Sam Hall

We got Defeated 1-1?

This is a shock, as far as I remember two teams who score the same amount of goals as each other in one match DRAW.

Maybe I’m wrong though. Anyway, thought I would share this with the world. We play Leicester tonight, with Jason Steele expected to return and Kevin Thomson back after his ban – although I wish it had been longer. We’ve dropped to 8th and need a win, so come on Lads. Please, I’m forgetting what a win actually is.

Erimus

Tony Mowbray’s second January transfer window. A time recently associated with the offloading of a large amount of first-team players. However, bucking the trend of the past year, we actually bought a player without selling anyone first. Don’t worry though, he isn’t an unproven young player from north of the border for less than half a million- no he cost a rumoured 1.3 million pounds!

Lukas’ career has not been impressive as such, but has been steady and he has shown a strong improvement since his teenage years. Starting off at the Southampton academy alongside Theo Walcott and Gareth Bale, he went the opposite way of his team mates and dropped down to Swindon Town. It was there that he started to make his name – scoring five goals in thirty-eight appearances. This form attracted the attention of Everton, who signed him for 1 million when he was just 17. He only made 1 substitute appearance against Sunderland, yet spent different loan spells learning where the goal is. The most productive spell was up in Scotland, playing for Motherwell, where he became a bit of a late equaliser specialist. Scoring the stoppage time volley against Hibs that tied the highest scoring SPL game in history at 6-6. Search for it on YouTube … you won’t be disappointed.

He left Everton for Coventry City, signing permanently for the Sky Blues. At the Ricoh Arena, Lukas scored 9 in his first full season – including a questionable goal in a game we won 2-1 at the riverside. He used his height, his pace and his strength to find a way to goal and to bring others in to the game. He impressed for a Coventry side that included world – ahem- beating Marlon King. After King’s controversial departure to St Andrew’s Lukas became the primary striker and he has flourished, already doubling his Coventry goal tally. Now that’s when he joins us, signing initially on loan for last weekend and permanently on Monday. He’s an exciting prospect at only twenty-two; if he can carry on his development as a Championship player we could be in for a treat.

The question everybody is asking now though is, ‘How will this player fit in with our current system?’. We play openly, less direct, with less than physical players up front in Emnes and McDonald. So which player will be dropped, personally I’d like to see Emnes rested for a while – however, neither of our two main forwards have been pulling up trees recently. Should we play a 4-4-1-1, with Lukas spear-heading the attack? Or do we go with a basic front two? Also, when Bailey returns, will we play a 4-1-3-1-1, to accommodate returning players and try playing it out of defense and up to the big man to hold up? We’ll never know until it happens. Whilst the new signing won’t be playing versus his former club on Saturday due to a ‘gentlemen’s agreement’, I doubt it will be long before he is put in to the starting line-up.

Until then Juke, Good Luck and keep working hard.
Erimus.

Since I last wrote a piece, the ‘Boro have been somewhat Bi-Polar in the way they have played. After winning a thrilling five goal game at the Cardiff City Stadium, we managed a Boxing day knock out of Hull City. Yet then we drew 1-1 with Peterborough, Lost 3-0 and 2-0 to Blackpool and Burnley respectively.

It’s no surprise that once you begin to take key parts out of the machine that the Mogganaut will not run as smoothly. So when the central cog – Nicky Bailey – is not in use for a potential eight weeks, there will be a problem. Bailey has been our midfield hero, I don’t need to stress that anymore as it has been done so many times before. He’s out with a medial knee ligament injury and must be our hardest felt absence. [1] It should be noted that in the game he was injured, Peterborough offered no real threat going forwards until after half time, when Kevin Thomson was asked to stand in for him.

Kevin Thomson- a man asked to do an impossible job; fill in for Bailey. Thommo has nowhere near the skill and build that his English counterpart utilises; he does not know when to close down and challenge, he doesn’t seem to have the radar-like awareness and he definitely doesn’t have the pace to get back and fill in at the back. I like Kevin, I really do and I would have liked to see him do well here and push on on the international stage. However, at this moment, I feel that he is a write-off from the Strachan era. Not his whole career, just his Middlesbrough one. It’s awful to see a player have his time at a club ravaged by injury, Thomson being a perfect (Not that his situation has been in any way perfect) display of just that. Watching him against Shrewsbury and Burnley – I didn’t get to the Blackpool game- it stood out just how ill equipped he was to be a holding midfielder. Whilst brought to the club as that primarily, it seems as if Thomson looks more suited playing directly in the middle. His passing is relatively good when playing long balls, not the type we associate with defenders, but defence splitting passes that open a game; as displayed against Doncaster at the end of last season. [2] His tackling, as I’ve previously stated, is suspect. He does often pull off unlikely tackles, but it is his inability to produce the simple, and repeat that during the game, that is worrying.

It is also worrying that Jason Steele is injured and Connor Ripley- 19 next week – is filling in between the sticks. On his home and full debut against Burnley, Ripley had a game to forget. The first goal conceded was soft, perhaps not on his behalf, and unlocked the door for more long range attempts on goal. Thus Kieran Trippier blasted a speculative effort from well outside the box, the young keeper diving over the ball and letting it swerve behind him and into the net. It was a sickener for the young lad, he didn’t really do much wrong the rest of the game and certainly put a lot of the more senior players in their places after some unpunished defensive laps. The keeper will no doubt be criticised by fan, though I would disagree with the criticism thrown his way. For a young man to come in and do a job with that much pressure on him is unreal, a full debut in front of a home crowd known for being hostile towards goalkeepers is not really an ideal situation. It was great to hear the Red Faction singing his name in the second half, although there were a few with their own opinions around the ground tagging, “is s**t!” , on the end.

Hopefully injuries will be good to us in the next few weeks, looking forward to Coventry City and beyond. Maybe if new signing Lukas Jutkiewicz finds his feet soon, we could be looking at a healthier position come april. Anyway, whether this happens or not, we’re flying high considering and should be grateful that we have a stable club unlike some of our Teesside neighbours. I’ll be posting more in the coming days surrounding our new signing and the plight of Darlington Football Club, but that’s all for now. Get behind the ‘Boro and push them on to glory.

Erimus

It’s been an odd season for fans of the Boro. Selling a large amount of first team players, yet still managing to reach the top of the championship and stay in touch with automatic promotion spots well in to December. Just over a fortnight ago our form was stuttering; 1-1 at Peterborough, 2-2 against Blackpool and 0-2 to West Ham. We were 8 points behind second placed West ‘Am and had surrendered our superior defensive record to them, with Piquionne and Cole doing the damage for them. However, going in to Saturday’s game with Cardiff we are level on points with the welsh team and only 2 points off second. We won 1-0 against Bristol with a stunning free-kick from Malaury Martin and were gifted a morale lifting home victory against Brighton. We’re now well in the mix for promotion – be that automatic or via the play-offs – and I don’t think anybody else would have predicted this on August 7th.

We dominated the Brighton game, playing good football for the majority of the game, however holding a 1-0 lead can often result in a negative twenty minutes towards the end of the second half. This is never good for a nervey, unbelieving and aggressive Teesside crowd. Merouane Zemmama had a very good first half hour – until he was taken off with a strain – where he showed a delightful touch and his ability to shoot from outside the box. A couple of his shots cannoned just wide or against a defender. He has shown lately that he could be a highly creative outlet, when Mowbray brought him in The Manager claimed that: “He’s a very technical player who can handle the ball very comfortably with both feet,” and added,“At times he’ll excite our supporters when he skips past a couple of players and yet he will have to acclimatise to the physicality of the English league. ” How true that was, despite assisting two goals versus Millwall [1] in only his second appearance for the Boro, he lacked the ability to put his foot in or stay on his feet when he is challenged. Now he is starting to look like, not only one of our most creative players, but one of the more complete attacking players in the squad. He can put it through a player’s legs and then dance in to the box, whilst his decision making has often flattered to decieve. Scott McDonald showed his goal poaching prowess in burying the only goal of the game following a rebound, but also attacked the goal from range and put the opposition’s defence on the back foot.

So to Cardiff Cityand the obvious headlines of, “Boro aim to bring down the Blue Birds”. Will we win? Possibly. Will we lose? Could do. Will we draw? Likely. It’s a tricky fixture, they’re not in the same position as us for no reason at all. We’ll have to try hard, we’ll have to fight and battle our way to  success. If we were to win though, and that is a big if, we would be looking at a great platform going in to 2012 – could we be looking at promotion? Time will tell. Until then, keep the faith.

Erimus

Bristol City 0 – 1 Middlesbrough

This was a pretty nervy game. Neither team seemed to want to exert too much pressure on the opposition, just in case it backfired and they ended up losing a goal. It looked like a game that would be won or lost in the midfield, any stray pass played within that area could cost the game. If a player wasn’t pulling their weight in the midfield, the cracks would show and a goal would be almost inevitable.

In the end, it was won … by a midfielder. Arca’s passing throughout the match had been hit and miss-more often than not miss. After Nicky Bailey had been used to cover up for the Argentine’s mistakes, it was time to replace Julio with a fellow fringe player, Malaury Martin.

Martin has been used sparingly this season, as the team have marched on and also, I suspect, the fact that he has not yet had a season playing in England. With his time out whilst at Blackpool, it would be clever to warm him in to the English game. He has only ever started two games in the League Cup; his appearances in the Championship have come as a second-half substitute. His first Boro goal was one to remember, 2-1 up against Birmingham City and Haroun lays it back to the Frenchman. What came next was something unforgettable, a cracking shot that whizzed and dipped in to the back of the net from all of 35 yards out.

As a fan watching the match on TV, I didn’t feel we had the extra skill to really get in behind the Robin’s defense. So in the 90th minute winning a free kick seemed our only hope, not that I believed anything would come of it. McMahon’s free-kicks have been pretty poor lately, not up to the standards he set himself last season. I did however have a little faith in Martin, his August goal had been spectacular and in that match he struck a pretty powerful free kick. What I didn’t expect though was the ferocity of the strike, as it whistled past David James and in to the opposite corner.

That win has helped us a great deal, we bounced back from what was a pretty miserable game against West Ham and also managed to climb back in to third- though we were pegged back by Cardiff the next day. So we’re now pushing on for promotion, if it comes I’ll be ecstatic, if not we’ll just start again. This may or may not be our year, but we all know one thing…

We’ve got Tony Mowbray.

Why no-one should be disappointed with our season

The thing I hear most often when people talk about Middlesbrough is that we are overachieving at the moment, no-one expected us to be able to stay in the play-offs following the mass exodus from the Riverside. Yet still there are those few voices, those who just like to be different, stating that if promotion is not achieved that it is a failure for the club and for Mowbray. Why?

How can it be a failure when the top two teams ( Southampton and West Ham) are working with near Premier League capabilities with regards transfers and finances. For two seasons we have been a Premier League club in the Championship, but now we are a Championship club and that has to be accepted if we are to move on. We have to deal with wages below or around £10,000 p/w. Whereas before we were paying over £1.5 million a year on a single player’s wages; wages have been slashed by around a third.

Despite my statement above though, doom mongering fans must also understand that we are not a ‘financially troubled’ club. Whilst we may be ‘cash strapped’ in the sense that we are experiencing a negative net income, we are in no way in major finacial trouble. We are not a Portsmouth or a Plymouth Argyle. We are funded by a local business man, not a distant company who will happily drop the club in to the mire to get back to taking in millions of pounds,dollars,yen . For Steve Gibson, owning and running this club is a hobby and will be pumping steady amounts of money in hoping to eventually produce a positive revenue- when compared with the routine outgoings of a competing club. We have a very good basis on which to do that, our squad is competitive. We are in 4th place in the Championship. It is a possibility that we will get promoted and return to the Sky TV money;if that fails and we only were to get in to the play-offs, our revenue will increase due to the excitement surrounding the team and those fans returning  to the Riverside. We are not in bad shape.

So, we are a club that has spent very little on transfer fees or wages in the past year since Mowbray came in. We have signed players down on relatively low wages for long periods of time, we also have brought back Arca on a reduced contract despite  Premier League interest. Malaury Martin, Faris Haroun, Merouane Zemmamma and Bart Ogbeche are all free transfers. Although you could say that some of these players have yet to make an impact, the first three have scored goals and created them already this season.

So for us to not achieve promotion would not be a devastation, it would not be a problem. This club is building for the future, we are trying to move forwards and create a sustainable spending and income for a solid base. Let’s not forget, there is such a thing as peaking too early.

Erimus.

 This week football has taken a back seat in most mainstream society, talk has been of the tragic circumstances surrounding Gary Speed and more recently the prevalence of abusive racism in England. I abhor racism, I cannot stand it and simply just don’t understand it, thus after watching My Tram Experience I felt angry and offended. If you haven’t seen the video- please go and watch it. It is racially aggravated abuse in the oldest form. What’s worse is that she has a child sat on her lap all while she screams abuse at ethnic minorities in her carriage who seem stunned by the outburst. What also frustrates me is the fact that, while this video sets out to oppose racism, some people gain inspiration from the clip, some people find it liberating and empowering to hear “The voice of the forgotten race”. I think it is just wrong.

This clip comes just weeks after allegations of racism on the football pitch, with John Terry and Luis Suarez- now charged- both accused of making inappropriate and uncalled for comments. In the aftermath of this whole issue Sepp Blatter-FIFA President- came out and said , “He should say that this is a game. We are in a game, and at the end of the game, we shake hands, and this can happen, because we have worked so hard against racism and discrimination.” That is not acceptable, especially when I experienced racism first hand at the Middlesbrough v West Ham match.

We were losing 1-0 to West Ham, Frédéric Piquionne had scored their goal with a pretty simple header. I was frustrated by this, felt it wasn’t true football;the type Mowbray likes. However, throughout my frustration the colour of the player’s skin never came in to it. Not once did I think ‘Oh look a black player has scored’ just as when Emnes scores I do not do the same. So when from beside me I hear, “They’re going do the same thing all the time, Just lob it up on to his stupid black f**king head!”, I felt extremely uncomfortable. While many will argue that this man has simply described what he has seen, I find it so inappropriate to speak like that today. He would have imploded had he seen Carlton Cole round Jason Steele in the 94th minute. All around me are children of varying ages, for them to be subject to the kind of language and values is unacceptable. If their parents want to instill those beliefs in to them in the privacy of their own home, while I would oppose it and be disgusted, so be it. It is then not affecting other peoples families. The guy seemed to be generally quite nice, I had a chat with him and he didn’t seem to be too bad, but as soon as he brought a player’s skin colour in to the game I just couldn’t enjoy his company.

Racism in the stands has always been present and most probably will always remain in some form. Yet, that doesn’t mean that just because it has been that it should be.  For me I find the fact that Nick Clegg has given a well done to English football for ‘employing talented black players’ condescending and patronizing. Are we meant to see this as a well done for just employing talented players, or is it simply because they are black. Why would English club’s not employ black players if they were talented, why would we not employ black players full stop? Clegg’s comments paint football as a racist business who need to be thanked every time they do something to help the ‘black society’. Maybe I’m just easily offended, maybe I am too politically correct or am I just looking for trouble to stir?

Well whatever I am, it’s extremely clear that Racism is still alive in football and in England. While there is a continuous push to rid society of it, we will never fully succeed. When people raise their children in a racist household, their ideologies will be perpetuated. It’s depressing that this happens when there are more people out there willing to stand up for people regardless of colour or creed. I’d like to say that I’d never encountered racism, or that I’d helped to stop it. Sadly I haven’t; I didn’t speak to the man at the match about his behaviour, primarily because I hoped what he’d said was a mistake that had slipped out. Maybe it was a mistake because he didn’t carry on, but that’s not the only time I’ve ever heard racist abuse in public.

Cheers,
Sam

Tuesday night in November, cold, dark, most probably damp and the faint smell of the pies and pints wafting up through from the concourse. It’s what hardcore fans live for, nothing is better than being able to actually see your E-I-O as your breath frosts over in front of your eyes. Your nose becomes red, your arms are held tightly to your side, when a goal is scored it’s a Johnny Rotten jump. You pogo around for 20 seconds and get straight back to clasping your hands together, breathing in to them and peering over your thumbs while you watch the action unfold. In a cold’ slightly empty stadium though the slamming of chairs seems much louder. The moans of fed-up fans reverborate while your heart continues to sink. It’s a hotbed of emotion. It’s midweek football.

West Ham are currently second in the league, while we lay just behind Cardiff in fourth. Sam Allardyce’s team have come on slightly from the beginning of the season, while we seem to be steadily trudging along, not pulling up trees but at least loosening the roots. We must be at our best to beat West Ham, we share the best defence in the league with them, but with that we are also the draw team. We have drawn 8, won 8 and lost 2. We need to set that straight, make sure that we keep the draw numbers below double figures for as long as possible. West Ham have the best away record in the league, and are looking for a fourth successive away win on the road, which could take them to the summit of the Npower Championship.

Barry Robson, Scott Mcdonald and Marvin Emnes are due to be assessed later today, to check whether they are truly ready to get out and play. Emnes overcame a slight injury to face Posh, but produced very little. It could be time to give the Dutch frontman a little time to rest. The worry is with McDonald though; he has been in his best form of the season in the past few weeks, with 3 goals in 3 games it is vital he keeps playing so as to carry on his own little mini run. I myself would like to see a start for Ogbeche, yet I could be persuaded to see Nimely play a little more. Both of these fringe players have suffered since they have come in, game time has been restricted due to Mowbray not wanting to disrupt the balance that Emnes and Mcdonald had formed. Just as it looked that maybe the Aussie striker should be dropped he begins to score goals. Not only has Nimely had little game time since his arrival from Manchester City, but he has been forced to play wide right or wide left; taking him away from the action that we brought him to get involved in. Where Barry Robson is concerned I don’t think we need to worry, yes he has been one of the most influential players so far, but I really have confidence in the midfielders on the sidelines. We have  some top-class midfielders to choose from in: Richard Smallwood, Julio Arca, Faris Haroun and Malaury Martin. The latter two I would think to be the best bet to come and stand in for the combative Barry Robson.

Last time at home we conceded some sickening equalisers, with the ball constantly bouncing around in the penalty area, no-one committing themselves to make a game saving challenge. When Mowbray first arrived, he tried to address our inability to defend a lead, seeming to do so with great effect. However  it seemes to be back as it reoccured against Peterborough too. Hopefully we can return to the foundations that Tony laid, take it back to basics and not let ourselves get carried away with early season form. We need to keep things basic if that got the job done, we are no Barcelona, we will not score more than you if you score 5. Basic stuff.

Up The Boro.

Gary Speed 1969-2011

This weekend Football has had a wake-up call. It is never nice to hear of a footballer, nay a person, die young, however it feels so much more futile when the young person has taken their own life. Whilst I am not oft upset by the death of a celebrity, this has affected me in a way I’ve never experienced. I had tears in my eyes just while I thought of how this poor man’s life had ended, I tried to put myself in the shoes of Speed and I couldn’t begin to comprehend the darkness that engulfed him.

Gary Speed was an exceptional footballer, a player who I personally idolized; surprisingly mostly in the twilight of his career. He suffered as Sheffield United’s manager but had begun to show he had superb talents locked away, turning an under-performing Wales side in to an impressive and well constructed outfit. Whilst many people have commented on his career and how he was a model professional, it must also be noted (and has been) that he is above and beyond that, he was a truly nice man.

I watched his last interview on BBC’s Football Focus and enjoyed listening to a home nation manager whom I believed to be the most promising. He oozed care and enthusiasm, no one could deny that his aims were infectious. I truly bought in to his philosophy for the Welsh national team, despite being English. He always seemed a warm man, a man with a heart that had not been replaced by a football. That is why he will be missed.

This story will inevitably draw comparisons to that of Robert Enke’s suicide in 2009. The German goalkeeper taking his life following the death of his daughter and the stresses his position came with. He very clearly suffered from extreme depression, now no doubt we will discover this to be the case with Speed. However, Gary’s death was extremely out of the blue for all those who weren’t close to him. Nothing seemed to ever be wrong with this man who has now been tragically robbed of a future, his family being robbed of a great Father, Son and Husband.

Rest in peace…

Manchester United midfielder Anderson  has been sidelined untill february and while Tom Cleverley is still recovering, this could pose a problem for Sir Alex. However, it is probably lucky that it was not one of his more influential midfielders injured and he has a wealth of experience to call on. With Rooney not averse  dropping back, could wee see a CM position for Wayne? Well not at Newcastle, as the in-form ‘utility’ man has been ruled out after a clash with Swansea keeper Vorm.

Paul Faulkner, Chief Executive of Aston Villa has claimed that his team are very much in the running for European qualification…. Really Paul? On recent form I would expect nothing more than a tenth-place finish for the Birmingham club, there are much better clubs in the league. MY OPINION NOT FACT.

Robin Van Persie scored another two goals against Borussia Dortmund. Seriously? It was almost inevitable that Van the Man would get some goals, when checking Arsenal scores it is almost eerie for the Dutch Striker not to be in there. If he gets injured, expect Arsenal to implode. OPINION!

Peter Odemwingie has attacked Roy Hodgson after the Baggies boss claimed that Ode has been “Difficult to work with” and getting “nothing” from the striker. Patience Roy… Patience.

As I already mentioned earlier, the Boro are playing this weekend against Ian ‘Olloway’s Blackpool. First glance we are quite similar to Blackpool, just five points ahead and similar goal difference. However, Blackpool have been blowing hot and cold this season, they lost 3-1 to Burnley and then went on to thrash Leeds United 5-0.

Head to Head-

Barry Robson:
Combative, aggressive and full of zest despite his age. A driving force in this season’s ‘Boro team; already beaten his goal tallies for the previous two seasons with five in the league and one in the cup. On top of the goals scored he has been contributing with a large amount of assists.

Jonjo Shelvey:
Shelvey has scored five goals for Blackpool this season whilst on loan from Liverpool. Having made his England U-21 debut, he is beginning to show the form that he promised whilst playing in League 1 with Charlton Athletic. A hat-trick against Leeds has been the highlight of his season so far, quick and athletic, Jonjo can pull strings for Pool from the centre of midfield or push forward in to a second striker position.

Marvin Emnes:
The no longer young striker has only scored 13 league goals in England, only 11 when in a Boro shirt. This season however, he has been bagging the goals with seven in the league and a hat-trick in the league cup. Emnes does not often stretch himself, but when he does his pace confuses everyone on the pitch. With a blistering sprint, he can make it past any defence and with his new found finishing touch he is looking less of a project, more of a product.

Kevin Phillips:
While the one-time European Golden Boot winner is past his prime, you just can’t stop him. He has the same amount of goals as Emnes this season, but unlike the ‘Boro player he does not possess pace and relies on his impeccable finish. Phillips is the player to watch, especially when playing alongside former Liverpool player Nathan Ecclestone.

So- If you can make it to the riverside to experience the club’s fun day, you really should. The team needs some support, and we as fans can play a part in building a Riverside fortress-yes i know it is cliche.

Erimus.

A spectacular finish