r00fie1
Well-known member
[Early, but] Its that time again>>>>>>>
Its “just another game”
THE 153rd TEES - WEAR DERBY
Its “just another game”
THE 153rd TEES - WEAR DERBY
[ "It's nearly half-time! I think we better leave before the Boro score again…."!]
Today's match [Sunday 4th February 2024] is “just another game” and any mentions of it being a “derby” are just stretching the imagination and sports-writer talk. It's certainly a game we have played more than against our other near neighbours – the Magpies. That's probably because they have spent more time in the top flight, but the Mackems have missed out recently, due to spending four or five seasons in the Third Division.
Their recent thumping by the Toon was their “Cup Final”, which gauged where they are in the scale of 1 to 10, in terms of player quality. But not to worry about why they spend hours denying we are in any way “rivals”. It's not surprising really: they tend to leave the Riverside with no points, and we turn up at theirs and give them a lesson in how to play the beautiful game.
Today's match [Sunday 4th February 2024] is “just another game” and any mentions of it being a “derby” are just stretching the imagination and sports-writer talk. It's certainly a game we have played more than against our other near neighbours – the Magpies. That's probably because they have spent more time in the top flight, but the Mackems have missed out recently, due to spending four or five seasons in the Third Division.
Their recent thumping by the Toon was their “Cup Final”, which gauged where they are in the scale of 1 to 10, in terms of player quality. But not to worry about why they spend hours denying we are in any way “rivals”. It's not surprising really: they tend to leave the Riverside with no points, and we turn up at theirs and give them a lesson in how to play the beautiful game.
Over the years, we've exchanged some good, and not-so-good players and Managers: Cloughie is the first who springs to mind. A unique player in his day – prolific striker with an eye for goal and tremendous skill on the ball. It was unfortunate that his skills weren't on display for too long at Roker Park – when that injury prematurely ended his career. There was ex-Sunderland man Raich Carter, who did relatively well at Roker Park, but was a disaster when he took over at the Boro. In more recent years, we've turned Sunderland failures into Boro stars, notably Paddy McNair and Duncan Watmore.
The latter was dumped on the scrapheap by the Deck Chairs and nurtured back to fitness with the help of a certain Neil Warnock`s encouragement. Let's not forget Sunlun`s most recent successful Manager, Tony Mowbray, whose appointment was derided by certain sections of their fans for being a “Smoggy” [no rivalry there then]. As a Boro fan, it didn’t quite look right, seeing our Boro legend wearing that silly scarf in the dug-out at their place!
More recently, we have recruited youngsters from the area, such as Jack Paterson [Sunderland], Addis Dore [Washington], Ethan Scott [Hetton-le-Hole], Cain Sykes [south Hetton], and Sonny Finch [Houghton le Spring] and, many more.
Our Recruitment Team and the Academy have an eye for talent, which is a good investment for the next generation of home-grown talent. It's good to know we are building solid foundations for the future. Some of our lads will move on; it's inevitable in football. Every player has their chance, but it's often about being in the right time at the right place and having the right Manager and coaches.
Back to today. We welcome our [NOT] our “Rivals” from up the road, who are enjoying their second season in the Championship, after previously enduring four years in the Third Tier of English football.
Our Recruitment Team and the Academy have an eye for talent, which is a good investment for the next generation of home-grown talent. It's good to know we are building solid foundations for the future. Some of our lads will move on; it's inevitable in football. Every player has their chance, but it's often about being in the right time at the right place and having the right Manager and coaches.
Back to today. We welcome our [NOT] our “Rivals” from up the road, who are enjoying their second season in the Championship, after previously enduring four years in the Third Tier of English football.
Since they last graced our presence in our 4-0 thumping of them at their place, the Black Cats have changed Managers [yet again]: sacking Tony Mowbray, being 6th in the table at the time, and replacing them with former Rangers First Team Coach and QPR Manager, Michael Beale. It seemed odd that Mowbray got them to the Play-offs in their first season back into the Championship and, built an attractive young footballing side, but was replaced by a Manager yet to win-over sceptical Sunderland fans.
Currently, three points above us [43 / 7th] we are in 11th place, but with a game-in-hand. We've scored two more than them[42], but our poor start has meant we have an inferior goal difference compared to them [+8 / +1]. They arrive today, just a point behind their newest “rivals” – Coventry City! Of course, at the time of writing, we don’t know what the other scores on Saturday may be and how this affects the Championship Table. Needless to say, league positions can change within minutes, and it's never all over until it's all over!
Currently, three points above us [43 / 7th] we are in 11th place, but with a game-in-hand. We've scored two more than them[42], but our poor start has meant we have an inferior goal difference compared to them [+8 / +1]. They arrive today, just a point behind their newest “rivals” – Coventry City! Of course, at the time of writing, we don’t know what the other scores on Saturday may be and how this affects the Championship Table. Needless to say, league positions can change within minutes, and it's never all over until it's all over!
Hopefully, we can give the Mackem`s another lesson in how to play effective attacking, winning football, like we did back in October. We may have lost Morgan Rogers to Aston Villa [a shrewd bit of business, that], but stalwart Alex Pritchard has departed to join former Manager Tony Mowbray at Birmingham City. Having been fortunate to hang on to Jack Clarke [at the time of writing], they have signed Romaine Mundle for a reported £2M from Standard Liege and defender Leo Hjelde.
Come On Boro!
Come On Boro!
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“injured” again 