r00fie1
Well-known member
It`s that "Special" time again>>>>>>

EFL Championship. Monday 3rd February 2025. Middlesbrough v Sunderland. The Riverside Stadium. Middlesbrough. North Yorkshire. KO: 20:00 hrs.
We have to win it! We definitely want to win it. We need to do everything we can to win it. It's an important game for many reasons and we're aware of that. The end of the season, I say, it's going to take care of itself. But let's take this game for what it is, and commit to it and give everything we can. It's a special game to be part of.
[Michael Carrick ahead of Monday nights game]
Learning Lessons:
Last game out, at Preston, was disappointing for the watching and travelling thousands of Boro fans, and fingers could easily be pointed to apportion blame. But, we win and lose as a team. Like Carrick said, it starts at the front and goes through to the back. Carrick was understandably unhappy with the way we capitulated to an average workman-like Preston team at Deepdale, and had this to say straight after the game:

[Screengrab: MFC]
Michael Carrick post-Preston.
[Defensively] “Its got to be for the whole game. We shot ourselves in the foot really”
“Again [we`re] stood here without the points. Its crazy to think we`ve let it get to that”.
“All the way from the front. Its not the moment [mistake] that finished [with] the [Preston winning] goal…...its the build-up to it really, as a team.
“[The boys] have put in a big effort, but its not enough…....in terms of you`ve got to do it for the whole game [you`ve] got to see games out”.
“Its up to us to do something about it”.
We have been there a number of times already this season, so we wont go over old ground. Needless to say, tonight`s game [Monday 3rd February] is something "different". Hopefully it will be a full house, despite the decision by television companies, to broadcast it live on terrestrial TV! Its going to be a consolation for the school kids, who will have the incentive to get their home-work done early and make ready to watch the game. The atmosphere is bound to be electric and all present will do their best to be the “twelfth man” on the night.
Sunderland - Space Invaders:
Sunderland "fans" [you might have thought], would be happy with their club sitting in fourth place in the second tier, two places and eleven points above Boro. But, the Deckchairs bandwagon isnt as solid as it may appear. Last weekend`s home draw against bottom-club Plymouth, saw them gift the Mariners an own goal and fell asleep right at the end, to let the visitors net the equaliser on 90 minutes! The Mariners got stuck in and conceded four yellow cards. The Deck-Chairs found it hard to counter their opponents physicality.

[foto:pafc]
Sunderland couldnt handle Plymouth`s physicallity and conceded an equaliser on 90 minutes - a common problem for the Wearside outfit this season.
The "Stadium of Light", also witnessed a 2-1 defeat to Stoke in the FA Cup in January and a desperately scrambled 1-0 win over Portsmouth in the first week of the year. Pompey went down to ten men, but the Mackem`s held on for 82 minutes of the 90.
Losing The Plot:
Looking closely at their results, our visitors have a habit of switching off in the dying minutes [sounds familiar], gifting goals to the opposition. On Boxing Day, away at Blackburn, they were cruising 2-1, having come from behind on the 55th minute, but Blackburn`s Harry Leonard netted the equaliser on the 90! Again, at Millwall in late November, they conceded the equaliser on 93 minutes, chucking away 2 points. Incidentally, Aaron Connolly scored their only goal that day!
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
* 35% of goals against Sunderland in the league this season have been conceded in the last 10 minutes of the 90! *
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Kidulthood:
The kids from Wearside have won three out of their last six, dropping seven points in total. They havent won two consecutive away matches since October. Their last away win was a dreary affair at Pride Park. Similar to Plymouth, the Rams got stuck in, and the Mackems found them hard to defend against. Tough isnt it.

[foto:echo]
Boro 1 [McGree] Sunderland 0. Ryan Giles skins ex-Boro loanee Patrick Roberts at The Riverside!
The Far Corner:
Their local rag has highlighted over the week, the almost certain exit of Manny Latte Lath (?), calling it a “blow” to Boro - currently our top scorer on eleven league goals. However, Finn Azaz and Tommy Conway are only a goal behind Sunderlands Wilson Isidor on eight goals apiece. We top them in league goals at 47, compared to their 42. Sunderland top-scorer, Wilson Isidor is on 9 goals with zero “assists” from 26 games. Second, are Bellingham, Rigg, Mayenda and Mundle – all on 4 goals apiece.
Escape To Victory:
Boro have only lost three games to Sunlun in eleven league games, over a period dating back to September 2008 – when we were both in the Premier League! Michael Chopra scored twice in the last 9 minutes at their place, to send us home empty-handed. In January and September 2023 we gave them the three points. Both away from The Riverside, but we`re a generous lot ;@))

[foto:msn sports]
Stuani scored a spectacular 25-yarder, as Boro beat the Mackems 2-0, in their own back yard, in the 2016 /17 Premiership clash at The Stadium of Light!
Gone Missing Without a Trace:
Its been a long time since Boro re-established the "entente-cordiale" with our “LOCAL RIVALS”. The Mackems climbed aboard the relegation escalator, falling like a stone from the Premiership in 2017, through the Championship trapdoor in 2018 and into the third tier of English football, where they slumbered, until scraping back through the play-offs back in May 2022. So its wonderful to see all their smiling faces and odd coloured shirts again. Sometimes its hard to differentiate them from the traditional shirts of Stoke City or Southampton, but at least they all start their club name with the same letter: “S”!
Teesside`s Favourite Geordie “Rivals”:
Michael Carrick In his most recent media conference was revelling at the prospect of confronting our “RIVALS” on Monday night:
I can't wait I think it's a fantastic game to be part of. I`ve got to play my part, the players got to play their part, and supporters can play a massive (!), massive (!) part in the night, creating the atmosphere and the energy in the ground. I think it's the type of game you want to be involved in, as well as obviously, playing against our local Rivals. In terms of league position and what we're trying to achieve, for both clubs it's a really, really, important game.
Home Alone and Away - From Ayresome Park to their own Back Yard!
It feels a lot longer than fifteen months since we thumped the Mackems 4-0 in their own "back yard". That was a memorable day indeed. The last time before that, we stuck four past them without reply, was in League Division One in October 1993: Craig Hignett, John Hendrie and a brace from Paul Wilkinson saw us take all three points from our County Durham cousins. Other highlights include Emerson`s brilliant volley from outside the box, and also our aggregate victory in the League Cup over them at Ayresome Park in 1987. Captain Tony Mowbray and Bernie Slaven saw us through to the next round.
Back in 1975, during "Big Jack" Charlton`s reign, two John Hickton Penalties and a goal from Bobby Murdoch, in front of 39,400 at Ayresome Park, knocked the Wearsider`s out of the 4th round of the FA Cup. There must have been a few more than that figure inside Ayresome Park, with the "give us a squeeze mister" and other ways of getting into the ground [you know]. No live-streamed Tele on a Monday night in those days!
In February 1939, Boro saw off Sunderland 3-0, then known as “The Bank of England Club”, with a Micky Fenton hat-trick at Ayresome Park. A certain Wilf Mannion was in the starting line-up that day. Unfortunately, the outbreak of World War II curtailed Boro`s upward trajectory with the formation of the Wartime “League” system. Many players, across the leagues, played their part during the war, and some paid the ultimate sacrifice.

[screenshot:skysports]
It was a brilliant result for us. Interestingly, only Hayden Hackney in that screenshot remains a Boro player today!
Fly Me To The Moon:
For what its worth, my favourite match against them was at Roker Park in April 1982, where "Big Billy" Ashcroft and Mick Baxter sealed the deal in front of a 19,006 “crowd”. [Always been a “big” club, eh?].

[Screenshot:sunderland fc]
1982 - Alan Durban had built a decent Sunderland side, but they were inconsistent.
The Sunlun squad, that season, included Mick Buckley, Shaun Elliot, Nick Pickering, Colin West, Chris Turner, Jimmy Nichol, Barry Venison, Leighton James, Gary Rowell, Mark Proctor and Stan Cummins. Gary Rowell joined Boro towards the end of his career, during our slide to [almost] extinction. “Little Stan” Cummins had gone in the opposite direction for the princely sum of £300K, Goalkeeper Chris Turner went on to make 64 appearances for Manchester United and twice managed The Monkey-Hangers. South Shields lad, Nick Pickering, moved on to bigger things, winning an FA Cup Final Winners Medal with Coventry City in 1987, and also played for Darlington in the latter stages of his career. Jimmy Nichol spent eight years at Manchester United and gained 73 Senior Caps for Northern Ireland between 1976 and 1986. Ali McCoist`s short spell at Roker Park wasnt a spectacular success. After retiring from football in 2001 he went to work for some national "radio station" ?!
Boro - The Arrivals and Departure Lounge:
Its already looking promising, as it`s obvious we need to strengthen various key positions. It hasnt been simply a question of injuries, this time round. Carrick has stressed since before the “transfer window” that the squad needs to come out of January "stronger" than we went in. For the likes of Matt Clarke and Isaiah Jones, they both had their own reasons for leaving, and only those two had been in and around the first team during this season. Jones has given us five years of his young life, and rapidly rose up from muck and nettles football in South London to the likes of that Old Trafford penalty shoot-out victory, and scoring against Sunderland in the magnificent 4-0 victory at The Stadium of Light! Clarke is nearer the end of his career and wanted regular game time. Its his second spell with The Rams and perhaps he might help stop Derby County from sliding back down to the old Division III ? Who knows. We wish all our ex-players the best of luck and success in their respective futures.
The Young Boys:
Lets also not forget, a number of youngsters have arrived through our front door, who will be primed and nurtured, not just to fill in the U21`s, but hopefully break through into the Senior squad in the near future. Its clear that Boro have a longer term plan and developing a culture, which recognises the importance of avoiding the mistakes of forking out millions, like we did in the past.
Its been probably one of the busiest January “transfer windows” for Boro for some time. [Some loanees are already at their loan clubs until the end of the season]. There may be others, but this is the list for now:
Out:
Matt Clarke. Ajay Matthews. Hamilton [Loan]. George Gitau [Loan]. Isaiah Jones. Matthew Hoppe. Zach Hemming [Loan]. Josh Coburn [Loan]. Sammy Silvera [Loan]. Jack Hannah [Loan].
In:
Sonny Finch [Recalled]. Terrell Agyemang [Recalled]. Morgan Whittaker. Ryan Giles. George Edmundson [Permanent from Loan]. Mark Travers [Loan]. Brayden Johnson. Josh Dede.
As I write, nothing definite has been confirmed about Manny Latte Lath`s "departure" (?) from The Riverside, and a number of other reported signings and departures are still “up in the air”.
Derby Lad:
Morgan Whittaker is a Derby lad, who began his career with them and looks to be more than just a good prospect. At 24, and with a career total of 190 appearances in League, Cup and England “Junior” appearances. He is an experienced player, coming into his prime. We know he and Finn Azaz were a potent duo at Plymouth, where he made 72 appearances, scoring 22 goals - playing predominantly as a "Winger". He`s another player who was given a number of options to join other clubs, but, according to Carrick, the club worked hard to obtain his signature. With a four-and-a-half year contract, and with a playing style which gives him the flexibility to play a number of roles, lets hope we see plenty of him in the first team and as soon as possible! I sincerely hope he doesn’t stay six months like the other “Morgan”, who was nonetheless good business, and ended up playing in European Competition only last month!!!
The 263:
It was interesting tracking George Edmundson. First, being recalled by Ipswich, then signing for Boro permanently in the same week! A bit like catching the old 263 from Boro, passing Redcar Clock twice in different directions and arriving back on the same bus! Baffling how we couldn’t just sign him? Football is “a funny old game”. Lets hope the move has cleared away any uncertainty and will now allow him to focus on improving and developing his game.
The return of The Prodigal Son:

[Screengrab: mfc]
Ryan Giles knows there is a great deal
expected of him at Boro, this time round.
Of course, a certain young man has made a similar trip, but with a much longer circuitous route: Ryan Giles, had a superb season with us on loan from Wolves, back in the 22/23 season. He was one of that team which saw us knock the spots off opponents, whom we had previously struggled to beat, with his assists, lightening sprints and endeavour. He and Archer an Chuba were unstoppable. But this is a different team and a different circumstance. Many players have been and gone since Giles chose his path to the Premiership with Luton. Boro have moved on, and Giles has the weight of expectation upon his shoulders, like no other player who has returned to Boro in recent times. Boro is the only club where Giles has played virtually every game in a season [45] in his football career. Rotherham [23] and Cardiff [21] don’t even come near. After his disappointing time at Luton [only 11 appearances] and his recent unsuccessful stint with Hull, he realises what he has to do. Talking after the Preston game, he had this to say:
“The fans come out in numbers and I thank them for the reception when I come on. I really appreciate that”.
“The fans have been absolutely brilliant with me, [and] doesn’t go unnoticed at all. I really want to repay them. I`ve obviously come back here and want to prove a point and want to finish what we sort of started”
[Sunderland] “I know its a big game for the club, for the fans…….and we`ll look to put things right against Sunderland and put smiles back on faces”.
Its Not a "Derby" you know.....

[Foto:echo]
Lee "Clattermole" and Grant Leadbitter getting to grips with the game!
On The Front Line - Battling For The Boro!
Carrick repeated in his Media Conference [on Friday] that Monday night`s game is something “special”.
We have to win it! We definitely want to win it. We need to do everything we can to win it. It's an important game for many reasons and we're aware of that. The end of the season, I say, it's going to take care of itself. But let's take this game for what it is, and commit to it and give everything we can. It's a special game to be part of.
We've got another nine days after that before another game, so we're all in for this one and look forward to it!
The Boro Boys Are In Town!

Monday night is the night for igniting the Boro after-burner. Ramping up the noise and drowning out the Mackems. We will punch a hole through their defence like the iceberg through the Titanic. If we cant get stirred up into a frenzy by this bunch of deluded wannabees, we might as well go home. But, unlike them, we stay to the end. We never give up and never give in. We are the mighty “RED ARMY” and follow our team through thick and thin!
We are the Boro!
The Pride of The North East!
Erimus – We Shall Be!
COME ON BORO!
@r00fie1
02/02/2025
Cheerio for now. Its been a pleasure and I`ve really enjoyed creating the Match-Day-threads. Thank you for the wonderful feed-back and comments. Very humbling. I look forward to writing up Match-Day Threads in the future. X.

EFL Championship. Monday 3rd February 2025. Middlesbrough v Sunderland. The Riverside Stadium. Middlesbrough. North Yorkshire. KO: 20:00 hrs.
We have to win it! We definitely want to win it. We need to do everything we can to win it. It's an important game for many reasons and we're aware of that. The end of the season, I say, it's going to take care of itself. But let's take this game for what it is, and commit to it and give everything we can. It's a special game to be part of.
[Michael Carrick ahead of Monday nights game]
Learning Lessons:
Last game out, at Preston, was disappointing for the watching and travelling thousands of Boro fans, and fingers could easily be pointed to apportion blame. But, we win and lose as a team. Like Carrick said, it starts at the front and goes through to the back. Carrick was understandably unhappy with the way we capitulated to an average workman-like Preston team at Deepdale, and had this to say straight after the game:

[Screengrab: MFC]
Michael Carrick post-Preston.
[Defensively] “Its got to be for the whole game. We shot ourselves in the foot really”
“Again [we`re] stood here without the points. Its crazy to think we`ve let it get to that”.
“All the way from the front. Its not the moment [mistake] that finished [with] the [Preston winning] goal…...its the build-up to it really, as a team.
“[The boys] have put in a big effort, but its not enough…....in terms of you`ve got to do it for the whole game [you`ve] got to see games out”.
“Its up to us to do something about it”.
We have been there a number of times already this season, so we wont go over old ground. Needless to say, tonight`s game [Monday 3rd February] is something "different". Hopefully it will be a full house, despite the decision by television companies, to broadcast it live on terrestrial TV! Its going to be a consolation for the school kids, who will have the incentive to get their home-work done early and make ready to watch the game. The atmosphere is bound to be electric and all present will do their best to be the “twelfth man” on the night.
Sunderland - Space Invaders:
Sunderland "fans" [you might have thought], would be happy with their club sitting in fourth place in the second tier, two places and eleven points above Boro. But, the Deckchairs bandwagon isnt as solid as it may appear. Last weekend`s home draw against bottom-club Plymouth, saw them gift the Mariners an own goal and fell asleep right at the end, to let the visitors net the equaliser on 90 minutes! The Mariners got stuck in and conceded four yellow cards. The Deck-Chairs found it hard to counter their opponents physicality.

[foto:pafc]
Sunderland couldnt handle Plymouth`s physicallity and conceded an equaliser on 90 minutes - a common problem for the Wearside outfit this season.
The "Stadium of Light", also witnessed a 2-1 defeat to Stoke in the FA Cup in January and a desperately scrambled 1-0 win over Portsmouth in the first week of the year. Pompey went down to ten men, but the Mackem`s held on for 82 minutes of the 90.
Losing The Plot:
Looking closely at their results, our visitors have a habit of switching off in the dying minutes [sounds familiar], gifting goals to the opposition. On Boxing Day, away at Blackburn, they were cruising 2-1, having come from behind on the 55th minute, but Blackburn`s Harry Leonard netted the equaliser on the 90! Again, at Millwall in late November, they conceded the equaliser on 93 minutes, chucking away 2 points. Incidentally, Aaron Connolly scored their only goal that day!
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
* 35% of goals against Sunderland in the league this season have been conceded in the last 10 minutes of the 90! *
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Kidulthood:
The kids from Wearside have won three out of their last six, dropping seven points in total. They havent won two consecutive away matches since October. Their last away win was a dreary affair at Pride Park. Similar to Plymouth, the Rams got stuck in, and the Mackems found them hard to defend against. Tough isnt it.

[foto:echo]
Boro 1 [McGree] Sunderland 0. Ryan Giles skins ex-Boro loanee Patrick Roberts at The Riverside!
The Far Corner:
Their local rag has highlighted over the week, the almost certain exit of Manny Latte Lath (?), calling it a “blow” to Boro - currently our top scorer on eleven league goals. However, Finn Azaz and Tommy Conway are only a goal behind Sunderlands Wilson Isidor on eight goals apiece. We top them in league goals at 47, compared to their 42. Sunderland top-scorer, Wilson Isidor is on 9 goals with zero “assists” from 26 games. Second, are Bellingham, Rigg, Mayenda and Mundle – all on 4 goals apiece.
Escape To Victory:
Boro have only lost three games to Sunlun in eleven league games, over a period dating back to September 2008 – when we were both in the Premier League! Michael Chopra scored twice in the last 9 minutes at their place, to send us home empty-handed. In January and September 2023 we gave them the three points. Both away from The Riverside, but we`re a generous lot ;@))

[foto:msn sports]
Stuani scored a spectacular 25-yarder, as Boro beat the Mackems 2-0, in their own back yard, in the 2016 /17 Premiership clash at The Stadium of Light!
Gone Missing Without a Trace:
Its been a long time since Boro re-established the "entente-cordiale" with our “LOCAL RIVALS”. The Mackems climbed aboard the relegation escalator, falling like a stone from the Premiership in 2017, through the Championship trapdoor in 2018 and into the third tier of English football, where they slumbered, until scraping back through the play-offs back in May 2022. So its wonderful to see all their smiling faces and odd coloured shirts again. Sometimes its hard to differentiate them from the traditional shirts of Stoke City or Southampton, but at least they all start their club name with the same letter: “S”!
Teesside`s Favourite Geordie “Rivals”:
Michael Carrick In his most recent media conference was revelling at the prospect of confronting our “RIVALS” on Monday night:
I can't wait I think it's a fantastic game to be part of. I`ve got to play my part, the players got to play their part, and supporters can play a massive (!), massive (!) part in the night, creating the atmosphere and the energy in the ground. I think it's the type of game you want to be involved in, as well as obviously, playing against our local Rivals. In terms of league position and what we're trying to achieve, for both clubs it's a really, really, important game.
Home Alone and Away - From Ayresome Park to their own Back Yard!
It feels a lot longer than fifteen months since we thumped the Mackems 4-0 in their own "back yard". That was a memorable day indeed. The last time before that, we stuck four past them without reply, was in League Division One in October 1993: Craig Hignett, John Hendrie and a brace from Paul Wilkinson saw us take all three points from our County Durham cousins. Other highlights include Emerson`s brilliant volley from outside the box, and also our aggregate victory in the League Cup over them at Ayresome Park in 1987. Captain Tony Mowbray and Bernie Slaven saw us through to the next round.
Back in 1975, during "Big Jack" Charlton`s reign, two John Hickton Penalties and a goal from Bobby Murdoch, in front of 39,400 at Ayresome Park, knocked the Wearsider`s out of the 4th round of the FA Cup. There must have been a few more than that figure inside Ayresome Park, with the "give us a squeeze mister" and other ways of getting into the ground [you know]. No live-streamed Tele on a Monday night in those days!
In February 1939, Boro saw off Sunderland 3-0, then known as “The Bank of England Club”, with a Micky Fenton hat-trick at Ayresome Park. A certain Wilf Mannion was in the starting line-up that day. Unfortunately, the outbreak of World War II curtailed Boro`s upward trajectory with the formation of the Wartime “League” system. Many players, across the leagues, played their part during the war, and some paid the ultimate sacrifice.

[screenshot:skysports]
It was a brilliant result for us. Interestingly, only Hayden Hackney in that screenshot remains a Boro player today!
Fly Me To The Moon:
For what its worth, my favourite match against them was at Roker Park in April 1982, where "Big Billy" Ashcroft and Mick Baxter sealed the deal in front of a 19,006 “crowd”. [Always been a “big” club, eh?].

[Screenshot:sunderland fc]
1982 - Alan Durban had built a decent Sunderland side, but they were inconsistent.
The Sunlun squad, that season, included Mick Buckley, Shaun Elliot, Nick Pickering, Colin West, Chris Turner, Jimmy Nichol, Barry Venison, Leighton James, Gary Rowell, Mark Proctor and Stan Cummins. Gary Rowell joined Boro towards the end of his career, during our slide to [almost] extinction. “Little Stan” Cummins had gone in the opposite direction for the princely sum of £300K, Goalkeeper Chris Turner went on to make 64 appearances for Manchester United and twice managed The Monkey-Hangers. South Shields lad, Nick Pickering, moved on to bigger things, winning an FA Cup Final Winners Medal with Coventry City in 1987, and also played for Darlington in the latter stages of his career. Jimmy Nichol spent eight years at Manchester United and gained 73 Senior Caps for Northern Ireland between 1976 and 1986. Ali McCoist`s short spell at Roker Park wasnt a spectacular success. After retiring from football in 2001 he went to work for some national "radio station" ?!
Boro - The Arrivals and Departure Lounge:
Its already looking promising, as it`s obvious we need to strengthen various key positions. It hasnt been simply a question of injuries, this time round. Carrick has stressed since before the “transfer window” that the squad needs to come out of January "stronger" than we went in. For the likes of Matt Clarke and Isaiah Jones, they both had their own reasons for leaving, and only those two had been in and around the first team during this season. Jones has given us five years of his young life, and rapidly rose up from muck and nettles football in South London to the likes of that Old Trafford penalty shoot-out victory, and scoring against Sunderland in the magnificent 4-0 victory at The Stadium of Light! Clarke is nearer the end of his career and wanted regular game time. Its his second spell with The Rams and perhaps he might help stop Derby County from sliding back down to the old Division III ? Who knows. We wish all our ex-players the best of luck and success in their respective futures.
The Young Boys:
Lets also not forget, a number of youngsters have arrived through our front door, who will be primed and nurtured, not just to fill in the U21`s, but hopefully break through into the Senior squad in the near future. Its clear that Boro have a longer term plan and developing a culture, which recognises the importance of avoiding the mistakes of forking out millions, like we did in the past.
Its been probably one of the busiest January “transfer windows” for Boro for some time. [Some loanees are already at their loan clubs until the end of the season]. There may be others, but this is the list for now:
Out:
Matt Clarke. Ajay Matthews. Hamilton [Loan]. George Gitau [Loan]. Isaiah Jones. Matthew Hoppe. Zach Hemming [Loan]. Josh Coburn [Loan]. Sammy Silvera [Loan]. Jack Hannah [Loan].
In:
Sonny Finch [Recalled]. Terrell Agyemang [Recalled]. Morgan Whittaker. Ryan Giles. George Edmundson [Permanent from Loan]. Mark Travers [Loan]. Brayden Johnson. Josh Dede.
As I write, nothing definite has been confirmed about Manny Latte Lath`s "departure" (?) from The Riverside, and a number of other reported signings and departures are still “up in the air”.
Derby Lad:
Morgan Whittaker is a Derby lad, who began his career with them and looks to be more than just a good prospect. At 24, and with a career total of 190 appearances in League, Cup and England “Junior” appearances. He is an experienced player, coming into his prime. We know he and Finn Azaz were a potent duo at Plymouth, where he made 72 appearances, scoring 22 goals - playing predominantly as a "Winger". He`s another player who was given a number of options to join other clubs, but, according to Carrick, the club worked hard to obtain his signature. With a four-and-a-half year contract, and with a playing style which gives him the flexibility to play a number of roles, lets hope we see plenty of him in the first team and as soon as possible! I sincerely hope he doesn’t stay six months like the other “Morgan”, who was nonetheless good business, and ended up playing in European Competition only last month!!!
The 263:
It was interesting tracking George Edmundson. First, being recalled by Ipswich, then signing for Boro permanently in the same week! A bit like catching the old 263 from Boro, passing Redcar Clock twice in different directions and arriving back on the same bus! Baffling how we couldn’t just sign him? Football is “a funny old game”. Lets hope the move has cleared away any uncertainty and will now allow him to focus on improving and developing his game.
The return of The Prodigal Son:

[Screengrab: mfc]
Ryan Giles knows there is a great deal
expected of him at Boro, this time round.
Of course, a certain young man has made a similar trip, but with a much longer circuitous route: Ryan Giles, had a superb season with us on loan from Wolves, back in the 22/23 season. He was one of that team which saw us knock the spots off opponents, whom we had previously struggled to beat, with his assists, lightening sprints and endeavour. He and Archer an Chuba were unstoppable. But this is a different team and a different circumstance. Many players have been and gone since Giles chose his path to the Premiership with Luton. Boro have moved on, and Giles has the weight of expectation upon his shoulders, like no other player who has returned to Boro in recent times. Boro is the only club where Giles has played virtually every game in a season [45] in his football career. Rotherham [23] and Cardiff [21] don’t even come near. After his disappointing time at Luton [only 11 appearances] and his recent unsuccessful stint with Hull, he realises what he has to do. Talking after the Preston game, he had this to say:
“The fans come out in numbers and I thank them for the reception when I come on. I really appreciate that”.
“The fans have been absolutely brilliant with me, [and] doesn’t go unnoticed at all. I really want to repay them. I`ve obviously come back here and want to prove a point and want to finish what we sort of started”
[Sunderland] “I know its a big game for the club, for the fans…….and we`ll look to put things right against Sunderland and put smiles back on faces”.
Its Not a "Derby" you know.....

[Foto:echo]
Lee "Clattermole" and Grant Leadbitter getting to grips with the game!
On The Front Line - Battling For The Boro!
Carrick repeated in his Media Conference [on Friday] that Monday night`s game is something “special”.
We have to win it! We definitely want to win it. We need to do everything we can to win it. It's an important game for many reasons and we're aware of that. The end of the season, I say, it's going to take care of itself. But let's take this game for what it is, and commit to it and give everything we can. It's a special game to be part of.
We've got another nine days after that before another game, so we're all in for this one and look forward to it!
The Boro Boys Are In Town!

Monday night is the night for igniting the Boro after-burner. Ramping up the noise and drowning out the Mackems. We will punch a hole through their defence like the iceberg through the Titanic. If we cant get stirred up into a frenzy by this bunch of deluded wannabees, we might as well go home. But, unlike them, we stay to the end. We never give up and never give in. We are the mighty “RED ARMY” and follow our team through thick and thin!
We are the Boro!
The Pride of The North East!
Erimus – We Shall Be!
COME ON BORO!
@r00fie1
02/02/2025
Cheerio for now. Its been a pleasure and I`ve really enjoyed creating the Match-Day-threads. Thank you for the wonderful feed-back and comments. Very humbling. I look forward to writing up Match-Day Threads in the future. X.
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