|
Post by Panda on Mar 31, 2009 20:33:00 GMT 1
Getting back to Boro, they will have a new kit supplier next season after signing a 4-year deal with Adidas. Boro's kits have been supplied by Errea since 1994.
|
|
frag
Member
*Paranoid Android*
I have no idea what you're talking about, so here's a bunny with a pancake on its head.
Posts: 25,374
|
Post by frag on Mar 31, 2009 23:02:30 GMT 1
And I've still never heard of Errea making anything else!
|
|
Tom
Member
*Of Royal Blood*
Posts: 15,419
|
Post by Tom on Apr 10, 2009 10:16:03 GMT 1
Interesting interview with Southgate in the Mail today. The thing that stood out for me was that Southgate said that if it was all about results he would go more direct with older players because then there would be a better chance of staying up. Sounds a bit like Mowbray's philosophy at West Brom.
EXCLUSIVE: Gareth Southgate, one of football's nice guys, faces up to his demons as the drop looms Last updated at 2:19 AM on 10th April 2009
Gareth Southgate turned up, that was the first surprise. Actually, he was even a little early for his engagement at an office within the drab boundaries of a charmless Middlesbrough business park.
He signed autographs and was polite and accommodating to just about all who crossed his path and, when he adjourned to have photographs taken on the banks of the Tees, he was obliging and helpful and nobly resisted the temptation to throw himself into the river below.
Normally, such basic human courtesy would be unremarkable, but this is football. Southgate is the manager of a club that appears increasingly destined for relegation, coming off the back of a 4-1 defeat at Bolton Wanderers. A lot of his contemporaries would have ducked public engagements but adversity is more likely to bring him out.
He is a serial facer of music. He sees it as his duty. ‘Stuart Pearce used to say that he knew my team’s result, even with the sound down,’ Southgate says. ‘If I was on television, he knew we’d lost.’
Southgate had arrived directly from a team meeting at the training ground in which much of the talk had been about responsibility, on and off the field. ‘When I got into the club this week I noticed that there were a lot of requests for our players, because so much of what we do involves the local community,’ he adds. ‘So, when we had the meeting about the Bolton game, I said that this is the time we have to front up, go into the community, go into the schools, go to functions and whatever comes our way. That is part of the job. ‘We’ve got to understand that we have not achieved as expected and take the flak. We like the pats on the back when it’s going well, but now there is no hiding place. I know what other people might be like. I’ve seen it.
‘But I was always the sort of player who went in front of the camera in defeat, and with such a young group of players I’ve got to give them a path in life, not just in football. That includes educating them on how to conduct themselves in public.’
The Middlesbrough manager is, you may already have gathered, one of the good guys. His chairman, Steve Gibson, is too. Asked to pick a club to survive the relegation scrap, most neutrals would identify Middlesbrough for this reason. Gibson is evangelistic about the need for a football club to invest in its young people and be a driving force within its community; Southgate is the managerial novice he chose to execute this project.
It has not gone well this season and tomorrow’s visit of Hull is critical. Gibson has already said he will stand by Southgate, even if the club is relegated, which has led to accusations of complacency on the manager’s part, or suggestions that he should set aside Gibson’s loyalty and stand down. Southgate rejects both opinions.
‘I don’t sit here smugly because Steve Gibson is my chairman,’ he says. ‘I’m not blind. I don’t think I am untouchable. I’m paid for results, paid to keep us in this league and that’s going to be a tall order. There are things I haven’t got right, things I haven’t dealt with soon enough in managing young players, and I will learn from that.
‘I know the budgets we are going to work with over the next two years and they might put more experienced managers off, but I want to fight for the chairman and repay his faith. His money is my responsibility and if we go down I know the cost in revenue, in jobs, I know what it means when, in the mollycoddled world of professional football, we have to start travelling to Plymouth Argyle by coach.
‘Steve is a ruthless businessman and he will make the right decision for his money, as much as for the football club.
‘If he genuinely thought someone could come in and fight fires like Sam Allardyce at Blackburn Rovers or Terry Venables here under Bryan Robson, then he would do it. He will judge the mood of the players, what is going on behind the scenes. I think the players are still giving me everything, but some have not got what we thought they had. So changes will have to be made, either me or them.
‘I have a thing about people resigning. If you walk away from one challenge it will become a habit. Is this what we do when life gets difficult? Quit? I’ve seen that happen and I’ve never been too impressed.
‘I accept the risk that I might get the sack, but I will not add to it. Roy Keane left Sunderland and they won the next couple of games, but who is to say that would not have happened under him? You’ve got to persevere and hang in through difficult times.
‘I have a philosophy of how I want to play and how I want to run this club. If it was just about survival, if it was just about me, then I’d go more direct with older players because then we might have a better chance of staying up and I’d have more credibility as a manager and currency to move on — but that isn’t the basis on which I took the job.
‘We were going to bring the Academy on — I wasn’t going to ask the chairman to go into debt just to suit my personal ambitions. If we survive there will be satisfaction, if we don’t we will go down doing what we believe in. I played in a long-ball team at Crystal Palace, I could do that again if I wanted.’
The irony is that, a bit like Tony Blair’s pronouncements during the Iraq War, Southgate’s speeches play better abroad than at home. From afar it is grand to see a manager sticking to his principles and a club loyal to its community, but some supporters are more concerned about exchanging Manchester United for Peterborough United, Sir Alex Ferguson for his son, Darren. They are the ones protesting forcefully on match-days and their anger will only increase if Middlesbrough fail to win tomorrow. ‘At times you only hear the loudest voices, the ones giving you stick,’ Southgate says. ‘I know what we are trying to do here and some people have not got the patience for it. That is why managers go so quickly these days. Action is immediate, reaction is immediate, but this is Steve’s club and he has patience. He has looked at the long-term picture because he understands that we could not keep going with an £85million debt.
‘People say you cannot afford to fall out of the league, but I would say that sometimes you cannot afford to stay in it — not the way we were going. Something had to be done differently. We might suffer for that short-term, but I think Steve is right to act and we cannot keep relying on him to bail us out. We have to assess what the club can afford based on its level of support.
‘Maybe we have taken the Premier League for granted. Are we that much bigger than many of the teams in the Championship? There are a lot of big clubs out there in a worse position than us. We have to get things in perspective.
‘I think Middlesbrough can be a Premier League club and I think we should have done better as a group, but there is no guarantee of survival, as there may have been three years ago when our finances were more robust.
‘I know what it used to be like here. We wanted to attract experienced players but we had to pay a high premium to get them, perhaps offer them longer contracts than we could justify.
‘A lot of our players retired, which tells you something. We had players like Ray Parlour who could barely get on the field in his last year here — that could not continue.’ Gibson is not in absolute agreement. He defends the level of investment in the club, while acknowledging its shortcomings. ‘We get £8m through the gate and it costs me £4m to run the Riverside Stadium,’ he explained. ‘So every year just to survive we have to slay a dragon and it will burn you eventually. ‘The town does not give me 55,000 people paying £30 a ticket — but almost a quarter of the (135,000) population turn up to watch every week and they provide our raw material, the young players, so I am grateful.
‘This area produces a phenomenal amount of kids but the way football has gone, for all that we are trying to do here, this is still the most expensive squad I have ever had. People talk about the days of Fabrizio Ravanelli and Juninho, but they cost just over £10m, the pair. We have got six players of £5m or over in our current squad — and £5m is the record signing at Hull City.’ The football club exists for sporting glory, Gibson will insist, but clearly he sees equal worth in its local significance.
All players are contracted to four hours’ community work each week, and one quarter of the Riverside Stadium is the Willie Maddren Centre, where each year 220 staff educate 12,000 local children on the benefits of healthy living and exercise.
Gibson is scornful of modern politics as a medium for social change. ‘The Labour Party is just full of career politicians these days, public schoolboys, everything is theory,’ he adds. ‘We have estates in Middlesbrough that have an average male life expectancy of 51, worse than some of the Third World. The job of the football club is to be the flagship, to inspire and give hope.’
A visitor to the North East would not have to travel far to find the antithesis of Gibson’s ideal.
‘We see the club as the heartbeat of the community,’ Southgate continues. ‘It is a provincial northern town and you saw what happened to Newcastle United when someone who did not know the area took over the club.
‘People talk about inexperienced or experienced players and managers, but they never apply that logic upstairs. Steve has been through it all. Promotion and relegation, winning trophies, liquidation. Other chairmen will not realise the importance of stability, but Steve has great authority.
‘The need for immediate success is part of modern culture: the pattern is that Team X struggles, the manager of Team X goes, that brings change, change means hope, and hope evaporates because the actual problem was probably not the manager but something entirely different. All that has been done is to change people’s moods and emotions for a while. The issues are still there. Maybe Steve sees football differently.
‘We feel almost old-fashioned up here. Steve made his money in the town and he wants to put something back.
‘The big industries have gone, the steel has gone, the shipping has gone, the chemical industries are closing, there are major health problems here, but our chairman knows there is more to life than finishing eighth in a battle between 20 billionaires. What example are we going to set, what are we going to base society on if it is only about that?’
Southgate stops in midstream. ‘That sounds a bit touchy-feely, doesn’t it, for a bloke whose job it is to win football matches for Middlesbrough?’
And, yes it does, just a bit. But that is why Southgate and his club are the non-partisan choice to stay up. This season, it matters that nice guys do not finish last.
Seventeenth will nail it.
|
|
|
Post by Panda on Apr 10, 2009 14:23:01 GMT 1
No surprise to see another article in the national press praising Southgate.
As it says, it's much easier to admire from afar.
No-one here denies Southgate is a great bloke and the fans still have huge respect for him as a person and what he did as a player. Sadly, the fact remains he's not a very good manager (though we're constantly reminded he will be in a few years. That won't be much good to Boro when we're in League Two) and, bar a miracle, he is taking Boro down.
|
|
Thor
Member
Why can't this moment last forever more?
Posts: 22,606
|
Post by Thor on Apr 11, 2009 10:46:45 GMT 1
You need to get rid. It proves that giving someone time isn't always the best idea.
|
|
|
Post by Razzle Dazzle on Apr 11, 2009 14:31:36 GMT 1
bit late to get rid now
unless bryan robson is knocking about
|
|
|
Post by Maximo Mark on Apr 11, 2009 19:04:52 GMT 1
They won!
As did we, and lots of Bristolians are now also moaning about our sportsmanship and to be honest, I couldn't give a sh*te!
|
|
|
Post by Panda on Apr 11, 2009 21:05:41 GMT 1
IS A MIRACLE
I kind of expected it today to be honest because it was season over otherwise. We could well find ourselves outside the bottom 3 after next weekend's games but then we've got Arsenal and Man U...
As nice as today was, we're still more likely to go down than anyone else (apart from West Brom).
|
|
|
Post by Razzle Dazzle on Apr 12, 2009 15:35:30 GMT 1
you should get atleast a point against fulham, they have only won about 3 times in 3 year on the road and with boro they are as likely to struggle against fulham and beat either man u or arsenal so you never know
|
|
|
Post by wonderwall on Apr 13, 2009 11:38:46 GMT 1
being a man utd fan i dont look forward to playing boro at the riverside they tend to raise there game against the big boys and are a bit of a bogey side for us in recent years.
|
|
Tom
Member
*Of Royal Blood*
Posts: 15,419
|
Post by Tom on Apr 13, 2009 19:51:55 GMT 1
They won! As did we, and lots of Bristolians are now also moaning about our sportsmanship and to be honest, I couldn't give a sh*te! I sense a siege mentality amongst Forest fans! Does make me feel better that its not just my club thats complained! Could be quite a merry band in the Championship next season, Jade and Robbie (Newcastle), mrh (Boro) me (Reading) you (Forest, as i said before i think you'll stay up), and also Si (Peterboro)! As for Boro, the thing that stuck out to me was the goal difference compared to the other threatened sides. That could cost you in the end.
|
|
frag
Member
*Paranoid Android*
I have no idea what you're talking about, so here's a bunny with a pancake on its head.
Posts: 25,374
|
Post by frag on Apr 14, 2009 21:00:32 GMT 1
You forgot paddy
|
|
|
Post by Panda on May 26, 2009 23:03:43 GMT 1
A player-by-player look at the Boro squad. Who might stay, who will probably go, who to look out for next season:
GOALKEEPERS Much was made of the decision not to sign a replacement for Mark Schwarzer. Southgate said he had faith in the goalkeepers we had. I was unconvinced by Jones but had an open mind about Turnbull and thought he was worth a go. So it was a huge disappointment to see Brad Jones chosen for the first game of the season. He then went and broke his finger in the warm-up of the next game, handing Turnbull his chance. Looking back, the decision not to sign a new keeper was a key one that Southgate got wrong.
BRAD JONES I've already said plenty about Brad Jones so I don't want to go over old ground too much. In short, he is nowhere near good enough for the Premier League and I doubt he is good enough for the Championship. I don't believe we can get promoted with him in goal. Yet another blunder at a crucial time on Sunday pretty much sums him up.
ROSS TURNBULL A much better keeper than Jones. Played half the season but was then relegated back to the bench. Out of contract so will probably be leaving the club.
DEFENCE The same problems continued to plague the defence, the biggest being concentration and set pieces. Yet again, we conceded too many goals from set pieces and on too many occasions were punished for a single error having defended really well for the rest of the game. Given the manager is one of best English central defenders of the last 20 years, it's a big worry. The defence was very leaky in the first half of the season and there were numerous injury and suspension problems. In the second half of the season the defence looked more solid but there were still blips. There were too many occasions when the team in general seemed to lose heart when going behind and ended up conceding more goals.
JUSTIN HOYTE Haven't seen enough of him this season to really form an opinion. Has been in and out of the team due to injuries. Was in tears on the pitch at the end of the West Ham game. Could do a good job next season.
TONY McMAHON Has had lots of injury problems. Will challenge Hoyte for the right-back spot. I suspect Hoyte is possibly the better of the two but we need depth in every position so McMahon can still be an important player for us.
EMMANUEL POGATETZ Has denied rumours he will leave if he got relegated. A fan favourite but found wanting against real quality players. Better in the center than at left-back.
ANDREW TAYLOR I've never quite been convinced by Taylor but again, I think he could do a job in the Championship.
DAVID WHEATER Didn't play quite as well as last season. Had to fill in at right-back at times and didn't look comfortable there. Played through the pain barrier during the last few games of the season and requires knee surgery, forcing him to miss the European U21 Championship. Has said he wants to stay at the club despite relegation but with Downing injured and possibly missing the first few months of next season, the club may be forced to sell Wheater instead. Would be a hugely important player in the Championship.
ROBERT HUTH Has struggled with injury since he joined and was in and out of the team again this season. Has somehow managed to get back into the German squad. Not sure why, as his performances have been mixed. With him back on the international scene, it's unlikely he will stay next season and we should just try and get as much as we can for him now.
CHRIS RIGGOTT Has served the club well but looked like a player past his best this season. Has had to battle back from injury problems so it was a shame his season was ended early by injury again but the defence looked more solid without him. Will probably still be at the club next season but I'd like to see another defender brought in to start alongside Wheater.
MIDFIELD Even with Stewart Downing, the thing that stands out in midfield is a lack of creativity. Too many ball-winners and grafters, not enough people who can actually do something with the ball. This resulted in games where we had our fair share of possession but didn't create enough chances.
GARY O'NEIL Split his time between the right-wing, where he was totally ineffective and the centre of midfield, where he had a much greater say in the game. Reportedly wanted to leave in January but was told to stay. Hard to see him still being at the club at the start of next season. Has been linked with a return to Portsmouth.
JEREMIE ALIADIERE Was a striker when he joined but now plays on the right wing most of the time. His pace gives us a much greater attacking threat than O'Neil. Another who had injury problems this season. I think he could be an important player for us next season.
DIDIER DIGARD One of Southgate's summer signings. Has become a fan favourite and was generally one of our better players. His season looked to have been ended early by injury but did manage to return before the end of the season, only to get injured again. Another important player next season.
JULIO ARCA Past it. Legs have gone. Some abysmal performances this season. I'm not even sure he could hack it in the Championship next season.
MOHAMMED SHAWKY Another who typifies what I said about lack of creativity.
MATTHEW BATES Yet another defensive midfielder. He started out as a central defender and had years of injury problems before finally returning to the first team this season. Like Shawky and O'Neil, doesn't provide enough cutting edge. If you have 2 of those 3 in your starting line-up, you're going to struggle to score 2 goals, which puts huge pressure on a fragile defence protecting a dodgy keeper.
JOSH WALKER Yet another defensive midfielder. Made 8 league appearances. Now out of contract.
STEWART DOWNING A poor season by his standards. Failed to score a single league goal. Was too often the sole outlet for the strikers. Looked like he was going to leave in January but was persuaded to stay. I was convinced he was going to leave in the summer until he got injured against Aston Villa. With a long-term injury, there's a chance he could remain at the club for the first half of next season, though I'm not sure when he'll actually be able to play again.
ADAM JOHNSON The natural successor to Downing on the left-wing. His opportunities have been limited due to Downing's presence and he's had to play a lot of games on the right side. I've always thought he had the potential to be better than Downing but he needs to realise he's nowhere near being the finished article yet. Had some very poor performances this season. Is more an Aaron Lennon type of player than a Stewart Downing. Excelled in the Championship with Watford. Has proven he can play at that level so will hopefully recapture that form.
FORWARDS It's dificult to say whether the lack of goals has been down to a lack of firepower up front or a lack of service for the strikers. In truth, it's probably a bit of both. Alves wasted far too many chances, while Tuncay was usually spending too much time trying to make something happen.
MARVIN EMNES I was excited by the signing of Emnes. A former sprinter who turned to football, I thought his pace would cause defences some serious problems. So why the hell did it take Southgate 36 games to finally give him a start? Looked rusty as a result but I'm hopeful he and Aliadiere could do some serious damage next season.
AFONSO ALVES I had high hopes for him this season but it just hadn't worked out. On the rare occasions we did manage to create enough chances to win a game, he managed to fluff them all. Maybe it's a confidence thing or maybe it's simply a lack of talent. Whatever it is, I can't see him wanting to stay. We'll be lucky to get £6m for him.
TUNCAY SANLI Player of the season. Never stops working, even though that often means he runs around like a headless chicken. Was top scorer with 8 goals but his contribution has been much more than that. Will be sorely missed if he leaves but as with Huth, the possibility of World Cup football means it's hard to see him staying.
MARLON KING Unusual January loan signing. Did score 2 goals but did nothing else. Has a good record in the Championship but with a court case hanging over his head, I don't want to see him here next season.
MIDO The new, slimline Mido started the season in great form before deciding he couldn't be arsed anymore and he got loaned out to Wigan. Unlikely to be back next season.
THE YOUNGSTERS Several academy products had small roles in Boro's season (as well as other clubs') and could play a bigger part next season. Rhys Williams is a promising defender who made his Boro debut at the start of the season. He then spent much of the season on loan at Burnley. He has played for the Wales U21 side but has now switched his international allegiance to Australia, having also been eligible for England and India. Graeme Owens is a winger who spent time on loan at Blackpool and could provide some much-needed cutting edge in a paper-thin squad. Nathan Porritt and Jonathan Franks are two names to look out for from those who have yet to break into the first team but could make an impact next season.
THE MANAGER I gave Southgate the benefit of the doubt for 2 and half seasons but I ran out of patience this season. Too many occasions where he named a team (particularly at home) that suggested he was trying not to lose, rather than to win. The majority of his signings have been failures, though there is speculation he may not have had full control in the transfer market and he hasn't had the financial backing his predecessors have had. He's such a nice guy and I would love to see him succeed as a manager but I have seen little to suggest he will. It does look like he will still be manager next season but if we don't finish in the top 6, it will surely be his last and the club will surely have to go for someone with experience. Given the problems the club has had in several areas on the pitch, I think there needs to be some sort of change within the coaching setup if these young players are to fulfil their potential.
|
|
vastar iner
Member
I am the poster on your wall
Posts: 17,578
|
Post by vastar iner on May 27, 2009 8:00:57 GMT 1
Mido therefore followed the pattern of all Egyptian players. Do well enough to get treated as some sort of god and then rest on those laurels. See Zakr, Amir.
|
|
|
Post by Panda on May 27, 2009 15:18:11 GMT 1
Mido therefore followed the pattern of all Egyptian players. Do well enough to get treated as some sort of god and then rest on those laurels. See Zakr, Amir. Not all Egyptian players. Shawky never did that well in the first place.
|
|
Tom
Member
*Of Royal Blood*
Posts: 15,419
|
Post by Tom on May 30, 2009 12:26:16 GMT 1
Interesting stuff, will make for a good reference point if i see a Reading-Boro match next season, whether that be on TV or in the flesh.
I've always thought Downing was one of your key players and he'll be a big loss next season, either through leaving or out through injury. To me, he seems to raise his game against the better sides.
As for other players that have stood out in the couple of Reading-Boro games i've been to -
Turnbull - Having checked he played against us in the last game i saw in Dec 2007. Was at fault for the goal we scored that day with Kitson lobbing him, though he did make saves in the 1st half (not that i remember!)
Riggott - always remembered for injuring Kitson in our first ever Premiership match with a tackle that he could easily have been sent off for. Not really sure about him tbh, though i think i rated him before that game.
Aliadiere - Never rated him as a striker, and failed to look good against Sonko in the 2007 game, which in itself spoke volumes considering how awful Sonko was that day! From what i've seen of him since right-wing does seem to be his best position.
Arca - I was surprised he was even given a chance in CM. Rated him as a LW in his Sunderland days, certainly remember him scoring a wonder goal in a televised match just before Coppell took over, so what would have been 2003. He's certainly no defender though and was sh*t at LB in that 2006 game against us.
Tuncay - Your comments seem a fair description really. Scored the equaliser in the 2007 game and from my sketchy memory was one of, if not the best, Boro player that day.
Actually from typing that up its got me interested in doing a player by player guide to the Reading squad. But i think i've bored ppl enough! Still got to get round to updating it with the other events of the past few weeks!
|
|
|
Post by Panda on Jun 17, 2009 16:51:19 GMT 1
Boro's first major change of the close-season comes in terms of the coaching staff. Assistant manager Malcolm Crosby has been dismissed after 5 years at the club. He originally joined the club as reserve team coach during Steve McClaren's reign and was promoted to assistant manager under Gareth Southgate.
Young winger Graeme Owens has left the club and signed for Kilmarnock.
Boro will open the season at home to Sheffield United and will end the season at Leicester.
|
|
|
Post by Panda on Jun 17, 2009 18:31:26 GMT 1
Transfer rumours:
Players Boro have been linked with: Jason Scotland (Swansea) Marlon Harewood (Aston Villa) Gary Neville (Man U) Paul Scholes (Man U)
Players rumoured to be leaving: Stewart Downing (Liverpool/Tottenham/Sunderland) Adam Johnson (Liverpool) David Wheater (Aston Villa/Birmingham) Tuncay (Chelsea/Liverpool/Fenerbahce) Emanuel Pogatetz (Roma) Robert Huth (can't remember) Matthew Bates (Wigan)
|
|
|
Post by Panda on Jun 23, 2009 21:12:11 GMT 1
Some encouraging news as Matthew Bates has decided to stay at the club and has signed a new 3-year contract. He had attracted attention from several Premier League clubs.
Boro have been linked with a move for Sheffield United's Matthew Kilgallon.
|
|
|
Post by Razzle Dazzle on Jun 23, 2009 21:29:57 GMT 1
that is a big boost because he looked very solid i dunno if you have sen the new boro kits but they look very smart and the new gk top
|
|