Good morning Peeps and Boro fans,

I thought I would give you the run down on what's going on at the club. Looking at some news feeds yesterday and this morning I have come across this very interesting point.

Following on from the news that Sky have a new deal in place with the Premier League. How will this affect us? Well, as we are trying our best to get relegated to the Championship it might be good to know that we will miss out on lots of money due to the new increase in money that has been given to the Premier League.

I was thinking that Gareth Southgate may be taking notes. Does he realise the mess the club are in? If we get relegated to the Championship we will lose our entire first team along with our coaching staff, the later being not so important. The players will be sold on for peanuts and the lack of experience will then show in our very young squad.

The Premier League will certainly up their annual T.V. rights money for clubs for next season meaning the gulf between the Championship and the Premier League will be even bigger than before. Gareth is not worried though because he has nothing to lose, other than his reputation. Actually hang on, what reputation?

It is Steve Gibson that I am more worried about. With his finances tight against the club it will be a disaster for him and his haulage company. An estimated loss of £60million is being predicted if we go down and Steve Gibson will have to foot the bill.

If Steve Gibson already knows this, then why has he not acted upon our dire situation? I am clueless to that question. Might it be that the bond between the chairman and the manager is stronger than we first thought. If so, then Gibson is a stupid man. The chairman needs to get someone else in to steer us away from danger. I'm amazed he hasn't sacked Southgate yet. It's in his best interests to do so.

Top flight football is so crazy sometimes. No wait, it is crazy most of the time. I mean take the Chelsea situation at present. They are chasing the Premier League title, they are in the knock-out stages of the Champions league and they are in the last 16 of the F.A. Cup yet the board have just sacked their manager for losing against Liverpool and drawing at home to Hull. How fickle is that?

On the other side of the crazy, top flight football, spectrum Middlesbrough, who are in deep trouble and can't score for all the toffee in the world, are persisting with their current manager. What a weird world we live in! Is this why we love football so much?

Follow the Boro Brick Road..

Morning Peeps, Chelsea fans and Boro fans,

I hope everyone is well because this one could be a tear-jerker. Tissues on hand everybody because, as the title says, this post is about the death of 4-4-2. Not the magazine, you numpty, the formation.

I witnessed an awful game of football last night at Stamford Bridge. The game was billed to be an exciting encounter. Chelsea were chasing Liverpool and Manchester United whilst our lot were trying to break the dreadful run of form.

Gareth Southgate hinted he might play an attacking formation at the Bridge, playing two up front, but he went against his initial thoughts and played one up top with the bus parked behind Marlon King.

Apparently we defended well for 60 minutes in last nights game. Where has Southgate clutched that assumption from? Was he watching the same game as I was? Chelsea are a shadow of the team that played under the guidance of Jose Mourinho. They play a very narrow formation these days, which makes them very predictable.

The Blues have no clue how to play their 'other' best players. It seems the team is jostled around Frank Lampard. Don't get me wrong, Lampard is a terrific player, but the Chelsea line-up needs to play a formation that will allow them to get the ball into dangerous areas from out wide. Drogba was excellent when he came on and single-handedly tried his best to break past the big red bus. 

Even Big Phil needs to look at a 4-4-2 formation to boost his team.

Southgate should have noticed Chelsea's lack of ambition in the first half and changed the formation to 4-4-2. It was clear after about 15 minutes that Chelsea would play the ball around in midfield with no end result. The only time the Blues got the ball wide in the final third was when Anelka picked the ball up and if he had the ball there, who was in the box? You guessed it, nobody.

Last nights game will not be used as an advert for Premier League football. Lack of ambition, no passion and two managers that are clueless with tactics. 4-4-2 was officially dead last night.

Southgate will get a lot of stick from Boro fans after last nights defeat. Most, including me, expected to see a brave formation and a strong attacking line-up to face Chelsea. We were all disappointed Gareth.

What did we have to lose? Nothing. We were stuffed 5-0 at home against Chelsea so why did Southgate feel it was important to park the red bus at Stamford Bridge? He feared the worse of course. Something that will backfire on him in the not so distant future.

Boro had nothing to lose against a top four side and showed no adventure what so ever in the game. Johnson had a couple of jinking runs down the right, but barely troubled Cole. Downing was as quiet as a mouse all evening, hardly on the ball and never able to threaten.

The player I feel most sorry for was Marlon King. He was put up front on his own to deal with Alex and Terry. Welcome to Middlesbrough Marlon.

So as both sets of fans witnessed a dour football match it was left for the supporters to reflect on how their teams can improve.

Southgate needs to get his hand away from the worry button and be bold and brave for once otherwise he might be doing another Pizza advert very soon. If we do not play a 4-4-2 formation at home to Blackburn on Saturday, then we can all fear the worse. Sorry to say it, but we will be bottom of the league and out of the division at the end of the season.

Change the formation Southgate. Be bold. The players are good enough!

Follow the Boro Brick Road...

Morning Peeps and Boro fans,

Some bad news for all the Middlesbrough fans today. Chelsea are reportedly going to offer Boro £8million for Tuncay in January.

According to some newspaper talk, our Turkish hit man is wanted by the Blues and Tuncay is Scolari's number one target in January to add more fire-power to his Chelsea team.

Gareth Southgate will be bracing himself for the offer in January and if he has any sense he will reject that offer straight away. Tuncay has been our best player this season by a mile. He was awesome last season as well and is a fans favourite at the Riverside.

Southgate might be tempted by a big cash offer for the Turk though. We have funding problems ahead of the transfer window and the Boro boss has insisted he wants to strengthen his midfield.

I would not be surprised if the next move is by Southgate. He will either say Tuncay is not for sale or the Blues have to cough up £10million. I'm also sure that if Tuncay was to be sold that other European giants will be contenders for his signature.

We need to keep Tuncay though, if we're to get better as a team. He is one of a few that has experience in the team. He will be a vital player for us in the next couple of seasons.

What do you guys think? Would it be a big mistake selling Tuncay? Or, considering we signed him on a free, would it be good business? - Answers on a post card or alternatively post your comments in the aptly named box below.

Follow the Boro Brick Road...

 *missed the last blog post? Click here to read it*