There Were Others

Luke Young today confirmed, in a press conference, that there were other teams interested in signing him, but he chose Boro because Gareth Southgate assured him that he would be first choice and because he believed that Boro's strong English squad would help his chances with Steve McClaren's England squad.
"I see Middlesbrough as a big club and the fact that Jonathan Woodgate and Stewart Downing are here means the England manager will be watching them play. From what I've seen already over the last couple of days, there are a lot of good young English players here as well."
Young also told of how it was a very tough decision for him to leave Charlton, but he thanked the club for not standing in his way as he looked for a return to the Premiership.
Boro boss, Gareth Southgate, added "He's been captain of his previous club so he's a leader. He ticks all the boxes and I was very pleased we were able to secure the deal in the manner we did."I know Charlton would ideally have kept him but credit to them, they felt he had been a good servant to them so they let him go."

Call The Press!

Boro have called a press conference for tomorrow after they completed the signing of right-back Luke Young from Charlton on a four year deal, after a fee of £2.5 million was agreed 6 days ago.
Young has spent the last few days on Teesside and earlier today he put pen to paper on a 4 year deal with the club, which will see him remain in the Premiership after he was relegated with Charlton last season.
Boro boss, Gareth Southgate, announced that he had secured his 4th signing of the summer just a few hours ago and the club have called a press conference for tomorrow afternoon where they will officially unveil Young as the latest signing.
Young made over 200 appearances for Charlton in just 6 years after transferring from Spurs where his commitment and no-nonsense approach earned him the captain's armband at the club.

A New Twist

A new twist has emerged in the ongoing Alan Smith story. Yesterday, Manchester United boss, Sir Alex Ferguson, gave Boro permission to speak to United striker Alan Smith.
Boro have shown keen interest all summer in the former Leeds man and stories in the press have told how first a deal was on then off and now back on again. Whilst interest in Smith has been expressed by a number of clubs, Boro have been at the forefront after the club announced that they would be prepared to pay United the £6 million that they demand for Smith.
With United bringing in several new attacking players in the summer and the ongoing speculation over the signing of Carlos Tevez, its hard to see where Smith will fit in at United. The player, himself, has remained adamant that he wishes to stay and fight for his place at United, but whilst Ferguson has not directly told Smith that he wants him to leave, he hasn't yet offered him a new contract, and looks set not to do so. He has dropped enough hints to suggest that Smith doesn't fit into the club's plans for the future and this latest development may just tip the scales for Smith as he looks to his future. It has also been reported that Boro boss Gareth Southgate would be prepared to promise Smith a regular first team place in order to lure him to Teesside, however this may push out some of the other strikers who have surely been told they must fight for their place; the likes of Yakubu, Dong Gook Lee, Aliadiere and Tuncay Sanli.

In other news yesterday, Luke Young passed a medical at the Riverside with flying colours and is set to sign a contract within the next couple of days. Young was in the stands at the TFM Darlington Arena to watch Boro record their first win of the pre-season schedule, where youngster Tom Craddock netted 2 goals to give Boro a 2-0 win.

The 1st Win

Boro recorded their first win of the pre-season schedule tonight in their away friendly against neighbours Darlington at the TFM Darlington Arena.
Boro fielded a team of local lads, with the exception of Emanuel Pogatetz and Jason Euell and were easily the better team, getting of to a good start and creating some good chances. James Morrison, on the right, and Tom Craddock, up front, linked in well together on several occasions and it was Morrison who set up the young forward to score his first senior goal for the Boro midway through the 1st half.
Boro went into the break leading 1 goal to nil, but an injury to long suffering defender, Matthew Bates, gave Gareth Southgate cause for concern as the 20-year-old was substituted early in the first half.
Boro continued their charge against the Quakers in the second half and created a series of chances before Craddock bagged his second of the night against his hometown club.
Darlington did create some good chances but Boro keeper, David Knight, had little to do all night and pulled of some comfortable saves when called upon.
Darlington fielded 3 trialists through the course of the game as well as several new signings but it was apparent that they need more time to gel as a unit.

Young has Medical

After having had a £2.5 million bid for Luke Young accepted on Friday, Boro have welcomed the English defender to the North East to undergo a medical and discuss personal terms with the club ahead of his imminent move to the Boro.
Young had expressed his interest in remaining in the Premiership after he was relegated with Charlton Athletic last season and a move to Boro, where he would undoubtedly fit right into a regular 1st team place, would be the perfect move for Young.
Boro boss, Gareth Southgate, told Skysports "The initial conversations have been positive. He is an experienced defender, who is very good on the ball and that is important for full-backs in the modern game.
"He is an England international and he would bring us a wealth of experience in that position. The age he is at and the fact he has captained his club is something that appeals to me."
Having released both Stuart Parnaby and Abel Xavier during the summer, Southgate has been left with only Andrew Davies, who officially is a centre-back, and the injury prone Tony McMahon to cover the right-back spot. Luke Young would be an ideal permanent fixture in that position.

New Sponsor

Boro, today, announced that they have agreed their biggest ever sponsorship deal with 'Garmin', although I've never heard of them they are obviously the world leaders in satellite navigation systems.
Whilst the club have initially signed only a one year deal with Garmin, they are currently negotiating to extend the deal which currently stands at a, so far undisclosed, 7 figure sum.
Boro's Head of Commercial Affairs, Graham Fordy told the club's official site "Garmin will get the sort of coverage only sponsorship of a Barclay's Premier League club can provide. It's a great partnership both on and off the pitch that we are confident will go from strength to strength."
The new-look Boro home and away shirts, sporting the words 'Garmin Sat Nav' across the chest

For the first time in years I actually like both the new home and away shirts.

Young Right Back In?

Reports this evening have indicated that Boro have had a £2.5 million bid accepted for Charlton Athletic right-back, Luke Young.
Gareth Southgate expressed that, following the signings of Jeremie Aliadiere and Tuncay Sanli, he needed to address the right back position after showing the door to both Stuart Parnaby (Birmingham) and Abel Xavier (LA Galaxy). Luke Young, 28, is an experienced right back with over 200 Charlton appearances to his name in the last 6 years and is expected to meet with Boro imminently to discuss personal terms and to undergo a medical.
Last week, Charlton boss Alan Pardew announced "I've got a lot of time for Luke and I appreciate he wants to play in the Premier League, If a decent club comes in and I thought the fee was right I'd let him go."

Also today, Sky Sports revealed that Boro have made bids for Egyptian stars Emad Moteab (Striker) and Mohamed Shawky (Midfielder). The pair, apparently, will be available at a bargain of £2 million. Moteab, 24, is valued at £1.5 million, whilst fellow Al-Ahly FC star Shawky has been valued at a mere £500,00. However it has been said that Birmingham are also interested in the latter of the two.
Al-Ahly's marketing director told Sky Sports "The club will discuss Middlesbrough's offers during the board meeting next week."
However Boro have expressed that they wish to bring the pair to Teesside on a trial basis before they attempt an official transfer.
If these transfers go through, Boro would be well ahead of many Premiership clubs in terms of summer transfers with 6 players in and still seeking an out-and-out right winger, such a player which has eluded Boro for so many years.

A Share of the Spoils

Boro Walked out of tonight's, 7pm, game with a share of the spoils after a 1 all draw with mediocre Bundesliga side Hertha Berlin.
The game was heated in more than one sense of the word. With temperatures lingering around the 40 degree centigrade mark, tempers were also fraying as Yakubu was brought down inside the Hertha penalty area, resulting in a penalty that Yakubu converted to give Boro the equaliser after Hertha's Malik Fathi had opened the scoring just before the break.
Andrew Davies appeared to suffer a broken nose after 63 minutes when Solomon Okoronkwo's hand made heavy contact with the defender's face after Davies challenged the Nigerian.

Just 2 minutes later, Fabio Rochemback reacted strongly to a similar attack on him by Pal Dardai and both players were hastily dismissed by the referee who wasn't prepared to take any nonsense in a game tagged as a friendly.
The man of the match was easily Boro goalkeeper Ross Turnbull who made a series of fantastic saves to keep his team in the game and to stake a real claim for himself in Gareth Southgate's eyes for next season.

Another positive note was that new boy Jeremie Aliadiere made his first appearance in a Boro shirt and had a pretty good run. Showing some bursts of pace and linking in with Yakubu and Lee Cattermole, creating some promising chances with the latter.

It's Official!

I reported here on Boro Blog, on Saturday, about Boro's new home kit and now, today, the club's official website released photos from the cool down session after the Schalke game on Saturday.
The photos show the players stretching and chilling after the tough game in Austria, sporting the new kit, which looks very close to the one that I created earlier (from memory).

Take a Look
http://www.mfc.co.uk/

Cause for Concern?

Schalke 04 3 - 0 Middlesbrough FC

Many people believe that we shouldn't read too much into pre-season games, But Gareth Southgate may have some cause for concern as Schalke dominated the game in Bad Radkersburg, Austria, and opened the scoring after just 4 minutes with a cheeky Kevin Kuranyi back-heeler past Ross Turnbull in the Boro goal. The Germans then went 2-0 up just before the break when a poor defensive display, from a Schalke counter attack, left Gerald Asamoah wide open in front of goal to knock the ball around the keeper.

Adam 'Jinky' Johnson came closest for Boro in the first half, after his long range effort spun just over the bar. Boro, though, went into half time looking composed, though losing, despite the sweltering conditions and despite having been dominated by Schalke.

Gareth Southgate had stressed, before the game, that this match was about fitness and endurance, though it appeared that he was experimenting with the youth players, as George Boateng, Fabio Rochemback, Andrew Davies and new boy Tuncay Sanli were all removed before the second half. Making way for a team of skin headed youngsters to take on Schalke (Knight and Euell being the only 2 players remaining at the final whistle whose heads were not shaven).

Schalke grabbed their 3rd goal when Mimou Azaouagh took a quick free kick, leaving Ross Turnbull scrambling to stretch across his goal to try and reach the ball.
Yakubu had the most chances for the Boro with assists coming, early on from Tuncay, and later from Johnson and Euell, before he had to be substituted; reducing Boro to 10 men, until James Morrison was allowed to be brought back on after having being substituted earlier on.

Seb Hines, another Boro youngster, produced a flash of unbelievable skill before crossing into the box, only to have the ball powerfully headed clear by a Schalke defender.

Another promising youngster was Josh Walker. Playing along that troubled right hand side of midfield, he put in a good performance and may certainly give Southgate an option for the new season after fan favoured right sider James Morrison announced during the summer that his preferred role was in the centre of midfield. However, Southgate will be likely to want to bring in some more experience on the right, perhaps Christian Wilhelmsson from Nantes. Boro have been strongly linked with the Swedish international over the past few weeks, along with interest from fellow countryman and new Manchester City boss, Sven Goran Eriksson.

New Boro Shirt
Boro fans also got a first glimpse of the new-look Boro kit, minus the sponsor across the chest, as the club are yet to make a new deal with a shirt sponsor after their 3 year deal with 888.com ended after last season. I would have liked to get a picture of it here, but unfortunately I couldn't find one. Here's one I knocked up based on what I saw during the match against Schalke. Many teams have already released their new kits, but Boro are awaiting the new sponsor before they release their new kit to the public.


Setanta Coverage
Setanta Sports were granted the rights to broadcast live Boro's pre-season friendlies in Austria between Schalke 04 and Hertha Berlin. Unfortunately, Setanta is a channel that I don't subscribe to through my Sky TV, but I managed to find a FREE online stream for the game through Setanta Sports. Wo0hoo! Unfortunately it wasn't a great game as far as Boro fans are concerned but I was just glad to watch some football. This year has been the first year where I simply can't wait for the new season to start up again and so when I caught on to the idea that I might be able to watch these pre-seasoners I jumped at the chance.

Click for Free Footie and More
You may need to download a little piece of software called 'SopCast' or 'SopCast Webplayer' to watch stuff from this site.

Thanks and Farewell

It was a dark day for many Boro fans on Sunday, as the club announced an exclusive commentary deal with BBC Radio Cleveland for next season.

On the face of it, this doesn't appear to be a bad thing. However, for many Boro fans, it is a crushing blow. Many fans have enjoyed 12 years of award winning commentary from Century FM's Alastair Brownlee and 'living Boro legend' Bernie Slaven.

I, for one, will feel almost traitorous turning over the dial from 100.7 FM to 95FM and will certainly be begrudged to listen to, in my opinion, commentary that simply cannot match up to the raw emotion, enthusiasm, humor and support of Ali and Bernie from Century, after all "No one loves The BORO, as much as we do" will always be an Ali Brownlee catchphrase that I'll remember. That and "Everyone round to my house for a Parmo!", an invitation sparked by sheer jubilation and excitement as Boro came back from the dead against Steaua Bucharest in the UEFA Cup Semi-final second leg, taking the club to the final in Eindhoven.

Last year, Ali and Bernie won the Gold Award for 'Best Sports Coverage' at the New York Radio Festival Awards for their dramatic, emotional and down right hilarious Century commentary of Boro's superb run up to the UEFA Cup Final in Eindhoven.

Ali Brownlee gets typically excited as Boro make the first of two amazing comebacks in the UEFA Cup. This one is against Basle at the Riverside Stadium



Ali & Bernie's site