[retired_heidigoebel]

STEWART DOWNING and Julio Arca will get their first taste of pre-season action as a strong Boro side make the short journey to Darlington tonight.

Both players have been suffering from minor knocks and have been left out of Boro's first three friendly fixtures.

The game against Dave Penney's men gives them the chance to build up match fitness ahead of the new season.



Emanuel Pogatetz also returns after missing the last two games with a knee problem.

He will be partnered in central defence by Matthew Bates, making his first appearance since recovering from a serious cruciate ligament injury sustained while on loan at Ipswich.

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Lee Cattermole, James Morrison and Jason Euell are also in the starting line up while a number of younger players are given their chance.

Kick-off is 7.30pm and tickets are available on the night priced £10 for adults and £5 for concessions.

Boro (probable): Knight, Hines, Bates, Pogatetz, Bennett, Morrison, Cattermole, Arca, Downing, Craddock, Euell. Subs: Turnbull, Walker, Kennedy, Owens, Johnson, Thompson, Wheater, Hillerby.

[retired_frogchickie]

Originally posted by Powlay:
Decent english right back im happy.

Decent price again im happy considering AZ were asking £4m for there lad.

Now for the right midfielder huh!

our new right mid is Tuncay by the sounds of it.

I have this horrible feeling that Southgate is happy with a strikeforce of Yak, Ali and Gook with Craddock and Euell as back-up.

can't believe Rocky is banned for 3 games - I assume the appeal is still to be heard, mind. I guess it will mean Arca and Boateng will start the season together.

[retired_heidigoebel]

Lets face it boat will play if fit, he aint oing to drop him, rocky was going to be sub anyway!

[retired_heidigoebel]

Anyone get there last night?

Young was in the crowd looked as happy as a dead fish!

Cradock got both the goals, first one was a header 6 years our from a cross by Arca i believe. Second looked a good finish.

[retired_heidigoebel]

Darlington 0 Boro 2

TWO goals from Darlington-born Tom Craddock guided Boro to victory in their latest pre-season friendly, writes GORDON COX.

It was a mixture of youth and experience which took the field on a warm summer night as Boro continued their pre-season preparations.


There was the first action of the summer for Julio Arca, who took the captain's armband, and Stewart Downing, while 17-year-old left-back Joe Bennett and Darlington-born striker Craddock were also in from the start. Potential new signing Luke Young watched from the stands.

It was Downing who set up the first chance on a pitch which played heavier than it looked - seven days ago water was running down the outskirts of the playing area on another night of torrential rain.

Tonight Downing made light of a spongy surface to cut in from the left to set up Jason Euell, whose sharp shot on the turn was blocked.



Dave Penney had his Darlington side well organised and accurately struck shots from Ricky Ravenhill and Kevin McBride kept David Knight on his toes.


There was a worrying moment for Matthew Bates just past the midpoint of the first half as he appeared to twist awkwardly on landing before limping off pointing to the back of his left knee.

He was replaced by John Johnson, who went to right-back, with Seb Hines switching from there to centre-back.


Craddock looked lively and not long after hitting the crossbar with a close-range header he wasn't far away with a 40-yard effort.


Downing was next to attempt a breakthrough but a low drive from the edge of the box, flashed just wide.


The elusive goal did come with 36 minutes played. Arca, from the edge of the Quakers' penalty area, picked out Lee Cattermole. His volley was deflected away but only back to Arca.

Again the Argentinian took his time, this time picking out Tom Craddock, who took full advantage of good positioning and non-existent marking to head home just up from the edge of the six yard box.



There was a more competitive edge to the start of the second half with Ian Harty going close for the Quakers and Jason Euell and Arca likewise for Boro.


A clutch of substitutions saw the introduction of former Boro Academy player Kevin Burgess, now with Darlington, while Arca, Downing and Pogatetz all made way just past the hour mark, allowing David Wheater, who made a big impact when on loan with Darlington last season, to play his part.


Boro went two up midway through the second half when Morrison went on a brilliant run from deep inside his own half and picked out Tom Craddock, who cracked home in fine style from a few yards inside the penalty area.


More changes brought a change of pace to the game and the exit of Darlington-born Morrison to a very appreciative round of applause.


In the closing stages Jason Kennedy wriggled through and looked certain to score but his low shot brought a good save from Stockdale.

Several Boro performances caught the eye for different reasons.

Bennett, composed and natural on his debut, Morrison for flare, Arca for composure, Craddock for his goals, but perhaps the best sight was towards the end of the game when every Boro player on the park, with the exception of Jason Euell, was a product of the club's Academy.


Teams

Darlington: Stockdale; Austin, White (Capt), Abbott (Blundell 68), Purdie (Wainwright 68), Ravenhill, Collins (Burgess 59), McBride (Rhodes 76), Wright (Winn 81), Brackstone, Harty (Wisse 68). Unused subs: Pocklington (gk); Clarke, Reay, Hardman, Rhodes.


Boro: Knight; Hines, Bates (J Johnson 25), Pogatetz (Wheater 61), Bennett (Kennedy 76), Morrison (Hillerby 76), Cattermole, Arca (Capt) (Walker 61), Downing (Owens 61), Craddock (Thompson 76), Euell. Unused subs: Turnbull (gk).


Referee: Mr C Oliver


Conditions: Warm and sunny


Attendance: 4,395 (2,137 Boro fans)

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Players linked with boro this summer! Some have been totally unbelievable!

The Linked List

1. Diomansy Kamara - News Of The World
2. Steve Sidwell (Reading) - Guardian
3. Nicky Shorey (Reading) - Sunday Sun
4. Zoltan Gera (West Brom) - Daily Mirror
5. Jloyd Samuel (Aston Villa) - Northern Echo
6. Vladimir Bystrov (Spartak Moscow) - Internet
7. Scott Brown (Hibs, now Celtic) - Daily Record
8. Steven Whittaker - (Hibs) - Daily Record
9. David Murphy - (Hibs) - Daily Record
10. Stephen Appiah (Fenerbahce) - News of the World
11. Michael Chopra (Cardiff City) - Internet
12. Sean Davis (Portsmouth) - Daily Mirror
13. Luke Varney (Crewe) - Daily Star
14. Lee Hendrie (Aston Villa) - Daily Star Sunday
15. Jose Bosingwa (Porto) - Daily Star Sunday
16. Cristian Pulhac (Dinamo Bucharest) - Sunday Sun
17. Phillipp Degen (Borussia Dortmund) - Northern Echo
18. David Degen (Borussia Moenchengladbach) - Northern Echo
19. Mohamed Kallon (Monaco) - The Sun
20. Russell Anderson (Aberdeen) - The Sun
21. Igor Tudor (Juventus) - (Internet sites)
22. David Healy (Leeds) - Daily Mail
23. Rolando Bianchi (Reggiana) - Sunday Times
24. Jeremie Aliadiere (Arsenal) - Sunday Times
25. Steve Howard (Derby County) - Daily Star
26. Joey Barton (Manchester City) - Daily Mirror
27: Michael Brown (Fulham) - Daily Mirror
28. Gary O'Neil (Portsmouth) - Sunday Mirror
29. David Hellbuyck (Paris St Germain) - Internet reports
30. Darren Purse (Cardiff City) - Internet reports
31: Ian Harte (Levante) - Internet reports
32. Chris Porter (Oldham Athletic) - Internet reports
33. Mauro Camoranesi - (Juventus) - Daily Mail
34. Mustapha Riga (Levante) - Evening Gazette
35. Cristian Riveros(Libertad) - Internet reports
36. Luke Moore (Aston Villa) - Birmingham Mail
37. Marcelo (Corinthians) - The Times
38. Paul McShane (West Brom) - Evening Gazette
39. Asamoah Gyan (Udinese) - Daily Mirror
40. Jermaine Defoe (Tottenham Hotspur) - Sunday Mirror
41. Wagner Love (CSKA Moscow) - The Sun
42. Marlon Harewood (West Ham) - London Evening Standard
43. Nigel Reo-Coker (West Ham) - London Evening Standard
44. Rowan Fernandez (Kaiser Chiefs) - Sky Sports
45. Geremi (Chelsea) - Sky Sports
46. Kerlon (Cruzeiros) - Sporting Life
47. Cristiano Lucarelli (Livorno) - Sky Sports
48. Bolo Zenden (Liverpool) - Algemeen Dagblad, Rotterdam
49. Oguchi Onyewu (Standard Liege) - Website report
50. Alan Smith (Manchester United) - Sky Sports
51. Collins John (Fulham) - Daily Mirror
52. Phil Jagielka (Sheffield United) - Yorkshire Post
53. Luke Young (Charlton) - Guardian
54. Tuncay Sanli (Fenerbahce) - Sky Sports
55. Romeo Castelen (Feyenoord) - Evening Gazette
56. Gretar Steinsson (AZ Alkmaar) - Sky Sports
57. Izale McLeod (MK Dons) - Internet reports
58: Bobby Zamora (West Ham) - Northern Echo
59: Julien Faubert (Bordeaux) - Internet reports
60: James Beattie (Everton) - Northern Echo
61: Andy van der Meyde (Everton) - Northern Echo
62. Javier Saviola (Barcelona) - People
63. Kevin Nolan (Bolton) - People
64. Kyle Lafferty (Burnley) - Mirror
65. Djibril Cisse (Liverpool) - News of the World
66. Steve Davis (Aston Villa) - News of the World
67. Liam Rosenior (Fulham) - Observer
68. Jonathan Greening (West Brom) - People
69. Andranik Teymourian (Bolton) - Evening Gazette
70. David Nugent (Preston) - Match Magazine
71. Daniel De Ridder (Celta Vigo) - Internet reports
72. Peter Crouch (Liverpool) - Evening Gazette
73. Thiago Motta (Barcelona) -Mirror
74. Chris Gunter (Cardiff City) - People
75. Rob Hulse (Sheffield United) - People
76. Mido (Spurs) - People
77. Simon Whaley (Preston) - Sun
78. Dusan Svento (Slavia Prague) - Mail
79. Mohamed Shawky (Al-Ahly) - African reports
80. Emab Motaeb (Al-Ahly) - African reports

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Tickets Go On Sale For AZ Friendly
TICKETS go on sale by telephone and internet tomorrow (Thursday July 26) for Boro's only home pre-season friendly, against leading Dutch side AZ Alkmaar, on Saturday August 4 (ko 3pm).

Tickets will be available over the counter from the Riverside ticket office on Monday July 30 at £10 adults and £5 Under-16 and Over-65. Season ticket holders have until 5pm on Friday August 3 to book their own seats.

All areas of the stadium will be open as the club goes live with its new smartcard ticket access system, which will replace traditional paper season ticket books for Boro's forthcoming 2007-08 Barclays Premier League campaign.

Season ticket holders who book their usual seasonal seat for the AZ Alkmaar match either online, by phone or in person will have their ticket remotely activated. Details will be recognised by the automated turnstiles for quick and easy access.

When shown to card readers installed close to the turnstiles, the smartcards will allow season ticket holders to access the stadium easily and quickly.

Non-season ticket holders will be issued with bar coded paper tickets which when presented to the card reader will allow access.

Phil are you going?

[retired_heidigoebel]

permission to speak to alan smith has been given by ir alex
/o\
does this mean tuncay will be playing wide right and smith will make it 4 forwards or does it mean the yak will be leaving?

[retired_heidigoebel]

young has passed his medical.

[retired_devecser]

How come we seem to have a lot of people against signing Alan Smith, I'd have him here any day.