Boro Bruised By Saints’ Salvo

BACK late and feeling bruised after seeing Boro muscled out by a powerful Southampton side that looked several sizes bigger than our off-colour heroes.
The Saints power, physique and speed plus the ease with which they punched holes in the erstwhile meanest defence in the league showed exactly how big a gap Boro must bridge if they are to be genuine promotion contenders.
They were good. You can see how they have won 16 in a row and are unbeaten for a year at St Mary’s. They are frightening effective. Boro thought they had a game plan – to take the blows and try to catch them on the break with the pace of Bennett in an unusual (and it must be said, ineffective) advanced left midfield role to get forward to hel Emnes and McDonald . That didn’t work.
But we’ll talk about that tomorrow….

Chain Reaction: Boro Chemistry Revealed

BY POPULAR demand… well the half-hearted request of a few saddos, exiled members of the diasBoro, some test-tube bothering polymer engineers at whatever ICI is called these days and a few lazy A level science students looking for a shortcut in their homework anyway.
Here’s the Boro themed periodic table from this week’s Big Picture, a free-form acid jazz riffing around the complex chemical structure of Boro fandom and the common elements from which our collective supporting personalities are formed. It is linked to a big Mac image so I can’t embed it in the blog. You’ll have to open it and probably view in your computer’s zoomovision.
View image
Feel free to work out your own individual fan formula. Discussing it with fellow terrace chemists on twitter it is clear that during the last 12 months I have been transformed from the negatively charged toxic substance moamium dislavide (MnSl2) to the foaming happy gas holgatium beerite (HgBe) just by adding a little bit of the powerful catalyst mogganite.
Have fun.

Forest Result: Numbers Don’t Add Up

AFTER a sizzling start to the season dominated by sparkling stats, thread-bare Boro are now suddenly playing a darker numbers game.
During a barely believable record-breaking beginning, the spotlight was on the statistical superlatives. It was a best ever run of six away wins on the bounce. At 11 games undefeated, it was the best ever league start since the club stepped up into the Football League in 1899.
There was a record five successive clean sheets in the league – an incredible eight hours and 38 watertight minutes without leaking before the Millwall game. Boro had gone 15 games undefeated, had just one defeat in 23 and had leaked just six goals in 11 games. They are numbers impressive enough to have swaggering Boro boasting like a gangsta rap.
But the stats – and a healthy points haul and lofty position in the table – had helped disguise a more significant arithmetical element that has now loomed ominously into view.

Frustration: A Game The Whole Crowd Can Play

WE CAME away from what should have been a jubilant day of record breaking feeling frustrated and disappointed. Boro took their unbeaten start to 11 games – the best since joining the Football League in 1899! – and that should have had us all EIOing and beaming.
Instead on the whistle there were outbreaks of booing and widespread chuntering. Unbeaten in October, joint second, a new record start to the season, the first goal conceded in eight hours and 38 minutes and there were boos. It’ a funny old game.
You can understand the frustration. It was a laboured display and a lack of zest going forward meant we didn’t press home the first half territorial advantage. Then soon after the break McDonald rattled the woodwork (again) and then rifled a shot at the keeper (again) and then, as ragged Boro had a serious case of jitters at the back, we let Millwall off the hook to level. In fact possibly they should have won. They had enough space and chances.
Some observations…

Boro’s Gong Show… And Some Sit-Coms

SO, back from a few days away on international duty – representing Teesside in the European Hyperbole 2012 Championships qualifiers – and what’s happened? Diddlysquat. Nada. No bust-ups, cock-ups, transfer wrangles, come and get me pleas. Not even an injury. Yet.
Boro scored a gong show double and it never got a mention on Look Geordie, what with the Ticket To Ride marathon hitch-hiker and a Toon icon charity match hogging those precious screen minuts. Mogga was a shoo-in. Ten games unbeaten in a division where everyone else has lost at least two games is a massive achievement that we should be shouting about instead ofchuntering over a couple of tough draws. Matthew Bates deserved his award too: at the heart of a defence that has kept four clean sheets in the month again is a major achievement that should be trumpeted.
Next month let’s hope it is Scotty because that will mean we are rattling in goals again.
Meanwhile, to occupy the next few days – and by popular demand – until the MIllwall game let’s talk about the telly…

Raise A Glass To Boro’s Record Start

LET’S measure those glasses.
The best start for a century, five Championship clean sheets in a row, 14 games undefeated in the league and only the post (twice) and an astonishing double save stopped confident Boro claiming a seventh successive away win… that glass looks well over half full.
Another two points dropped and four games now without scoring as the winning run away from home comes to a halt and the team slide down the table? You need another drink.