Hi Peeps and Boro fans,

Good morning to you all. Hope you had a good weekend. The weather has been miserable all weekend and is set to continue for the rest of this week.

At least the Boro fans will not mind the wind and rain because we all have big broad smiles this morning after the team got another deserved three points on the road.

It was a great game to watch, probably the best performance of the season so far. Aston Villa are looking a good side this season and to go to their ground and get all three points is a massive boost for the team.

I've been listening and reading all the excuses this morning that have come from the Villa fans about yesterday's game. I won't mention the excuses given because it seems to take the gloss off a great Boro performance.

Southgate had a selection headache all week with what team to start against Villa, but the Boro boss was given an easy option when Mido was struck by his injury curse once again. The Egyptian has pulled his hamstring and could be out for up to three weeks meaning Tuncay and Alves should get three games together to try and get a strike partnership going.

Tuncay's gift wrapped chances were well taken and I'm looking forward to the next game already because I still think there is lots more to come from our Turkish heart-throb.

Another positive to come from the game yesterday was the performance of Stewart Downing. He has had his critics this season so far, but yesterday he was awesome and back to his best. The crosses and passes he constructed in yesterday's game were a handful for the Villa defence throughout the afternoon.

Downing looked to have his self-belief and confidence back because he started having shots at goal from good positions making Brad Friedel, in the Villa goal, work hard.

I'm hoping our left winger can take yesterdays big performance into next Sundays game at Goodison Park.

Another mention must go to Ross Turnbull in goal for us yesterday. He is proving that he is more than capable of playing at the highest level. Question marks were raised at the start of the season, but his form in the last four games has been excellent. Keep up the good work Ross!

That's it from me today. If you are feeling down at all today or any day this week, then all you have to do is look at the league table. It's so good to see Middlesbrough in the top half of the table and closing in on a top six position.

Follow the Boro Brick Road...

Hi Peeps and Boro fans,

It's definitely Friday today so I'm in a good mood. The weekend is almost here and that means one thing, football!

Lots of big games this weekend. The Arsenal v Manchester United game should be cracker at lunch time tomorrow, whilst the Villa v Boro match on Sunday will also see some fireworks. I know it is late but at least they will be cheap - the fireworks that is.

I've been surfing the net this morning looking for team news ahead of the game on Sunday and have come across some absolute belters. The Daily Mail thinks Wheater will be put on the bench on Sunday. Now that is hilarious! Why would Southgate put one of his best defenders on the bench?!

Another well-known newspaper thinks that Mido, Tuncay and Alves will all start together against Villa. That does sound mouth-watering, but I'm pretty sure that one of the three will be left on the bench.

The midfield will see a change this Sunday. I think South of the Gate will play Julio Arca in there and possibly drop the impressive Digard. Personally he should drop O'Neil. Digard has far more class about him than O'Neil. I'm slowly getting to grips with how Southgate works, he has his favourites and, after O'Neil's goal against Manchester City 9 days ago, the Boro boss will keep his favourite in the side. It's not the best way to conduct thing, but at least we're not booing anyone... yet.

Another player that is doing my head in recently is Stewart Downing. The England international wannabe is going through a bad patch of form and is constantly grinding out mediocre performances.

It is time for Southgate to get the lad on the bench for a few games and teach him that the club does not revolve around him. If Downing is selected for the Villa game, I do hope he proves me and his critics wrong by showing us what he is capable of, but if he is selected and shows us another bad side of his abilities I'm afraid he will be victimised again from the 'boo boys' in the away end.

The game on Sunday should be end to end as both teams love to get forward. I predict a score draw at Villa Park. In fact, I'm going for a Boro win. But just. 3-2.

Enjoy the game guys and girls!

Follow the Boro Brick Road...

Hi Peeps and Boro fans,

I woke up this morning thinking it was Friday. I hate it when that happens! I was so annoyed when I realised that it was Thursday and I had to go into town for a meeting.

After a boring waste of time listening to two guys talk about total rubbish I thought I may as well get the locks chopped so I went to the usual barber's shop and asked for a trim.

I get a good deal of time to think about the world when I'm getting my hair cut because the guy doing the cutting has the right idea - he doesn't talk.

My thoughts turned towards the match on Sunday against Aston Villa and also, for some random reason, the 'hand of god' taking over as coach of Argentina's national side.

As I was glancing out of the shop window I was wondering who will score Boro's goals on Sunday. Maybe Alves will get one or maybe Mido will get a start and score. But realistically it will be one of the payers who has not hit the back of the net so far this season.

Stewart Downing has insisted his form will improve 'sooner rather than later' so I think he will notch on Sunday. I remember his well taken goal in last seasons corresponding fixture at Villa Park so I think he will return and score once again.

Julio Arca will be on hand for a starting role on Sunday as he continues to impress on his return to first team football. I think he will start on Sunday possibly replacing Digard in the middle and partnering O'Neil.

The wide players should pick themselves. With Downing's current poor form I think Adam Johnson should be given a start, but Southgate will stick to his favourites I'm sure. He might see sense though and drop Downing, which wouldn't be the end of the world but that would end my prediction of Downing scoring so I'm split with the choice. I don't really care who starts or who scores just as long as the team wins, then I'll be a happy Boro fan.

It started to rain outside as soon as I was thinking about our defence. Was this a sign of things to come on Sunday? I'm not thinking about the weather on Sunday I'm thinking about our leaky defence! Hopefully Ross 'the saviour' Turnbull will play out of skin again and give us a chance of winning.

Talking about winning, this brings me onto my thoughts about Maradona. The little fat Argentinian is scheduled to take control of the national side next month.

I was wondering what his first coaching session would be like? I think his coaching notes will be titled "Engaño a toda costa" - cheating at all costs.

His first session might be a showcase of all his nasty tricks and cheating habits. Diving and rolling sessions, punching the ball into the net and kicking people whilst they are on the floor.

It will be interesting to see how the barrel of drug abuse will do for his national side.

By the way, I still think he was one of the greatest players ever to play the game, but I'm not sure he has the qualities to be a national team coach, although he is a winner when it comes to football.

Anyway, speak to you guys tomorrow.

Follow the Boro Brick Road...

Hello Peeps and Boro fans,

It's the middle of the week and as I'm slowly forgetting about last weekends disappointing result I start to think about the next game on my pocket sized Boro fixture card.

Aston Villa away is the next game for Southgate's players as they look to extend their unbeaten run to four games. On first glance the game looks a tough one especially as it's away from home, but I think this is a game we can win. Between now and Sunday, Martin O'Neill has the task of taking his squad to the Czech Rebublic for a UEFA Cup game against Slavia Prague.

I remember the difficulties McClaren faced when he would try to juggle his players about for the UEFA Cup games and the following league games. The team would be very lethargic going into the Sunday league games after their exploits in Europe, especially when they would be playing away from home in the Waffa Cup.

Southgate will have the upper hand if he selects the right team for this match. I think he should be bold and put out an attacking team that will cause damage with pace and creativity from the off. I'm pretty sure the changes that O'Neill makes to his team will be in midfield and maybe a change in personal at the back as well because of fatigue.

Energy levels will be a massive factor to look at ahead of Sundays game. Villa will be playing their third game in 6 days, which is sure to take its toll on some of the players. The Boro players will be much fresher than their opponents so they should be able to control the game even though they are playing away from home.

It will be interesting to see who Gareth South of the Gate chooses to face Luke Young. I'm quite sure our boss knows how Young plays and knows his weaknesses. I would stick Adam Johnson on the left wing this Sunday. AJ has bags more pace than Downing and also has the ability to turn a player with his tricks. Luke Young won't know what has hit him if Johnno gets down that wing.

So, we want to see an attacking team line up against Villa on Sunday. I'm going to keep a close eye on Villa's game tomorrow night in Prague. More news and views tomorrow.

Follow the Boro Brick Road...

 

Hi Peeps and Boro fans,

Sorry for the lack of posts yesterday. I was in the very snobby city of Oxford. Although I was surrounded by cravats and posho's speaking ra-ra-ra's I wasn't bothered because I was attending the Theatre. Not to see a play or an opera. It was to see The Mighty Boosh's live show. It was excellent, lots of tangent leading remarks with plenty of laughs thrown in. Much like a Boro game really.

Back to the football. The game on Saturday was very disappointing for any Boro fan, especially for me as I had talked up my team too much to my West Ham friends. A win was definitely on the cards for us, I was sure of it. I even put a small bet on Boro to win, which I normally don't because it saves the embarrassment at the bookies and, of course, saves money.

What a dreadful start to the game! West Ham piled on the pressure from the start as Boro looked out-of-sorts after impressing midweek against Manchester City.

Mullins scored a classic comedy goal for West Ham after 20 minutes. The West Ham midfielder first attempted to swing his left foot at the ball and completely missed the ball-shaped object. I, and many more Boro fans, sniggered for a split second at the comic genius that is Hayden Mullins, but the Eastender soon wiped the smile off the Boro fans faces when he rattled in a right-foot volley with his second attempt. Where did that come from?

To be fair to the visiting team they actually dominated the first-half and could have doubled their lead if they were more potent in front of goal. Ross Turnbull showed us why Southgate is giving him a chance between the sticks, he produced a couple of smart saves to deny the Hammers going further ahead in the first-half.

Gareth Southgate decided to make changes after seeing his sides awful performance in the first-half. Justin Hoyte was brought on at right back to add more natural width and link-up play for Aliadiere.

Julio Arca returned to Premiership action when he replaced Digard after an hour of play. The fans gave the little Argentinian a good reception when he skipped onto the field of play. Straight away you could see he wanted to be involved at every moment. Julio is a 'ball player' and is not afraid of receiving the ball and doing something with it, which is what we have been missing this season in midfield.

We were playing much better football in the second half and had a couple of chances to get back on level term, but Green in the West Ham goal was keeping himself busy with some decent saves.

The turning-point in the game came when Alves was replaced by Mido with 25 minutes to go. The Egyptian looked a lot fresher than Alves and was causing problems as soon as he came on.

It took Mido 16 minutes to make his mark on the game when he rifled in a low free-kick from 20-yards out to level the score.

Boro then went in search of a winner as they were seeking two wins in two games. This gave an uneasy and tense finish to the game because West Ham were not finished themselves and had a couple of great chances to snatch all the points.

Turnbull to the rescue!

Ross Turnbull has showed his worth in my opinion. In the last three games he has been superb. He has kept us in games with his stunning stops. The late goal mouth scramble on Saturday proves that he is definitely our number 1 goalkeeper. He denied two goal scoring chances at the death with an excellent double save.

My man of the match went to big Ross for his performance against West Ham. I'm sure we will see more performances like this in the near future.

I walked away from the ground feeling very disappointed with not getting the win, but I must be content with a well-earned draw really because our goalkeeper saved us at the end.

Oh well, it's still onwards and upwards at the minute though.

Follow the Boro Brick Road...

Hi Peeps and Boro fans,

Hope you're all having a great Friday! I had a strange start to the day. I woke up this morning around 6am thinking it was a Sunday morning. The dream I had just had made me believe that Boro had lost at home to West Ham and that Gareth Southgate was to be sacked that day. Zola's men turned us over 5-1, I was devastated.

I then realised that it was a bad dream, probably the result of too much Blue Stilton from last night's cheese and biscuits.

I'm not one who takes dreams to be a reality, but this did seem very real. I've got Boro fans worried now haven't I?

Don't worry though, Zola brings his Wet Sham, sorry, I mean West Ham to the Riverside tomorrow hoping to kick start their season. It seems the wheels have fallen off the Upton Park outfit in recent games. The Hammers boss has got a tough test ahead of him, starting tomorrow.

The Boro players will be looking for seven points from the last three games in the league to bump us the league tomorrow. It won't be easy, but I'm sure after the Manchester City game that the players will be full of confidence going into this game.

I expect Southgate to play the same team that won on Wednesday night despite having players back from injury. Justin Hoyte has recovered from his treatment and will be looking to push his way back into contention for the right back position, which has been filled by David Wheater in the last couple of games.

The game tomorrow will be a good indication for where the team are at, at this stage of the season. If they lose or get a draw, then I can only see one prediction coming true for the rest of the season and that is mediocre Middlesbrough. If they win though, it might be a case of - can we push for Europe? The fixture list looks good for the next 6 games and I think the team can realistically gather between 12 and 18 points. A good target would be to get 30 points by the new year. It is more than achievable.

Let's hope that the Boro can get three points tomorrow to carry on the run. Enjoy the game!

Follow the Boro Brick Road...

 

Hi Peeps and Boro fans,

What a night for a Boro fan last night. I was half expecting us to get rolled over at the Riverside by the richest club in the world.

If you were there you would have experienced the first freezing night of the year at the Stadium. Although the weather was on the cold side at least the football was a little warmer.

The boss named an unchanged side that drew 1-1 at Blackburn on Saturday. I think Southgate wants to get a settled side playing more often. It worked because from the off Boro were getting joy down both flanks. Ali and Downing were causing the Manchester City fullbacks all sorts of problems early on.

Our Brazilian magic man should have opened the scoring after 15 minutes when he met a Downing cross with his head but the effort went straight at the City goalkeeper.

Manchester City had just won 3-0 at home to Stoke on Saturday and were looking to extend their goal tally for the season. They had a couple of chances in the first half an hour but 'super keeper' Ross Turnbull was in fine form and denied everything that came his way.

The turning point came after the break on 53 minutes. Wheater was bundled over by Daniel Sturridge. It looked harsh but there was contact so no complaints can be said.

Alves took the resulting penalty kick and calmly slotted the ball high into the net sending the goalkeeper the wrong way.

I was thinking to myself 'backs to the wall now' because in recent games we have panicked after taking the lead. Not last night though, we still played with lots of purpose and were always looking the more likely to score as we turned defending into attack on numerous occasions.

The so-called 'late lapse' never came and Gay O'Neil finished things off in style as he smashed home a shot from inside the area to make it 2-0 and make sure the points were safe for Boro.

Reflection on the performance...

I would say the passion was back in the Middlesbrough players. You could see they wanted to get at Manchester City from the off. The Chelsea game ten days ago really hurt some of the players and they responded in great fashion by beating one of the best teams in the Premiership.

I'm really looking forward to the West Ham game at home on Saturday now. Come on Boro!

Follow the Boro Brick Road...

Hi Peeps and Boro fans,

I am understandably a little more cheery this morning because I listened to a radio show last night that had the footballing legend that is 'Juninho' on the air.

He was reminiscing about old times on Teesside playing for his beloved Middlesbrough and what got me was the passion and generosity that this guy had for us. He said that the time spent playing for Boro was the best years of his career. He truly loved the club, the players, the fans and Middlesbrough as a place.

The football world needs more genuine guys like this in my opinion. Players that loved playing football no matter what shirt they were wearing. He was not interested in the big sponsorship deals or the glitzy celebrity status he could have easily taken on. He just wanted to play football and boy did he play football.

I remember watching him for the first time. It was at Wembley in 1995, he was playing against England in the Umbro Cup. He was, by far, the smallest player on the pitch. Even smaller than Graeme Le Saux.

The first thing you could notice about this 5ft nothing player was his incredible close control when running with the ball. People around me in the stands were amazed and wondered if the little Brazilian had glue on his boots because at every moment he had the ball it looked like it was stuck to his feet.

Juninho completely dominated the game with his pace and dribbling. He set-up a goal and also scored a sublime free-kick, curling the ball into the top corner.

After that game I thought to myself, he would be awesome in the Premiership. I thought no way he would ever come to Middlesbrough.

Two months later and Juninho was welcomed by 15,000 screaming Boro fans at the Riverside stadium to announce the arrival of the 'Little Fella'. What an occasion.

A big thank you must go to Bryan Robson because Juninho later revealed it was Robson that tempted him to join Middlesbrough. The Boro boss at the time flew over to Sao Paulo, Brazil to meet with Juninho and his father. Juninho was so touched that a footballing legend would come and visit him personally and he decided to join Boro.

Boro fans remember countless moments when the little Brazilian performed his magic on the pitch and next year Boro fans might get the chance to see him for one last time in a Middlesbrough shirt.

There is talk of Juninho playing in a pre-season friendly next season. That would be an awesome occasion at the Riverside. I can't wait.

Follow the Boro Brick Road...

Hi Peeps and Boro fans,

Hope everyone had a good weekend! There was lots of football action for you all to get your teeth into on Saturday and Sunday.

The Premiership seems to be hotting up nicely. The merry-go-round of managers stopped at White Hart Lane on Sunday as Spurs sacked Ramos and then appointed Harry Redknapp as their new manager.

On the pitch United lost ground on their rivals at the top of the league after struggling against Everton at Goodison Park. The current champions only managed a 1-1 draw whilst Liverpool beat Chelsea and went three points clear of the blues.

So, what happened to Middlesbrough at the weekend? Well, in front of a few hundred Boro fans, the Boro players put in a gritty performance against Blackburn at Ewood Park. It was very windy and the rain was relentless throughout the match.

Gareth Southgate opted to change the formation back to the original 4-4-2 for the trip to Blackburn. Tuncay was available the Turkish international partnered Alves up top.

Aliadiere was put on the right hand side of the midfield with O'Neil and Digard in the centre and Downing on the left.

The defence was re-shuffled again to accommodate Pogatetz after he completed his three match ban. Wheater played right back and Taylor returned to his familiar left back position with Pogatetz and Riggott marshalling the centre of the defence.

The game started very brightly and both teams had excellent chances to score inside 10 minutes. Aliadiere struck the cross bar from 10-yards out and should have given Boro the lead. Santa Cruz was in fine form up front for Rovers and was a constant threat, but I'll give the Boro defence credit because they did a good job for 93 minutes.

The new look midfield of Digard and O'Neil provided more quality and service to the Alves and Tuncay. With 20 minutes to go, Alves was put through by O'Neil and the Brazilian cut inside his marker and fired an unstoppable shot past Robinson in the Rovers goal. Boro were ahead again in an away game. I could not believe it. After the Chelsea drubbing I didn't expect us to get a win.

How did we draw?

When the electronic board went up indicating there would be 4 minutes of injury time I thought just concentrate, just concentrate. All the lads had to do was to be disciplined for 4 minutes.

Benni McCarthy popped up with a headed goal on 94 minutes, which shocked every player and fan in the ground. I was gutted. It felt like we had lost the game.

How did we draw that game? That is what was going through my head for hours after the final whistle.

We are used to this though. The Liverpool game was the hardest to get over but this one is a close second to that game.

At least we didn't lose the game.

Follow the Boro Brick Road...

Hi peeps and Boro fans,

Hope you're all enjoying this fine Friday! The weekend of football fun and frolics is nearly upon us.

Just over 24 hours to go until Middlesbrough tackle another Premier League game. It is set to be a tough encounter against Rovers.

Tuncay Sanli enjoyed a few weeks away from Teesside whilst injured. The Turkish international spent some time with family and friends in Turkey as he recovered from a knee injury. All refreshed, Tuncay is now ready to do battle once again for his beloved Middlesbrough.

With the Turkish heart-throb back in action I can guarantee we will have that belief and determination back. Just look how we went to pieces against Chelsea last weekend. We were missing Tuncay and Pogatetz. To me these two are our most valuable players at the moment. They are both leaders on the pitch and both have masses of experience.

Unfortunately we are minus a certain Justin Hoyte for the trip to Black of the Burn tomorrow. The right back has picked up a groin strain and will not be travelling with the squad tomorrow.

David Wheater might be asked to fill in at right back to cover Hoyte. Big Dave Wheats played at right back against Spurs on the first day of the season and was superb, so I have no worries that he can do a job for us there tomorrow. 

Southgate will shake things up in midfield after seeing his middle men get dragged and bullied off the pitch last Saturday. We are expecting to see Didier Digard start the game with maybe Tuncay or O'Neil helping the front two of Mido and Alves.

I'm really looking forward to this game. Not just because we have a good chance of winning, but also to see Tuncay return for us. He is an outstanding talent.

Hope everyone enjoys the game tomorrow. Let me know if you went to the game or you watched the highlights. Leave your comments about how we played.

Come On Boro!

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