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Bringing It All Back Home – Boro Hope To Start A Rehab

BA — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 02:05:34 +0000

First team proper football returns to the Riverside after an exhausting hiatus. Watford, currently 15^th and just 3 points off a playoff place, beckon Saturday as Boro remain determined to remedy their malignant home form thus far this campaign. It was a point of contention raised by lurking back room consultant Alan Smith, who apparently went all technical w/ the Power Point to demonstrate how unity between club and support has a high probability of home success. Too bad this effort missed the cut-off for this years Nobel prizes…go get ‘em next time, eh?

Look for Boro to build on the Reading success w/ a largely unchanged side from 2 weeks back, the only real variable being the state of Rhys Williams – if he can’t go then Didier Digard should be cleared for a full return to partner w/ GON in the midfield. Up front, the goal burst from Leroy Lita against his former club has Gaz salivating so much it’ll obscure Jeremie Aliadiere’s sobriquet printed on team sheet just above Lethal Leroy. Johnno and Yeatesie will round out the forwards, while the back should remain McMahon/Wheater/SSL/Bennett…and unless someone stamps on his hands w/ those screw-in sharp metal studs accidentally during pre-match, Brad Jones will be between the sticks…

Watford haven’t lost in their last 4 away matches, but they haven’t won on Teesside since 1992 at Ayresome…more match preview here…we’re looking forward to this…and this

The Long And Winding Road – 01 Jun

BA — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 03:43:15 +0000

Never again mentioning the miserable failure that facilitated relegation, but rather looking forward to the challenges of the Championship – a rebuilt Boro begins now:

The inanity of the summer transfer session begins apace as the BBC reports Boro are launching an assault on a well-accomplished international quality defender. Named Gary Neville. Seriously.

Those close to Boro’s pulse opine and proffer on why we went down…and how to avoid it happening again…

Carrion

BA — Sat, 16 May 2009 03:07:09 +0000

The carcass of Middlesbrough FC is malodorous, ravaged mostly from the inside – Fucking Geordie Scum descended on the exterior to pick it further clean as we descend closer to the grave. Aston Villa arrive Saturday shovels in tow, sharp to sprinkle more fresh Earth over where the eyes once were – Boro have it absolutely all to do vs a side that has historically played extremely well at The Riverside; all the more worrying is Villa’s form…will they be the next in an endless line of clubs whose ills are remedied by the calming presence of a hopelessly underachieving and directionless side?

The penultimate matches in each of Gareth Southgate’s first two seasons have seen Boro bounce to safety. Even the most fortuitous of results for the hosts will be insufficient to reach that plateau – Boro need points AND assistance to exit the dungeon. Pragmatically, there can be no hope – it’s only the math that gives us any soupcon of survival. Tactically, we’ve regressed more – injuries alone cannot excuse the downright baffling team selection last Monday; some saw a teamsheet, others a suicide note. Even more difficult to swallow for the supporters is the near certainty of GS being the man tasked w/ returning Boro to the top flight should relegation occur. The facade is firm and unrelenting – this sort of conviction only comes from a bloke who knows he’s infallible in the boardroom’s eyes.

The reddest of Boro-tinged lens can’t even fathom or justify an escape route. We can only pray that plan B, the one that should be on the table and ready for execution, is not as hapless and forlorn as the failed blueprint followed to a point this campaign