Four New Players Expected To Arrive In New Year December 23, 2009
Posted by stuart in Beckford, Gordon Strachan.Tags: Boro, Boro Brick Road, Follow The Boro Brick Road, Gordon Strachan, Jermaine Beckford, Middlesbrough, Steve Gibson
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Gordon Strachan has been quizzed recently as we approach the January transfer window. Talking to the GL, Strachan is keen to strengthen his team as we head into the second-half of the season. The Boro boss is not giving any names away though at this point but has revealed he will be making best use of the transfer window.
Following yesterday’s post about Jermaine Beckford it seems that we will be out of the running for the talented striker because Steve Gibson will not be in a position to hand over large sums of money halfway through the season. I remain optimistic about the chances of landing a couple of good players that will cost the club to ‘part’ with cash for. We are in a position where we could lose a lot more money at the end of the season if we don’t acted next month and try to make the Play-Offs. Being cautious or tight now might hinder our chances?
Strachan has already mentioned the fact the team is lacking responsible heads on the pitch. He explained last week that he only knows of three married players in the squad which obviously is something that worries the Scotsman. He’s looking at personalities within the side not just talent with a football which is a necessity if he wants to have the right balance for success. So expect to see a couple of older heads coming through the gates at the Riverside next month. New faces but old heads – you know what I mean.
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Stop Teasing Us With These Rumours December 22, 2009
Posted by stuart in Beckford, Follow The Boro Brick Road, Gordon Strachan.Tags: Boro, Elland Road, Follow The Boro Brick Road, Gary O'Neil, Gordon Strachan, Jermaine Beckford, Leeds, Middlesbrough, Sean St Ledger, Simon Grayson
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Jermaine Beckford has been linked with Middlesbrough in the last 24 hours fuelling speculation that League 1’s sharpest shooter will be Strachan’s first permanent signing next month.
This would be great news for us if we were to grab the free-scoring forward but it looks unlikely with the 26-year-old’s love affair with the Elland Road faithful. And despite a spat with Leeds boss Simon Grayson last weekend it will take a lot of persuading for the hotshot to step up to the Championship a few months before Leeds arrive in the same league themselves.
Preston North End confirmed today that they will not be getting their former defender Sean St Ledger back from us after he moved to the Riverside in September. Another one for the rumour mill – I wonder where he is going if they are true? Nowhere of course.
Some good news at last this week. Gary O’Neil’s contract at Middlesbrough has been extended – not by Gary though, by the club after it was revealed that the midfielder had a clause in his contract which allowed us to extend the deal which sees the former Pompey player remain under contract on Teesside until 2012 which will keep poachers at bay.
At least he won’t be able to leave in the summer on a free like others in the past with this option being exercised by Middlesbrough. O’Neil was recently given the captaincy following the arrival of Gordon Strachan and has performed very well with the armband since.
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Strachan’s New Year Boro Defence December 18, 2009
Posted by stuart in Gary Caldwell, Middlesbrough, celtic.Tags: Boro, Boro Brick Road, celtic, Follow The Boro Brick Road, Gareth Southgate, Gary Caldwell, Gordon Strachan, Middlesbrough
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With rumours hotting up as we approach the January transfer window, I take a look at the reasoning behind the Gary Caldwell link.
It was not surprising that Gordon Strachan would be linked with moves for Celtic payers, after all he did spend four seasons in his homeland in charge of the green and white half of Glasgow. So when Caldwell was mentioned it became clear that Strachan might be tempted to bring in players that he knows a lot about.
Gary Caldwell is very experienced and at the age of 27, still has a few more years left playing. Would Caldwell move over the boarder to Teesside though and would he sacrifice playing in Europe to potentially play in the Championship next season? It’s one question that only he can answer but for me this could be a very strong possibility.
Now then, where would he play? And who will miss out on a place at the back? I think, despite the rumoured bust-up between St Ledger and Strachan, that the Boro boss wants to strengthen the defence so we might see Sean play at right-back in the New Year, a position he has excelled at for the Republic of Ireland. This will make way for Caldwell, who Strachan will look to for leadership skills – someone in the back four that will marshal and lead the side. We have missed someone who can organise the defence ever since Gareth Southgate hung up his boots.
So there you have it, Strachan could reshuffle the Boro defence to unveil a new look back four for the New Year.
What do you think?
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St Ledger Has Bright Future On Teesside December 18, 2009
Posted by stuart in Gordon Strachan, Sean St Ledger.Tags: Boro, Follow The Boro Brick Road, Gareth Southgate, Gordon Strachan, Middlesbrough, Preston North End, Republic of Ireland, Sean St Ledger
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The Red tops have issued a couple of damaging stories in the last 24 hours about Middlesbrough players. The writers, scribblers and trash talkers at The Mirror must be about to take Christmas leave, so instead of writing some interesting and engaging stories about climate change they decide to make some rubbish up about the Boro players before they jet of to the Canary Islands for their holidays.
Before I start talking about Sean St Ledger as a Boro player, I will first paint a picture about 24-year-old Sean Patrick St Ledger-Hall. The Birmingham born Republic of Ireland international had been a star in Preston North End’s defence for three seasons before signing for Middlesbrough on loan for an initial three-month period with a view to a permanent deal.
Since arriving on Teesside, St Ledger had praised the club from top to bottom and singled out Gareth Southgate as the main reason why he chose Boro ahead of many other Championship rivals. He has only had positive comments to say about his new life in the North East and has not once said anything damp about his time here.
Now then, as a player in a Boro shirt, he has come under considerable criticism (by Boro fans, not me) about his abilities to defend and since his arrival the side have began to concede a lot of goals, but that is not the fault of just one player – the blame should be shouldered by the rest of the defence and the goalkeeper.
There is no doubt that St Ledger is talented and I believe he could play at a higher level which he has already proved he can cope with well, as we saw, when he played in the recent World Cup Qualifier Play-Off against France. Sean has added a presence at the back with his no nonsense defending and his eye for goal has seen him score a couple of goals form the back which is needed in this league.
Apparently, according to reports from The Mirror, Sean has had a bust-up with Gordon Strachan. Isn’t it coincidental that the defender will be missing a few of Boro’s next games as we approach the transfer window? Isn’t it that time of the year when papers make-up stories to unsettle teams and players ahead of the January sales?
St Ledger has always spoken well about Boro and is always keen to talk to the media at all times so it is a little surprising to read this trash about him and Strachan having words with each other. Even if it was true, surely we have to accept that Strachan’s personality is the total opposite to Gareth Southgate’s so there is always going to be some contrasting views when the little Scotsman is involved.
In my opinion, St Ledger is still way off his best and hopefully with a little more time, alongside Wheater, he and the defence will become stronger for the second half of the season.
No doubt there will be more stories like this appearing in the media over the next couple of weeks. I look forward to naming and shaming.
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Boro Players Seek Refuge On The Road December 14, 2009
Posted by stuart in Boro, Gordon Strachan, Newcastle.Tags: Boro, Boro Brick Road, Follow The Boro Brick Road, Gordon Strachan, Middlesbrough, Newcastle United, Premier League, St James' Park
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Gordon Strachan feels ‘the footballing gods’ had not been kind to the Middlesbrough players on Sunday against Cardiff City which suggests that he is looking beyond the grey skies that cover Teesside for help.
Our Scotsman is still searching for his maiden victory at the Riverside as Boro Manager and Sunday’s 1-0 defeat to the Bluebirds certainly added fuel to the fire that is burning bright in most sections of the stadium.
It’s getting increasingly worrying that our away form outweighs our home record by some distance. I remember the days when we were hard to beat at home – not many years ago in fact. Now, it seems we have reversed the trend and are excelling on the road which highlights the fact,even more, that we have a team that would rather play in front of the travelling fans than the home ones.
If the footballing gods were to ever help out a side that are having a torrid time at home it would be Boro. There are teams in the Championship with similar home records but their fans still back them despite losing games in front of the masses.
The Boro boo boy syndrome is catching around the Riverside, the more games we lose at home, meaning the players become more and more nervy which is crippling their confidence.
Fans at the Riverside need to be patient and understand that we will not bounce back to the Premier League if we boo our players off the pitch at the end of matches.
I’m pretty sure that the footballing gods will not be needed on Sunday against Newcastle United because our players will relish playing in a stadium that won’t be booing them. It’s hard to think that the St James’ Park faithful won’t boo and jeer the Boro players as much as our own fans do.
Strachan should look to the fans for help and guidance at home because at the moment it is the fans that are helping visiting sides win at the Riverside and not just the performance of the Boro lads.
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The Boro Players Owe The Fans December 11, 2009
Posted by stuart in Middlesbrough.Tags: Boro, Boro Brick Road, Cardiff City F.C., Dave Jones, F.A. Cup, Gary O'Neil, Middlesbrough, Middlesbrough F.C. season 2007–08
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The FA Cup exit to Cardiff City in 2008 is still firmly in the memory of the Boro fans that were there to witness the Welsh side take Middlesbrough apart at will and win 2-0.
Cardiff went on to reach the FA Cup Final at Wembley and narrowly lost out to Portsmouth by a single goal. Some said that we bottled it that day and others spoke about that year being our best chance of winning the FA Cup considering we could have potentially played Pompey in the final.
There was huge hype surrounding that game in April last year because the previous day, in the other last eight matches, Manchester United and Chelsea were knocked out by Portsmouth and Barnsley respectively meaning that there was added excitement that we could actually get our hands on the trophy.
21 months later and we are struggling to maintain a top six place in the Championship after relegation from the Premier League and face Cardiff City in the league on Sunday.
Dave Jones’ side are sitting in third place and travel to the Riverside on the back of a 2-0 win against West Bromwich Albion last week and with it boast the fourth best away record in the league.
Players that put on a Boro shirt in April 2008 against the Bluebirds let themselves down and also let the fans down. What a fitting way it would be for those players and the new faces in Strachan’s side to show what they should have done two seasons ago in the famous cup.
The players owe us a performance after Tuesday night’s loss to Blackpool. Let’s see how they react!
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Strachan Looking To Change It All At Boro December 10, 2009
Posted by stuart in Gordon Strachan.Tags: Boro, Boro Brick Road, Cardiff City, Dave Jones, Gordon Strachan, Ian Holloway, Middlesbrough F.C.
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Previous to the 5-1 thrashing of Queens Park Rangers on Saturday, when was the last time you heard the Boro fans chanting “we want six, we want six, we want six” at an away match?
I was thinking that the convincing win against QPR would have been the turning point in our somewhat Jekyll and Hyde season but following the Boro no show against Blackpool last night at home it must be said that we need to go back to the drawing board as a team and the players need to think about what league they are playing in.
To go from scoring five goals against a decent side who have had a good home record this season surely would have given Strachan’s players a boost. Something changed between the end of the QPR game and the start of the Blackpool match to make the Boro lads perform so badly.
Where was the fight and where was the quality which we have seen in the last three matches before the 3-0 slump to Ian Holloway’s Tangerines?
Strachan was an angry man last night and too right. It must so frustrating and mind boggling that he has inherited a side that have no balls when it comes to playing at home.
Mr Flash has hinted at changing the entire pre-match itinerary for home games, thinking that sloppy results in front of the Middlesbrough fans are a result of poor preparations. Strachan could be right there and I would certainly welcome any change that would give the players a chance at winning at the Riverside.
With our recent form at home I’m hoping we won’t see the limp and lacklustre Boro as they prepare for a clash against Cardiff City at the weekend. Fingers crossed we will see a Boro side that will fight for everything against Dave Jones’ Bluebirds.
I want to hear from the Boro fans about this. Where do you think it is going wrong?
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Strachan Will Cure Boro’s Festive Curse December 1, 2009
Posted by stuart in Gordon Strachan.Tags: Boro, Boro Brick Road, Cardiff City, Christmas, Follow The Boro Brick Road, Gordon Strachan, Loftus Road, Middlesbrough F.C.
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So, as it’s the beginning of December it means laboured, lethargic and very dower performances from Middlesbrough players for the next month.
On record we seem to go into hibernation throughout the festive period with players going missing in games and half the team complaining that it’s too cold but I think Strachan will change the festive curse.
December will be our best month of the season so far. You’ve heard it here first even though we have got one hell of a tough fixture list this month.
With a bit of luck Gordon Strachan will don his Santa Claus outfit on Saturday to bring Christmas cheer to the travelling Boro fans and inspire the team to win against Queens Park Rangers with words of good tidings.
It’s about time we started winning games and getting points on the board. Three points at Loftus Road this weekend can make a change to our festive habits forever and if we do get the win it will give the team confidence to kick-on against the likes of Blackpool, Cardiff City, Newcastle United, Scunthorpe United and Barnsley later this month.
Fingers crossed our players have been good boys this year so that Santa Strachan doesn’t get mad.
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Bottoms Up For Boro November 27, 2009
Posted by stuart in Peterborough United.Tags: Boro, Dave Kitson, Derby County, Gareth Southgate, Gordon Strachan, Leroy Lita, Mark Cooper, Middlesbrough, Selhurst Park
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Middlesbrough take on the bottom side in the Championship this weekend having not claimed three points since Gareth Southgate last took charge of the team in a 2-0 win at home to Derby County last month.
On the road we seem to have a decent record but the slip-up at Selhurst Park three weeks ago has put that good run to an end. We must be looking to grab three points at London Road, a venue where the hosts have only picked up eight points so far this season and with Boro totalling 14 it must be game we can count on getting three points.
Peterborough United have just appointed former Kettering Town boss Mark Cooper as their new manager following the departure of Darren Ferguson and he will be looking to get his new Posh team off the bottom of the Championship.
Gordon Strachan is still searching for his maiden win as Middlesbrough boss so this is a very, very important game for both parties but as this is a Boro site we will concentrate on us winning. So how are we going to beat these guys in their own back yard?
Leroy Lita and Dave Kitson are set to lead the line of attack for the second game running with the later looking to fire his first goals for the club.
Strachan will have to decide who is going to replace Rhys Williams after the Australian international picked up his fifth caution last weekend and is suspended for the trip. Tony McMahon is available after completing some minutes on the pitch earlier in the week with the reserves so he is likely to come in at right back.
Our key players will be Adam Johnson and Leroy Lita once again whilst their key players will be George Boyd and Craig Mackail-Smith in what is expected to be a tense encounter in Cambridgeshire.
Scores on the doors – Posh 1 Boro 2 with Leroy getting two in two games.
Get your predictions in!
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Will The Floodgates Open Against Forest? November 20, 2009
Posted by stuart in Dave Kitson, Match Preview/Prediction.Tags: Boro, Boro Brick Road, Dave Kitson, Emanuel Pogatetz, Gordon Strachan, Mark Schwarzer, Middlesbrough F.C., Nottingham Forest, UEFA Cup Final
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Goals are on the agenda tomorrow at the Riverside. That’s what we are hoping anyway as Nottingham Forest come to Teesside for a couple of hours of fine football, fine weather and maybe the odd beer. Well, that later might be the only one that might actually come about but you’ll have to try and get in the home dressing room after the game for that one. Sorry, couldn’t resist.
Gordon Strachan will be looking for Boro to deliver in the goal-scoring department tomorrow as the team looks to get back in the top six after slumping to two 1-0 defeats in-a-row against Plymouth Argyle and Crystal Palace.
He may have some help from Dave Kitson tomorrow because the new Boro boy has highlighted his intentions to score goals for his new club. I am keen to see what the new fella up top can do – he does seem like the type of player the team has been calling for ever since we started our Championship campaign.
We could be mistaken for thinking that this game will be another case of missed chances and a smash and grab mission from the opposition but I feel we are going to be pleasantly surprised with the result and in particular the performance.
Consistency will be key if we are to keep in touch with the top teams in the division and as we look at our squad with the new additions recently it is hard to think that we will still continue to struggle to pick up points in this league.
Dave Kitson and Osbourne are set to make their home débuts for Boro and there could be a surprise start for Pogatetz after he fractured his cheekbone earlier this month. The Austrian will wear a protective mask if he starts – brining back memories of Mark Schwarzer’s Mask of Zorro cameo in the UEFA Cup Final in 2006.
Will we have anything to shout about tomorrow? I think so – Strachan has had almost four weeks to get to know his new squad so I think we will see a new Middlesbrough team.
I’m going for the win. No wait, not just the win but a convincing win, you heard it here first!
Boro 4 Forest 1
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