Boro Blog

Check This!

2008-07-18T15:08:00.005+01:00

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."

Picture & Quote Courtesy of MFC Official Site (www.mfc.co.uk)

Super Swoop

2008-07-07T14:16:00.009+01:00

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)

BORO Blog is 1!

2008-06-19T16:12:00.007+01:00

BORO Blog is now 1 year old!

BORO Blog first reported in early June last year as BORO announced the imminent signing of Arsenal striker Jeremie Aliadiere. Since then we have reported many stories and rumours totaling 95 posts, 96 including this one.

Our First Post

Catch Up

2008-06-19T15:33:00.004+01:00

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.

Pictures from Google Image Search (images.google.com/images)

Rocky Bows Out In Style

2008-05-13T13:20:00.007+01:00

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.

Quotes & pictures courtesy of SkySports (www.skysports.com/football) & MFC official website (www.mfc.co.uk)

Stewie Is Top Man

2008-05-12T22:04:00.003+01:00

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

2008-05-12T20:57:00.005+01:00

BORO 8 - 1 Manchester City

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)

Edgy Finish to the Season

2008-04-26T21:23:00.007+01:00

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

Pictures courtesy of BBC Sport (news.bbc.co.uk/sport)

O'Neil Out

2008-04-17T20:52:00.009+01:00

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)

Poggi Commited To The BORO

2008-04-15T19:13:00.004+01:00

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.

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

"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."

Quotes & picture courtesy of The Evening Gazette (www.gazettelive.co.uk/boro-fc) & Google (images.google.com)

Just Three Points Behind The Geordies!

2008-04-12T23:15:00.004+01:00

Tottenham Hotspur 1 - 1 BORO

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.

Photos courtesy of BBC Sport (news.bbc.co.uk/sport)

The Fonz!

2008-04-06T21:21:00.006+01:00

BORO 2 - 2 Manchester United

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)

Mido Bows Out

2008-04-03T22:11:00.003+01:00

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."

Quotes & Picture courtesy of Evening Gazette (www.gazettelive.co.uk/boro-fc) & Google (images.google.com)

Shawky Wants Big Impact

2008-04-02T20:33:00.003+01:00

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.

Quotes & Picture courtesy of SkySports (www.skysports.com/football) & MFC official website (www.mfc.co.uk)

No Sale

2008-04-01T23:32:00.005+01:00

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)

Beaten Barely

2008-03-30T18:20:00.006+01:00

Chelsea 1 - 0 BORO

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)

Pictures courtesy of BBC Sport (news.bbc.co.uk/sport)

Cup Humiliation

2008-03-09T22:41:00.005Z

BORO 0 - 2 Cardiff City
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)

Brownlee's Back!!

2008-03-07T21:32:00.003Z

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)

Sell Out

2008-03-04T21:32:00.005Z

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)

Defeat Again

2008-03-02T22:41:00.005Z

BORO 0 - 1 Reading

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)

Secret Revelation

2008-02-28T23:12:00.003Z

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.

BORO Squeeze Through

2008-02-27T23:03:00.006Z

BORO 1 - 0 Sheffield United

BORO have squeezed through to the quarter-finals of the FA Cup after narrowly edging to a 1-0 home win over a battling Sheffield United side, tonight.

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

Photos Courtesy of BBC Sport (news.bbc.co.uk/football) & MFC.co.uk (www.mfc.co.uk)

Stewie Meets The Press

2008-02-26T21:51:00.002Z

Stewart Downing, today spoke to SkySports, having finalised his new five-year contract with his home-town club.

Click here to see his interview

Courtesy of Sky Sports (www.skysports.com/football)

Catch Up

2008-02-25T13:34:00.011Z

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 will host former Premiership side, Sheffield United, at the Riverside for the FA Cup fifth replay on Wednesday night after the sides played out a 0-0 draw at Bramall Lane on the 17th. Wednesday's match will be broadcast live on BBC Match of the Day. Whoever wins at The Riverside will host Cardiff City in the quarter-finals.

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.

Torres then capped his day off with a third goal before Stewart Downing pulled one back in the 83rd minute, keeping him top of the scoring chart at BORO.

Jeremie Aliadiere then saw red as he received his second yellow card of the match, with just five minutes to go BORO had little chance, now, of a comeback and, once again, new signing Afonso Alves came on as a late substitue but failed to prove, yet, that he is worth the £12 million that we payed for him.

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.

A final word, former BORO defender Jonathan Woodgate placed his name into the record books as he bagged the winner for Spurs in the Carling Cup final against Chelsea, yesterday. Woodgate, who only joined Spurs from BORO last month, headed home an 'extra-time' goal to give Spurs the 2-1 win at Wembley after normal time ended with the sides level at 1-1.

Sheer Jubilation

2008-02-15T19:58:00.002Z

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.

Quotes and Photo courtesy of MFC official website (www.mfc.co.uk) & Google (images.google.com)

Josh Has Valentine's Day To Remember

2008-02-14T21:43:00.002Z

On loan BORO youngster, Josh Walker, had a Valentine's day to remember tonight, as he grabbed a stunning 24th minute goal in Aberdeen's stunning 2-2 UEFA Cup draw with German giants Bayern Munich.

Josh, who is on loan at the Scottish club has made a huge impact since arriving last month and was even awarded the Man of the Match award in his first game for the club.

Walker had been very much a fringe player at BORO, having come through the famed academy system and was allowed to leave on loan in order to gain more first team experience.

Aberdeen faced Bayern, tonight, in the last 32 of the UEFA Cup competition and got off to a flying start, with an early penalty claim turned down, before the 18-year-old loanee, Walker, curled a fantastic shot into the corner of the net in his first ever European appearance.

Photo Courtesy of BBC Sport (news.bbc.co.uk/sport)

He's Here!

2008-02-07T21:24:00.000Z

BORO unveiled their new arrival, Afonso Alves, at The Riverside stadium today in front of 2,000 fans.

Alves was granted his work Visa earlier in the week and made a Juninho-style appearance at his new home ground, vowing to be the answer to BORO's goal scorer dilemma.

Southgate is hoping that Alves will prove to be just as much a hit with the BORO faithful as Juninho was and believes that the Brazilian could line-up against Fulham on Saturday, provided he is fit enough.

However, I believe, that anything short of a broken leg and Alves will be in the side, either starting or on the bench on Saturday.

Photo Courtesy of SkySports (www.skysports.com/football)

BORO Call on Goran

2008-01-30T20:47:00.000Z

BORO have made a secret move, behind the cover of the Afonso Alves deal, for Inter Milan's 18-year-old Macedonian striker Goran Slavkovski.

Sky Sports have, tonight, reported that BORO have agreed a deal and all paper work is complete to bring Goran to the Riverside on loan until the end of the season.

Goran is understood to have undergone a medical with BORO today ahead of his move to The Riverside. It is also reported that the player has rejected offers from elsewhere in order to gain first team experience with BORO, as Gareth Southgate looks to add to his attacking options with the imminent arrival of Afonso Alves beginning to excite fans.

Goran is understandably a 'back-up player' at Milan and has stressed that "Middlesbrough are a perfect club," for him to gain some valuable first team experience.

Goran has apparently been likened to Swedish international Zlatan Ibrahimovic and if his scoring ability is anything close to that of the big Swede then, along with Afonso Alves, BORO's goal drought could look set to be well and truly over.

Quotes & Photos courtesy of SkySports (www.skypsorts.com/football) & Google (images.google.com)

Gary Still On Top

2008-01-30T20:44:00.000Z

Gary O'Neil remains top of the BORO Blog 'Man of The Match' rankings after he ran himself into the ground in BORO's 1-0 home win against Wigan, earning himself my fifth award of the season and all in front of new England boss Fabio Capello.

BORO Beat Latics

2008-01-30T11:43:00.000Z

BORO 1 - 0 Wigan Athletic

BORO held their nerve in a scrappy second half to clinch a vital three points after a first half that saw Jeremie Aliadiere score his first Riverside goal, and a great finish it was!

BORO got off to a rocky start as Wigan looked to make an instant impact, but some confident defending from Robert Huth and an 'out to impress' Luke Young saw that the early threat was dealt with.

BORO then began to tear up the 'Titus Bramble lead' Wigan deffence as first Downing then Tuncay found themselves in great positions, Downing narrowly missing and Tuncay seeing his superb run and strike tipped just wide by Chris Kirkland.

Tuncay, back in the side after missing the weekend game with Mansfield, then went on to waist a host of chances that any other Premier League team would have buried, leaving Gareth Southgate feeling more anxious to get the Alves deal wrapped in time for his side's visit to North East rivals Newcastle on Sunday.

But BORO's perseverance payed off, a superb lobbed pass in the 19th minute found Aliadiere darting into the Wigan box. He took the ball down and lashed a great left foot effort between Chris Kirkland and the near post to record his first goal at The Riverside, in front of the on-looking Afonso Alves who was in the stands for the game.

Then, moments later, Tuncay could have scored the second. But, with a split second to react after Downing's skewed effort, he could only direct the ball inches wide.

Tuncay then fell victim to what appeared to be a hamstring injury and had to be replaced by Mido, who received a round of applause from the home crowd. However, with the departure of Tuncay, so did the game loose all flow and rhythm and the remainder of the first half boiled down to a desperate scrap with both sides simply 'hoofing' the ball aimlessly down field.

The Second half was simply awful from BORO's point of view, time after time the ball was seen to be just aimlessly hoofed down field and all the spark from the first half was well and truly gone and with the game constantly being stopped for stupid free-kick decisions, there was definitely no flow in the game. I swear, football will soon be becoming a non-contact sport if referee Rob Styles has his way.

Sitting far too deep to ever look threatening to the Wigan goal, BORO just had to dig themselves in and scrap away to hang on to the one goal lead.

Jason Koumas was introduced early in the second half, for Wigan, and lashed a fierce shot at Mark Schwarzer who tipped the ball over the bar with a fantastic fingertip save.

Then Emile Heskey might have grabbed the equaliser late on, if not for a strong handed diving save from Schwarzer to keep the ball out of his net.

With Fabio Capello in the stands for the game, each of the England hopefuls could be seen putting in a good performance, but none more so than Gary O'Neil who, spurred by the crowds frustrations, ran himself into the ground; chasing every ball and closing down the Wigan defenders right to the final whistle.

Agonisingly, BORO saw Downing victimised by an untidy tackle and the England winger worryingly limped off just six minutes from time.

The BORO performance was far from impressive, but the result is what was important and Afonso Alves must have been licking his lips at the number of chances that BORO had created.

Attendance: 22,963
BORO Blog BORO Man of the Match: Gary O'Neil

Photos courtesy of MFC official website (www.mfc.co.uk), SkySports (www.skysports.com/football) & BBC Sport (news.bbc.co.uk/sport)

Woody Makes His Move

2008-01-29T12:49:00.000Z

Jonathan Woodgate ended any lingering doubt over his future yesterday as he sealed his move to Spurs for a, so far, undisclosed fee.

Southgate signed Woodgate on loan from Real Madrid back in 2006 as a like for like replacement for himself, after he swapped the captain's armband for the managerial hot seat. Woodgate impressed during his loan spell and BORO opted to take up their option to sign him on a permanent basis, last May.

However, following a successful run in the BORO first team alongside both Emanuel Pogatetz and more recently David Wheater, Woodgate started to suffer with recurring niggling injuries; the sorts of which have plagued his entire career and reduced him to just a handful of games whilst at Real Madrid.

His Success in the BORO side earned him a recall to the England team, under former BORO boss Steve McClaren, featuring alongside Stewart Downing in the side that faced Spain last year.

However his recent injuries have allowed Robert Huth and an on fire David Wheater to form a formidable partnership in the centre of BORO's defence, leaving Woodgate feeling unsettled. BORO boss, Gareth Southgate, stressed that the club wants every player to want to be playing for BORO, or else they might as well leave,

"You're looking for everyone at your club to want to be here and be part of it.

"We were then asking a question of Jonathan, do you want to be here and be part of what we want to do or do you want to head off? And it seems he wanted to head off.", he told MFC.co.uk

There has definitely been more outward action than inward, this transfer window as BORO wave goodbye to youngster Josh Walker who has joined SPL outfit Aberdeen on loan until the end of the season.

BORO also saw, arguably, their best home grown striking prospect Ben Hutchinson agree a pre-contract agreement with SPL giants Celtic. Hutchinson has impressed in brief first team appearances for BORO this season, but the striker has failed to agree a new contract with BORO and has agreed to join Celtic when his current contract runs out, at the end of the season.

Afonso Alves is expected to complete his move to BORO "imminently" as talks are concluding over a fee for the player and chief executive Kieth Lamb prepares an appeal for the player's work permit. Initial requests expect to be turned away as Alves has failed to make the required number of International appearances to qualify him for a work permit. Gareth Southgate believes that the appeal, however, should bring more success as the player is 'of exceptional talent',

"Given the quality of the player and his record in Holland, we would be hopeful."

The club remain confident that, if everything can be tied up quickly, Alves could be available for the away clash at local rivals Newcastle on Sunday and the player could join new England boss Fabio Capello, who will be in the stands tonight for BORO's home game against Wigan.

Quotes & Photos courtesy of MFC Official Website (www.mfc.co.uk) & Google (images.google.co.uk)

Through to Round Five

2008-01-27T21:54:00.000Z

BORO made it through to the fifth round of the FA Cup after beating Mansfield Town 2-0 away at Field Mill.

BORO made it far from easy for themselves as Mansfield ran a-mock, though their inability to score came as a relief to BORO who have also struggled in front of goals this season.

Mansfield got off to a flying start in windy conditions and mounted an instant charge. Matthew Hamshaw making light work of BORO's left hand side and linking in well with Michael Boulding, who was presented with an early chance as the wind caused a lobbed pass to drop sharply over Wheater and into the path of Boulding who was narrowly beaten to the ball by a quick to react Mark Schwarzer, sprinting from his line to volley clear from the edge of his box.

Mansfield went about the opening exchanges as though they were the Premiership side as BORO struggled to adapt to the blustery conditions. However BORO bagged a goal against the run of play, Adam Johnson whipped in a 17th minute corner that was half-heartedly punched away by keeper Carl Muggleton, David Wheater was quickest to react but his scrambled effort was deflected into the path of Dong Gook Lee who calmly side footed into the back of the net to record just his second goal for BORO, since joining last January.

The goal seemed to give Mansfield an extra boost as they thwarted BORO attacks and Michael Boulding cut inside of David Wheater striking with a superb left footed effort which struck the bar with the faintest of touches from keeper Mark Schwarzer, who then bettered that save from the resulting corner with a superb palmed stop from Boulding's looped header.

Robert Huth was then lucky to avoid a red card when he stabbed his foot into the stomach of troublesome striker Michael Boulding as he lobbed the ball clear of the BORO penalty area. The referee deciding upon a booking despite cries for a red card, from the home fans.

The game came to a temporary halt in the 31st minute, as a barrage of footballs were lobbed onto the pitch from outside of the stadium, much to the amusement of the crowd and the referee. The game got back under way with a long range Fabio Rochemback free-kick, which found the target but was well caught by Muggleton.

Julio Arca and Fabio Rochemback were simply perfect in BORO's midfield with some classy passing moves and both looking unbelievably calm despite being given little time on the ball. Jeremie Aliadiere was also, once again, instrumental in the BORO attack and almost opened up for a second goal just before half time, as he cleverly turned two Mansfield defenders before charging into the box and crossing over the on-rushing Muggleton to Dong Gook Lee, who had the goal at his mercy when he bizarrely decided on a diving header that went embarrassingly wide from six yards out; leaving captain Julio Arca flabbergasted.

Gareth Southgate introduced George Boateng at the start of the second half as he replaced Emanuel Pogatetz, Julio Arca slipping into the left back slot whilst Southgate preferred to stick with the 4-3-3 formation that BORO played in the first half.

But Arca looked unsuited to his new position and Boateng failed to impress as Mansfield came out for the second half with new vigour and determination. Southgate was so unimpressed with the performance that his side were giving in the second half that he introduced Stewart Downing in the 64th minute, replacing Adam Johnson.

BORO looked, temporarily, lifted by the introduction of Downing and started to fight back against the Mansfield pressure. But it didn't last long and it took the introduction of a heavy looking Mido before Mansfield started to wind down. Some good holding up and clever passing from Mido gave BORO fans a glimpse of what has been missing for some time, this season. Though it will be some time before he's back to full fitness and also looks like he could do with losing some weight.

Billy Dearden then introduced his giant forward, John McAliskey to try and further unsettle Robert Huth and David Wheater who both had a poor game. But it wasn't enough to improve Mansfield's chances and a late BORO attack lead to their second goal as George Boateng crossed from the right for Mansfield captain Jake Buxton to head home an own goal, just ahead of Stewart Downing.

Attendance: 6, 258
BORO Blog BORO Man of the Match: Julio Arca

Photos Courtesy of SkySports (www.skysports.com/football) & BBC Sport (news.bbc.co.uk/sport)

If Woody Goes Then Southgate Has To Go!

2008-01-25T14:07:00.000Z

I say, following media speculation of the possible sale of defender Jonathan Woodgate, that if Woodgate goes then Southgate has to go.

I believe that, under no circumstances, can it be beneficial to BORO in either the long or short term to sell Jonathan Woodgate. Regardless of injuries, Woodgate is, in my opinion, BORO's strongest central defender.

Woodgate has played the highest percentage of possible games during his time at The Riverside than any other club that he has played for and I believe that, despite, niggling injuries If Woodgate goes then Southgate has to take a look at whether he made the decision for the good of the club or just to put more money into Steve Gibson's pocket.

Fresh Hope for Alves

2008-01-22T19:28:00.000Z

BORO and Afonso Alves were awarded fresh hopes, today, that a deal can be made to bring the Brazilian to the Riverside within the next nine days.

Alves is locked in a sticky situation after the Dutch FA ruled, last week, that the player has, in fact, entered into two separate contract agreements meaning that the player, contractually, belongs to both Heerenveen and AZ Alkmaar, the other Dutch club trying to sign him.

BORO had agreed personal terms with Alves, who expressed that he wants to play for neither Dutch club and does wish to seal his move to BORO. BORO appear to have also agreed a fee with Heerenveen for Alves, amidst the reports from AZ claiming that the player is legally theirs.

But this week Alves' lawyer, Pim de Vos, has delivered a claim to the Dutch FA stating that Alevs' supposed contract with AZ is not legally binding.

"The Fifa and Uefa regulations write that at the signing of a contract agents with a licence and a lawyer have to be present. That hasn't been the case."

Alves' club Heerenveen also refused to finalise the deal by signing the contract, which Alves agreed in December.

The Dutch FA will meet again tomorrow to resolve the situation with both Gareth Southgate and Alves, himself, hoping that the ruling will see the Brazilian striker arrive in the Premiership before the end of the transfer window.

Photos & Quotes courtesy of Google (images.google.com) & SkySports (www.skysports.com/football)

BORO Miss Out on 3 Points

2008-01-22T12:07:00.001Z

Blackburn Rovers 1 - 1 BORO

BORO defender David Wheater added his name to the short list of BORO top scorers, away to Blackburn at the weekend, as he bagged his third goal of the season falling just behind Tuncay on four and top scorer Stewart Downing on 5 goals.

BORO could have had Blackburn dead and buried following their 13th minute goal, with a string of chances that could have seen BORO walk away with a five goal win. But BORO's lack of scoring ability served to heighten the need for a proven striker and, whilst news of an imminent return for Mido will come as a relief to the club, BORO still need to thrash out a positive deal for a new striker after approaches for Afonso Alves and Lyon's Fred appear to have come to nothing.

BORO went to Blackburn feeling confident with the home side failing to perform at Ewood Park, whilst BORO have been better on the road than at home this season.

It was BORO who took the lead after just thirteen minutes, when Stewart Downing's perfectly weighted free-kick found the giant David Wheater. Rising above Ryan Nelsen in front of keeper Brad Friedel to launch a powerful header into the Blackburn net, Wheater secured his third goal of the season.

Determined to grab a result at home, Rovers mounted a series of comeback charges but were reduced to long range efforts and Roque Santa Cruz's effort lacked the power to beat Schwarzer.

BORO might have had a second goal, before half time as Gary O'Neil crossed from the right for Tuncay who failed to make a connection with the ball

After the break, David Bentley got BORO hearts in mouths as his long range, left foot curler left Schwarzer scrambling across his goal as the ball bounced narrowly wide.

Once again Jeremie Aliadiere was instrumental in BORO's attacks as he looked to begin a more ruthless streak, bursting into the box and opting to go for goal rather than square the ball to Gary O'Neil in front of goal.

Wheater could have scored his second of the game with another header, this time striking the bar as Rovers' deffence struggled to cope with the 6ft 4in defender. Whilst Tuncay made a complete hash of his earlier effort, the ball bouncing off of his standing leg from less than 6 yards out.

Fabio Rochemback' power-driven free kick stung the hands of Brad Friedel who had no time to react, parrying the ball out to Gary O'Neil whose follow-up shot, on the turn, was weak and was gathered easily by Friedel.

Then on 75 minutes substitute Matt Derbyshire made BORO pay for their missed chances, as he had done earlier in the season at the Riverside. Sant Cruz knocked the ball down into the BORO box before Jason Robert's miss-hit fell kindly to Derbyshire who placed the ball past Schwarzer from less than ten yards.

Stewart Downing came close with a far post header and Jeremie Aliadiere headed his late effort over the bar from inside the six yard area, wiping out Brad Friedel in the process.

Rovers were relieved to see BORO waist countless goalscoring chances and were happy to hold on to a well undeserved point.

"There are so many good things about the performance that we shouldn't be disappointed, but we are." - Gareth Southgate.

Attendance: 21,687
BORO Blog Man of the Match: David Wheater

George Boateng was in the BORO side again at the weekend, though stripped of his captaincy. Julio Arca was awarded the armband against Blackburn and Gareth Southgate confirmed that Boateng had been stripped of his captaincy on a permanent basis, after the added responsibility appeared to have coincided with a major dip in performance since Southgate became manager. It is likely that Arca will remain the captain for now, but fans' favourites to take on the role for the long term future are Jonathan Woodgate or Luke Young.

Photos & Quotes courtesy of BBC Sport (news.bbc.co.uk/sport) & SkySports (www.skysports.com/football)

BORO Strike New Garmin Deal

2008-01-18T21:56:00.000Z

BORO have bettered their best ever kit sponsorship deal by extending their current contract with the world's leading manufacturer of satellite navigation systems, Garmin Sat-Nav.

BORO boss Gareth Southgate, chairman Steve Gibson and Garmin officials posed for press as they announced the deal, which will see the words 'Garmin Sat-Nav' branded across the chest of the BORO players until the end of 2008-2009 season.

BORO's Chief Operating Officer, Neil Bausor spoke on the deal, "The new deal cements our relationship with Garmin and allows us an opportunity to forge a strong partnership over the next 18 months and drive both our success in football, business and community support."

The new deal allows Garmin to further raise their existing global profile and marketing Director Clive Taylor added "Garmin is very proud to associate its name with such a prestigious Premier League club, both organisations share the desire to be on the leading edge of our respective fields."

Meanwhile BORO recently launched their latest 'kit debate'. Fans were given the opportunity to vote for whether the next BORO kit should sport the famous 'white band' or whether the shirt should be all red. An overwhelming majority (80%) of fans voted for a return of the 'white-band', like that worn by BORO players throughout 888.com's sponsorship reign.

Following the success of the poll, club officials have decided, for the first time, to allow fans the opportunity to vote on next season's home shirt. Previously fans have been able to choose the away kit that BORO would wear, but now fans have been given a choice of three new designs for the 2008-2009 season home shirt.

Tuncay Sanli, David Wheater and Adam Johnson model the three new shirts below.
Take a closer look at the three new shirts and vote at the Official MFC Website

Photos & Quotes courtesy of MFC Official Website (www.mfc.co.uk)

Alves on his way?

2008-01-16T12:21:00.001Z

BORO transfer target Afonso Alves is understood to be close to sealing a move to BORO after a visit to The Riverside to meet with manager Gareth Southgate.

It is understood that Alves' team, Heerenveen, are asking for around £15 million for the super-striker who netted more than 30 goals last season and it is thought that BORO are close to agreeing a deal with the player.

However the deal is set to hit turmoil as Heerenveen's rivals AZ Alkmaar claim they have a 'pre-agreement' with the player, which stated that he would join the club at the beginning of January.

Whilst BORO are close to a deal with Heerenveen, if the Dutch FA rule that Alves is officially an AZ player then BORO would have to begin negotiations with AZ over a deal for the player and it is likely that AZ would demand a higher price for the player who has insisted that his future does not lie in Holland, as he hopes to move to England.

Alves' visit to The Riverside, at the weekend, enraged AZ officials who are convinced that Alves should be their player after agreeing to join them at the end of 2007 and the club have called for the Dutch FA to step in and rule on the whole saga.

The Evening Gazette have also reported that French side Monaco are showing interest in BORO's inconsistent Brazilian midfielder Fabio Rochemback, who has long been the subject to speculation suggesting that he is unhappy at The Riverside and wishes to leave. Reports last year claimed that Fabio's father was pleading with other continental clubs to make an approach for the player.

Photos courtesy of MFC Official Website (www.mfc.co.uk) & Google UK image Search (www.google.co.uk)

A Brighter Week

2008-01-13T22:11:00.000Z

BORO 1 - 1 Liverpool

BORO followed last week's 2-1 FA Cup away win at Bristol City with a well deserved and vital 1-1 home draw against giants Liverpool.

Gareth Southgate was delighted last week as he saw his weakened side come from behind to bag a 2-1 away win against Bristol City with goals from top scorer Stewart Downing and a surprisingly cool finish from defender David Wheater.

But yesterday BORO were up against former European Champions Liverpool at the Riverside, a team that have, in fact, failed to win in any of their last 5 visits to the Riverside.

BORO started, as they have in recent weeks, by absorbing the pressure and defending comfortably, despite some early chances when, first, Gerrard saw his angled drive palmed away by Schwarzer, then Sami Hyypia's header flew just over the bar.

Liverpool were, once again, looking uncomfortable at the Riverside and it was BORO who took the lead on 26 minutes. George Boateng, back in the side and wearing the captain armband, took possession on half way before playing the ball to the obvious choice, Stewart Downing, who played a pin-point cross to O'Neil, who then headed the ball across goal where Aliadiere headed the ball back across goal again for George Boateng to follow up and flick it into the net. The perfect way to mark his return to the squad.

Andriy Voronin made a desperate penalty claim early in the second half as he was shrugged over by Robert Huth, but referee Andre Marriner waved away the appeals.

As they usually do, BORO appeared on top against their higher rated opposition and nearly took advantage of some simply awful play from Liverpool as Tuncay turned to find Downing inside the the box and he lashed a powerful left foot shot, which smashed off the inside of the post after Jose Reina managed to get the faintest touch with his fingertips and Gary O'Neil lofted the rebound over the bar.

Liverpool mounted a late comeback in the last twenty minutes of the game and on 71 minutes Fernando Torres took advantage of some sloppy defending and rocketed a 20-yard shot past Mark Schwarzer, yet another contender for 'goal of the season' scored past BORO.

Liverpool then mounted a late charge and Ryan Babel saw his long range drive flash past the BORO goal, but it was not enough to salvage a win and BORO held on for a vital point.

"I am really pleased with the performance we gave." - Gareth Southgate.

Attendance: 33, 035
BORO Blog BORO Man of the Match: Stewart Downing

Photos & Quotes courtesy of BBC Sport (www.bbc.co.uk/sport)

Bad Start to the Year

2008-01-02T23:14:00.000Z

BORO 0 - 2 Everton

BORO kicked off 2008 with yet another home defeat, this time losing 2-0 to Everton in a less than attractive game hammered by driving rain.

Despite the determined start from both sides, few chances were created and a series of no-nonsense challenges in soggy conditions showed each side's willingness to grab a result.

Former BORO striker, Yakubu, was given a tough time from the home crowd and, indeed, from the BORO deffence with some good hard challenges from BORO's Robert Huth, who gave one of the best performances in a BORO shirt.

With both Tim Cahill and Mikel Arteta missing for Everton, Gareth Southgate was feeling confident that his team could grind out a result. However it wasn't going to be easy against a side that have lost twice in their last sixteen games.

BORO, filled with confidence from their 1-0 win against Portsmouth showed courage and invention going forward, but few solid chances were presented before Stewart Downing saw his effort cleared off the line by Phil Jagielka.

BORO still looked favourite to score in the second half and would have taken the lead if not for a great save from Tim Howard to deny Gary O'Neil from close range.

Then in the 67th minute Everton made BORO pay for their lack of finishing quality as Andy Johnson found himself open inside the box to knock the ball past keeper Mark Schwarzer.

Just five minutes later Everton struck again as Johnson combined with McFadden to set up the Scot for Everton's second and to give BORO no way back.

Attendance: 27, 028
BORO Blog BORO Man of the Match: Luke Young

Photos courtesy of BBC Sport (www.bbc.co.uk/sport)

Not all Doom and Gloom

2007-12-29T19:49:00.000Z

Portsmouth 0 - 1 BORO

BORO's Christmas schedule had, until today, been filled with disappointment after defeats against West Ham and Birmingham City. But a rallied performance and another Tuncay goal handed BORO a shock three points away to Portsmouth.

BORO were down to the bare bones regarding fit players and Gareth Southgate found that his team picked itself with just 16 fit senior players to chose from. This meant that Mohamed Shawky, Robert Huth and Dong Gook Lee found themselves in the starting line up.

BORO went into the game looking for their first win of the Christmas period after losing 2-1 to West Ham and 3-0 away to Birmingham on Boxing day, whilst Portsmouth were looking to end a run of 450 minutes without scoring at Fratton Park, on the back of their goalless draw to Arsenal in mid-week

Many would have thought, therefore, that the game was poised to be a cracker and Pompey started fast, determined to put an instant end to their unimpressive goalscoring record. However wayward passing and even more wayward shooting explained a lot about why Portsmouth have struggled to score in recent weeks.

BORO showed that they weren't prepared to rush into the game and started to play the sort of composed football that Gareth Southgate has aimed for. With the mighty Robert Huth back in defence, BORO were happy to absorb the Portsmouth pressure and release Stewart Downing and former Pompey star Gary O'Neil down the wings in attack.

Both Downing and O'Neil were involved in the opening goal as Downing crossed to the far post where O'Neil volleyed the ball across David James leaving Tuncay to tap in his fourth goal in six games.

BORO then turned the game their way as a series of near misses with O'Neil, determined to score against his old club, narrowly hitting a free-kick over the bar and then Robert Huth missing a rare chance by the post.

Portsmouth continued to look unconvincing in their efforts and really gave Harry Redknapp a reason to add to that January shopping list of his, with pass after pass going astray and embarrassingly wayward shooting, Papa Bouba Diop with a real contender for miss of the season as he lobbed his effort, from less than ten yards, over the bar.

Matthew Taylor replaced Hermann Hreidarsson at half-time and seemed to make an instant impact as his early second half free-kick picked out Kanu who agonisingly struck the post. A sign, perhaps, that it wasn't going to be Portsmouth's day.

Dong Gook Lee looked on good form, deputising for the injured Jeremie Aliadiere, and he seemed fitter and stronger than previously this season, holding off Sol Campbell time after time and was presented with several early second half chances, which he failed to convert. But by far showing his determination to prove himself at BORO and certainly giving his best BORO performance since signing nearly a year ago.

Both sides seemed to drift from the early quality they had shown and the game withered out to desperation as BORO tried to increase their lead and Pompey fought for an equaliser.

BORO saw four players booked as they defended hard to hang on to their one goal lead and they battled to the final whistle to record a vital and, quite honestly, unexpected three points on the road and a win against a side that they have failed to beat at Fratton Park in the top-flight for over half of a century.

"People probably looked at us and thought we'd be rolled over at a place like Portsmouth but I was delighted by the attitude we showed." - BORO Boss Gareth Southgate

Attendance: 20, 089
BORO Blog BORO Man of the Match: Gary O'Neil

Photos & Quotes courtesy of BBC Sport (www.bbc.co.uk/sport) & SkySports (www.skysports.com/football)

San-sational!

2007-12-18T20:17:00.000Z

Derby County 0 - 1 BORO

BORO recorded their first back-to-back league win of the season this weekend as Tuncay Sanli scored his third goal in as many games.

It was a less than entertaining display from two teams battling relegation but, as expected, there was plenty of grit and determination at Pride Park on Saturday.

BORO started brighter and Gary O'Neil was presented with the first chance after a superb chipped pass from in-form striker Tuncay, but his first touch was less than convincing and so his weak shot was easily saved by Stephen Bywater.

New Derby boss, Paul Jewell, was handed a further reason to feel glum, having taken over a team rock-bottom of the league, when defender Andy Griffin picked up a knock and had to be replaced mid-way through the first.

The game seemed to tip both ways as both teams battled for an opener, but it was BORO who bagged the first goal in the 38th minute as Matt Oakley was caught in possession by David Wheater; whose hopeful down-field punt was leaped upon by Stewart Downing who glided a pin-point cross into the box for Tuncay to latch onto with a sensational first time left footed volley past the helpless Stephen Bywater to mark his third goal in his last three appearances.

However, the goal seemed to serve as a boost for the home side as they mounted a series of attacks to launch a comeback. Derby had a dubious penalty appeal turned away by referee Rob Styles just before half time as Kenny Miller seemed to be pulled down by David Wheater, but replays showed that, whilst Wheater was holding Miller, the striker was also backing into Wheater.

Downing produced a good save from Stephen Bywater, just after the break, as Aliadiere and Tuncay combined in a great piece of attacking play before skipper George Boateng saw his diving header agonisingly rebound off the post as he latched onto Fabio Rochemback's inviting cross.

Derby were then infuriated as an almost certain penalty was denied by Rob Styles when Emanuel Pogatetz missed timed his attempted header and the ball struck his arm. Styles pointed for a corner as Pogatetz protested to Derby players that the ball had struck him on the back of the head.

Jeremie Aliadiere had a late goal disallowed when he controlled a long pass before superbly rounding the onrushing Stephen Bywater and striking from a tight angle into the open net. Rob Styles declared a ruling of hand ball after his lines-man wrongly flagged when Aliadiere controlled the ball with his torso, close to but not actually with his arm or hand.

Giles Barnes then seemed poised to strike an equaliser for the home side as he controlled a pin-point cross on the edge of the box and lashed at the ball with a stinging volley. But back-from-injury BORO keeper Mark Schwarzer seemed comfortable as he frustrated Barnes and Derby, saving the shot with a confident catch in the centre of his goal.

BORO defended valiantly, however, to the end to deny Derby an equaliser and to record their second consecutive win after beating previously unbeaten Arsenal, at the Riverside.

One worrying note for BORO is that England winger Stewart Downing picked up a late knock and had to be replaced by youngster Adam Johnson, both of whom have been subject to rumours suggesting that they will be leaving BORO in January. Boss, Gareth Southgate and chief executive Keith Lamb have flatly refused to entertain any bids for either player and encourage teams not to waste their time with a fruitless effort.

Attendance: 32, 676
BORO Blog BORO Man of the Match: Tuncay

BORO in for Dica?

2007-12-13T22:54:00.000Z

BORO have, understandably, been linked with a number of strikers ahead of the January transfer window after their dismal start to the season and whilst, today, Gareth Southgate has denied reports linking BORO with Sheffield United and Championship top scorer James Beattie, fresh reports are emerging that BORO are making a move for a striker that they know all too well.

Nicolae Dica is Steaua Bucharest's Romanian striker who BORO came face to face with in their amazing run up to the UEFA Cup final. Dica agonisingly scored twice against BORO, with a goal in each leg of the semi-finals.

Gareth Southgate was in BORO's back line on the night that Dica sank BORO hearts when he scored in the second leg, before BORO, and most memorably, Massimo Maccarone mounted a monumental comeback to mark their place in the final.

Dica has impressed for both club and country, of late, and has attracted attention from many clubs, most notably of those being Premiership rivals Aston Villa.

BORO are reportedly close to sealing a deal for Dica worth €5 million, with Steaua president Valeriu Argaseala, who is looking to make some money out of Dica whose contract will expire at the end of the season.

BORO Steal Gunners Ammo

2007-12-09T22:09:00.000Z

BORO 2 - 1 Arsenal

BORO claimed a massive scalp, today, in their fight to break free of the relegation zone as they ran league leaders Arsenal ragged.

Arsenal traveled to The Riverside, today, with an unbeaten league record. But were without key players Cesc Fabregas, Robin Van Persie and Aleksander Hleb, and it showed.
Arsenal had looked unsettled against BORO's North East rivals, Newcastle, in midweek as they only managed a draw and Gareth Southgate was looking to exploit Arsenal's vulnerability.

BORO started the game on fire and took Arsenal completely by surprise in just the third minute, as Jeremie Aliadiere burst into the box past Kolo Toure, who then fouled the former Arsenal striker to concede an early penalty. Up stepped BORO's top scorer of the season, Stewart Downing, to take the penalty and he looked nervous before rifling the ball into the bottom corner to give BORO a rare early goal.

Uncharacteristically, Arsenal looked sloppy and nothing seemed on for them as BORO ran them ragged all over the field, with Aliadiere and Tuncay showing that they have formed a formidable partnership in the BORO frontline, working tirelessly to create some good chances.

Emanuel Eboue was lucky to be on the field after blatantly striking Emanuel Pogatetz in the face before, later, jabbing Stewart Downing in the thigh. Both attacks went completely unnoticed by referee Howard Webb and so Eboue avoided even a yellow card.

Emanuel Adebayor was presented with a good chance for Arsenal, but he headed wide and sarcastic cheers met Rosicky's driven effort that trickled yards wide.

BORO went about their attacking onslaught as they pressured Arsenal into a series of mistakes to create some quality chances. But for all of BORO's chances, their lack of a clinical finisher showed.

Arsene Wenger must have been infuriated with his team's performance in the first half and was compelled to remove Eduardo Da Silva in place of Niklas Bendtner, which proved to be a fruitless endeavor.

BORO continued to excite the fans and pressure Arsenal all over the field and they could have gone two or three up as, first, Rochemback fed an intricate ball to Tuncay who found himself one-on-one with Almunia but slid his angled shot just inches wide and then George Boateng fired a rare shot just wide of Almunia's goal.

Aliadiere than exposed Arsenal's back line, again, to force a corner. The corner provided Gary O'Neil with a perfect opportunity, which he drilled at Almunia who could only parry the shot. But Tuncay was first to react as he lofted the ball into the roof of the net from a tight angle to give BORO a two goal lead and to claim his second goal in two games.

More good news for BORO came when Julio Arca made his long awaited return from injury, having not featured since picking up an injury back in September. Arca replaced Aliadiere in the eightieth minute, as both players received a standing ovation from the twenty six thousand BORO faithful.

Tuncay continued to battle on to the end when he ran himself into the ground, in the ninetieth minute, to close down first Clichy, then Almunia and then Kolo Toure in turn to force Arsenal to give away possession.

Tuncay received the standing ovation that he more than deserved, in injury time, as he was replaced by Adam Johnson.

BORO held on into the fourth minute of injury time, when their deffence was undone for the first time in the game as Arsenal put a good move together, which ended with Thomas Rosicky's low shot beating Ross Turnbull and hitting the back of the BORO net.

Gareth Southgate was clearly gutted with the late Arsenal goal as his team were seconds from a rare clean sheet. But the fact that BORO became the first team to beat Arsenal in the league this season, will more than serve to keep everyone associated with the BORO smiling until, at least, next week when they do battle with Derby.

Attendance: 26, 428
BORO Blog BORO Man of the Match: Tuncay, it was genuinely really difficult to pick one BORO player for the blog's man of the match award this week as every player could have taken the award.

BORO Bid for Ronaldinho!

2007-12-04T12:12:00.000Z

The future of one of the world's greatest footballers, Ronaldinho, has been much discussed in recent months after speculation that he will be leaving Barcelona following a dip in performance.

A number of top clubs including Chelsea and Milan have been strongly linked with Ronaldinho, however it is lowly BORO who are the only team yet to make a firm bid for the Brazilian ace, ahead of the January transfer window.

Although BORO's hopeful bid of just €15 million is almost certain to fall flat as any potential bid from the likes of Chelsea or Milan will be surely around double what BORO have offered.

Also, Ronaldinho is unlikely to leave Barcelona and Champions league football if BORO, a team battling against Premier league relegation, are to be his only other option.

Where Do They Go From Here?

2007-11-24T22:30:00.000Z

BORO 0 - 3 Aston Villa

BORO were, tonight, spared from falling into the relegation zone after local rivals, Sunderland, were humiliated in a 7-1 away drumming to Everton, dropping below BORO on goal difference.

BORO again failed to entertain as home fans could be seen leaving The Riverside as early as the 58th minute when Aston Villa's Gabriel Agbonlahor planted Villa's third goal past BORO keeper Mark Schwarzer.

BORO opened with few chances, but were determined to test Scott Carson's confidence after his midweek shambles for England. His nerves did come to show early on as his first touch of the ball was a sliced clearance and an early shot was allowed to squirm under him, fortunately for Villa it rolled just wide.

Gareth Southgate might have been pleased with the first 30 minutes or so, as BORO managed not to concede, as they have done so many times in recent weeks. But it was Villa who ended the first half on top of the game and it was John Carew who gave the visitors the lead on the stroke of half time. Controlling Gareth Barry's cross with a knee, before lashing the ball past Mark Schwarzer. Not the end to the first half that Southgate was looking for.

Unlike in recent games, BORO did not seem to come out for the second half fired up and determined to get back into the game and it just three minutes were played, before BORO youngster Lee Cattermole made a hash of his clearance, which looped into the BORO box and into the path of Villa defender Olof Mellberg who struck home for Villa's second goal of the game.

The BORO fans were clearly frustrated, yet still they tried to get behind the players; "C' Mon BORO" ringing around the Riverside.

Gareth Southgate introduced Fabio Rochemback to a smattering of applause in the 53rd minute as he replaced Lee Cattermole.

But Fabio's introduction did little to add fire to the game, despite some good link up play with Aliadiere and Downing.

BORO were down and out just 10 minutes later when Scott Carson earned himself an assist, as his long goal kick bounced to Gabriel Agbonlahor who pushed his way past Jonathan Woodgate to score past a seemingly wrong footed Mark Schwarzer.

Agbonlahor then had a chance to make it four as his shot narrowly missed, agonisingly ricocheting off the post.

But the BORO fans had seen enough and The Riverside's second lowest attendance of the season petered away as the game wound down to yet another disappointing result and to a team who have won four of the last five games at the Riverside.

Attendance: 23,900
BORO Blog BORO Man of the Match: Gary O'Neil

Red Barron Makes Move to the Toon

2007-11-20T12:44:00.000Z

BORO have confirmed that first team goalkeeping coach, Paul Barron, has followed Mark Viduka up the road to rivals Newcastle.

Barron has been with BORO since Steve McLaren brought him to the Riverside in 2001 and has worked closely with BORO number 1 one Mark Schwarzer as well as Brad Jones, Mark Crossley, Ross Turnbull and others during his 6 years at the club.

BORO have also confirmed that academy keeper coach and former BORO star Stephen Pears has taken over from Barron as senior coach. Pears was a fan favourite during his 12 years as BORO's number one in the eighties and nineties and even managed to set a club record of seven consecutive clean sheets, making over 400 appearances and even earning a call up to the England squad whilst with BORO in 1992. Pears was also the last person to score a goal at BORO's former home, Ayresome Park, where he was allowed to take a penalty in his sell-out testimonial game in 1995.

In other news, BORO have been linked with a number of strikers ahead of the January transfer window. The latest, Saudi Arabian striker Yasser Al-Qahtani, is yet another player who is a firm fan favourite in his homeland, just like recent flops Lee Dong-Gook and Tuncay.

25-year-old Al-Qahtani has a prolific international record with 44 goals in 54 games, earning him the nickname 'Sniper'.

The player is also a close friend of BORO striker Mido, who is said to be trying to persuade his bosses that a move for Yasser Al-Qahtani would be the right move for BORO.

However, BORO have stated, through their official site, that reports of such a move for Al-Qahtani were far from accurate.

Robbo Says "No!"

2007-11-14T11:03:00.000Z

Former BORO boss, Bryan Robson has said that, despite speculation, James Beattie will not be leaving Sheffield United in January.

Beattie has been on superb form in the Championship, scoring 11 goals in 16 appearances and it's easy to see why Robbo is keen to keep hold of him.

"I haven't been contacted by anyone about James or any other of my players for that matter,

"And there isn't anyone I want to let go either."

BORO are beginning to be linked with a number of goalscorers ahead of the January transfer window, after the likes of Mido, Tuncay, Aliadiere and Dong Gook Lee have failed to set the stage alight so far this season with just 6 goals between them.

BORO were earlier linked with a move for Rangers' striker Daniel Cousin, 30. But, again, the speculation was quashed as a supposed clause in the player's contract that would allow him to leave for a set fee in January emerged as inaccurate tabloid speculation. Rangers claim that the player could leave for a fee of £3 million, but not until the end of the season.

However, this could simply be haggling on the part of Rangers as they look to make a handsome profit on the striker that cost them just £1 million in the summer, when he moved from French side Lens. Further speculation has arisen that if BORO were to offer £4 million for Cousin, in January, then Rangers could be prepared to let him go.

A Well Fought Point

2007-11-11T20:13:00.000Z

Bolton Wanderers 0 - 0 BORO

BORO put in a battling performance, today, in their scrappy away clash against a Bolton side who surprised most in midweek as they drew 2-2 with Bayern Munich, in Germany.

BORO are staring down the barrel of relegation after they could only drill out a goalless draw away to a Bolton side who had to face a tough test, midweek, against Bayern Munich. BORO's hopes weren't helped, today, as fellow strugglers Spurs ran riot in a 4-0 win over Wigan leaving BORO hovering over the relegation zone.

BORO faced early pressure from Bolton and created very few chances themselves. The Wanderers faithful thought that Gary Speed had opened the scoring just half of an hour into the game, as his free-kick bounced off the outside of the post and rattled the side netting.

Then striker, Kevin Davies, saw his 20-yard effort slide agonisingly past both keeper and goal post.

BORO faced more injury woes as, ironically, Emanuel Pogatetz saw his return to action as he replaced Andrew Taylor who had suffered a foot injury in the 30th minute.

Yet again, BORO mounted a second half revival as Jeremie Aliadiere showed why Gareth Southgate had signed him; linking in, once again, with Tuncay and creating chances with bursts of pace.

But it was Gary O'Neil who was BORO's best player as he worked tirelessly along the right hand side, both attacking and getting back to help in deffence.

Bolton Keeper Jussi Jaaskelainen kept his team in the game, pulling off a series of great saves. First stopping Aliaidere, then denying Stewart Downing from 20-yards out.

BORO were, by far, the stronger team in the dying minutes and could have walked away with a win. But the teams had to settle for a point and a goalless draw.

Attendance: 17,624
BORO Blog BORO Man of the Match: Gary O'Neil

A Point Will Do

2007-11-04T22:14:00.000Z

BORO1 - 1 Tottenham Hotspur

BORO boss Gareth Southgate has said that the point his team earned at home to Spurs can be a platform to build upon and turn round their lousy start to the season.

BORO started Brightly with Garry O'Neil coming closest in the opening minutes, as his driven cross cut across the face of goal whilst Stewart Downing nearly latched onto it as he slid in at the far post.

BORO, who had started without Jonathan Woodgate at the back, through injury, continued mounting pressure with Tuncay and Aliadiere linking up well as they did last week at Old Trafford.

But BORO, once again, conceded the first goal in front of a mere 25, 000 fans as they looked to turn their season around. Spurs' new boss, Juande Ramos, opted to drop Robbie Keane and Dimitar Berbatov from the starting line up in favour of Jermaine Defoe and Darren Bent, and it was Bent who opened the scoring just 10 minutes before half time after some superb link-up play with Defoe, slicing the BORO deffence wide open and slotting the ball past Schwarzer at the near post.

Moments later, Defoe and Bent combined again and nearly scored a second. This time Bent's flick just narrowly skewed wide of the far post.

BORO had to start the second half the same way they did the first and they did, with new vigour and determination. Aliadiere saw his header palmed away by Paul Robinson before, 7 minutes into the second half, right-back Luke Young was presented with the ball from Gary O'Neil and, from 25 yards out, he smashed the ball into the top corner of the net, with a first time shot.

The goal revived the players and the fans and quite fitting that such a goal should come from a player who, just last week, spoke of how he was sick of seeing opposition teams scoring 'wonder goals' past BORO.

Aliadiere had a late penalty shout turned down as his cross clearly hit Michael Dawson on the hand and so the game seemed to just wind down from then, as both teams played for the draw and were reluctant to break for fear of getting caught out defensively.

"We know what we need to do in games but it's not happening - we keep conceding the first goal and that never makes things easy.

"But we scored a fantastic goal to draw level and that was deserved after a nice spell of possession. A draw was probably fair". - BORO boss, Gareth Southgate.

Attendance: 25, 625
BORO Blog BORO Man of the Match: Gary O'Neil (captain)

Lee in Disgrace!

2007-11-02T13:25:00.000Z

Boro's South Korean striker Dong Gook Lee has been, today, banned from international duty for 2 years after disgracing himself in a late night drinking session during the Asia Cup.

Dong Gook Lee gets 2 year ban for drunken disgrace

Lee, along with others from the South Korean team including Captain and goalkeeper Lee Woon-Jae, abandoned the team base during the competition earlier this year following their 2-1 defeat by Bahrain.

Captain, Lee Woon-Jae, offered an emotional plea before the KFA (Korea Football Association) hearing, but it did little to influence the decision as the board opted to come down heavy on the players; issuing a 3 year ban and 80 hours of community service to Woon-Jae and 2 year bans along with 40 hours of community service to the others involved.

The ban will surely see the end to the international career of 34-year-old captain, Woon Jae who had been dealt a harsher penalty after leaving the Korea team hotel 2 nights before the game to meet up with friends at a local bar as well as taking the others to a karaoke bar the day after the 2-1 defeat.

Lee's disgrace comes at a time when he is desperately trying to fit in and prove himself at BORO as he has failed to score a Premiership goal since joining in January this year.

Just Keeps Getting Worse

2007-10-28T21:24:00.000Z

Manchester United 4 - 1 BORO

We might have hoped to get a result against Manchester United because we had some key players back, including Jeremie Aliadiere and we have had a formidable record against United in recent years, even at Old Trafford.
But we couldn't really have gotten off to a worse start as Nani embarrassed us all with his amazing drive that hit the top corner of the net from around 25 yards out, yet another contender for goal of the month scored past BORO.
But Aliadiere gave United a shock as, just 2 minutes later, he headed home a Tuncay cross after some clever foot work by the Turkish International.

Tuncay looked good and BORO were starting to match United with some good passing and positive chances. But then Downing slipped in his own penalty area before executing a wonderful pass for Wayne Rooney to rocket a shot past Mark Schwarzer, giving United the 2-1 lead at the break.

BORO's luck appeared set to change though as Ronaldo was presented with an abundance of chances, all of which he hopelessly fluffed. But Carlos Tevez, linking up sublimely with Rooney netted United's 3 and surely put the game beyond BORO just 10 minutes into the second half.

Efforts from Downing came close but he saw an earlier header spin jut wide of the goal and likewise a curling free-kick, whilst Lee Cattermole had his looping shot superbly saved by Van Der Sar.

5 minutes left of normal time and Tevez decided to bag another goal, once again linking in well with Rooney before striking from a tight angle only to be thwarted by Andrew Taylor thinking he was the goalkeeper. Diving in front of Schwarzer to stop the shot and almost certainly giving away a penalty for hand ball, had the ball not deflected over the disorientated Schwarzer and dropped just over the goal line and into the net.

"We had a very young side and sometimes mistakes will happen. But our young players were outstanding today and they are a shining light." - BORO boss, Gareth Southgate.

Coming Soon

2007-10-23T19:52:00.000+01:00

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A Flat Display

2007-10-21T23:25:00.000+01:00

BORO 0 - 2 Chelsea

BORO put in yet another disappointing display on Saturday as they were defeated 2-0 by an out of form Chelsea team, who have had to contend with the recent loss of their greatest ever manager Jose Mourinho.

Fresh back from injury, Didier Drogba opened the scoring for Chelsea after just 8 minutes when Frank Lampard fed the ball through for Drogba to calmly slot the ball across Mark Schwarzer into the corner of the net.

BORO could have equalised when Mido headed a Gary O'Neil cross into the arms of Petr Cech. As Chelsea sat back and seemed content with their 1 goal lead, BORO enjoyed a healthy share of possession but created little in the way of chances, despite a less than impressive display from Chelsea.

Drogba then came close to bagging a second as he curled a free kick just wide of the goal.

Gareth Southgate must have stuck a rocket up the backside of his players in the second half as they returned from half time looking threatening and ready to take the game to Chelsea, but with just over 10 minutes of the second half played Chelsea put the game beyond BORO as Alex drilled a superb free kick, from at least 30 yards, into the top corner beyond the stretching Mark Schwarzer.

Mido was the closest to scoring for BORO as he saw a series of headed chances stopped by Petr Cech and Gary O'Neil sliced a shot over the bar from close range as the game neared a close and BORO looked resigned to yet another league defeat, leaving the club hovering just above the drop zone.

I don't like to be negative about the BORO too much. But one has to ask, with all of these defeats and with us lying too close to the relegation zone for comfort, if we were one of the top 4 or 6 teams would Gareth Southgate have most certainly been shown the door by now?
I know that it's never a good idea to sack a manager because there is a chance that it can have an adverse effect on the team and Gareth Southgate did, indeed, start the season alright and certainly improved on Steve McClaren's premiership finish in his first season. But with a string of poor results and having conceded 18 goals in 10 games we must start to look at where we go from here. I am almost certain that the stubborn Steve Gibson will stick by Southgate no matter what, and so it is from here that Southgate must do something to combat the fact that BORO are conceding too many goals. His quest for a more attacking BORO team has led to forfeiting his quality deffence.

BORO after Great Dane?

2007-10-20T13:33:00.000+01:00

Reports this week suggest that BORO, along with Chelsea and Real Madrid are holding interest in Danish superstar youngster Simon Kjaer.

The Under-19 Danish international centre-half has attracted attention from across Europe and remains highly regarded in his home land as one of the rising young stars of Danish football.

The interest from BORO can be linked back to the fact that the player's agent is former BORO striker and winner, with BORO, of Sky One's Premier League All stars Mikkel Beck.

International Call Up

2007-10-14T23:09:00.000+01:00

BORO star, Luke Young, today received the news that he has been waiting on for 2 years as former BORO boss Steve McClaren has given him a call up to the England side.

Young last appeared in an England shirt during an international friendly against Argentina back in 2005. But, after an impressive start to the season with new club BORO, Young has earned himself a call up to the squad as Ashley Cole was ruled out with an ankle injury picked up in the 3-0 win over Estonia.

Luke has made 7 appearances for England, helping the team to victory in 6 of those games and his call up marks the 3rd BORO player to feature in the England side this year, with Jonathan Woodgate and Stewart Downing having already made appearances.

If Young can help England to win their next Euro 2008 qualifier against Russia, then they will automatically qualify for the finals of the competition in Austria and Switzerland next year.

Meanwhile, BORO defender Andrew Taylor was in action for the England under-21s against Montenegro, on Friday night at The Walker's Stadium. England edged to a 1-0 victory when Blackburn's Matt Derbyshire finished off from a superb through ball by Newcastle's James Milner.

In other BORO news, striker Jeremie Aliadiere has suffered a further setback in his return to fitness after a recurrence of the injury that has ruled him out for a number of weeks, during a training session.
Aliadiere had this to say to The Northern Echo, "I had been running and sprinting and going well but I have been feeling some discomfort in training this week so I will have to take it easy."

A Boost For 'Mad Dog'

2007-10-11T22:42:00.000+01:00

BORO boss Gareth Southgate was given a further boost today ahead of the international break as he awaits the return of key players from injury.

Influential Austrian defender Emanuel Pogatetz has announced that he is aiming to back for first team selection within two weeks, just in time for the big clash with Manchester United at Old Trafford.

Pogatetz has been out of action since pre-season after suffering a severe knee injury, which required surgery. A major setback for one of last season's best players in a BORO shirt, who had come to form a formidable partnership with Jonathan Woodgate.

However, Pogatetz's return to the first team wont be as easy as he would have hoped with youngster David Wheater in such good form so far this season and with Chris Riggot back fit and fighting for his place.

Also this week, BORO defender and local lad Andrew Davies has joined Championship side Southampton on a 3 month loan deal in hope of securing a permanent move in January.

Davva has been a good player for BORO in recent seasons, always reliable and prepared to give his all for the BORO in any defensive position and I'm sure that he'll be well missed by many BORO fans. But BORO Blog would like to wish him good luck with The Saints and hope that he is able to secure a permanent move in January so that he can start to play regular first team football.

Davies made 27 first team appearances for BORO last season and managed to net 3 goals during a successful loan period with Derby County in the 2005-2006 season.

Yet Another Defeat

2007-10-07T21:04:00.000+01:00

Manchester City 3 - 1 BORO

Boro fell to yet another defeat today as they were well and truly mashed by Manchester City at The City of Manchester Stadium.

Yes. BORO were once again run ragged as City went 3-0 up with an Elano double, before youngster Ben Hutchinson grabbed a late consolation in his first ever first team appearance for BORO.

With an injury ravaged squad, manager Gareth Southgate had to start with a 4-5-1 formation; forced to remove Dong Gook Lee from the squad through injury and giving 20-year-old Tom Craddock his first Premiership start. With Mido and Aliadiere out injured and Tuncay, though on the bench, not at full fitness it was hard to see how BORO even hoped to snatch a goal against an on fire Manchester City side.

Once again, BORO conceded an early goal as Martin Petrov's corner was agonisingly steered past Mark Schwarzer by BORO defender Chris Riggot after just 8 minutes and so BORO were, once again, on the back foot trying to get themselves back into the game.

BORO did try to mount a comeback, but with just one striker and their typical reluctantness to push forward they never really looked as threatening as City with only a Lee Cattermole header, saved by Joe Hart, to take note of.

The 35th minute brought a speedy counter attack as City exposed BORO's frailty pushing forward and it was Elano, with a superb drive into the bottom corner that gave his team the 2-0 lead that would surely sink BORO.

Tom Craddock came out for the second half fired up and determined to launch BORO back into the game and he was presented with a great chance to bag his first Premiership goal, but was thwarted by Joe Hart who dived at Craddock's feet to stop the shot. Tuncay made his speedy return from injury as he replaced George Boateng for the second half, perhaps Southgate's attempts to bolster BORO's fire power.

But, just a quarter of an hour into the second half, Craddock made way for fellow youngster 19-year-old Ben Hutchinson to make his BORO first team debut and what better time to make his debut than when BORO were 2-0 down away from home?

But less than 5 minutes later BORO conceded a free-kick and so Gareth Southgate saw his team's day get even worse as Elano stepped up and struck a superb shot into the top corner of the net to give City a 3-0 lead and to end BORO's hopes of a revival.

Elano then received the standing ovation that he deserved as boss Sven-Goran Eriksson subbed him with just over 10 minutes left to play.

But City hadn't finished just yet, Mark Schwarzer was kept on his toes till the end as first Ireland, then Petrov lashed in attempts to make it 4-0 but Schwarzer produced a series of world class saves to spare total embarrassment, before BORO youngster Ben Hutchinson pounced on Tuncay's spilled shot, at the other end, to bag his first senior goal in his first Premiership appearance.

A mere consolation at best, though, for BORO as they slumped to yet another defeat and with just their 3rd goal in 5 games.

"We planned to keep things tight. But we were on the back foot after an early set-piece.

"We had as much possession as them and created chances. But we are giving away sloppy goals and that costs you games." - BORO Boss, Gareth Southgate.

Jezza Boost

2007-10-03T19:57:00.000+01:00

Boro pace-man, Jeremie Aliadiere, has set his sights on a return to action and has announced that he is wishing to be fit for the big home clash with Chelsea in just under 3 weeks.

Aliadiere limped out of the 3-0 defeat to West Ham with a hamstring injury and was expected to be out for a while and, whilst the news will come as somewhat of a boost for Gareth Southgate, he will still be without 3 strikers and Julio Arca for some time after Mido was ruled out for 3 weeks with an injury that he aggravated in the 2-0 defeat at Goodison Park.

Southgate will have to go with Dong Gook Lee and youngster Tom Craddock in the few games before the return of Aliadiere and Mido, unless he decides just to put a complete stop to our goalscoring chances and play Lee, yet to score in the league, up front alone.

Glory and Disappointment

2007-10-01T11:47:00.000+01:00

Boro took a share of glory and disappointment, yesterday, as they cruised to the winners spot in this years hottest competition but were agonisingly crushed 2-0 away at Goodison Park in the 4 o'clock Sky Sports Live game.

Yes! Boro walked away as winners of one of the hottest, most unique footballing competitions in years.
All of last week, Sky One, presented the unique concept that is Premier League All Stars; legends, celebrities and fans all join forces to represent their Premier league teams in a week long tournament raising loads of money for charity.
Each team had a representation of 4 former professionals, 3 celebrities and 3 die hard fans; all playing for victory, their chosen charity and, of course, pride.

Boro lined up with former legends Jim Platt (goalie), Graig Hignett (Forward), Mikkel Beck (Forward) and Bernie Slaven (Forward) with celebrities Alistair Griffin (Singer and Boro Fan), Mark Stobbart (Actor & Boro Fan) and Gary Havelock (Speedway legend & Boro Fan) and finally, the fans, Steven Aithwaite (Sports Lecturer, Thornaby) Tony Rovardi (Ice-cream Cone Manufacturer, Acklam) and Julian McGuire (IT Consultant, Ealing).

Boro opened with a classic local derby against Newcastle. A cagey battle that ended in a 3-3 draw. The teams went to penalties and it was Boro who walked out victorious, Mikkel Beck scoring the winning penalty in sudden death.

Through other results in Boro's group, they made it to the quarter finals where they beat Birmingham City 2-0 thanks to Bernie Slaven and an unbelievable strike from IT Consultant Julian McGuire.

The Semi-finals threw up another derby clash, this time against Sunderland and, with another 2-0 win, Boro booked their place in the Premier League All Stars final against West Ham, who knocked out Manchester United in the semis.

Boro dominated the early exchanges of the final but, unfortunately went 1 down before the break and were thankful for some Jim Platt heroics in goal. Despite having had a longer preparation for the final, Boro looked the more tired and sluggish in the second half and it was only through a series of squandered chances and a lucky clearance off the line from Hignett, which ricocheted off the post, that Boro didn't concede more.

Craig Hignett was then the hero at the other end after his rebounded shot squirmed under Hammers goalkeeper Allen McKnight. So Boro were level and Mikkel Beck was looking the best he'd been all tournament; jinking round the Hammers players and providing chances for the other Boro stars.

With 1 minute remaining it seemed that the game was going to go to penalties. But the unique nature of All Stars is that the final minute is 'Power Play', where goals count double and so both teams were pushing to grab that vital goal when, Mikkel Beck received possession in the middle of the park, before beating 2 Hammers players and playing the ball through to Alistair Griffin in the 6-yard area who calmly slotted the ball under the goal keeper to give Boro a 3-1 advantage with just 20 seconds remaining.

The Hammers quickly rallied and forced to grab a last gasp goal, but the Final whistle came and Boro had won the 2007 Sky One Premier League All Stars and £100,000 for the Butterwick Children's Hospice and Teesside Hospice.

Sadly the 'real' Boro were defeated 2-0 away to Everton, despite creating any number of chances. But failing to take the chances they had Gareth Southgate's men had to sit back and watch Everton take the lead by 1, then 2 goals.
I don't really want to dwell too much on the bad Boro news for 2 reasons. Firstly it's better to look at the good news from yesterday and, secondly, this post is already really long.

Sky Sports Sunday Clash

2007-09-29T23:11:00.000+01:00

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?

2007-09-18T14:04:00.000+01:00

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

2007-09-18T12:26:00.000+01:00

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!

2007-09-13T13:02:00.000+01:00

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

2007-09-06T10:50:00.000+01:00

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.

Ins and Outs

2007-08-31T23:38:00.000+01:00

A Round Up of Boro's ins and outs with less than half an hour to go till the transfer deadline

Ins
So far, Boro have only completed two signings since that of Mido just over a week ago and that is that they've signed fellow Egyptian international Mohammed Shawky on a 3-year deal, from African club champions Al Ahly for just £650,000.

Shawky, like captain George Boateng, is a defensive midfield player and has earned over 40 caps for Egypt and, by all accounts, has really impressed Boro officials, including Gareth Southgate, during his trial period at Rockliffe park.

Another confirmed 'in' for Boro is 24-year-old midfielder Garry O'Neil from Portsmouth. The two clubs agreed on a £5 million fee for the player, who will fix Boro's ongoing right sided midfield problem, earlier today and had been undergoing a medical.
However the deal looked to be scrapped as O'Neil, suffering from a long-standing ankle problem, failed his medical and Boro looked to re-negotiate terms.
It is now believed that the fee will be based on O'Neil's appearances as boss, Gareth Southgate attempts to avoid the mistake he made when signing Robert Huth for £6 million from Chelsea, after he failed a medical with a similar problem.

One potential 'in' for Boro is Manchester City's Georgias Samaras, who has been left out of Sven's squad for the weekend and has reported showed keen interest to stay in England, after being told he could leave. Boro's interest was made public earlier in the week, though no deal has been thrashed out and it looks likely that the deadline will come before a deal is completed.

Just a quick word on the 'outs' for Boro. The club, today, confirmed that Jason Euell, who failed to make it big at Boro, has joined Southampton on a free transfer and will fit straight into their squad for this weekends game.

Also Boro have confirmed that they have allowed local lad, David Knight (goalkeeper) join Swansea on a one-year deal to cover Dorus De Vries.

Carling Cup Win

2007-08-29T21:40:00.000+01:00

...and thanks to a first Boro goal for Dong Gook Lee

Middlesbrough 2 - 0 Northampton Town

Boro have recorded a home win in their Carling cup 2nd round clash against Northampton Town thanks to a 66th minute goal from South Korean striker Dong Gook Lee and a superb 35-yard free-kick from Fabio Rochemback.

Boro, who lined up with 6 changes to the side that drew to Newcastle on Sunday, began the game, as expected, on top of their opposition and Tuncay came close to a chance in the opening 10 seconds, but was thwarted by a last ditch tackle.

Stewart Downing and Adam Johnson started well and brought plenty of pace along both wings with captain for the evening Luke Young overlapping on the right. Fabio Rochemback also continued his good start to the season, in the centre of midfield, alongside youngster Lee Cattermole who was handed a chance to stake his claim as a first choice centre midfielder.

Dong Gook Lee, Boro's South Korean 'yet to score' striker, was also handed a start alongside new boy Tuncay. Lee and Tuncay got along well together and were provided with some excellent service from the wings. Lee came close with a left foot volley after a great cross from the right by Adam Johnson, before Stewart Downing saw a left foot strike sail just over the bar.

However Northampton proved to be good on the break and nearly gave Boro an early upset as Brad Johnson saw his long range effort parried by Boro keeper, Brad Jones, and Ian Henderson's follow-up diving header ricocheted off the post.

Worryingly, Boro received a further defensive blow as Andrew Davies had to leave the field and went straight down into the dressing room to receive treatment for a blow to the head that grounded the local lad for several minutes. Davies returned to a round of applause after having had 4 stitches applied to his head wound. But the tough defender was still looking a bit shaky and, after just 2 minutes back on the pitch, captain Luke Young indicated to the Boro bench that Davies needed to come off. After just 36 minutes played, fellow youngster Seb Hines stepped into the fold and slotted straight into Davies centre-back spot.

After his earlier fumble, Boro keeper Brad Jones was looking a little uncomfortable in goal and seemed reluctant to command his box, frustrating David Wheater who had to clear the ball for a corner when Jones failed to come for the ball.

Boro created further chances, at the other end, as first Dong Gook Lee glanced his header just wide from an Adam Johnson cross, then Johnson likewise narrowly missed the target with his effort as Downing crossed to the near post.

The teams went, frustratingly, into the break at 0 - 0 after both sides had created good chances to score.

Just 8 minutes into the second period Boro won a free kick, but from 35 yards out and with Fabio Rochemback hovering over the ball, the fans mustn't have been feeling optimistic. But Rochemback showed that every now and then he can pull something special out of the hat, with a superb 35-yard drive into the bottom left corner of the goal and Boro were 1-0 up.

There were more chances to come, but with both teams looking unlikely to score, even with the game being billed as a 3, 4 or 5 nil Boro win. On the stroke of 66 minutes, however, Stewart Downing cut in from the right and played the ball infield before it fell to Dong Gook Lee, who turned past one defender then turned onto his right foot to slam a 20-yard shot into the back of the net to score his first ever Boro goal.

5 minutes after the goal Stewart Downing made way for new fan favourite Mido, who received a standing ovation as he came onto the pitch. Boro switched Tuncay to the right and Johnson onto the left, whilst Mido and Lee held the front line before temporary captain was swapped for full time captain as George Boateng replaced Luke Young, who had put in another strong performance with a clearance off the line from an Ian Henderson effort.

Adam Johnson capped his great performance with another superb, right-footed cross, this time to Mido who agonisingly struck the bar with his headed attempt.

Mido continued creating chances into the final minutes and could have had a hat-trick of goals, but saw his angled shot from outside the box saved and a second effort curl just wide. Tuncay was also presented with a late chance but the opportunity seemed too good to be true and, in the end, he took to long over the weak shot that was easily saved by Bunn.

Attendance: 11,686
Boro Blog Man of the Match: Fabio Rochemback

"See 'Yak' Later!"

Boro said "See Ya' Later" to Yakubu, today, as the Nigerian goalscorer was handed a work permit following a successful appeal from Everton, after original applications were denied due to Yakubu opting out of Nigeria's 2006 World Cup campaign to focus on his training for Boro. Meaning that the player did not meet the required number of internationals to automatically qualify for a work permit.

Yakubu joins Everton in a club record fee of £11.25 million after joining Boro just 2 years ago for only £7.5 million. Good news for Boro though as they make a near £4 million profit on Yak and reports suggest that Gareth Southgate will be looking to add some of the money towards bringing in 'big Sam'. No, don't worry Sam Allerdyce isn't making a playing comeback, not at his age and weight, he'll be staying as the Toon Boss for the time being. I am talking about Manchester City's tall, Greek striker Georgios Samaras, who looks set to leave City as Sven has told the player he wont feature in the club plans and that he can look for a new club. Samaras' agent has announced that a number of European clubs have expressed interest in the player, but he wishes to stay in England opening the door for Boro who, as yet, are the only premiership club reported to be interested.

"We are still in negotiations to try and sort something out.

"There is interest from all over Europe in Georgios, but he wants to stay in England."

"Middlesbrough is a big club and we will wait and see what happens."

Racist Geordie Scum!

2007-08-27T20:45:00.002+01:00

"Mido, Mido, he's got a bomb you know!"

I didn't mention anything yesterday in my match report of the Tyne - Tees derby, but today I thought 'What the hell', its my blog and something has to be said about the Newcastle fans who seem to have gone unpunished for their sickening racist slurs on Boro striker Mido.
Action was swiftly taken on the international stage when black English under-21 players were subjected to racist abuse from fans and players and there has been similar action involving teams been punished for fan behavior, in Europe. However, as yet, there appears to have been no action taken against Newcastle as all 3000 traveling fans joined in racist chants directed at Boro's new Egyptian striker, Mido.
"Mido, Mido, he's got a bomb you know!" The Newcastle fans shouted throughout the game, but this only fired up the big front man, who abruptly told them to "Shut it!" as he bagged Boro's equaliser right in front of them and then ran over to the fans to further make his point. (below)

Mido was subsequently booked for his celebration, quite an injustice Gareth Southgate thought; that a crowd of people can get away with racism, something that was supposed to have been kicked out of football; the Geordies obviously missed that one, whereas one player can get punished for telling them to shut up and another point worth mentioning is that Charles N'Zogbia also went unpunished as he ran over to and taunted Boro fans in the North Stand after scoring his opener. I struggle to understand how telling people to "shut it" after they subject you to racist chants can be worse than overtly taunting people after you just scored past them.
"It's OK for 3,000 to abuse one person. But when the boot is on the other foot, he gets punished."

Derby Draw

2007-08-26T19:48:00.000+01:00

Middlesbrough 2 - 2 Newcastle United

Boro earned a well deserved 2 - 2 draw with local rivals Newcastle today after twice coming back from a goal down.

Boro started the game quick and sharp, immediately creating early chances, as new boys Jeremie Aliadiere and Mido linked in together superbly.

Just 5 minutes into the game and Newcastle's Steven Carr had to be substituted after he fell victim to what appeared to be a pulled hamstring, he was replaced by Peter Ramage.
Newcastle then turned the game and started creating some chances, though proving fruitless as Obafemi Martins skewed horribly wide and Alan Smith was denied by a superb last minute challenge from in form captain George Boateng.

However, somewhat against the run of play, Newcastle took the lead on 22 minutes as Charles N'Zogbia checked in from the left and launched a superb right foot strike into the top corner, giving Mark Schwarzer no chance.

Just minutes later, Fabio Rochemback picked out home debutant Mido, in the box, who passed Rozehnal and Taylor like they weren't there before rounding stand-in goalie Steve Harper and slotting the ball into the net just in front of the traveling supporters, who he then taunted (below).

Mido's goal injected excitement back into the home crowd who got behind the Boro to spark a late attack in the first half.

Rochemback saw his low drive palmed just wide by Harper, whilst his midfield partner Arca had a shot parried from through a crowded penalty box.

Adding to big Sam Allerdyce's injury concerns, Peter Ramage who replaced injured Steve Carr was stretchered off with a bad knee injury, after a lengthy pause in play.
It was always going to happen and on the stroke of 77 minutes it did, former Boro favourite Mark Viduka fired Newcastle back into the lead, right in front of the away fans. Perhaps respectfully, Viduka did not celebrate the goal as his fellow team mated crowded round to congratulate him.

Boro had a scare late on as Jeremie Aliadiere was knocked unconscious and was out for several minutes, with Boro physio Chris Moseley rushing on to tend to the Frenchman. As with Peter Ramage, earlier, Aliadiere had to be stretchered off to a standing ovation from the home crowd.

Mark Schwazer was having, by far, an uneasy afternoon and kept the home fans on edge as he half-heartedly punched clear a series of crosses and failed to leave his goal line to challenge for the ball and his kicks were equally, if not more so, atrocious; struggling to pick out a red shirt on more than one occasion.

But Boro, once again, equalised within minutes when a series of missed chances and a misplaced cross which found Tuncay, who attempted to deliver the ball back into the box. The ball fell to Arca who drilled a left foot volley past a static Steve Harper, sending the Boro fans wild.

After all of the stoppages from injuries, 5 minutes was added at the end of the game giving both teams a chance to grab the 3 points, but Boro defended strongly and mounted positive counter attacks to secure a well deserved draw.

Attendance: 28,875
Boro Blog Man of the Match: George Boateng
Gareth Southgate's view

Mendi is Delusional

2007-08-26T19:32:00.000+01:00

"We have been doing all we can to help Gaizka find another club and will continue to do so, but there is NO chance of him gaining a place in the Middlesbrough squad."

Gaizka Mendieta told earlier this week of how he had not been told to leave Boro and would therefore stay and fight for a place in Gareth Southgate's starting 11, despite not being issued a squad number.
Boro's chief executive, Keith Lamb, confirmed that he has held talks with all of the player's representatives about moving away from Boro as he has no future in Southgate's team.
"We were amazed to read Gaizka's comments, as the club have held numerous talks with Gaizka, his agents and lawyers over an exit strategy for him,"

A Forgotten Star

2007-08-23T12:13:00.001+01:00

Mendieta - "I will fight"

A forgotten Boro star has, today, told of how he will fight to regain a spot in at least Southgate's first 16.
Gaizka Mendieta has been with Boro since 2003 and has made over 80 appearances for the club. Restricted by a series of bad injuries, including a cruciate ligament injury that ruled him out of most of Boro's 2004/2005 season and a badly broken foot that kept him out of the game for much of 2005/2006.

Mendieta, who became an instant star with the Boro, produced his best performance in the unforgettable 4-1 home win over Man United in October 2005, where Gaizka scored Boro's first and second goals as he commanded the midfield from his favoured attacking midfield role after so long playing, largely unsuccessfully, on the right wing.

With George Boateng, Lee Cattermole, Fabio Rochemback, Julio Arca and new trialist Mohamed Shawky all in contention for Boro, it was expected that Gaizka would be looking for a new club in the summer, something which was all but confirmed as the club did not issue him with a squad number for this season.

However, after reports of 'Mendi' possibly making a move to MLS or home to Spain failed to turn true, the player will stay on at the Boro and he has insisted that he hopes to be staying and fighting for his place, come September 1st.
"I am working with the dream of doing good for Boro, I work to the same intensity each day and then it is up to the coach to decide who plays at the weekend.

"It is a real pain that the Boro fans have yet to see the real Mendieta

"I am hopeful of getting more chances this season."

Yakubu & Euell Head For The Exit

2007-08-22T19:09:00.000+01:00

The ongoing speculation over Yakubu Aiyegbeni's future has come to an end this afternoon as Boro officially confirmed that they have accepted a £12 million offer from Everton, for the Nigerian striker and the club have given Yakubu, who went AWOL from training earlier this week, permission to talk to the Merseysiders in an attempt to offload the out of form striker.
Yakubu cost Boro £7.5 million from Portsmouth just 2 years ago and has since found the net 35 times in over 100 games, helping Boro to the UEFA cup final in only their second year in the competition.

In a double headliner, today, it has emerged that Gareth Southgate has turned two-faced as he told 30-year-old Jamaican striker Jason Euell that he can start looking for a new club as he does not fit into the team plans, despite telling Euell just last month that he would see more action in the striker role this season after a productive pre-season run. Euell, who only arrived on Teesside 12 months ago and has settled well here, told of how he has been shocked by the turnaround from the boss, "Three weeks into pre-season and everything was going well and Gareth told me I would not be in the reckoning for midfield, so I would be classed as a striker. Then a few weeks later I am told I am not part of his plans - which is a strange turnaround."

New Brazilian Interests

2007-08-19T00:44:00.000+01:00

Sky Sports have reported that Boro are keen to bring in yet another striker, this time to replace Yakubu who's imminent move to Everton could be completed next week.
Afonso Alves netted 34 times in 31 games last season for Herenveen.
Click this post title to link to the full article

Catt's The Man...

2007-08-18T17:01:00.000+01:00

...But not without the help of Schwarzer.

Fulham 1 - 2 BORO

Boro clinched their first 3 points of the season today away at Fulham in an action packed game of injuries, disallowed goals and ridiculous amounts of added time.

The home side started the game quick and immediately mounted pressure against a Yakubu-less Boro team, but Boro weathered the early storm and started creating some chances of their own with new signing Mido making an impressive debut start.

Something you don't see every week was that the match referee Lee Mason had to be substituted early on, making way for 4th official Andy D'Urso.

Mido and Tuncay started today's game in the attacking positions and Mido immediately showed that he is going to be a major player at the Boro. He went about the pre-match warm up with incredible maturity and positivity, leading the players and encouraging the team throughout and he carried his attitude onto the field.

Unfortunately for Boro fans, Fulham took the lead after 16 minutes when captain Brian McBride capitalised on some sloppy defending. However he sustained an injury in scoring the goal and had to be stretchered off to a round of applause from the home crowd.

Boro mounted a surge just before the break with Mido and Tuncay rousing the rest of the team to a positive end to the first half, which was extended by an incredible 6 minutes following the injuries to the referee and to McBride.

Tuncay was removed at half time and replaced with fellow new boy Jeremie Aliadiere who made an instant impact with Mido in helping Boro to be the better team of the second half.

Ten minutes into the second period Mido made Fulham keeper, Tony Warner, pay for a dreadful mistake by bagging his first Boro goal and giving his new team the equaliser.
Fulham constantly made chances to retake the lead but the Boro defence remained strong with Andrew Davies leading the back line and keeper Mark Schwarzer putting in a good display.

However Davies nearly gave Gareth Southgate a further defensive nightmare as Clint Dempsey lead into Davies face with an elbow, flooring the right back for several minutes. But Davies recovered and jumped back into action as Fulham looked to take 3 points.

Jeremie Aliadiere was presented a fantastic chance for his first Boro goal after Julio Arca showed great vision to play the ball through to Aliadiere, who was on side. But the Frenchman's pace got the better of him as he took a heavy touch around keeper, Warner, before fouling the defender attempting to take advantage of the chance.

A worry for Boro came when Mido, Boro's clear man of the match, seemed to twist his ankle and had to be replaced by Dong Gook Lee, though Mido later played down the injury live on BBC Radio Tees, saying "No, I'll be alright. It will be alright". Dong Gook Lee himself only lasted 20 minutes before he was substituted for Seb Hines as Southgate looked to defend the draw.

Warner made up for his earlier blunder when Boro defender David Wheater pulled off an outstanding control and bicycle kick which the keeper had to dive to push around the post.
Clint Dempsey was then presented with the best chance of the game when he some how managed to steer wide his shot from less than 5 yards, as goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer was beaten.

Then, 2 minutes before the end of normal time, Aliadiere mirrored the early pass to him from Arca by laying up the ball for young midfielder Lee Cattermole who took the shot first time and slotted the ball past Tony Warner, much to the delight of the Boro bench and the fans.

- Schwarzer
Fulham should have taken a point from the game as a late effort from David Healey, deep into the 5 minutes of injury time, was ruled by the referee not to have crossed the line as Mark Schwarzer scrambled the ball away. The linesman confirmed the referee's decision, but replays show that Boro were lucky as the ball had clearly crossed the line and would, undoubtedly, have been given had Schwarzer not reacted as quickly as he did to scramble the ball away from the goal.

Boro Going Egyptian

2007-08-17T13:29:00.000+01:00

I reported here on Boro Blog, last month, that Boro were looking to offer 2 of Egypt's top players a trial run at the club and today the MFC official website have released an article confirming that boss, Gareth Southgate, is handing trials to Emad Moteab and Mohammed Shawky.
Moteab is a 24-year-old striker who has found the net 12 times in 27 appearances for Egypt and has a good record with his club Al Ahly.
Fellow countryman and club colleague Mohammed Shawky is a 26-year-old midfielder with an incredible 42 caps under his belt and will join Moteab on trial at Boro next week as Gareth Southgate looks to strengthen his attacking options with ongoing speculation over Yakubu's future.
The Egyptian duo will meet up with international team mate Mido who signed a 4 year contract with Boro following his £6 million move from Spurs and the granting of his work permit on Wednesday.

The Worst Possible Start

2007-08-16T10:47:00.001+01:00

Boro have got their new season off to the worst possible start with 2 defeats in 5 days.
The away defeat to Wigan, last night, marked Boro's second defeat of the season so far, after just 2 games played. Both teams started the game slowly and created very few chances. Wigan edged the first half, though it was 0-0 at half time, with new boys Antoine Sibierski and Jason Koumas putting on a good display.
Tuncay was, once again, Boro's best player of the first half and played well along the right wing, exposing Kevin Kilbane's inability to block a series of pin-point cross-field balls directed at the Turkish international. Tuncay and Aliadiere looked hot and were definitely on the same page with a series of clever one-twos and some good link up play.
The two teams went into the break at 0-0 and Boro Boss Gareth Southgate would have certainly been happy to take a draw into half time after they failed to create many chances. A slight scare for Boro came just before half time when Stewart Downing turned awkwardly and appeared to twist his knee. Downing looked uncomfortable as he limped around, reluctant to receive possession, in the remaining few minutes of the half.
Wigan started the second half stronger than the first and were mounting a series of attacks against Boro before, 9 minutes into the second half, a deflected drive from Antonio Valencia could only be parried by Boro keeper, Schwarzer, into the path of Antoine Sibierski who bundled the ball over the goal line.
The goal gave Wigan more confidence and they began to dominate the game, with Koumas ruling the midfield.
Boro did create a few chances, one from Stewart Downing who shrugged off his earlier injury to blast a low drive from the right which just needed a tough from anyone to direct it into Chris Kirkland's goal. Downing created another chance a few minutes later where his powerful drive from the right smashed off the Wigan goal post.
Wigan Continued their charge and were unlucky not to take more goals out of the second half and Boro began to look tired and their quality really dropped, misplaced passes and aimless long balls began to frustrate the fans who have been promised a more attacking and pacey style of football by Gareth Southgate.
Boro' problems were worsened when Southgate decided to substitute Boro's best player of the game, Tuncay. The decision was not taken well by the fans who booed as Tuncay was subbed by Adam Johnson.
Then Boro were given more cause for concern as Jeremie Aliadiere picked up a knock and looked uneasy forcing Gareth Southgate to make the decision to substitute him for Lee Cattermole. Lanky defender, David Wheater, was dispatched up front to accompany Dong Gook Lee who had earlier replaced Yakubu, as Cattermole made up a 5 man midfield.

Mido, was in the stands with chief executive Kieth Lamb to watch the game and, if all goes to plan, Southgate will be hoping to have the big Egyptian available for selection on Saturday against Fulham after his transfer from Spurs was finalised before yesterday's game.

"It's important to keep strengthening the squad because we're short of experienced players.

"I've been wanting a centre-forward who can hold up the ball. He has got a physical presence and can be a leader on the field.

"Ultimately he has to score goals as well and I think Mido has all those attributes." Boro boss Gareth Southgate said after the game.

Fee Agreed for Mido

2007-08-14T19:13:00.000+01:00

Boro today revealed that they have had a fee agreed by Tottenham for their Egyptian striker Mido.
Mido has fallen out of favour at Spurs after the arrival of Dimitar Berbatov, last season, and Darren Bent, this summer, along with Robbie Keane and Jermaine Defoe already at the club and Tottenham have allowed him to spend today in Teesside to tour the Boro training complex and to undergo a medical.
Boss, Gareth Southgate, was hit by a startling eye-opener on Saturday after Boro crashed to a 2-1 defeat at home to Blackburn despite taking a 1-0 lead into the break and despite also fielding new boys Tuncay and Aliadiere along with last season's top scorer, Yakubu Aiyegbeni. Having sold James Morrison to West Brom, for 1.5 million, Southgate has been left with absolutely no one to cover the right wing except new striker Tuncay who can also play in that position leaving just Yakubu as a proven Boro goalscorer up front with Lee Dong Gook and Jeremie Aliadiere still to score for the Boro, the former of whom has not scored since signing for Boro last January.
It has been suggested that a fee of around £6 million has been agreed for the Egyptian forward who was a hit with Spurs fans upon his arrival on loan from Roma 2 seasons ago, scoring on his debut, but has since withered away leading to a less than outstanding record. Gareth Southgate is hopeful that everything will go off without a hitch and that he can secure his 5th signing of the summer within the next 36 hours "We've agreed a fee with Tottenham and that's enabled us to have Mido up to see us and he's currently in the process of having a medical, all the talks have been very positive and I don't see the medical being too much of a problem for him."

Some Concern

2007-08-02T15:03:00.001+01:00

Boro have something of a defensive concern for the start of the new season.

Emanuel Pogatetz is the latest victim of the Boro injury curse, he is today undergoing an operation to correct a knee injury that will probably see him miss several games at the start of next season. Whilst Gareth Southgate is remaining hopeful of only losing England

international defender, Jonathan Woodgate, for the first 2 weeks of the season after he sustained an injury picked up during the summer. Meanwhile Chris Riggott is also set to miss the start of the new season with a badly bruised foot, long suffering German defender Robert Huth is still recovering from an ankle problem that has hampered his Boro career since joining from Chelsea last season and injury-prone youngster, Matthew Bates, will again be out of action for several months after a cruciate injury picked up during the pre-season win over Darlington. All these injuries mean that Southgate's back four will pick itself with only Andrew Davies and David Wheater fit to play in the centre-back position, the latter of whom has had a positive pre-season and has looked sharp and ready to challenge for his 1st team place, at least whilst 1st choice Pogatetz and Woodgate are out.

There Were Others

2007-07-27T23:45:00.000+01:00

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!

2007-07-26T18:47:00.001+01:00

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

2007-07-25T23:48:00.000+01:00

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

2007-07-24T22:23:00.000+01:00

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

2007-07-24T15:05:00.000+01:00

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

2007-07-23T08:00:00.000+01:00

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?

2007-07-20T23:30:00.000+01:00

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

2007-07-17T21:19:00.000+01:00

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!

2007-07-16T14:24:00.000+01:00

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?

2007-07-14T19:07:00.001+01:00

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

2007-07-10T00:03:00.000+01:00

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

Not much on the boro Front

2007-06-28T18:23:00.000+01:00

Not a great deal has being going on at Boro since the signing of Tuncay Sanli, or atleast not a great deal has been publicised. The only news I can dig out to tell is that the Boro are looking to sign the Icelandic international defender Gretta Steinsson from AZ Alkmaar for £2 million. AZ had originally valued the right back at £4 million, but seem to be caving in to a lower fee in order to get business done.
Also, whilst I had been opposed to Liverpool signing Fernando Torres from Atletico Madrid, because Atletico are my Second team, I now have mixed feelings about it because I have read today that if a deal does go through then Liverpool may be open to offers for their lanky England striker, Peter Crouch, whom Boro boss Gareth Southgate is interested in adding to his squad following the upset of failing to secure a move for Alan Smith, after the player announced that he would only be interested in a move to a club playing European football.

Tuncay on Board

2007-06-23T23:08:00.000+01:00

Photo Courtesy of MFC Official Site

Turkish International Tuncay Sanli has signed for Boro, now subject to him being granted a
work permit. Boro Chief Executive, Kieth Lamb, anticipates no problems in him being granted the permit and is delighted to finally have the Turk on board, "We're delighted that Tuncay has committed his future to Middlesbrough. He is a major star in Turkey so it is a big coup for us to have signed a player of his quality on a free transfer."
Sanli spent the last 2 days at Boro's Rockliffe Park
training facility and has now returned home for a break before joining up with the Boro for their pre-season tour of Austria.
The MFC official site has reported that Tuncay requested to be given the number 17 shirt, the same number he wears for the Turkish national side.

2nd Signing

2007-06-21T12:28:00.000+01:00

Boro completed their second transfer of the summer yesterday as Jeremie Aliadiere signed a 3 year deal with an option on a fourth year after that.
It has now been revealed that the deal cost Boro £2million, but they have finally got the man that they have been trying to bring in since last season.

Smith?

2007-06-17T19:40:00.000+01:00

Sky sports have reported that Boro are set to make inquiries about Manchester United striker, Alan Smith. It has been made clear that United are not going to offer Smith a new contract after a poor run following a series of frustrating injuries and rumour has it that Boro boss Gareth Southgate is making inquiries about the player's availability.
Unwanted as it may be for many of the Boro faithful, it appears set that Yakubu will be leaving the riverside after just 2 seasons, with his former club Portsmouth, seemingly leading the chase to bring him in. Yakubu's departure would leave Southgate on the back foot despite having agreed deals for Jeremie Aliadiere and Tuncay Sanli, as there would only be 3 strikers left at the club. But if Boro could seal a move for Smith then they would be back up to 4 and with a massive overhaul of Boro's striking force. Each of the strikers will have been a Southgate acquisition, with Dong Gook Lee arriving last January.
Meanwhile, Everton are attempting a bid for Boro and England Winger Stewart Downing. It has been known for a long time that Tottenham have been highly interested in local Boro lad, Downing, but it has appeared that Everton are mounting an interest after inquiries, from Boro, about Everton striker James Beattie. But all Boro fans will not hesitate to make next season a tough one for Southgate, if he was foolish enough to let one of, if not the, most important Boro player leave in pursuit of, in my opinion, a hardly prolific goal scorer. I know Southgate wants to make this team his own and to revitalise the squad, but he would be taking it way too far, if not a massive leap in the wrong direction, by selling Downing who, as far as I am aware, is happy to be playing for his home town club and has stressed in the past that he has no desire of leaving the club despite interest from arguably 'bigger' clubs.

Let's Back The Boro

2007-06-14T18:47:00.001+01:00

Actor and Boro Fan Mark Benton, who many people might recognize from those annoying Nationwide adverts, has pledged his commitment as a Boro fan, and has encouraged others to, by renewing their season tickets for next season.

This next season is being dubbed by chairman, Steve Gibson, and chief executive, Keith Lamb as a 'revolution' of the club. They both believe that Gareth Southgate is exercising his desire to revamp the team's image and the style of play and with news, released today by the Evening Gazette, that Boro have been quietly making a move for an unnamed "big-name international striker", Boro fans have every reason to be excited by what next season might hold for the club and have every reason to get behind the team by renewing their season tickets, so do it now!

Turkish Delight!

2007-06-13T12:42:00.000+01:00

I know, cheesy title.

Following my post, the other day, about Boro making bids for Diomansy Kamara and Tuncay Sanli, more developments have emerged. The latter of the two front-men has agreed personal terms with the club, snubbing a deal with newly promoted Birmingham City.
The turkish striker will join the club, subject to him passing a medical exam and will be Gareth Southgate's 3rd signing of the summer, following the £7million signing of former Real Madrid defender and local lad, Jonathan Woodgate and the imminent arrival of pacey French forward Jeremie Aliadiere, from Arsenal.

Boro's attacking presence had dwindled since the end of the season following the releases of Malcolm Christie, Danny Graham and (Traitor) Mark Viduka, leaving only Yakubu, who was said to be unhappy at the club and South Korean Dong Gook Lee, both of whom have not scored goals in the last 3 months of the season. So the arrival of two new, pacey, forwards is beginning to inject excitement into the Boro faithful as pace and youth have not been traits that have been associated with Boro's strike force for quite some time. Finally a manager has come into the club who is prepared to make big sacrifices to change the team's appearance. Steve Mclaren vowed to change the way Boro played football and aimed to be more attacking but ended up failing in that, despite 2 hugely successful seasons in the UEFA cup. Now Gareth Southgate has come in and has immediately started getting rid of players that we don't need in order to improve and build a younger, faster squad. Although, that said, Middlesbrough do have one of the youngest squads in the premiership and are definitely one of, if not the, leading club when it comes down to breeding its own talent. Over the course of last season Boro fielded more than 13 home grown talents, some of which have become regular members of Southgate's first team, these included England winger Stewart Downing, Jonathan Woodgate, Stuart Parnaby, Andrew Taylor, Andrew Davies, James Morrison, Lee Cattermole and Adam Johnson

One of my New Favouritest Blogs!

2007-06-11T23:04:00.000+01:00

I discovered this blog recently when searching for reviews on my favourite TV show at the moment, channel 5's PRISON BREAK!!
Sadly a super second season of the show has just finished, but according to imdb a 3rd series is due to start in August!! However, that is in the US so we British fans of the show will have to wait till probably the autumn time before we can get back to the action and, as in the 1st series, the second series has ended on a real cliff-hanger. Can't wait!

Head to Head

2007-06-11T16:44:00.000+01:00

It has been announced that Boro and newly promoted premiership rivals Birmingham City are in a head to head battle to sign both West Bromwich Albion's Senegalese Striker, Diomansy Kamara, and Fenerbahce's Turkish forward Tuncay Sanli. Boro have already been linked with Kamara since before the end of last season and currently stand favourites to sign the front-man to replace Mark Viduka, so long as he doesn't agree to stay with the baggies; something that is looking increasingly unlikely. However, Boro will have to be prepared to pay more than the £3.5 million bid that, it has emerged, Birmingham had rejected by West Brom.
Meanwhile, Tuncay Sanli of Fenerbahce has been monitored by Birmingham and Manager Steve Bruce believes that he would be the perfect player to spear-head Birmingham's new premiership assault. It is also known that Birmingham have been putting together a bid for the player and a deal that might tempt the Turkish international, who announced that a move to England was his top priority for next season. However Boro appear to be attempting to hijack the deal with a 'Teesside delegation', from the club, said to be heading out to Istanbul to try and persuade the player in person to join Boro. Boro may have the upper hand on a number of fronts, however, as it is widely known that many clubs who are promoted to the top-flight are relegated again in their first season. But, perhaps more crucially, Sanli would be located just a short drive away from close friend and fellow country man Emre, who currently plays for Newcastle, though I'm sure that this second reason will not be any predominant reason for Sanli to turn down a move to the midlands.
Boro's Chief Executive Keith Lamb believes that Sanli would be an ideal replacement for Mark Viduka. With Arsenal's Jeremie Aliadiere already 'in the bag', Boro will be looking for a proven goal scorer,.

Brazilian Superstar Targetted

2007-06-10T00:19:00.000+01:00

Boro were, last week, made aware of the availability of "The Next Ronaldinho". The Brazilian youngster is famous for his astounding 'Seal Dribble', where he will chip the ball up, catch it on his head and proceed to run whilst bouncing the ball off his head, during competitive matches; stunning and then beating his opponents.

Some more videos of the 19-year-old wizard at work... http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Kerlon&search=Search

Boro Bag Gunner

2007-06-09T21:44:00.000+01:00

Middlesbrough FC today announced that Arsenal's 24-year-old French striker Jeremie Aliadiere has agreed, in principle, to join the club.
The striker, who bagged 4 goals last season for Arsenal, all of which came during a series of appearances in the club's Carling Cup run will complete his move within the next couple of weeks when he returns from his holiday.
Boro's chief executive, Keith Lamb "We have agreed a fee with Arsenal for Aliadiere and completed a deal with them...Everything is also agreed in principle with Jeremie and his transfer will be completed in the next couple of weeks, the only reason the deal hasn't already been completed is that the player is on holiday."

However the club have confessed that, whilst Aliadiere has the pace and youth that rookie boss Gareth Southgate wants to inject into his team, the striker is far from a replacement for recently departed hitman Mark Viduka. "Lamb made it clear that Boro do not see Aliadiere as a replacement for Mark Viduka, as he had been a transfer target many months before the Aussie's departure. But he believes the Rambouillet-born forward will prove a great addition to the Boro squad." - MFC official website.

Keith Lamb has also strongly denied recurring claims in the media that the club's second highest scorer of last season is unsettled and maybe following in Mark Viduka's footsteps and leaving the club. He insists that Nigerian Forward Yakubu Aiyegbeni will honour his contract with the club and fight for the position that he lost in the dying embers of last season, "We're looking forward to seeing Yak back for pre-season training and he's still very much part of our future."