Sky Sports Sunday Clash

Boro face Everton tomorrow at Goodison Park in a 4pm kick-off, as the game is televised live on Sky Sports 1.
Undoubtedly, former Boro striker, Aiyegbeni Yakubu will be looking to follow in Mark Viduka's tracks by scoring against his old club on Sunday and I believe that, if he makes it into the squad, he will stand a good chance of scoring against us. Because that's the way our luck always goes.


Rochemback
After much speculation over his future and amidst reports of his father pleading with other clubs to sign him, Fabio Rochemback has shone as one of Boro's best performers so far this season and has created a formidable partnership with fellow South American, Julio Arca, in the centre of midfield. But with Arca now out of the frame for some time, due to injury, Rochemback can hold the limelight and hope to kick start his, so far, below par Boro career. In a recent interview with Boro's official website (mfc.co.uk) Rochemback has expressed his delight at being at Boro and the joy of playing how he knows he can and should be playing, week-in week-out.

"I feel I've personally had a good start and I want to carry it on further.

"I've worked very hard to get to the stage where I am at the moment and I am always pushing myself to do better.

"I found it difficult to adapt in England at the start but there is a new atmosphere here and one which I am enjoying greatly."

Look-a-Like?

You may have heard, recently, that Julio Arca is itching to push through into the Argentina national side after an excellent series of performances in the centre of midfield under Boro Boss, Gareth Southgate.
Southgate believes that Arca has been overlooked by the national team. But I'm sure that, by cleverly impersonating Carlos Tevez, Arca might be in with a chance...

Embarrassing

West Ham 3 - 0 BORO

Boro walked away from their weekend game at Upton Park embarrassed 3-0 losers as West Ham ran riot in the second half.

West Ham started with Craig Bellamy and Dean Ashton up front as they looked for their first home win of the season.

The Hammers started brightly and Bellamy looked on fire with bursts of pace and flare.
Then Mark Noble saw his 20-yard effort zip just wide of Schwarzer's goal after a deflection off Jonathan Woodgate.
But it was Dean Ashton who scored first. His first goal since the 2006 FA Cup Final, but fortunately for Boro he was ruled to be offside.

However, West Ham were dealt a crushing blow on 26 minutes as Welsh hit man Craig Bellamy had to be substituted with what appeared to be a groin injury. He was replaced by former Chelsea striker Carlton Cole.

Aliadiere had Boro's best chance in the opening minutes as he looked to open his Boro account. His shot, after a good lay-off from Mido, ricocheted off Rob Green's post.

Aliadiere looked like he was going to run riot now, with the Hammers pace man, Bellamy, off the field. But with just 4 minutes passed since Bellamy had left the field, Aliadiere had to be subbed as he pulled-up with a hamstring injury. The Frenchman was making a blinding run on the counter attack when he stopped sharp, fortunately managing to play the ball through to Mido.

Aliadiere made way for another new boy to try to bag his first Boro goal, Tuncay.

Both teams looked a little sloppy now that they had lost their pace players and Carlton Cole looked simply awful for West Ham. The teams went into the break with a fair 0-0 scoreline.

Gareth Southgate would have looked for his team to maintain their first half performance and push through for a win. But Boro got off to a nightmare second half, Lee Bowyer scoring after just 1 minute.
Bowyer embarrassed Boro's defenders as he forced his way into the area and volleyed home Carlton Cole's cross.

It was important that Boro try and fight back to equalise, but barely 5 minutes had past when Carlton Cole, the weak link in the first half, played a low cross into the 6-yard area where Luke Young, agonisingly, slid the ball into his own net whilst attempting to clear.

Tuncay aimed to go on where Aliadiere had left off and found himself with chances to score on more than one occasion as, first, his lob shot beat Rob Green but bounced out off the bar and a second chance from six yard was saved well by Green. Tuncay could undoubtedly have had a hat-trick of goals before Dean Ashton scored again, only this one was not disallowed as he timed his run well to beat the deffence and score from Matthew Etherington's left sided cross.

Not the best circumstances to come on, but the Boro Boss handed Gary O'Neil his Boro debut as he replaced in form Brazilian, Fabio Rochemback, to try and regain a foot hold in the game. But O'Neil could do little to clinch a result for Boro, having just one notable chance on goal.

The game had proved to be a tale of 2 halves as the teams looked completely different second half compared to their first half performances.

Boro must overcome their inability to take chances if they are to give themselves a chance of winning games. They could have at least gained a draw from Saturday if only they had converted a fraction of their chances.

Boro Boss Gareth Southgate:
"They have effectively won the match in the first five minutes of the second half.

"It's a harsh lesson for us, we didn't get out of the blocks in the second half, but we'll learn from it."

Be the Best!

Gareth Southagte has, today, told his £5 million new signing Gary O'Neil that he wants him to take his career to a new level with Boro.

Southgate has had his eye on O'Neil since taking over the reigns from Steve McLaren last season and was just delighted to finally sign the 24-year-old on transfer deadline day.

"He is exactly the kind of professional I want at this club. He’s in the right age bracket and he has the hunger that we are looking for."

With the number of quality midfielders Boro have available and the promise of a regular spot, it is believed that O'Neil can expect a role in Boro's right side of midfield, meaning that fellow new boy Tuncay might have to work even harder to force Mido or Aliadiere out of the striker position. However Tuncay will always be an option, if needed, on the right.

However this means that Southgate may have a potential selection nightmare. He'll want to try and fit the new boys in somewhere, but with Julio Arca and Fabio Rochemback playing well together and with captain George Boateng being a guaranteed selection along with Stewart Downing, Southgate will have to do some serious thinking because he'll need to fit in O'Neil and Shawky around Arca, Rochemback, Boateng, Cattermole and Downing with Adam Johnson, Jason Kennedy and Josh Walker pushing through from the Academy and Reserves as well as Gaizka Mendieta, who has recently vowed to push for a recall to the first team.

However Southgate has always remained confident that competition for places is only going to improve the team and the player mentality.

And I suppose he's right, if you have so many quality players all wanting to get into the first team then they are all going to give 110% in order cement a position in the squad.

Gary O'Neil

It seems, or so I've read in various media reports, that Gary O'Neil is almost disappointed to have joined Boro.
The 24-year-old joined Boro late on transfer deadline day after Boro agreed a £5 million fee with
Portsmouth, but O'Neil has since told of his shock and surprise upon hearing that Pompey boss Harry Redknapp had agreed to sell him to Middlesbrough.

"I got a phone call from my agent that Portsmouth had accepted an offer from both Fulham and Middlesbrough.

"I certainly wasn't expecting anything to happen - I was getting ready for the Arsenal game.

"If the club accepts an offer, you haven't really got any options."

O'Neil then cements his move to the Boro saying "They're probably the best fans in the country," referring to the Portsmouth fans that he says he will miss sorely.
Little has been published in the media of O'Neil's feelings about his new club other than he has said that it will be a 'Challenge' to play for Middlesbrough and I'm sure that the fans will be just as happy about having O'Neil here as he is being here.
O'Neil is likely not to make his Boro debut for some time, due to a long running ankle problem that kept him out of the end of Pompey's last season and which lead the player to fail his medical at the Boro.