Rav's gonna be watching

Anyway, the real impact of Ravenelli signing was suddenly people outside of England were talking about a club called Middlesbrough.

I’ve been lucky to work in various countries with various people from other cultures. Any football fan of a certain age always mentions the Boro 96/97 team when I explain who I support.

That sunny day in 96. Boro 3 - 3 Liverpool with a star Italian striker scoring a hattrick. That was Roy of the Rovers stuff. It promised so much and at least Gibson and Robson had a go.
 
Mwelolo said:
I seem to recall Ravanelli being reported to be in a Man Utd lounge after his first visit there, saying he would like to play for them.

There was far to much smoke to put it all down to misreporting, in my opinion.
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He was openly quoted as saying he wanted to play for Man Utd only 3 months after signing for us. It was the headline on Ceefax.

But we should give him a pass cos he “wasn’t a gentlemen?”
 
Nero said:
Anyway, the real impact of Ravenelli signing was suddenly people outside of England were talking about a club called Middlesbrough.

I’ve been lucky to work in various countries with various people from other cultures. Any football fan of a certain age always mentions the Boro 96/97 team when I explain who I support.

That sunny day in 96. Boro 3 - 3 Liverpool with a star Italian striker scoring a hattrick. That was Roy of the Rovers stuff. It promised so much and at least Gibson and Robson had a go.
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I would never suggest he didn’t make a huge impact. But looking back I have no fondness for him.
 
Nero said:
Anyway, the real impact of Ravenelli signing was suddenly people outside of England were talking about a club called Middlesbrough.

I’ve been lucky to work in various countries with various people from other cultures. Any football fan of a certain age always mentions the Boro 96/97 team when I explain who I support.

That sunny day in 96. Boro 3 - 3 Liverpool with a star Italian striker scoring a hattrick. That was Roy of the Rovers stuff. It promised so much and at least Gibson and Robson had a go.
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Agreed, it's actually frustrating that they ignore our cup winning team and UEFA cup exploits (where we had loads of star names as well it should be noted) and focus on what ultimatley was a disappointing season ending in failure.

We really captured the neutrals imagination that season, and Rav was part of that, no doubt.
 
1finny said:
At the time the vast majority of players in the world would have wanted to play for Man U or Chelsea rather than Boro.

They came to us because we were flashing the cash ….. not to see the transporter Bridge and roseberry topping
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So why didn’t Juninho come out and say that? At least he waited til the season was over to start touting himself about.

Chelsea were a mid-table Premier League side like us in the summer of 1996, btw. They’d won 1 league title in their history? They were nothing like the club they were about to become.

Rav just had zero class off the pitch, sorry but that’s my opinion.
 
atypical_boro said:
He was openly quoted as saying he wanted to play for Man Utd only 3 months after signing for us. It was the headline on Ceefax.

But we should give him a pass cos he “wasn’t a gentlemen?”
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Who’s giving him a free pass? People are just enjoying the fact a player of that profile played for Boro and is responsible for a few of the most memorable moments in the club’s history.

I’m sure he was difficult to manage, volatile, a serial moaner, a pain in the arsê. But he scored goals for us and with the passing of time, people remember those goals than all of the other stuff. It’s natural imo.
 
The_Lizards_Jumpers said:
Agreed, it's actually frustrating that they ignore our cup winning team and UEFA cup exploits (where we had loads of star names as well it should be noted) and focus on what ultimatley was a disappointing season ending in failure.

We really captured the neutrals imagination that season, and Rav was part of that, no doubt.
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Agreed on that too. I’ve explained more than once that the 96/97 team wasn’t our best. As you mention though, for neutral supporters 96/97 is the one they remember most.
 
viv_andersons_nana said:
Who’s giving him a free pass? People are just enjoying the fact a player of that profile played for Boro and is responsible for a few of the most memorable moments in the club’s history.

I’m sure he was difficult to manage, volatile, a serial moaner, a pain in the arsê. But he scored goals for us and with the passing of time, people remember those goals than all of the other stuff. It’s natural imo.
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Well that’s up to them, for me it was tarnished by his childish, arrogant antics.
 
atypical_boro said:
He actually waited til we lost the Cup final, and he didn’t have any scraps on cup final day or insist on playing when injured to the detriment of the team. Mind you, Robbo should take the blame for that.
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I think Juninho himself said he’d been talking to Atletico for two or three months before he eventually joined them, so essentially before the season had even ended.
 
viv_andersons_nana said:
I think Juninho himself said he’d been talking to Atletico for two or three months before he eventually joined them, so essentially before the season had even ended.
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He’d have stayed had we stayed up.

Rav was openly touting himself via the press literally 3 months after joining. At least TLF had the class to keep it quiet.
 
oh let’s all jst slag off Juninho then!!

Anyway; for me, Rav is not a Boro legend. Just my opinion but I’m sticking to it.

In fact I like the new Rav more.
 
atypical_boro said:
He’d have stayed had we stayed up.

Rav was openly touting himself via the press literally 3 months after joining. At least TLF had the class to keep it quiet.
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To be fair I think Juninho showed a lack of class by not turning up for the bus parade. I remember people being absolutely gutted. But, as I said about Rav and how people remember him, time passes and people move on. Juninho eventually came back and was great for us. The bond with him is much, much deeper than that of Ravanelli but people are always going to reminisce about Rav in a Boro shirt and as we grow older it’ll mostly be positive.

Juninho is a genuine club legend. I don’t think Ravanelli is but he’s one of the most memorable, high-profile players in our history.
 
atypical_boro said:
oh let’s all jst slag off Juninho then!!

Anyway; for me, Rav is not a Boro legend. Just my opinion but I’m sticking to it.

In fact I like the new Rav more.
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Ravenelli perhaps more of a legendary signing than legend.

As for Juninho. How dare he play for Boro three times and be part of the League Cup winning team! 😂
 
Nero said:
Ravenelli perhaps more of a legendary signing than legend.

As for Juninho. How dare he play for Boro three times and be part of the League Cup winning team! 😂
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Fully agree he was a legendary signing. I remember exactly where I was stood in my living room when I clicked Ceefax on to see that he’d signed, and how I reacted.

I just don’t, with hindsight, think he is a Boro legend and, as someone alluded to above, it sort of annoys me that he’s still remembered as this “icon” at Boro. We’ve had at least 5 strikers in my time who were better than him, and we had a team that won a Cup and got to a European final, yet neutrals still harp on about our serial trouble causers Rav and Emo who achieved nothing positive at the club.
 
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