The game against Newcastle on Saturday could be a platform for us to build on which will hopefully start a mini revival in our so far dismal season in the Coca-Cola Championship.

The last time to the two sides met back in December 2009 Newcastle brushed past a lacklustre Middlesbrough team at St James’ Park signalling the massive distance in quality and determination between the two sets of players at the time. The Geordies deservedly won that game 2-0 as Boro were sent packing down the A19 reflecting on how 12 months in professional football can take you on a long and forgetful journey.

Gordon Strachan’s years in football management will ultimately pull us through this bad patch of our journey as I’m sure he will mould a new Middlesbrough which will compete in the Premier League once again. That might not be for another season or two though and the Boro fans need to deal with that as Strachan needs time to do things his own way. Don’t worry though Gibson will not make the same mistake twice in succession in appointing a manager with an ambitious 5-year-plan that fell very flat in the third year.

Strachan, in my opinion, has brought in players that he feels will ultimately win us more football matches than losses and that is the most important factor for a new manager at any club. A solid foundation is needed before we can start to think about promotion and with that comes games like the one we saw at Cardiff last Saturday where we had to scrap and fight for everything but unfortunately were undone by a couple of decisions that were out of our hands, no pun intended.

The Championship is a league made up of brutality, sharp-thinking, spirit and passion which a team needs all of if they are to be successful. Strachan is slowly adding these elements to the once flat Middlesbrough we saw last season.

Players like Barry Robson and Stephen McManus, who in games I’ve seen, are capable of moving mountains if necessary just to get a strangle-hold on a game. We have missed players like this for a few seasons now and with games like the Tees-Tyne derby I expect we will not be short on commitment out on the pitch against the Magpies.

The former Celtic lads have all played in arguably the biggest rivalry in club football so they will have no problems in showing what they can do in the somewhat tamer version on Saturday afternoon.

It is very important to have players in a side that have experienced the biggest occasions and with Robson, McManus and McDonald we have three players that will be raring to go against Newcastle. Let’s hope that the rest of the Boro boys can mirror what those lads can do.

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Jeremie Aliadiere’s injury nightmare on Teesside is set to continue after the midfielder/striker was ruled out for six weeks yesterday with a broken toe. The 26-year-old had just returned from the treatment table having been out of action for several weeks but now it seems that the Frenchman may face being sidelined for the rest of the season.

Aliadiere has his critics on Teesside which is no fault of his own because Southgate and Strachan were both short on answering the question: where is his best position? Boro’s number 10 has been used as a striker and also as a winger in his 75 appearances for Middlesbrough and us fans are still not sure where his best position is.

With the effects of relegation to the Coca-Cola Championship Aliadiere, and other players, have had to adapt to the brutal and punishing style of football in this league so it’s no wonder that Ali’s technical ability has not been recognised as much as it would in the Premier League.

Another factor is that Middlesbrough have sold most of their best players which has made our play less entertaining to watch this season. We don’t have the quality of Downing, Tuncay or even Robert Huth any more who would keep the ball and pick out a pass to a team-mate. Aliadiere wasn’t a tremendous player and probably never will be but he was good enough for us in the Premier League for a few seasons and now it seems that the level we are at we can’t have luxury players any more.

The first season he played for Boro was a good season for the former Arsenal player. He played his part in securing our Premier League status with some important winning goals against Wigan Athletic and Fulham and also a strike at his former club to earn a 1-1 draw.

Last season was less impressive with only one goal, again against Arsenal, but he was used for his pace down the wings and as a second striker for most of the season in 29 league appearances.

Boro will wait until the end of the season to see if they want to renew his contract but at the moment that looks very unlikely as I’m sure he is one of the highest earners at the Riverside so a reduction in wages would be appealing to Lamb and Gibson.

We may have seen the last of Aliadiere in a Middlesbrough shirt if he can’t get match fit before the end of the season, but if we do somehow manage to make the Play-Offs we might well see him play a couple more times for Boro.

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I didn’t have enough space in the headline to put ‘great goalkeeping and poor refereeing deny Boro’ so I just left it with praise for the opposition’s stopper, plus I don’t want to make people think that Boro were hard-done-by on Saturday and that Cardiff City and the officials played very well.

David Marshall in the Cardiff City goal was in inspiring form for the Bluebirds and clearly was the best performer on the park at the Cardiff City Stadium on Saturday. His saves from Barry Robson and Chris Killen were outstanding to say the least. It was a third away game in-a-row where we have been unable to breach the opposition defence which is a worrying statistic considering that those matches were against three of the top 10 sides who are chasing promotion.

I won’t go on about the refereeing decisions in the game because, to be fair, it was the same for them. I’m pretty sure they had a good case for a penalty that wasn’t given so that evened out at least one of the contentious moments but that still left us one bad decision down which would have given us a point in South Wales.

We have to expect the officials in the Championship to be worse than the elite refereeing of the Premier League so we can’t moan but we can moan at our team for not creating more and using the ball better or am I being a bit hard on the lads because after all we also must expect our team to be worse than last season’s campaign in the Premier League.

The loss to Cardiff has stopped the momentum going into the Newcastle game this Saturday which is going to be a massive test for the Boro boys. They tore Barnsley apart last Saturday, albeit because of another poor refereeing performance, and will be full of confidence as they make the short trip down the A19 so the Middlesbrough players will have to roll their sleeves up for this one if we are to get anything from the game against the league leaders.

Can we beat the Geordies at the Riverside? I’m not putting money on it that’s for sure.

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After the 2-0 win over Queens Park Rangers last Saturday Gordon Strachan will be looking to grab another victory to take into the Newcastle United game next week. Cardiff City are having a good season and currently sit in the last Play-Off position with 49 points ahead of the likes of Blackpool, ourselves and Sheffield United.

Boro hosted the Bluebirds at the Riverside in December last year and lost out by a single goal scored by Cardiff’s Chris Burke so the return fixture at the Cardiff City Stadium will be a chance for the Middlesbrough players to grab revenge and try to leap-frog Dave Jones’ men in the table.

Emanuel Pogatetz and Scott McDonald remain doubtful for the game with knee injuries and hernia problems respectively and are rated at 50/50 for the trip to South Wales tomorrow. Both will face late fitness tests but if either, or both, fail Strachan has options at the ready to come in and replace the injured duo.

Reading a few of the Cardiff fan pages this afternoon have revealed that they are currently experiencing a few injuries in their squad and, looking at the recent names added to the treatment table, it seems that they will be without a few of their first-team players for the match.

Peter Whittingham and Mark Kennedy will be missing which is a massive boost for Boro with both being very important to Cardiff’s excellent run this season.

We have lost our last two away games in the Championship and have failed to score in those defeats so it will be an intriguing match but has draw written all over it.

I would love to see Boro put a couple past Cardiff tomorrow without reply but I’m concerned about our away form recently so will settle for a draw which would maintain an unbeaten run going into the Newcastle game next week.

Cardiff City 1 Middlesbrough 1

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Scott McDonald is back in training after seeing a specialist about his troublesome hernia. The 26-year-old has had problems with the injury since he had surgery in January and has not been match fit for Boro since signing from Celtic for £3.5million in the transfer window.

A second operation was on the cards for the Australian international before a trip to see a specialist recently confirmed he only needed injections to recover from the injury allowing the former Celtic striker to return to light training this week.

Although he is back on Teesside and back in training the Cardiff City game may come too soon for him and it is likely that Gordon Strachan will rest him for another week before unleashing him against Newcastle United a week on Saturday.

Talking to the Northern Echo McDonald insists he wants to be fully fit before putting a Boro shirt on again.

“Whether or not I am ready for Saturday we’ll wait and see. It’s just a day by day progression,” he said. “The most important thing is if it’s not this week we’ll look towards the Newcastle game. But whenever I come back it has to be 100per cent right this time. That is the most important thing for me and for Middlesbrough.” – Scott McDonald

I’m pretty sure that Strachan would play McDonald even if he was only 75per cent match-fit so I wouldn’t count him out of the squad for the trip to the Cardiff City Stadium on Saturday.

It’s important for Strachan’s boys to keep the momentum going after last Saturday’s home win over Queens Park Rangers and if McDonald is not available it means the likes of Lita and Killen will have to step up to the plate. The challenge is there for them two now so let’s see how they handle it before one of them drops down to the bench when McDonald is back raring to go.

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Gordon Strachan is slowly piecing his own Middlesbrough jigsaw together with the help of a few of his old pals from yesteryear in Scotland. The 53-year-old endured a few months of mixed reactions from the Boro faithful but now, after grabbing a few experienced players from north of the border, it looks like he has transformed our team of over-paid and inexperienced players into to a workforce of honest lads and it’s far from the finished article.

The January transfer window was always the one thing that Strachan wanted to utilise to build his own team and from the players we have seen slot into the side we have to be impressed. Stephen McManus has added calmness and authority to our defending since joining us on loan from Celtic and Kyle Naughton, another loan signing, has given the side increased energy down the flanks.

Permanent signings Willo Flood, Chris Kellen, Scott McDonald and Lee Miller have all added that extra bit of hunger to the team as we fight for Premier League football next season. These players are very eager to play top flight football in England and want to make the next step up having played at the top in Scotland.

The best signing has been saved until last. The capture of Barry Robson could prove to be the best signing of the season in the Championship. So far the 31-year-old has started seven games scoring three times and grabbing two man of the match awards along the way.

His engine is unbelievable for a thirty-something and with his desire and leadership in the middle of the park we could be on the move in the league now because I think, despite the loss of Johnson to Manchester City, we have one of the strongest midfields in the Championship – certainly the middle pairing of O’Neil and Robson.

We’ve been desperate for someone as passionate as Robson to fill the boots left by George Boateng two years ago. Many fans could see it last season that the side lacked a certain bite in the middle of the park despite the efforts from Matthew Bates but without players like these a team can crumble in minutes, just like we did in games that eventually resulted in us being relegated from the Premier League last term.

Now we have the fight back in our midfield we can hope for better fortunes in games as we enter the business run-in of the season. Tough games against Cardiff City and Newcastle await but I’m sure our players will be up for the fight.

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Gordon Strachan spoke to the local press yesterday ahead of the big game at the City Ground this afternoon saying that he and the team are desperate to gain promotion this season.

That eagerness and want for football’s top tier of football will be assessed against a very solid Nottingham Forest side today and after a midweek defeat to Blackpool Strachan will be hoping his side will bounce back and start another unbeaten run in the Championship.

Team News

Strachan might go with the same team that lost at Blackpool on Tuesday night with Emanuel Pogatetz and Chris Killen still struggling to be match fit for today’s game after missing the midweek defeat at Bloomfield Road with virus’s.

Leroy Lita will be pushing for a start after sitting on the bench at Blackpool and will be eager to show the other strikers how it’s done in front of goal with Julio Arca also hoping for a start to strengthen the midfield.

This game will be very tight and I expect the winning margin to be by the odd goal but I’m not sure which team will edge it. Strachan’s troops are still finding their feet and Billy Davies’ boys are playing some attractive football so I’m sitting on the fence for a change and going for a draw.

Nottingham Forest 1 Middlesbrough 1

Enjoy the match and come on Boro!!

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Jeremie Aliadiere’s return to the first-team has given Gordon Strachan extra options in the final third of the pitch as he hopes to strengthen our resolve in the goal scoring department which has blighted our progression this season in the Championship.

Once again the Frenchman has been hit with injuries this season which have plagued his Boro career since joining us in 2007. Now that he is free of any injuries and has come through two recent appearances against Peterborough and Blackpool unscathed it looks like we could have a gem in the side to guide us to the Play-Off’s.

That’s just my view though and after reading a list of comments left on Gazette Live earlier it looks like a lot of fans do not share the same encouragement that I have for Aliadiere.

Since the departure of Adam Johnson I see Aliadiere as our most technically gifted player in the Middlesbrough squad and with a bunch of workhorses around him we could soon see a flourishing Aliadiere firing us up the league table.

Professional footballers are human after all and not robots, injuries are going to occur with the amount of physical endurance these guys put their bodies under. It’s not often that when our players do come out and say they are up for the challenge that we, as fans, support them. How about a change in mentality amongst the fans? Try and support your team rather than cut into them every time they miss a chance or misplace a pass.

I know it’s very easy for the Boro fans to get on players backs when they are not performing very well but to get on a players back when they have just returned from a serious injury is ridiculous. The lad has only played a couple of hours of football and is not even 100% match fit. Let’s judge him after a ten-match period rather than a substitute appearance and one start.

It’s laughable when fans talk about Aliadiere as one Southgate’s wasted purchases. He cost the club £2million, how is that a waste of money? £12million for Alves was a waste, £3million for Michael Ricketts in 2003 was a waste. Aliadiere has scored four goals in 11 games this season, a one in three goal ratio which Strachan will be hoping he can improve on but as second strikers go it’s not bad.

We can only support what Strachan puts out on the pitch on a Saturday afternoon’s. Slate players for effort levels after a run of games not just on what you see in a few hours of football. We don’t need it and it just shows that we don’t have very knowledgeable fans.

Rant over.

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We won’t get ahead of ourselves here because we are all used to being let down at Middlesbrough once we get a tiny glimpse of fortune. Whilst Newcastle’s lengthy unbeaten run came to an end this week at Derby County, we continued our good efforts and are now experiencing a five game run without loss but as I said let’s not get too carried away.

After claiming three points against a decent Barnsley side we are now faced with the Championship’s bottom side. Peterborough United are in trouble and sit at the foot of the table, 12 points adrift of safety, but it’s one of those games that could be a potential banana skin for us to slip-up on and give the Posh their first away win of the season but I fancy us to put in another good shift following the midweek win over the Tykes.

We are starting to pick up some consistency now so the signs are good for the rest of the season. The players Strachan has brought in are certainly doing their bit in our revival. I’ve been very impressed with Barry Robson and Willo Flood in the midfield and Scott McDonald’s debut on Tuesday night was a good start to his career on Teesside and despite the Australian international not grabbing a goal, he did show signs of what we’ve been missing up front.

Chris Killen got his first goal in a Middlesbrough shirt on Tuesday night so he will be full of confidence to grab more goals at the Riverside tomorrow. The pleasing thing is to see we have two decent strikers on the bench who will be itching to get on the pitch tomorrow. Leroy Lita and Lee Miller are two players we can now rely on when they come off the bench.

If the back four continue to impress in the next run of games we will no doubt pick up enough points by the end of February to catapult us into the top six. February is turning out to be a good month for Strachan’s lads. Let’s hope the next few months will bring success back to the Riverside.

My prediction for tomorrow is a hearty one, whilst using a slight element of thought. Boro to get an early shock but they will win comfortably in the end.

Middlesbrough 3 Peterborough United 1

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What an interesting week we’ve had in the footballing world. Middlesbrough have officially changed their name to Middlesbrough Celtic FC, John Terry got the sack from his duties as England captain and Mido returned from his homeland to play for 50p-a-week with crisp bonus add-ons.

Scott McDonald was not ready for his Boro debut because of a reaction to a recent hernia operation but McManus managed a decent performance in his first game for Boro but couldn’t keep out the Tractor Boys’ first minute goal. His new partner at the back, David Wheater salvaged a point for Boro scoring his first goal since notching against Everton in the Quarter Finals of the FA Cup last season.

With the fixtures coming thick and fast in the business end of the season Gordon Strachan will be hoping his new recruits do the business on the pitch over the coming months. We are currently experiencing a run of four league games without defeat which is a rarity theses days. The last time we had a stretch of four games without losing a game was during our god start to this season before Nicky Maynard’s last minute strike for Bristol City started a a run of inconsistency.

We now have two great opportunities to get six points on the board as we take on Barnsley (tomorrow night) and Peterborough United on Saturday, both games being at the Riverside. With the experienced players we now have in the squad and the injury list slowly shortening we could be in for a good month.

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