders in round 2. We naturally love him, if only because he adequately fills the Mourinho-shaped void in English football. The Jacks own the stingiest defence in the division, and are now unbeaten in 10 straight, elevating to 9^th in the table.

And hasn’t Ian Holloway heard that junk shop clothes will get you nowhere? He was convicted by the Blackpool kangaroo court for either not being punctual, or misplacing his kit, or both? He trudged off to the charity shop for a £12.99 suit to wear for the 4-1 thrashing of schizophrenic Scunthorpe. Speaking of misplacing, seems Robbie Savage has some explaining to do…why show up for an international flight w/ the passport of your missus? Is it a devious murder for hire subplot on the lurid level of Nip/Tuck, or just an honest cock-up expected of a gypsy oaf? He won’t get back on the flight deck w/ that behaviour…

The league is on hiatus until next Friday – Swansea v Derby to kick off round 17 – we’ll return next week to summarise Boro/Forest, and the rest of the notable and entertaining…

The Long And Winding Road – 06 Aug

BA — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 04:47:53 +0000

The advent of meaningful matches has ushered in a convivial spirit. Goodwill towards fellow supporter and club has been restored at the end of this long and winding road…

Optimism abounds as we’re inside 48 hours of the start of a new beginning – the Blades beckon on Friday – is it genuine, or merely masked by the miasma caused by a hot summer lull? The currency of jobs, reputations, and livelihoods will be staked to ensure a satisfactory rebate of football happiness and contentment. Will all the effort and culture change that occurred over the summer interval, in the public view or behind the scenes, manifest itself on the pitch? It’s the main query as we forge forward…

The squad shaping that we hoped to be done with by this time continues:

In For Sure: Leroy Lita is on board – a fairly quick bit of business after talks w/ Sheffield Utd stalled

Rumoured: a duo of forwards from Olympique de Marseille – Mamadou Samassa and Elliot Grandin – the former a potential centre forward option that’s desperately required, and the latter an additional candidate to spring assaults from his preferred position on the right side of attack; Henri Camara, bequeathed ‘The Rabbit With The Rifle’ in his native Senegal…the striker is available on a free after release from Wigan

Stationary, For Now: Tuncay will be unwrapped for the Championship public to see – no takers yet for the charismatic captain of Turkey…if he’s still around come the end of the transfer window it could prove to be the best ‘signing’ of the off-season

Connecting Through AMS: Afonso Alves, wherever the fuck he goes…France and Qatar are the probable destinations per the latest tattle

Friday will be here shortly, especially if spending the interim steaming drunk. We’ll be cautiously confident of one of these will be on offer whilst at work…

The Long And Winding Road – 02 Aug

BA — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 23:57:53 +0000

Boro trudged on back home for final pre-season prep after drawing 1-1 @ Millwall – Rhys Williams continued his uprising by contributing a 4^th goal in 5 exhibitions…the gaffer sported a side that probably will not deviate too much from what we’ll see come Friday – Didier Digard, Marvin Emnes, Jonathan Grounds and Gary O’Neil returned from various knacks to take part in east London…Danny Coyne continued deputising for Brad Jones, a look that’ll continue into the real fixtures while Jonesy recovers from his own ankle ailments suffered before Oldham earlier this week

Mido shuffle

Mido’s off back to Cairo, presumably to start a parmo empire, but he’s gonna be expected to turn up for El Zamalek from time to time after they secured his services on loan…their chairman claims £4m compensation to us is what sealed the move, though speculation mounts about the units of currency we’re dealing with…Anthony Vickers reported it’s not sterling, but Egyptian pounds, which make that £4m more like £450,000…christ, isn’t there a distinguishing symbol for mummy money?

Leroy Lita talks heat up after Boro step in after a breakdown w/ Sheffield United…it’s a risk/reward proposition given the known off-the-pitch proclivities, but the lolly is right (free), and he actually fits the profile of having tangible Championship experience, albeit w/ varying degrees of success…

The Long And Winding Road – 30 Jul

BA — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 05:09:48 +0000

Boro were blunted at Boundary Park – the pristine pre-season was marred in a 2-2 draw w/ Oldham…after falling behind earlier, we stormed back w/ some set-piece perfection; Rhys Williams and Robert Huth both crunched headers home to stake us a lead…it was short-lived as Oldham pegged back quickly…in the end they shared the insignificant spoils…

Another listen to this proved more uncomfortable than before…a self-imposed miasma may have obscured the jarring impact…full credit to GS though for remaining calm and diplomatic, and to the participants who provided the pejoratives

The Stuttgart/Tuncay link is still in play, though no official confirmation from player or club…and the Mido fiasco persists as Gareth reveals the ‘offer’ that was proffered was really just that, bereft of any formal exchange of legal tender

The Long And Winding Road – 29 Jul

BA — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 06:41:26 +0000

So it’s VfB Stuttgart submitting a satisfactory tender for our dear Tuncay, £9m reportedly – the Turk wanted to stay in England, but fractional offers from Spurs, Villa, and Everton made this Bundesliga barter the best course for the club…

Residual impact from the Carlisle friendly results in another prolonged absence for Matthew Bates…a staggering fourth knee injury sustained by the emerging defender/midfielder combo

Gareth Southgate + Ali Brownlee + supporters questions = manufactured puff or a subtle mea culpa?

2009-10 squad numbers revealed…

The Long And Winding Road – 26 Jul

BA — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 22:15:56 +0000

Boro continued their dominance over the underlings populating the pre-season fixture list; an adequate 2-0 victory at Carlisle – Adam Johnson and Rhys Williams registering for the visitors

The team coach will next point towards Oldham after a hastily arranged replacement match was confirmed for 29 Jul…Darlo had to withdraw due to squad knack

Gareth Southgate continues to kiss-and-not-tell, w/ a mystery bid for mystery £ being accepted for Mido…he’s taking the Wenger philosophy of not broadcasting available funds to potential business partners a bit too seriously…just tell us he has finally effed off back to Egypt for a fraction of the £6m we donated to Spurs for his return of: 7 goals in 32 matches, myriad injuries, constant irascibility, and occasional public embarrassment

Some news names linked to Boro this week, w/ varying levels of credibility: Rob Hulse, who we already know about, and who can potentially do the job we need him to; Nigel Reo-Coker, out of favour @ Villa, but participating in their off-season currently in Spain at the 2009 Peace Cup; Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink – 178 goals in 406 total matches for club and country, can be had on a free; Leroy Lita, also unattached after his Reading release – we remember him as the cunt who scored the winner v Boro opening day 2006-07

Middlesbrough FC Blog » The Long And Winding Road

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