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Post by Panda on Jul 14, 2007 13:15:55 GMT 1
I've finally decided to do one of these for Boro. How often I actually post in it will depend on how the season goes...
After I expected a season of struggle last season, I was pleasantly surprised with a season of mid-table mediocrity where we were never in any real danger of relegation, even though we only officially guaranteed our safety on the penultimate weekend of the season.
This season, I'm not sure about. I don't think we're going to be any worse but with other teams around us receiving huge injections of cash, they're likely to overtake us, meaning we'll be dragged towards the bottom. If the season started today, I think we'd probably end up in the bottom six (no-one's too good to go down but I reckon there's at least 3 teams worse than us). However, I think our summer spending is far from over and if we can make a couple of good signings we can be comfortable in mid-table. For the reasons I stated earlier though, I just don't think it's possible for us to finish in the top half this season.
The summer transfer activity has been encouraging. Getting Woodgate to sign permanently was a great move. Losing Viduka was undoubtledly a big blow but ultimately, we want players who are going to give their all for the club. The lessons of 10 years ago have been learned, whilst other clubs are only just learning the same lessons now. Jeremie Aliadiere has the potential to be a very exciting signing. Never got a proper chance at Arsenal but he did impress on the few occasions he was actually allowed to start a game. I'm not sure he'll be a first-choice striker at Boro but I wouldn't be surprised to see line up on the right-wing. Tuncay Sanli is a bit of an unknown quanitity. My first thought was "He plays up front for Turkey, he must be OK." then I found out Colin Kasim-Richards had just won his first cap for Turkey. Still, Tuncay is Fenerbahce's all-time leading scorer in the Champions League and once scored a hat-trick against Man U. We're still a full-back (we're after a guy called Steinsson from AZ Alkmaar but there's a disagreement over price) and midfielder short of where we need to be, I feel. It did look like we were going to cash in by selling Yakubu but as Portsmouth and Man City, the two clubs leading the chase, have just signed strikers, I we might keep the Yak (until, January at least). Then there's always the youngsters. The academy continues to produce solid players in almost every position but there are question marks over whether they have what it takes to succeed in the top flight. I've no doubts they'd do fine in the Championship (many of them have, on loan) but this is totally different and some of them need to step up. It's tough for them and they're effectively learning on the job and getting better as they go along but this season we can't afford any passengers. The mistakes have to be cut out in every area.
Today we play our first pre-season friendly, against Schalke. It's the first of 2 games in Germany. The result isn't particularly important but it would be nice to start with a win. I think Schalke are a few weeks into their pre-season though and are likely to be sharper.
These are the Premiership relegation odds. There seems to be a lot of disagreement between the various bookmakers. To show just how much, I'll list the longest and shortest price for each team: Derby (longest: 8/15, shortest: 4/9) Birmingham (longest: 6/5, shortest: 4/5) Wigan (longest: 5/4, shortest: evs) Fulham (longest: 2/1, shortest: 11/10) Sunderland (longest: 4/1, shortest: 11/4) Man City (longest: 9/2, shortest: 3/1) Reading (longest: 6/1, shortest: 10/3) Middlesbrough (longest: 7/1, shortest: 4/1) Bolton (longest: 7/1, shortest: 9/2) West Ham (longest: 10/1, shortest: 5/1) Portsmouth (longest: 12/1, shortest: 6/1) Everton (longest: 25/1, shortest: 16/1) Aston Villa (longest: 25/1, shortest: 14/1) Blackburn (longest: 25/1, shortest: 8/1) Newcastle (longest: 33/1, shortest: 16/1) Tottenham (longest: 400/1, shortest: 40/1) Arsenal (longest: 1000/1, shortest: 100/1) Liverpool (longest: 2500/1, shortest: 150/1) Man Utd (longest: 5000/1, shortest: 250/1) Chelsea (longest: 5000/1, shortest: 200/1)
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Robbie
Member
*Funky!*
Posts: 25,721
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Post by Robbie on Jul 14, 2007 14:03:10 GMT 1
It'll be interesting to see how Boro perform. I can't see you going down, but it may be a struggle unless the team can gel from the start. I'm still not convinced by your manager but he is still learning the ropes.
If the team can get off to a good start then a top 10 finish would be possible, but if you have a poor start it could be the start of a long and disappointing season, much like Newcastle's last time around.
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Post by Panda on Jul 14, 2007 14:15:16 GMT 1
The start will be key as we've got plenty of winnable games in the first couple of months. If things go well, we could have at least 15 points on the board by the end of September.
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Post by Panda on Jul 14, 2007 14:21:46 GMT 1
Boro's early league fixtures:
Aug 11: Blackburn (H) Aug 15: Wigan (A) Aug 18: Fulham (A) Aug 26: Newcastle (H) Sep 1: Birmingham (H) Sep 15: West Ham (A) Sep 22: Sunderland (H) Sep 30: Everton (A)
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Post by wonderwall on Jul 14, 2007 15:54:26 GMT 1
I'm a man utd fan and i hate it when we play boro you seem to have some voodoo over us you got a great record at old trafford
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Post by Panda on Jul 14, 2007 15:58:01 GMT 1
I'm a man utd fan and i hate it when we play boro you seem to have some voodoo over us you got a great record at old trafford Haha, yes! I did a thread about this a few months back with a table showing how many points teams had picked up at Old Trafford in the last 10 years. We were top along with Arsenal with 12 points.
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Post by wonderwall on Jul 14, 2007 16:06:58 GMT 1
I'm a man utd fan and i hate it when we play boro you seem to have some voodoo over us you got a great record at old trafford Haha, yes! I did a thread about this a few months back with a table showing how many points teams had picked up at Old Trafford in the last 10 years. We were top along with Arsenal with 12 points. i know every year it happens we get better results at the riverside i think you hav eonly lost 1 of the last seven at ot
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Post by Panda on Jul 14, 2007 16:09:01 GMT 1
Haha, yes! I did a thread about this a few months back with a table showing how many points teams had picked up at Old Trafford in the last 10 years. We were top along with Arsenal with 12 points. i know every year it happens we get better results at the riverside i think you hav eonly lost 1 of the last seven at ot Apart from the year we beat you 4-1... But yeah, we tend to do better at Old Trafford. Some great memories... Bernie Slaven pledging to show his arse if Boro won (Boro went and won 3-2) and also a few years ago when Juninho managed to score 2 headers...
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Post by wonderwall on Jul 14, 2007 16:14:15 GMT 1
i know every year it happens we get better results at the riverside i think you have only lost 1 of the last seven at ot Apart from the year we beat you 4-1... But yeah, we tend to do better at Old Trafford. Some great memories... Bernie Slaven pledging to show his arse if Boro won (Boro went and won 3-2) and also a few years ago when Juninho managed to score 2 headers... didnt bocskic score one year at old trafford and i can remember when there was all that business with Juninho penalty.I would be a bit worried if i was a boro fan this year the loss of viduka is a big one and i also heard schwarezer is on his way
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Post by Panda on Jul 14, 2007 16:21:31 GMT 1
Apart from the year we beat you 4-1... But yeah, we tend to do better at Old Trafford. Some great memories... Bernie Slaven pledging to show his arse if Boro won (Boro went and won 3-2) and also a few years ago when Juninho managed to score 2 headers... didnt bocskic score one year at old trafford and i can remember when there was all that business with Juninho penalty.I would be a bit worried if i was a boro fan this year the loss of viduka is a big one and i also heard schwarezer is on his way Yeah Boksic scored when we beat you 1-0. I think that was in Steve McClaren's first season as manager. I remember the penalty game as well. Wasn't it the first awarded against Man U at Old Trafford for 3 years or something. The United players were a disgrace in that game. I think we lost that game... I'm slightly worried for the coming season but a couple of signings could change all that. Especially if we manage to get Alan Smith. Viduka is a big loss but if his main motivation is money we're better off without him. Schwarzer's having his usual whinge (does it about every 18 months). He has a year left on his contract but won't sign another at the moment and has been linked with a move to Bayern Munich. However, he's just made a complete arse of himself in the Asian Cup so I reckon he'll probably stay. He needs to shut up and get on with the job though. If he doesn't want to play, he should just f**k off.
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Post by wonderwall on Jul 14, 2007 16:24:05 GMT 1
yeah you lost that game when beckham scored a soft winner.i reckon smith would fit in well at boro but i would be sad to see him leave but hes not guarateed first team football
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Post by Panda on Jul 14, 2007 16:27:48 GMT 1
yeah you lost that game when beckham scored a soft winner.i reckon smith would fit in well at boro but i would be sad to see him leave but hes not guarateed first team football He'd be a perfect fit for us. A battling midfielder who can get forward and support the front men. A Heskey-type player but with more skill. It's what we've been lacking in the last few years.
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Post by wonderwall on Jul 14, 2007 16:30:44 GMT 1
yeah you lost that game when beckham scored a soft winner.i reckon smith would fit in well at boro but i would be sad to see him leave but hes not guaranteed first team football He'd be a perfect fit for us. A battling midfielder who can get forward and support the front men. A Heskey-type player but with more skill. It's what we've been lacking in the last few years. you got some good players i see downing as a perfect replacement for giggs also Parnaby and Morrison re very good and Ive always admired boatengs battling quality's
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Post by Panda on Jul 14, 2007 16:39:33 GMT 1
He'd be a perfect fit for us. A battling midfielder who can get forward and support the front men. A Heskey-type player but with more skill. It's what we've been lacking in the last few years. you got some good players i see downing as a perfect replacement for giggs also Parnaby and Morrison re very good and Ive always admired boatengs battling quality's I'm sure there's a few clubs who would like Downing... I've always thought Parnaby was crap as a full-back, though a decent midfielder. He's just left for Birmingham on a free. I like James Morrison. Usually either scores or gets sent off against Man U. He can be inconsistent but he's in and out of the side a lot. Boateng's quality. He gives everything when he's out there. He's getting on a bit now but we have a ready-made replacement in Lee Cattermole. Adam Johnson is a young player to watch. He's a left-winger like Downing but is the main reason why we might decide to sell Downing eventually. Can also do a job on the right wing.
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Post by wonderwall on Jul 14, 2007 17:29:29 GMT 1
parnabys gone didnt know that
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Post by Panda on Jul 15, 2007 12:52:01 GMT 1
Schalke 3-0 Middlesbrough
Not a surprise result really. As I said yesterday, Schalke are well into their pre-season and Southgate was using this game to give all the available players a run-out.
A few first-teamers were missing with minor injuries and we were without our 2 first-choice goalkeepers as they're both on Asian Cup duty with Australia.
Incidentally, the game was played in Austria.
First-half team: Turnbull, Davies, Grounds, Pogatetz, Wheater, Boateng, Rochemback, Morrison, Johnson, Tuncay, Yakubu
Second-half team: Knight, Hines, Taylor, Pogatetz, Wheater, Euell, Kennedy, Cattermole, Johnson (Walker 65), Craddock, Yakubu (Morrison 72)
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Post by wonderwall on Jul 15, 2007 12:54:14 GMT 1
isnt yakubu going to man city?
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Post by Panda on Jul 15, 2007 12:58:11 GMT 1
isnt yakubu going to man city? It's been rumoured but they've just signed Bianchi for £8.8m so it's a bit less likely now. City are also being linked with Peter Crouch now. Yak was also linked with a move back to Portsmouth until they signed Nugent.
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Post by wonderwall on Jul 15, 2007 12:59:32 GMT 1
isnt yakubu going to man city? It's been rumoured but they've just signed Bianchi for £8.8m so it's a bit less likely now. City are also being linked with Peter Crouch now. Yak was also linked with a move back to Portsmouth until they signed Nugent. yakubu love splaying v man u he always scores
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Post by Panda on Jul 15, 2007 13:00:34 GMT 1
It's been rumoured but they've just signed Bianchi for £8.8m so it's a bit less likely now. City are also being linked with Peter Crouch now. Yak was also linked with a move back to Portsmouth until they signed Nugent. yakubu love splaying v man u he always scores He always used to score against us. I think that's why we signed him.
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