retired_adsi10

Date: 21-8-04
Competition: English Premier Division
Result: Bolton 2 - 3 Middlesbrough
Man of the Match: Derek Riordan for Boro


Team
GK: Maarten Stekelenburg
RB: Michael Reiziger
LB: Franck Queudrue
CB: Gareth Southgate
CB: Chris Riggott
MR: Gaizka Mendieta
ML: Mirko Pieri
MC: Zvonimir Vukic
MC: George Boateng
SC: Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink
SC: Mark Viduka

Subs:
Mark Schwarzer
Derek Riordan
Stewart Downing
Ugo Ehiogu
Freddy Guarin


Match Incidents
Pedersen scored for Bolton (29)
Davies scored for Bolton (73)
Derek Riordan for Boro (80, 90+2)
Downing for Boro (89)


First Half
After that great result against Liverpool I wanted to build on that match against Bolton but they had other ideas. Bolton were the team pulling all the strings and were all over us for the first half. They got their breakthrough on 29 minutes when some slack defending let Pedersen get a header in as he put it past Stekelenburg. We had to get back on level terms quickly but we just couldn’t get past their defence. We finally had to go into the break 1-0 down.


Second Ha;f
We had to come out in the second half pretty fast and get that early goal to put us back in the match. WE just couldn’t break down their defence. Time was running out so I had to make changes. 62 minutes in and on came Riordan and Downing for Hasselbaink and Parlour. Normally when I have made subs we have gone on to score. Not this time as the tables were turned. Davies doubled Boltons lead on 73 minutes after a well struck shot which gave us a mountain to climb. I just hoped we could try and salvage something from this game. Time definitely wasn’t on o ur side to get a result as there was now only 10 minutes left. We finally got on the score sheet on 80 minutes when Riordan got past his marker and was one on one with the keeper. He struck his shot and it just managed to sneak into the net. Game on now for the last 10 minutes. We did the unthinkable in the 89th minute as we levelled the match up. Bolton gave away a free kick on the edge of the area. Up stepped Downing and he floated the ball into the top corner of the net. Our fans went insane after our great fight back. A great goal by Downing. I was happy with this point as we showed great spirit by coming back. I was even happier 2 minutes later when my team went for the Win. Riordan got played into the box and was bearing down on goal. He got to the 6 yard box at an acute angle and threaded the ball into the far corner of the goal. Bolton couldn’t believe it and I couldn’t believe it that we had got the winner in this match. What a comeback. Two great goals for Riordan.


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What a win that was. I never expected to win that game and my team showed great fighting spirit to record our 3rd win of the season. It just shows that you should keep fighting till the last whistle and that anything can happen in a match.

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Board pleased with win over Bolton
After seeing his team overcome Bolton this afternoon, Chairman Steve Gibson praised his manager and team for their superb performance. Speaking to Boro TV this is what Steve had to say:

I always had faith in Mario in that he will get the best out of his players. He truly delivered today as he showed that he can get his team going when they lose their heads and has great determination to succeed at this level. We cant just praise the manager all the time as the players did a great job to come back from 2-0 down and go on to win 3-2. Also id like to thank the fans for giving our young striker Derek Riordan the chance to prove his worth and I can see he will be one player to look out for in the future.

Its great to see our youngsters showing what they are made of and this experience can only aid their performance. Its also great the way that our captain Gareth Southgate is such a huge influence on all the players and really keeps them on the right track. Our younger players can really learn a lot from him.

Anyway lets just hope we can carry on this good form and do well for the remainder of the season

retired_adsi10

Date: 25-8-04
Competition: English Premier Division
Result: Middlesbrough 2 - 0 Southampton
Man of the Match: Stewart Downing for Boro



Team
GK: Maarten Stekelenburg
RB: Michael Reiziger
LB: Franck Queudrue
CB: Gareth Southgate
CB: Ugo Ehiohu
MR: James Morrison
ML: Stewart Downing
MC: Juan Pablo Rodruguez
MC: Freddy Guarin
SC: Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink
SC: Derek Riordan

Subs:
Mark Schwarzer
Mark Viduka
Zvonimir Vukic
Gaizka Mendieta
Chris Riggott


Match Incidents
Morrison injured (43)
Downing scored for Boro (59)
Hasselbaink scored for Boro (60)


First Half
A bit of a flip around in the squad this afternoon as I rested a few players and gave others a run out. In came youngster James Morrision to start his first of the season but his match was cut short just before half time. On came Mendieta as his replacement on 43 minutes. Not much to report as neither teams could break the deadlock.


Second Half
This is where all the magic was made in this match. After a boring 0-0 in the first half it was time to get our fans singing and score a few goals. And that’s what my players did. We came out and had a few chances none really tested the keeper. 59 minutes into the tie and Downing managed to get through the Southampton defence. He came up on goal and slotted the ball into the far corner of the goal.
Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink didn’t want to be out done by the youngster as just a few moments after the restart we found ourselves 2-0 up. The ball got played to Downing who passed the ball to Riordan to dribble into the box and lay it off for hasselbaink to blast the ball into the net. A well worked goal and surely 3 points.
Late on and Riordan picked up a knock so I brought him off to get him seen to and make sure he wasn’t badly injured. On came Viduka on 69 minutes.

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A great win again as we kept up with the early leaders of the league. Surely this wasn’t going to last long and it was only a matter of time before we were brought back down to earth.

retired_adsi10

Date: 28-8-04
Competition: English Premier Division
Result: West Brom 0 - 1 Middlesbrough
Man of the Match: Stewart Downing for Boro




Team
GK: Maarten Stekelenburg
RB: Stuart Parnaby
LB: Mirki Pieri
CB: Chris Riggott
CB: Ugo Ehiohu
MR: Gaizka Mendieta
ML: Stewart Downing
MC: Juan Pablo Rodruguez
MC: George Boateng
SC: Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink
SC: Mark Viduka

Subs:
Mark Schwarzer
Derek Riordan
Zvonimir Vukic
Ray Parlour
Gareth Southgate


Match Incidents
Mark Viduka scored for Boro (19)


First Half
We kept our winning streak going today at the expense of West Brom. We went ahead on 19 minutes after a great corner by Mendieta found the head of Mark Viduka who powered it home. A great start to the match. We kind of slowed down and just took the speed out of the game. We went into the half time break with a lead of 1-0.


Second Half
We held onto our lead for the 2nd half as West Brom posed little threat to us. As West Brom weren’t doing much attacking I changed my tactic a little. So off came Hasslebaink and on came Vukic. I dropped Vukic into the AMC role to see if he could conjure up some attacks.


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A good win again, this team has come on leaps and bounds since I took over. The fans are finally seeing the effect I am having on the team and are finally pleased with my performance.


Transfer News
With not long left of the transfer window to go I made a few last ditch attempts to strengthen my squad. I bought Leandre Griffit from Southampton for £140k and also have given a contract to Andrea Gasbaronni and waiting on him to see if he will accept terms. Also Naldo is coming in January.

retired_adsi10

New signing causes unrest in the Boro squad
After putting a bid in for Andrea Gasbaronni, he accepted my contract and joined my team for a fee of £2.4million. Upon his arriva one of my other new signings publicly stated that he felt there was too much competition for first team places. Juan Pablo Rodriguez had this to say:

'I just feel let down by my new manager that he already has a replacement for me. I thought I was the player he wanted and I have done my best to fit into his plans. Il see how things pan out after a few months and contemplate my future at this club. I don’t want to leave as this is a great club and I want to honour my contract. Just, well we’ll have to see what happens.'

After hearing this interview I immediately went to Rodriguez to see what was bothering him. He just told me that he felt he was brought to the club under false pretences and wanted the matter to be sorted out as soon as possible. I arranged a press conference with both Andrea and Juan Pablo to have a clear the air talks.

Press Conference
'Well I thank you all for coming to this press conference as I just want to clear the air with my players about new signing Andrea Gasbaronni. Now everyone knows that competition in the squad is good as it will push each player that little bit further to impress me, but it came as a little bit of a shock to hear Juan Pablo saying there was too much competition. I know I brought in a few ne players to bolster the squad but Andrea has been brought here to strengthen my right hand side of midfield. If anyone should be nervous about their position it should be one of my other right wingers, which is why it came as a shock to hear about Juan Pablo’s unhappiness.

Juan Pablo is my centre midfielder and Gasbaronni will be my right winger. I’m sure both of these can be included in my match day squad and I just hope that this matter can be forgotten about now.

Thanks again for coming and this press conference is over.’

With that Andrea and Juan Pablo shuck hands and walked out the room.

Junior Khanye deal falls through
After getting Gasbaronni for £2.4m the deal to bring Junior Khanye to the Riverside had to be cancelled as we didn’t have enough funds to get the player. I will still be pursuing him as I think he will be a good addition in the future.

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Board hoping of a long and successful era with me at the helm.
After a great start to the season, the Middlesbrough Board are pleases with my attitude towards managing this club and are hopful of a successful era with me at the helm.

The fans are also impressed by the recent form and seem to have taken to their new manager. Although they are still a little unhappy with the sale of influential player Bolo Zenden.


Boro snap up two awards
New Boro boss and young starlet Stewart Downing grabbed two of the 3 monthly players awards for September today. Downing got the Young player of the month for a series of displays this past month has impressed pundits across the country, he pipped Jose Antonio Reyes of Arsenal and Gary O‘Neil of Portsmouth to the award.

New boss grabbed Manager of the month for September after leading his team to all five of his teams league games in September. He ousted Jose Mourinho of Chelsea and Arsene Wenger of Arsenal to the award.

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Downing proud of his first cap
New England star was ecstatic to have finally won his first England cap. After a series of great club performances he was included into the England squad by Mr Eriksson.

Downing thanked his new manager Mario Trulli for his support and indicated that his call-up proved that you don’t have to play at big-clubs in order to get established on the international scene.

Downing had a good debut as England ran out easy 3-0 winners against Poland where he set up a goal before he was later substituted.

retired_adsi10

League table after first 5 games

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">| Pos | Inf | Team | | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | G.D. | Pts | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 1st | | Chelsea | | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 5 | +10 | 15 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 2nd | | Middlesbrough | | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 3 | +7 | 15 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 3rd | | Arsenal | | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 16 | 4 | +12 | 12 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 4th | | Tottenham | | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 1 | +7 | 12 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 5th | | Birmingham | | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 9 | 5 | +4 | 9 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 6th | | Charlton | | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 4 | +2 | 9 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 7th | | Man Utd | | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 9 | 8 | +1 | 9 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 8th | | Portsmouth | | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 9 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 9th | | Newcastle | | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 4 | +2 | 8 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 10th | | Fulham | | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 6 | -3 | 7 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 11th | | West Brom | | 5 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 6 | -2 | 6 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 12th | | Aston Villa | | 5 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 9 | -5 | 6 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 13th | | Bolton | | 5 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 8 | 8 | 0 | 5 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 14th | | Everton | | 5 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 8 | 9 | -1 | 5 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 15th | | Blackburn | | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 7 | -2 | 4 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 16th | | Man City | | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 8 | -4 | 4 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 17th | | Liverpool | | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 8 | -5 | 4 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 18th | | Norwich | | 5 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 10 | -6 | 3 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 19th | | Southampton | | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 6 | -5 | 0 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 20th | | Crystal Palace | | 5 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 14 | -12 | 0 | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| </pre>

retired_adsi10

Date: 11-9-04
Competition: English Premier Division
Result: Middlesbrough 0 - 1 Blackburn
Man of the Match: Matteo for Blackburn




Team
GK: Maarten Stekelenburg
RB: Michael Reiziger
LB: Mirki Pieri
CB: Chris Riggott
CB: Gareth Southgate
MR: Andrea Gasbaronni
ML: Leandre Griffit
MC: Zvonimir Vukic
MC: George Boateng
SC: Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink
SC: Mark Viduka

Subs:
Mark Schwarzer
Derek Riordan
Juan Pablo Rodriguez
Ray Parlour
Ugo Ehiogu


Match Incidents
Reiziger injured (7)
Griffit injured (10)
Pedersen scored for Blackburn (55)


First Half
We lost two players early on to injury as Blackburn turned to their dirty ways to try and get one over on us. Michael Reiziger was the first casualty on 7 minutes when he got injured and on came Ehiogu to replace him. 3 minutes later and new signing Leandre Griffit had to be taken off so on came Ray Parlour to replace him. Gasbaronni now switched to the left wing and Parlour played on the right. With only one sub left I was just hoping we didn’t have any more injuries. Not much else happened as I just wanted us to get through to half time and then we could re-group.


Second Half
Not a great second half as we didn’t seem to be able to get going. Blackburn took the lead on 55 minutes after a great strike by Morten Gamst Pedersen smashed into the net. I brought on Riordan for Hasselbaink to see if he could salvage anything but sadly we couldn’t and succumbed to our first loss of the season. Not a result I wanted going into our first European match in a few days.


Injury Report
After coming off early in the match Michael Reiziger has suffered a torn groin muscle and will be out for up to 4 weeks. A tough loss for us and I just hope we can continue without him.

Leandre Griffit has suffered a damaged elbow and will be out for a week.

Mark Viduka sustained a slight knock near the end of the match and will be out for 5 days with a damaged shoulder. It is touch and got whether he will be ready for the Panionios match later this week.

Curvature

good read so far kutgw Im enjoying this UP THE BORO!