BORO have announced the arrival of their new away kit, which goes on sale to season ticket holders next week.
Afonso Alves models the new black and blue striped shirt which will accompany black shorts and socks with a blue trim and the players will get to wear their new kit this evening as they take on York City as part of the BORO's pre-season warm-up.
Meanwhile George Boateng this week completed his move to Hull City after BORO accepted a £1 million bid for the Dutch midfielder who has been with BORO since 2002. In addition, speculation surrounding fellow midfielder Lee Cattermole's future has began to circulate as news of a bid from another Premier League club, reportedly Wigan Athletic, has emerged.
Ideally manager, Gareth Southgate, would be keen to keep the highly enthusiastic youngster at the club but it is believed that he would be prepared to let Catts leave provided a suitable offer was made.
Also this week, Gary O'Neil has committed himself to BORO after much talk of him being 'unsettled' on Teesside. O'Neil was on track to be nominated as player of the season last year after a spectacular start to the season, but following a dip in form and a bad injury ruling him out of the last few games of the season, rumours started to spread that he was finding life hard with BORO. He had this to say to the MFC official website,
"It's been a good pre-season for me so far and now that I'm happy and settled, it will get me back to where I want to be."
Friday 18 July 2008
Check This!
Monday 7 July 2008
Super Swoop
BORO moved fast after weeks of speculation to secure their first two signings of the summer in French under-21 star Didier Digard and Dutch forward Marvin Emnes, on Friday.
Both players sealed their moves to the Riverside in the space of 24 hours after it was revealed that talks for both players had been ongoing for some time.
Frenchman, Digard, followed the earlier arrival of the Dutch youngster Emnes, from Sparta Rotterdam, as each player put pen to paper on 4 year contracts and cited the attraction of playing in the English top flight as their main reason for choosing BORO ahead of other potential buyers.
Digard's arrival on Teesside, from PSG, may now clear the way for former captain George Boateng to leave the club as Celtic have stepped up their interest in the Dutch midfielder.
Meanwhile 20 year old Emnes has expressed his delight at his move to the Premier league,
"I am very excited to join Middlesbrough. It's a dream for any player to play in the Premier League, but it is a great opportunity for me when I am still so young.
"I had a good year with Sparta and there was a lot of interest in me but I was enthusiastic about the idea of joining Middlesbrough from the very first day I heard of their interest."
Pictures & Quotes courtesy of MFC Official Site (www.mfc.co.uk) & Skysports (www.skysports.com/football)
Thursday 19 June 2008
BORO Blog is 1!
Catch Up
Well plenty has happened whilst I have been away, a four week holiday in Dubai and you struggle to keep up.
First up, BORO waved farewell to long standing Aussie goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer last month as he headed south in a bizarre move to Fulham.
Schwarzer had served BORO for 11 years and was BORO's longest serving player still with the club up until his move. He joined BORO from Bradford City and helped the club win their first major piece of silverware and made a memorable penalty save to ensure BORO's highest ever premier league finish and second season in Europe under boss Steve McClaren.
Schwarzer might well be sorely missed, but after arguably a less than impressive season last time out and at 35 years of age it was time to move on. Gareth Southgate has declared his confidence in stand-ins Ross Turnbull and Brad Jones, both of whom will now fight for the number one shirt, rather than the club bringing in a new keeper.
The UEFA European Championships are well in full swing now and whilst new BORO captain Emanuel Pogatetz's Austria have been eliminated from the competition they are co-hosting, BORO do still have an interest in the competition as Tuncay Sanli made it through to the quarter finals with Turkey after an extraordinary game against the Czech Republic where they overturned the odds to fight back from 2-0 down to win 3-2 with just 15 minutes of the match remaining. But that was not all, Turkish keeper Volkan was given a red card for pushing over Jan Koller with 4 minutes remaining of injury time and, with all 3 substitutes already made, BORO's Tuncay was handed the gloves and looked drowned in the huge Volkan's goalkeeper jersey. But Turkey held on and made it through to the last eight where they will face Croatia.
Finally, the closest thing to a new BORO signing I can see is that BORO appear favourites to sign PSG midfielder Didier Digard. However conflicting media reports suggest that the player has had a medical where other reports suggest a deal has not yet been agreed. BORO do look set to miss out on Chelsea midfielder Steve Sidwell as his proposed move to Aston Villa draws ever near.
Despite all this the MFC official website (www.mfc.co.uk) have published an ever growing list of players that we have been linked with, something for the fans to get a little excited about perhaps.
Tuesday 13 May 2008
Rocky Bows Out In Style
Fabio Rochemback ended his BORO career in style at the weekend as he waited until his final game to show us why he has been taking the BORO free-kicks for the last three years.
Rocky fired in a truly unstoppable 35-yard belter in BORO's 8-1 humiliation of Man City on Sunday. But now he is jetting off to Portugal to undergo a medical ahead of his move "back home" to Sporting Lisbon.
BORO opted not to take up their two-year extension option on Rochemback's contract after an up and down career with the club. However this has arguably been Rocky's best season with BORO and his performance on Sunday might only frustrate the club that always maintained confidence in his abilities despite mixed performances.
"I am happy to be able to return to Lisbon. I was always wanted in Sporting and it feels like home." - Rochemback told SkySports News.
Meanwhile BORO have also confirmed that long-standing midfielder Gaizka Mednieta and South
Korean flop Dong Gook Lee have been released by the club. Mendi has been with BORO since he was signed from Lazio, by Steve McClaren, back in 2004 after a successful loan spell in which he helped BORO to their first piece of silverware, the Carling Cup. However Mendi has not featured for the BORO first team since 2006, but has enjoyed some success with an extended run in the reserve team.
Dong Gook Lee, however, has endured a frustrating time on Teesside since his move from Pohang Steelers in January last year. Lee was pitched as one of Korea's best players and brought much expectation with him to The Riverside, but after failing to score more than 2 goals in his 18 months with the club, BORO have decided to let him go as his contract runs out this month.
Monday 12 May 2008
Stewie Is Top Man
BORO's top scorer, Stewart Downing, is BORO Blog's BORO Man of the Season.
Downing keeps getting better with each season and this season he never seemed to put in a bad display.
Leading the BORO scoring chart ahead of strikers Tuncay, Mido and Aliadiere and recent acquisition Afonso Alves, Downing has fulfilled the target set to him by Gareth Southgate of netting double figures this season and has, along with David Wheater who has also had a hugely successful campaign, earned a call up to Fabio Capello's England.
Downing remains, in my mind, England's best natural left sided player and has had to play well above and beyond the level required, this season, just to get considered for the England setup. Whilst other natural left sided players, such as Ashley Young are also top quality, no one can measure up to Downing's level of consistency and goal scoring prowess.
Unforgettable
BORO put in a truly unforgettable performance, yesterday, as they ran riot at The Riverside in an 8-1 final day thrashing of Manchester City. Yes, that's right, EIGHT.
Man City started the brighter. But after an early injury forced Benjani to leave the field, City appeared to lose their spark and their problems were just starting as, after just 15 minutes, captain Richard Dunne was sent off for knocking down Tuncay inside the penalty area.
Top scorer Stewart Downing coolly dispatched the resulting penalty, smashing the ball into the bottom corner of the net.
BORO immediately found their confidence and started stroking the ball around with class and composure and Fabio Rochemback looked like a new player as he linked in well with others and showed off some clever touches.
BORO's pressure and dominance was starting to pay off as Afonso Alves added a second goal. Fellow Brazilian, Rochemback, cleverly jinked past two defenders before feeding the ball through to Alves who smartly slotted the ball past Isaksson.
BORO then started creating chance after chance and could have been three up inside the first half, if not for some great saves from Isaksson and an unbelievable reaction stop to deny George Boateng from less than six yards.
The second half continued where the first half had finished and BORO made light work of City's now non-existent deffence as it seemed they would score with every attack. It took fewer than 15 minutes for BORO to grab their third goal as a deflected cross from the right looped towards Downing, who smashed a truly phenomenal first time curling volley around Isaksson and into the goal. The crowd went wild as Downing was mobbed by ecstatic team mates.
Just two minutes later, Alves made it 4-0 as he charged free of the City deffence and chipped the ball over Isaksson who could only get a hand to the ball. Gelson Fernandes made a last ditch effort to clear off the line but could only slide the ball further into his own net.
Downing then came close, again, with a similar effort to his earlier volley. But the ball fired just over the bar. Rochemback then unleashed a power driven free-kick at Isaksson who stung his hands as he parried the shot into a crowd of players, before rising to deny a BORO fifth.
But it was just ten minutes before BORO did make the breakthrough for their fifth goal. Adam Johnson replaced Julio Arca just after the hour and went about ruling the right wing, before picking up the ball in midfield and driving towards goal, drilling a hopeful effort from 20 yards that deflected off Michael Ball and past the wrong footed Isaksson.
Darius Vassell was presented with a chance for a consolation goal Castillo stormed down-field and crossed from the left after being pushed wide by Schwarzer. Vassell dived into a headed effort that skewed horribly wide from 10 yards out.
Fabio Rochemback then capped his superb performance with a contender for goal of the season. BORO were awarded a free-kick, 35-yards out from goal and Rochemback stepped up to the challenge, drilling an absolute pile-driver of a shot into the top corner of the net with such speed that Isaksson had no chance.
Jeremie Aliadiere then made it seven as he turned inside the box and fired across Isaksson into the far corner of the goal. City did grab a late consolation, however, as Elano cut in from the right and smashed home a fantastic finish past the static Schwarzer.
But it was BORO who hammered the final nail into Sven Goran Eriksson's coffin as Aliadiere found Alves wide open inside the box, squaring the ball to the Brazilian to complete his hat-trick and record a monumental win for BORO.
In a horrible downer, however, understandably infuriated City fans turned their anger on each other at the final whistle as riots broke out amongst the away supporters. Fans clashed with police and stewards, leaving one Teesside officer needing hospital treatment as seats were torn from their fittings and hurled at officers and crowd control staff. It is important to point out that no BORO fans were involved in the ugly scenes that required heavy reinforcements and police dogs to bring the situation under control.Gareth Southgate: "It was a great performance to say goodbye to our fans.
"The circumstances at City may have made things difficult for them and it was a massive uphill task once Richard Dunne has been sent off."
Attendance: 27, 613
BORO Blog BORO Man of the Match: Fabio Rochemback
Pictures & Quotes courtesy of BBC Sport (news.bbc.co.uk/sport) & SkySports (www.skysports.com/football)
Saturday 26 April 2008
Edgy Finish to the Season
BORO face an edgy end to their season after losing at the hands of premier league strugglers Bolton and local rivals Sunderland.
BORO's Premier league survival was all but assured just a couple of weeks ago after a good run of form and a vital draw against title chasers Manchester United, but now their hopes of being in the top flight next season hang by a thread.
With just two games remaining against high flying Portsmouth and Manchester City, BORO need to get their arses into gear if they want to be in this league next season because, with just 4 points separating them and the relegation zone they could find themselves in an embarrassing situation come May 11th.
BORO's misery started when they failed to capitalise on a good start in last week's home game against Bolton. Once again they failed to take chances and were made to pay as Gavin McCann netted the only goal and Bolton shut up shop to deny BORO any hope on their home soil.
Sunderland 3-2 BORO
But today was going to be different. Gareth Southgate assured the BORO faithful that today's derby game at Sunderland was going to be the key to assuring BORO's survival, which had seemed so secure just a couple of weeks ago.
Totally against BORO's style, this season, they took an early lead as Alves cleverly found Tuncay racing behind the Sunderland defence. Tuncau controlled on his chest before driving home after just four minutes.But it didn't last long, just as is BORO's way, they still conceded an early goal; just two minutes later, when Danny Higginbotham came forward from the back to head in a Collin's cross, past the stand-in goalie Brad Jones.
Both teams new the importance of three points and the pace of the game didn't let up as both teams mounted attacks and came close to bagging seconds as first Michael Chopra drove his shot across goal, before BORO's Tuncay nodded a header just wide of the goal.
Tempers then came to boiling point as BORO's man of the season David Wheater and Chopra clashed following a late challenge from the Sunderland striker, both players received yellow cards.
But BORO's early luck was to change as, just before the break, Chopra evaded Wheater after a long ball from Liam Miller and smashed home a shot the ricocheted off the post and into the net.
Sunderland came out for the second half with far more determination to get the three points and went about making life difficult for BORO as Chopra made himself busy as well as Kenwyne Jones, who suffered a nasty head injury upon colliding with BORO defender Emanuel Pogatetz.
Then Craig Gordon made a good effort of denying Stewart Downing an equaliser only to see BORO new boy Afonso Alves bag his third goal since January to put BORO back level, just moments later when the ball was deflected into his path after a shot from former Sunderland man Julio Arca.
Daryl Murphy replaced Michael Chopra with just five minutes of normal time remaining and the change proved effective as Murphy latched onto Leadbitter's corner, heading in off Emanuel Pogatetz to claim a vital, late winner.
But BORO's problems are now just beginning again. BORO must now hope to win their remaining games, no excuses, they need to win, not on paper, but they need to win!
Also, Stewart Downing has come out in the national media stating that if BORO don't buck-up their ideas he might be reconsidering his recent new contract in favour of remaining in the England set-up.
And now, fresh reports are emerging that Mark Schwarzer will be gone by the end of the season. In a Mark Viduka-type charade, Southgate will put off offering him a new contract until it is too late. Their have been reports that the Aussie shot stopper and longest serving, current, BORO player is keen to end his career in Germany and with suggestion that Bayern are interested in signing him and with thoughts that he only intends to play for another two years, until the World Cup, he could be gone in the summer.
But have no fear! Some media reports are suggesting that Southgate might be interested in signing recent England and Spurs flop, Paul Robinson, to replace Schwarzer.Attendance: 45, 059
BORO Blog BORO Man of the Match: Tuncay Sanli
Thursday 17 April 2008
O'Neil Out
Gary O'Neil has followed Mido in cutting short his season after having to go under the knife.
O'Neil, who has been outstanding for BORO since his transfer deadline day move from FA Cup finalists Portsmouth, has had his season cut short with four games of BORO's season remaining.
O'Neil limped out of the 1-1 draw with Spurs with what was hoped to be a minor knock, but a scan revealed dreaded knee ligament damage and the player had little option but to undergo an operation to correct the problem.
O'Neil will now be out of action until at least the start of next season's pre-season schedule, but The Evening Gazette have reported that it could be as late as October before the influential winger will return, leaving Gareth Southgate with the dilemma of who to fill the gap for the remainder of the season and a further headache of whether to splash out in the summer to provide cover.
Gibson Looking Forward
In other news, today, Steve Gibson has publicly announced his
backing for manager Gareth Southgate and has vowed to supply the required funds to bring global talent, the likes of Juninho, Ravanelli and Paul Merson, to The Riverside.
Speaking in a DVD recording made for publication with the launch of the club's season card renewal prices, Gibson announced his plans to make the club as successful as possible by offering every amount of support to the manager,
"We want to bring the best that we can to this club. We have a search for global talent. We want to be in a position to be able to attract the best world talent.
"We have done that with Alves, Tuncay and others and just look what we have done in the past with the likes of Juninho, Ravanelli and Merson."
Pictures & quotes courtesy of Google (images.google.com) & Sky Sports (www.skysports.com/football)
Tuesday 15 April 2008
Poggi Commited To The BORO
BORO's battling Austrian, Emanuel Pogatetz, has shown a huge turnaround this season after recently ditching his fiery 'Mad-Dog' tag and taking on the ultimate accolade of the club captaincy and has now announced that he wishes to commit his future to the club by extending his current contract. "Of course! I would like to be here as long as possible but it's up to the club, "I don't know what their plans are. It's not in my hands, and all I can say is I'm very happy here."
Pogatetz joined BORO back in 2005 after impressing Steve McClaren during BORO's UEFA Cup clashes with Grazer AK, where Poggi was on loan from German side Bayer Leverkusen.
Despite a rough first season, playing in his lesser favoured left-back position and facing stiff competition from fan favourite Frank Queudrue, Pogatetz won himself many fans for his tough tackling and his fearless attitude, quickly earning himself the famous 'Mad-Dog' tag for his fiery temper.
But it wasn't until he switched to the centre-back role that he really showed what he could do and he quickly established himself as a first choice centre half, especially with youngster Andrew Taylor able to fit into the shoes of the departed Queudrue.
Following an overwhelmingly successful second season with
BORO, Poggi was fast becoming a popular star on Teesside with his out and out determination and the way he wore his heart on his sleeve and even announced his determination to drop his fiery attitude and become a firm favourite with the fans.
After establishing himself as one of BORO's first choice defenders, Poggi managed to slip back into the BORO side following a lengthy early season injury; partnering the now departed Jonathan Woodgate and cementing a firm bond with BORO's man of the season David Wheater.
Just to top it all, Poggi has even taken the ultimate step-up in proving that he is capable of captaining the side. The dreaded armband that seems to have been passed from pillar to post this season has seen George Boateng & Julio Arca crumbling under the added responsibility, but Pogatetz seems to have taken it all in his stride.
Now, the Austrian international, has committed his future to the club he loves by announcing, in an interview with The Evening Gazette, that he wishes to extend his current contract, which still has two years remaining.
"I really like the club and the supporters, I'm really settled at BORO and to captain the club is really special for me.
When asked if he would be interested in extending his contract up to the next World Cup, Pogatetz answered
Quotes & picture courtesy of The Evening Gazette (www.gazettelive.co.uk/boro-fc) & Google (images.google.com)
Saturday 12 April 2008
Just Three Points Behind The Geordies!
BORO, today, maintained their three point gap just behind local rivals Newcastle and moved ahead of the Mackems after griding out an unexpected point away at Spurs, who unquestionably had defender Michael Dawson to thank for repeatedly denying a comfortable BORO win.
Spurs seized the game from the kick-off and always looked like bagging an early goal, something that Gareth Southgate will be hoping to stamp out of BORO's routine having conceded inside the first 10 minutes of the last two games in a row.
Dimitar Berbatov set the game alight and looked like causing problems for David Wheater and Emanuel Pogaetez in BORO's deffence, but his early efforts were thwarted and it was left for Jermiane Jenas to make a real threat to the BORO goal as his darting run had Schwarzer racing off of his goal line.
But Berbatov's trickery payed off just before the half hour mark as he found himself with back to goal at the left hand edge of the BORO box; he cleverly dragged back the ball and flicked it across goal to Aaron Lennon at the back post whose volley seemed, like Rooney's effort last week, destined for Mark Schwarzer but for a horrid deflection off the knee of Jonathan Grounds and into the net.
The game was an end-to-end affair and both sides looked to take chances but lacked real quality in the final third, with Spurs just edging it in the first half.
BORO came out with the determination to get an equaliser in the second half and the game really opened up. An early corner for BORO almost paved the way to a goal as Downing swung in from the right and found the giant David Wheater, his perfectly timed header was goal-bound until it was cleared off the line by Lennon.
Spurs really lost their vigour in the second half, but Berbatov should have made it 2-0 after a drifted cross from the right missed an off-form Robbie Keane and fell to his feet, the Bulgarian controlled well and lashed at goal when the ball deflected off Emanuel Pogatetz's arm, at close range, and onto the post. Schwarzer was rooted and Berbatov gutted not to be awarded a penalty for a hand ball decision that would have been extremely harsh if given.
Much was made about how Jonathan Woodgate's contribution would effect his former team's chances today, but it was Michael Dawson who was the real hero for Spurs as he went about his deffensive duties like a one man wall; throwing himself at every BORO attack to deny Alves, who might have had a hat-trick if it weren't for Dawson's tireless enthusiasm.
After replacing Malbranque, Spurs lost their width whilst Berbatov and Keane became almost redundant as they faded out of the action.
On the 69th minute BORO's golden boy Stewart Downing showed why he is number one after cutting in from the left, onto his weaker right foot he leathered a 30-yard effort towards goal and with a slight deflection from the head of Jermaine Jenas the ball found the far corner of Cerny's goal.
Juande Ramos turned desperate to take three points as he went 4-3-3, replacing Lennon with Darren Bent, but BORO seemed the likelier to score as Southgate introduced Adam Johnson, Rochemback and Tuncay and instantly saw his team take control with some calm and thoughtful passing moves.
But it was a long, down-field punt that almost gave BORO a second; as Alves got goal side of Dawson to latch onto Adam Johnson's clearance and slid his effort past the on-rushing Cerny only to see the ball roll agonisingly wide of the post.
BORO had a late panic when a late Spurs free-kick seemed to somehow catch Schwarzer wrong-footed as he spilled the effort but was quick enough to pounce on the ball before Keane.
Attendace: 36, 092
BORO Blog BORO Man of the Match: Stewart Downing
BORO Rant
Lacking real class in the final third BORO showed their desperate need to bring in some proven attacking quality in the summer, but if Alves keeps improving he'll be a top player for us and if we can get Mido back and fresh for next season then we only need to get shot of Dong Gook Lee and bring in someone who can hold up the ball in the attacking areas of the field. We're looking solid in central deffence with Poggy and Wheats but really we could do with a decent left back, neither Taylor nor Grounds are premiership standard (for me) and we could do with another experienced centre back to add competition because Huth seems to have been a waste of money with his lack of appearances through injury. Despite a decent season, I think Rochemback's time is up and should make way for someone who is going to get forward and get the goals, we shouldn't be having so much pressure on Stewie Downing; top scorer and supplier, his performances will only benefit from another midfield goalscorer to take the work-load off of him a little. Oh, and for goodness sake if Schwarzer is dicking around with his contract talks then forget him, he's 35 and will only take a contract if it lasts till the next world cup!? Let him go and bring in someone who is going to move for the ball, if you look at many of the goals conceded by Schwarzer this season, he is rooted to the spot and doesn't even attempt to save them. He has undoubtedly been a quality keeper and one of the best in the league for a long time, but his time is running out, I only hope that Southgate doesn't let him go and think that Ross Turnbull or Brad Jones are able replacements; they are sub goalies at best, in this league.
Sunday 6 April 2008
The Fonz!
BORO put in one of their best performances of the season in front of a capacity crowd and narrowly missed out on three points against title defenders Manchester United.
As expected, United fired out of the starting blocks and it wasn't long before they made BORO pay. Like Chelsea last Sunday, United bagged the early goal as some sloppy BORO defending from a United corner lead to
Carrick; who squared into the box from the left hand side, Ronaldo had lost his marker, Boateng, and slotted the ball past Schwarzer to record his 37th goal of the season.But, despite conceding the early goal, BORO mounted a strong comeback battle as they managed to string some good passing moves together and close down United.
Julio Arca returned to the side and looked almost back to his best as he and the on-fire George Boateng scrapped for every ball in midfield and battled to keep the charging attacks of Ronaldo, Tevez and company.
Downing was also in good form, beating Wes Brown for pace in each attack and Gary O'Neil was bombing forward with a more central attacking role, whilst new boy Afonso Alves looked dead set on getting his first goal after being handed his second start for the BORO.
United's deffence looked rocky, missing Nemanja Vidic, and Gareth Southgate was determined his side would exploit this. Like Chelsea, last week, united seemed to be on the back foot after taking the lead and BORO strung together chance after chance.
First Alves skewed a header wide, before Aliadiere nearly benefited from a spearing BORO counter attack, however his shot was scuffed wide.
Luke Young turned hero in front of the BORO goal as he made a last ditch slide tackle to deny Wayne Rooney and the game, like so many encounters between these two sides, was set alight.
Ronaldo then silenced the barracking BORO fans as he single handedly embarrassed four BORO players before bursting into the box, fortunately he skewed his shot into the crowd.
Alves continued to threaten and came closest from a stinging free-kick as Van Der Sar could only parry the power-drive before scrambling away a later cross from O'Neil.
Then, on 35 minutes a superbly weighted cross from Gary O'Neil found Aliadiere who flicked the ball past the United deffence into the path of Alves. With Van Der Sar rushing out to Alves the entire BORO crowd had fingers crossed and the Brazilian didn't fail to deliver, smashing the ball past the goalie and into the back of the net, the crowd went wild.
BORO then came close to second, as United looked edgy, a cross from Boateng bounced inside the area and found Downing at the back post who controlled and angled a volley towards goal, but Van Der Sar made himself big and managed to block for a corner.
The sides went in for half time at 1-1, with Gareth Southgate likely feeling the happier with his sides performance.
The second half brought blizzard conditions and the mandatory yellow match ball, but the weather didn't seem to dampen BORO's vigor and just ten minutes into the half a defensive disaster from United saw Wes Brown attempt to clear a high ball, his headed clearance was deflected off Aliadiere and into the path of Alves who angled an even more sublime shot into the far corner of Van Der Sar's goal.Alves then, for the second game in a row, came close to a hat-trick, but for Rio Ferdinand who cleared Alves' headed effort of the line.
Alex Ferguson was becoming clearly irate with his team's performance and began pacing the technical area and, in trademark style, pounding his chewing gum into submission before removing Carlos Tevez (Park) and John O'Shea (Hargreaves), he then saw Rio Ferdinand limp off and have to be replaced by Gerard Pique.
Agonisingly, the changes appeared to galvanize United and Ji-Sung Park had the beating of Andrew Taylor before cutting inside and playing the ball to Rooney inside the area. But for a crucial deflection from David Wheater Mark Schwarzer might have kept the effort out, but as it were he was wrong footed and so the ball found the back of the net with just over 15 minutes to go.
Moments later Alves went off to a standing ovation as Tuncay replaced him, following a knock he picked up earlier in the half.
BORO scrapped to hold on to the draw and even created a handful of last minute chances, as the referee somehow found four minutes to add on, but then Alex Ferguson always seems to get gifted ridiculous amounts of stoppage time when his time aren't winning. However neither side could break the deadlock and they finished 2-2. A well fought point, that could have been a win for BORO, but perhaps a slight blip in United's title charge?
Attendance: 33,952, biggest Riverside league attendance of the season
BORO Blog BORO Man of the Match: Afonso Alves
Pictures courtesy of BBC Sport (news.bbc.co.uk/sport)
Thursday 3 April 2008
Mido Bows Out
BORO's Egyptian Striker, Mido, has bowed out of a largely frustrating season after undergoing a hernia operation.
Mido, who has already missed much of the season through injury, has gone under the knife after suffering a hernia and will now not feature for BORO 'til next season.
Mido has endured a tough first season on Teesside after missing 4 months with an inflamed pelvic bone and has, consequently, been reduced to less than 20 appearances and only netting 4 times in all competitions.
But, despite the lack of games, Mido has managed to cement himself into the heart of the club and has instantly become a popular man amongst fans, players and all associated with BORO.
Now, with BORO's Premiership status appearing safe, manager Gareth Southgate has decided to let the big Egyptian end his season early and undergo the surgery to fix his hernia and Mido is now looking forward to getting himself built up for next season,
"I didn’t play nine or 10 full matches this season so I am looking forward to fix this next season and be ready for it."
Wednesday 2 April 2008
Shawky Wants Big Impact
Egyptian midfielder, Mohamed Shawky, has made a vow of determination in his bid to make a big impact on Teesside, in the remaining six games of the season, and has made it his priority to become Gareth Southgate's first choice.
Shawky has been limited to just six appearances since joining last summer, but has suffered with frustrating injuries and spent some time away with Egypt in the African Cup of Nations. But, despite the lack of games, Shawky has shown the fans what he is capable of and hasn't really put in a bad performance.
Shawky has brought a refreshing determination to BORO's midfield and has shown his willingness to both defend from midfield and push forward, with some cracking efforts on goal.
Now Shawky has set his sights on becoming a first team regular and with speculation over both Fabio Rochemback and George Boateng's future beginning to circulate the media, the Egyptian could see his wish come true,
"I'm very happy to be involved in the set-up here and taking part is important to me, I want to be able to help the side as much as I can."
However a recent uplift in performance from Boateng may soon silence reports that this is to be his last season with BORO.
Tuesday 1 April 2008
No Sale
BORO boss Gareth Southgate has issued a frank and clear 'No Sale' warning to potential poachers ahead of the summer transfer window.
The early speculation is regarding fan favourite Tuncay Sanli, as several media reports have indicated interest from his homeland, Turkey.
Reports claim that both Tuncay's former club Fenerbahce and Turkish giants Galatasary are interested in bringing the player back home for around £5 million, after his free transfer to BORO just last year.
Tuncay initially brought a wealth of expectation when he moved from Fenerbahce last summer and glimpses of his talent started to spread across the internet during BORO's pre-season tour of Austria.
However Tuncay did struggle to adapt to the pace and strength of the premier league and found himself in a more supporting forward role.
But, despite scoring just 6 goals in a season where that is enough to earn him the title of joint top scorer, Tuncay has established himself as a firm fans' favourite with his consistent battling and determined performances.
Southgate, though, has warned interested clubs that he has no intention of letting one of his biggest stars leave after just one season,
“He’s a good player and he’ll always be linked with moves and I’m sure lots of the Turkish clubs would want to take him but I’m very happy with what he's done, I enjoy working with him and I don’t expect that to be an issue.”
“He’s enjoying life here, as well, he's a very happy lad who enjoys his work and I think he’s been an asset for us this season and one we would certainly not want to lose."
Pictures & Quotes courtesy of BBC Sport (news.bbc.co.uk/sport) & Evening Gazette (www.gazettelive.co.uk/boro-fc)
Sunday 30 March 2008
Beaten Barely
BORO put in a battling second half performance to leave title chasers Chelsea feeling very uneasy at home, but couldn't quite deliver the goods; leaving an early Ricardo Carvalho goal to dominate the scoreline.
Chelsea, as expected, went about the opening exchanges with utter dominance as BORO barely got out of their own penalty area and it wasn't long before they snatched the opener. Ricardo Carvalho leaped above Pogatetz and the towering David Wheater to convert Wayne Bridge's sixth minute free-kick past the scrambling Mark Schwarzer.
Drogba looked good for the home side and made it his duty to cause problems for the BORO back line, testing Schwarzer early on and getting in amongst the chances with some good passing moves.
BORO hearts were in mouths just minutes after the early goal as Drogba darted away form Stewart Downing at the front post, but his effort only found the side netting from a Kalou corner.
However, for all their early dominance, the title chasers seemed to sit back a little and allowed BORO into the game. Though, lacking any real class, the visiting side failed to string together many decent moves and a well saved Downing effort was just about all BORO could create by way of chances on goal.
The first half fired to an end as Chelsea mounted a late charge when Michael Essien sliced through the BORO from midfield and found Kalou, whose effort was blocked. Kalou then came close again as he headed an effort agonisingly over the bar, but it was to be that the two sides entered the break at 1-0.
A little of their first half form was carried into the second half, but Chelsea looked more uneasy than earlier in the game as BORO started to play the ball around better than they had in the first half.
George Boateng looked on good form again, but lesser quality performances from Lee Cattermole and, unusually, Stewart Downing meant that BORO's midfield lacked the punch that it needed to get through the Chelsea line-up.
Downing made some clever runs along the left but occasionally found himself straying to the right and didn't look up to his usual crossing standard. Making some weak deliveries and less than impressive free-kicks meant that the front two of Tuncay and Aliadiere were mostly starved of deliveries from the wing.
Michael Ballack was replaced by Shaun Wright-Phillips after 65 minutes and he should have had an immediate effect on the game as he saw two efforts squandered; first shooting wide and then over after a last ditch challenge from David Wheater.
Gareth Southgate then decided to sub Tuncay, who had picked up an earlier head injury and was
heavily bandaged. He made way for Afonso Alves who immediately set about trying to open his BORO account, and he came just about as close to scoring as he will ever get without actually putting the ball in the net.Alves hunted down a long ball that an on-rushing Cudicini thought was his, the Brazilian beat the keeper to the ball at around 30 yards from goal before rounding the keeper and striking towards and empty net. The ball seemed destined for the goal, but frustratingly and agonisingly struck the inside of the post and bounced back out into play.
BORO's bad luck then started to show as they failed to score from a string of chances, the best of which came from one free-kick. Downing's free kick was in any other form a corner, as it was positioned just a couple of yards from the left hand corner flag, he delivered the ball in and found David Wheater rising above the pack. His headed effort found Alves who, from 5 yards out, smashed a header against the bar, the ball then fell back to the head of Wheater who, in turn, headed against the bar and Aliadiere lashed the resulting rebound well wide.
A telling account of BORO's desperate need to convert the chances they create, as they could have walked away from this game having embarrassed the home side. Especially with the second half chances that they created.
With Manchester United at The Riverside and a trip to Spurs coming up for the BORO, given today's chances Gareth Southgate could well be ruing an opportunity lost as BORO could have easily taken three points on a day that also saw North East rivals Newcastle move above BORO in the table with an astounding 4-1 away victory over Spurs.
Attendance: 39,993
BORO Blog BORO Man of the Match: George Boateng (Though a little off his usual form, Stewart Downing was a close second)
Sunday 9 March 2008
Cup Humiliation
FA Cup Quarter Final
BORO, today, crashed out of the FA Cup at home to Cardiff City with by far their most humiliating performance of the season.
With Chelsea and Manchester United seeing cup defeat yesterday, this was BORO's best chance to make it to the final, Portsmouth being the only other Premiership side remaining in the competition after beating Man United.
However, despite a capacity home crowd to spur them on, BORO knew that Cardiff weren't going to be a walk over, or at least they should have known.
The opening minutes of the game belonged to BORO as they fired out of the starting blocks and put City under early pressure. But a darting City attack, just nine minutes into the match, cut open the BORO defence as they hopelessly appealed for a hand-ball against Stephen McPhail. Whittingham then weaved his way to the edge of the box before curling a right footed shot past the rooted Mark Schwarzer off the post an into the net.
The entire BORO team just seemed to die after conceding the goal and any game plan that Southgate might have had went completely down the toilet when BORO's play was reduced, once again, to long aimless down-field 'hoofs', which Tuncay was unable to latch onto, time after time. Afonso Alves barely broke into a jog and looked frustratingly lethargic, whilst BORO failed to utilize their wingers Downing and O'Neil.
Cardiff showed no real class but seemed to make every BORO player extremely nervous in possession. Stewart Downing made some promising moves along the left but couldn't find anyone with his crosses as even the BORO forwards were reluctant to push forward into the box.
Then, on 22 minutes, Fabio Rochemback launched into a reckless challenge on former BORO striker Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink. BORO fell asleep as Whittingham's free-kick sailed through to Roger Johnson who flew into a diving header that, once again, smashed past Mark Schwarzer into the net.
BORO had few chances to get a goal back, but Alves came close when he cut in from the left and lashed a powerful driven shot at goal, Peter Enckelman made a good save and had little else to do for the remainder of the game.
Alves was replaced by Mido at half-time, after the team were booed off at the end of the first half. However the introduction of Mido did little to instill confidence in the BORO faithful after what they had witnessed in the first half.
Many of the home crowd thought that BORO had grabbed a goal back when Stewart Downing's curled free-kick seemed to loop past Enckelman, but the ball went narrowly wide and it just appeared it wasn't going to be BORO's day.
BORO completely lost the plot, much to the frustration of the BORO fans.
They seemed to just launch aimless long balls down-field or find themselves back tracking from attacking positions. Many BORO fans were so enraged by BORO's abysmal performance that they decided they'd had enough with nearly 20 minutes still remaining.Cardiff held on to the end and recorded the third giant killing of the weekend, after Barnsley astonishingly knocked out Chelsea and Portsmouth clinched onto a 1-0 victory over Manchester United.
Gareth Southgate offered a refreshingly frank assessment of BORO's performance, "Today, we got what we deserved. It's what happens on the day and we didn't deliver."
Attendance: 32, 896 (full house)
BORO Blog BORO Man of the Match: Stewart Downing
Quotes & pictures courtesy of Sky Sports (www.skysports.com/football) & BBC Sport (news.bbc.co.uk/sport)
Friday 7 March 2008
Brownlee's Back!!
BORO fan's favourite voice of the BORO, Alastair Brownlee, is set for a quick return to the commentary box after just one season away.
Brownlee had collaborated with BORO legend Bernie Slaven on Century FM to deliver over ten years of International award winning commentary on every BORO moment. However fans were crushed to hear that the club had, this season, agreed an exclusive commentary deal with BBC Radio Tees, bringing about the end of Ali and Bernie's commentary partnership.
But now Radio Tees have announced that Ali will be back on the airwaves next season as he rejoins the station he started his radio career with, known as Radio Cleveland in those days.
Paul Addison has announced that he will stand down as commentator for BBC Tees and he knew, straight away, who he wanted to take his place, "Once I'd made the decision to leave the commentary box, there really was only one person to take up the mic. Ali will be a real asset to the team and I can't wait to hear him and Gary reunited on air".
Quotes & picture courtesy of MFC official website (www.mfc.co.uk)
Tuesday 4 March 2008
Sell Out
BORO club officials have predicted a 'sell out' for the FA Cup quarter-final clash against Cardiff at The Riverside.
BORO face Cardiff in the 2pm Sunday game at The Riverside, after narrowly edging through against Sheffield United last week and, despite the game being televised live on BBC Match of the Day, BORO ticket office officials have seen unprecedented demand for tickets to the game and have predicted a sell out of tickets.
The MFC Official Website have reported that Monday saw over 6, 600 tickets sold via online and telephone ticket office and queues could be seen at The Riverside ticket office every day since tickets went on sale, last Friday.
The game marks the home-coming of former BORO star Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, who netted 34 goals in just two years with BORO coinciding with the club's two season stint in the UEFA Cup, which saw the club make a series of unbelievable come-backs (featuring some important goals from Jimmy) on their road to the final in Eindhoven. The capacity home crowd will undoubtedly give "The Hitman" a great reception, but hopefully it wont spur him on to score!
Images courtesy of Google (images.google.com)
Sunday 2 March 2008
Defeat Again
BORO ended a week in which they qualified for the FA Cup quarter-finals and secured in-form defender David Wheater on a new contract, with a shattering home defeat to Premiership free-fallers Reading.
It took an injury time goal from James Harper to seal BORO's fate, as a tired home side battled on after playing 120 minutes in the mid-week FA Cup fifth round home tie against Sheffield United.
The opening exchanges appeared to belong to Reading as they launched several attacks, but without prize as their strike force proved to be, as in recent weeks, a cause for concern. Several chances went begging as first Shane Long's header flew over the bar, before Stephen Hunt's effort skewed high over the BORO goal.
However, the tables turned in the latter exchanges of the half as BORO mounted a charge, Stewart Downing being BORO's best player going forward, proving to be a constant threat along BORO's left hand-side.
Kevin Doyle saw his goal disallowed as referee Rob Howard ruled that Andre Bikey had fouled Mark Schwarzer in the build up.
Afonso Alves continued to impress, in glimpses, as he showed the home crowd how good he can be for BORO; his free-kick forcing a good save from Marcus Hahnemann.
Emanuel Pogatetz, was almost flawless throughout as he deputised for the injured Robert Huth, working well with David Wheater, who signed a new contract with his home-town club in midweek. However, neither could prevent Stephen Hunt's late cross from finding James Harper who calmly slotted the ball home past Mark Schwarzer.
Attendance: 23, 273
BORO Blog BORO Man of the Match: Stewart Downing
Also this week, BORO allowed defender Chris Riggott to join Stoke City on loan until the end of the season and youngster Jason Kennedy has moved down the road to Darlington on loan. David Wheater followed in the footsteps of Stewart Downing by committing his future to the BORO with a new three and a half year deal, citing the clubs ambition, the support of the manager and Stewart Downing's decision to stay as the main factors in reaching his decision.Pictures courtesy of BBC Sport (news.bbc.co.uk/sport) & Google (images.google.co.uk)
Thursday 28 February 2008
Secret Revelation
It is no big secret that Dong-Gook Lee has failed to set the stage alight since joining BORO in January, last year. But the news that the out-of-form striker was on the verge of a Riverside departure was kept well quiet.
The Evening Gazette have reported that the Korean striker was one step away from returning home to Pohang Steelers, the club BORO signed him from just 13 months ago. However, despite seeming like a done deal, the transfer has stalled just short of the Korean transfer deadline as Lee failed to sign the deal which would see him return home.
Steelers had first option to take the player back, if he didn't no succeed in England, and, that being very much the case, they were more than happy to take the player off BORO's hands and BORO are more than happy to let him go.
The deal should have been finalised a number of weeks ago, but BORO had to delay the move and hang onto Lee as cover for the injured Tuncay. Now that Tuncay is back, BORO are keen to move Lee back to his homeland and Steelers are itching to get him back before the end of their transfer window, tomorrow.
It is now believed that Lee will intend to run out the remainder of his contract with BORO, until the summer, in the hopes of drawing interest from elsewhere. However, with just two goals to his name since joining BORO and a stop-start first team spot it is unlikely that he will spark interest from anyone.
Wednesday 27 February 2008
BORO Squeeze Through
BORO played host to the Championship side after the two sides played out a 0-0 draw at Bramall Lane on February 17th and were favourite amongst pundits to advance to the next round.
New boy Afonso Alves was handed his first start; in a game that was always going to be a battle, and so it proved. The two sides got off to a bright start and Alves looked more on form than in previous appearances, he could have had an early goal when Rochemback's corner found his fellow Brazilian, who could only nod wide of an empty goal.
An on fire Rochemback then fed in Downing who looked odds on to bag his 6th goal of the season, however he fired wide and the early exchanges began to peter out as each team launched aimless long balls down field.
The second half began even worse as neither team appeared to have a game plan other than win. Time after time BORO frustrated as they lashed hopeless balls from a partially inexperienced deffence, with Seb Hines and Jonathan Franks playing alongside Luke Young and Emanuel Pogatetz at the back.
Fabio Rochemback continued to impress as he scrapped for every ball and played a series of clever and accurate passes and showed that Gareth Southgate is right to hold his faith in him. Compatriot Afonso Alves also showed glimpses of what's to come, with some good movement and some good efforts, but the Brazilian forward was replaced by Tuncay in the 73rd minute to the sound of booing from the home crowd who wanted to see their new player grab a goal.Tuncay immediately reminded the home fans of what he is capable of as he chased every ball and tried to link in well with Downing, on the left, getting into some good positions but just failing to finish.
James Beattie had United's best chance, close to the end of normal time as he threw himself at the ball from six yards out after a deflection, but the ball went into the side netting past the on-rushing Mark Schwarzer.
So the game went, inevitably, to extra time and descended into a free-for-all of scrappy desperation as both teams battled for a goal.
The first half of extra-time ended at 0-0 with BORO having had the better chances, one ntoable one from Tuncay as he picked up the ball inside the box before delicately lifting the ball over the defender before stabbing a shot towards goal, Paddy Kenny got down well to save for a corner.
BORO then grabbed the scrapiest of scrappy goals as Mido headed
the ball on to Tuncay whose control bounced back off the defender into Mido's feet, he smashed the ball toward goal, but the shot was heavily deflected over Paddy Kenny as Chris Morgan turned goalkeeper to dive and divert the ball onto the post. The ball then came back to Kenny who, facing his own goal, attempted to scoop the ball away but could only palm into the back of his own net.BORO then held on, by the skin of their teeth, to the lead until the end to secure their place in the quarter-finals, where they will host Cardiff City and former BORO striker Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink.
Attendance: 28, 108
BORO Blog BORO Man of the Match: Fabio Rochemback
Tuesday 26 February 2008
Stewie Meets The Press
Stewart Downing, today spoke to SkySports, having finalised his new five-year contract with his home-town club.
Click here to see his interview
Monday 25 February 2008
Catch Up
I haven't posted on BORO blog for some time now because I have been bogged down with work, but I thought I'd deliver a summary of what I understand has been going in with BORO in the last couple weeks. Because I am not dillusional enough to think that people are sat waiting for me to deliver up-to-date BORO news, here's a condensed look at what's being going on.
BORO also ended their eight game unbeaten run on Saturday in a battling game against Liverpool at Anfield. BORO took the lead in under ten minutes when, back from injury, striker Tuncay netted on the nineth minute. But BORO's lead didn't last long as Spanish Striker Fernando Torres netted goals in the 28th and 29th minutes after a pair of terrible mistakes from Mark Schwarzer and Julio Arca (that captain's armband must be a curse at the BORO), giving Liverpool a 2-1 advantage at the break.
BORO's next premier league game is at home against Premiership free-fallers Reading, a chance there, maybe, for three points as 'The Royals' are fast becoming favourites (besides Derby) to be relegated after a string of poor results, the latest of which coming at home yesterday, against Aston Villa.
Friday 15 February 2008
Sheer Jubilation
Sheer jubilation rung around Middlesbrough today as the news that Stewart Downing has finally agreed a new 5-year deal began to circulate.
The England winger is BORO's top scorer this season and has been subject to heavy transfer speculation in the last year or so, with Tottenham reported favourite to sign him, on more than one occasion.
But today, he ended all doubt over his future by agreeing a five-year deal with his home town club, bringing delight to manager Gareth Southgate, "It's so important not only to sign new players but to keep hold of your best ones. It's fantastic news as a club and we're delighted that Stewart sees his future as being here. He's wanted to sort it out for a while and we're delighted to have been able to come to an agreement."
Downing, himself, cited the signing of Afonso Alves as one of the main reasons he decided to stay at the club. The signing, he believes, shows the club's ambition to succeed. Ambition, which former BORO player Jonathan Woodgate claimed the club was lacking in,
"It's my hometown club but I've told them that I didn't want us to stand still. Signing Alves shows how ambitious we are, the fact that the chairman was willing to splash out like that.
"The chairman has proved again just how much he wants this club to go forward. To be fair, the chairman and the manager have been spot on about it.
"They've never pressurised me, they've just made it clear that they wanted me to stay."
Downing can now focus on maintaining his recent good form with BORO and adding to his current goal tally of 5, though I'm sure who would rather turn provider for new boy Alves to grab the goals.
