Afternoon Peeps and Boro fans,

Another disappointing weekend has come and gone. The Tigers fought back from a Tuncay flick to inflict another terrible late show.

How the Hull did it happen?

I was watching in disbelief as Marlon King strokes a sloppy penalty past Ross Turnbull in the final stages of the game to make it 2-1 to Hull.

After Tuncay had struck to give us the lead, I thought we would be ok and that we would be climbing up the league tonight. How wrong I was. An unthinkable moment of comedy errors occurred at the most important period in the game, the last ten minutes.

I do have some sympathy for Ross in our goal because he has been very strong for us in recent months. It was a shame that his run of good games came to an end at Hull on Saturday.

The goals were individual mistakes, however you look at it. The main contenders were: Turnbull (first goal), Wheater (penalty), the referee (penalty) and the assistant (Geovanni being offside leading to the penalty).

Naive is a word that has been used a lot this season describing our team. We are a young side that lacks the discipline and leadership skills to close a game out without producing mistakes. Gareth Southgate will have to address this problem if we're to move up the league.

With all the late goals that we've conceded in games this season, I make it 10 points lost. We cannot afford to lose many more games or points because of naivety within our team. Those 10 points would have put us in the top five and within touching distance of the top three.

The Arsenal game on Saturday will be a massive game for us because our confidence will hinge on the performance against the North London side. A win will see us gather momentum going into the Christmas period whilst a loss will see us in all sorts of problems.

Downing to Tottenham in January

Will he? Won't he? That is the question all Boro and Spurs fans are asking. I think January could see a new era starting at the Riverside. The golden boy of Teesside has had better seasons in a Boro shirt and with some fans questioning his abilities he might just take the gamble of going to another team in the Premiership to seek better fortunes for himself.

Gareth Southgate needs funds to improve the team in January so the sale of Downing could well and truly be on. A figure of £12million will probably be accepted for our left winger, which would mean a couple of new players for Southgate to look at to strengthen the midfield and defence.

Personally I would like to see Stewart go to a team like Liverpool, where he would flourish in the Champions League. We know he can play at the highest level, but if he played more high profile games I think he can be world class in the coming years. We'll have to wait and see what happens in January 2009.

I'll bring you guys all the transfer gossip tomorrow, including rumours about another Belgian starlet and a Serbian.

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Morning Peeps and Boro fans,

What a week of football news we've had. Off the pitch that is. It all started with the Mido incident at the beginning of the week and now, at the end of the week, all the news has been about Roy Keane leaving the Stadium of Light.

It seems that Boro are currently the most stable club in the North East. Gareth Southgate must be quietly smug about the situation of his two local rivals. First Kevin Keegan left his post at Newcastle earlier this season and now Keano has left Sunderland.

I was very surprised to hear the news that Roy had left Sunderland yesterday. He is a very astute character and is not one for giving in, so it confused me slightly when the Sunderland chairman, Nial Quinn said that Roy had left because he had taken the club as far as possible.

Keane is a winner through and through. My opinion is that he knew he wasn't going to get any help in the January transfer window to help strengthen his squad and decided to call it a day now rather than prolong the job with insufficient resources.

If Keane thought the team was going to be in a relegation battle I think he would have had a couple of ideas on who to bring in to help the team survive, but something has gone on behind the scenes that we've not heard about yet. I'm looking forward to reading part II of Keane's book when it comes out.

With both rival clubs in dire straits it seems that Gareth Southgate will be holding his head up slightly higher. I make him king of the North East now.

Our boss will feel more confident about his future now knowing that he has the best team in the North East. 

Hull City vs Middlesbrough

Gareth Southgate takes his band of merry men to the KC stadium tomorrow to face a couple of old team buddies. George Boateng, Nick Barmby and Dean Windass all play for the Tigers. Out of the three, George is the only player likely to face Boro on the pitch. It will be interesting to see Digard battle against our old boy.

Good news on the injury front ahead of the game. Robert Huth is back in the squad and Gary O'Neil has also made the game after recovering from a hamstring injury sustained against Bolton.

Probable line-up: Turnbull, Hoyte, Taylor, Pogatetz, Wheater, Aliadiere, Downing, O'Neil, Digard, Alves, Tuncay.

The bench will look something like this: Jones, Huth, Bates, Arca, Emnes, Mido, McMahon

Prediction: Hull's style of play should help Boro tomorrow because they play very attacking football. This will allow Boro to also have the freedom to attack. I'm predicting goals, goals and goals.

Hull City 2 Middlesbrough 4

What do the fans think? Will Boro get an away win?

Enjoy the game, see you there!

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Morning Peeps and Boro fans,

I hope everyone is in good spirit this morning! The sleet and snow is tumbling down outside whilst I'm writing this. The sled has been cleaned is ready for take-off once the snow has settled.

Yesterday Mido pointed the finger at the F.A. after the Egyptian received racial abuse from the Newcastle United fans at the Tees-Tyne derby last Saturday.

This was not the first time Mido has heard Islamaphobic chants directed at him by the Newcastle fans. The same fixture last year also had similar chanting.

Understandably Mido is very upset and has pointed the blame at the F.A. for not acting upon the abuse in last seasons Tees-Tyne derby.

"They (Newcastle fans) kept chanting disgusting words, racist words, about Islam and unfortunately this is the second time from the same fans."

Mido is insistent that the F.A. will not do anything the second time around, but still think they have the power to stop the racial abuse. Strong words from our Egyptian striker towards the F.A.

"It happened since the first time the English FA did nothing. I considered this an invitation from the English FA to repeat such shameful acts from the Newcastle supporters, I am asking the English FA to take serious action to stop such things."

Mido is totally right on this one. How has it come to this that the victim in this thoughtless situation has to speak out to get things moving in the right direction. The F.A. should be taking this very seriously and should have identified the culprits by now and be taking action against them, after all, they are criminals. Racial abuse is a crime in this country. It's not acceptable on the street so why should it be 'swept under the carpet' if it occurs at football matches?

What do the fans think about the F.A.'s involvement, or lack of, with the Mido abuse? 

Hull City this Saturday

Back to the football now. It looks like we will have our big German stopper for the Hull game. Robert Huth returned to training this week and has been put in the squad to face the tigers on Saturday. 

Gareth Southgate will be very happy with the strength of his squad at the moment because the injury list is very short at this present moment. Chris Riggott is nearing full fitness as well after he suffered a hamstring injury against Everton last month.

Boro fans will also be very pleased to hear that Matthew Bates is nearing full match fitness. The 21-year-old had spent a lengthy time on the sidelines, but is now ready to fight for a place in the starting line-up. Southgate is hoping he can kick-start his career again after a lengthy lay-off.

"Having been through his previous injuries, he knew what he had to do to get himself fit again. I hope it works out for him."

The only injury worry ahead of the Hull game this Saturday is the fitness of Pogatetz. The Austrian picked up a bad shoulder injury against Newcastle. He is racing to be fit and doesn't want to miss the trip and play against his former team-mate George Boateng.

More pre-match news tomorrow.

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