SoccerBlogs

Versatility in a player is a very valuable attribute in today's game with so many managers now looking for young, strong and technically gifted players to strengthen their team. The prime example of a player with extreme versatility in the Premier League at the present moment must be the emergence of Manchester United youngster, Phil Jones.

We are all saddened to hear the news that former Middlesbrough coach, Gordon McQueen, has been diagnosed with cancer. The much loved ex-Manchester United defender announced on Friday afternoon that he will receive treatment at The James Cook University Hospital after being diagnosed with cancer of the larynx.

After speculation arose that Steve McClaren was hot favourite for the Aston Villa job midweek, it now seems that the former Middlesbrough boss is now out of the running after initial talks broke-down last minute with the Birmingham outfit.

Whatever led to those talks breaking down may have a worrying knock-on effect for Villa fans as McClaren may have held the key to keeping one of their star performers, Stewart Downing, at the club.

As this season draws to a close Tony Mowbray will be looking to build on Boro's recent success in the npower Championship by getting stuck into the summer transfer market and also developing players on the training ground. Off the pitch/training ground, the kit designers are busy making their final choices before mass production of our new 2011/12 football strip commences ready for release in the coming weeks.

As the Middlesbrough players and fans head to Humberside today for the npower Championship clash against Hull City I'm sure many will be thinking about Gary O'Neil and hoping the former Boro captain recovers from what looks like a very serious ankle injury sustained only last week.

The 27-year-old was clattered by Nigel Reo-Coker in last Sunday's Premier League clash at Upton Park and was stretchered off only to find out that he had torn the ligament from his ankle in the challenge.

For Tony Mowbray, it must be frustrating to see Kris Boyd and Scott McDonald fail to live up to their reputations of once free-scoring SPL strikers at their previous clubs Rangers and Celtic respectively. It just shows that the transition from Scottish football to English football is much harder than first thought especially from the Scottish Premier League to the Championship.

We've not seen a post on here for a while, and I'm sorry. A combination of work commitments and a lack of things to talk about have resulted in the blog being rather scarce with information on Boro's season so far in the Championship. Well, lucky or unlucky for you, the blog will see more action over the coming weeks.

Tony Mowbray is set for a long winter as Middlesbrough's new Manager. The former Boro defender, with his tough-tackling attitude as a player, has to tackle the problems that Gordon Strachan and Gareth Southgate left behind. The news that Mowbray had been given the nod as new boss last week was certainly no surprise to most fans, the biggest surprise in the days that followed were a home defeat to Bristol City and the news that Marvin 'starvin' Emnes is back on Teesside following a lone spell at Swansea City.

Gordon Strachan walked away from Middlesbrough this afternoon knowing that he had made the right choice. The 53-year-old will look back on his year-long spell at the Riverside as a failed attempt at constructing a team good enough to get out of the Championship.

WGS endured a tough time from the ever passionate Boro faithful during his 12 months in charge on Teesside and never gained the respect from the supporters, but he might have just gained a small piece of respect as he knew it was time for a change and that he had taken the team as far as he could.

Another defeat, this time at home, leaves Middlesbrough sitting agonisingly close to the bottom of the npower Championship this weekend something that Boro fans can't really understand. The 2-1 defeat yesterday, to rivals Leeds United, has placed even more pressure on Gordon Strachan as the chorus of boos at the the final whistle rained down on WGS.

The Boro fans playing keep-ball from the Watford stewards was the highlight of our visit on Saturday as we witnessed a 20-minute spell of the worst defending which handed the Hornets three goals on a plate.

As we walked away from Vicarage Road at the full-time whistle, I couldn't help but smile when one particular home fan thought that his team had completely outplayed Boro and that the only time we had the ball was when the away end kept the match-ball for five minutes.

Gordon Strachan will have cash to splash once the sale of Brad Jones goes through this week. The Australian goalkeeper had a medical at the Premier League club yesterday indicating that personal terms have been agreed. According to reports in the weekend press the £2million-plus transfer fee from his sale is already in place to be used to try and land Cardiff City midfielder Peter Whittingham.

Boro Brick Road Chief Reporter Anthony Ward reflects on Boro's second game of the new npower Championship season as Strachan's side get their first point on the board.

Leicester City 0 Middlesbrough 0

Jason Steele produced a man of the match performance for Boro as they earned a hard-fought point at the Walkers Stadium.

Gordon Strachan will have reflected on a bad day at the office in Boro's opening day defeat to Ipswich Town last Saturday. WGS will be hoping his team can cut-out the sloppy defending which allowed Roy Keane's men to score three past Danny Coyne to inflict the first loss of the season.

Leicester v Boro

This fixture last season saw Strachan's men lose 2-0 at the Walkers Stadium with goals coming from Yann Kermorgant and Richie Wellens.