It's been too long since I've done one of these infographics. And it's not like it's hard to devise
ways to graphically demonstrate Liverpool's dire season so far.
Through 20 league games, Liverpool's 14 points worse off than in comparable fixtures from last
season. 14 more points would put Liverpool at the top of the table by two points over Chelsea, 3
points ahead of United with a game in hand.
Former Celtic midfielder Shunsuke Nakamura is in talks with Middlesbrough about a possible loan
move to Teesside according to the Spanish media. Shunsuke Nakamura is well known by Gordon Strachan
and with the inevitable departure of Adam Johnson to Manchester City, it looks like Strachan is
wanting more creativity in the midfield and is hopeful of brining the Japanese international to the
Riverside.
The English Football Association (FA) Cup 3rd Round began on Saturday, January 2, 2010 with
several matches including Middlesbrough v Manchester City. Boro were relegated last season and were
the underdogs facing a Manchester City side that is chasing for a top four finish. City have won
their first two matches under new manager Roberto Mancini and were looking to continue their
unbeaten streak.
Saturday's FA Trophy clash with Vauxhall Motors is likely to be postponed due to the poor
weather conditions over the last few days. Stevenage announced that there would be a pitch
inspection at 1pm on Friday to determine whether the Broadhall Way pitch had a chance of recovering
in time for Saturday, but I've been told it's almost certain to be called off because of the snow
and ice.
Boro's game with Vauxhall Motors tomorrow night looks likely to be postponed again as the
freezing conditions continue to disrupt the club's fixture list. The initial game was called off at
the weekend due to snow and ice both on the pitch and around the ground. Conditions have improved
since then, but the game may come too quick for the pitch to recover totally.
Can Man City become the first side since Everton to break the Monopoly of the Top Four?
This man certainly thinks so, setting it out as his aim when he joined. And in becoming the
first manager EVER to win his first four games, he has put down a strong marker. However, I could
probably have beaten Stoke, Wolves, Boro and Blackburn (with Man City's side obviously, not alone)
so there are no great shakes there.
Happy New Year!
What have I missed? Have we signed 'the fat Ronaldo' yet?
It seems that the excitement of the New Year transition at the Riverside has somewhat gone flat
amongst the sledging and snow-ball throwing.
Gordon Strachan's attempts at luring old pals from Scotland were short-lived as the bad weather
intervened to scupper talks between officials at Middlesbrough and Celtic.
It's looking increasingly likely that Stevenage will have another game postponed this weekend as
the 'big freeze' continues in the UK. Weather warnings have been dished out to parts of North West
England, the West Midlands and Southern England while Boro's re-arranged FA Trophy fixture against
Vauxhall Motors was put back again to next Tuesday due to freezing conditions and snow.
By Chris Wright
Gary Caldwell left Celtic after being forced to live in a tree for two weeks
Wigan Athletic have announced that the transfer of Gary Caldwell from Celtic
(where he may or may not have been forced to live in a tree) has gone through today.
My last post featured the ongoing transfer speculation between Middlesbrough and Scottish giants
Celtic.
The quartet of players that Gordon Strachan has been trying to get his mitts on were give a
thorough going over by numerous Hoops fans yesterday and have given us Boro fans an insight into
what we are to expect from the players.
Reports surfaced tonight that Torquay striker Tim Sills is about to sign for Stevenage Borough.
Sills has said on his facebook profile that he is leaving the Gulls after nearly 3 seasons at
Plainmoor to join the Blue Square Premier leaders. It's a great coup for Boro, who are now looking
serious title challengers to Oxford United.
Everyone and their mother will captain Rooney this week
Double gameweeks,
injuries, snow, and an open transfer window. January in the Premier League couldn't be more
exciting. Let's get to this weekend's preview:
I. Manchester City @ Everton: Both teams are in form, with City winning four in a row since
Mancini took over for Mark Hughes.
Don't expect the Boro side to click over night after Gordon Strachan sealed the deals of three
new players earlier this week.
We play one of the inform teams in the Coca Cola Championship tomorrow in their back yard so it
will be a big ask for us to produce a performance without any creases.
Mark Yeates could soon be heading through the Middlesbrough exit door on his way to Sheffield as
he enters talks with Sheff Utd over a proposed move, rumoured to be worth around £500,000.
Yeates who arrived at Boro in the pre-season for an undisclosed fee from Colchester has
struggled to cement a place in the Boro first team and, since Strachan arrived, has seemingly
fallen completely out of favour.
Gordon Strachan confirmed that he wants to bring in a further three or four new players to
Middlesbrough in an attempt to strengthen the squad for a promotion push for the second half of the
season.
With players coming in I suspect that the need to sell players will have to be exercised to
balance the books.
Again, we were left to reflect on a decent first-half performance which created chances in front
of goal but, like previous games, we were unable to punish the opposition.
It was clear to see that the side looked more composed on the ball and for 45 minutes we were
the brighter of the two sides at Bramall Lane, but Strachan must be pulling his hair out at our
inability to put the ball in the back of the net when it matters.
Leon Best has proved he can score goals in the Coca-Cola Championship so Gordon Strachan must
get his hands on the 23-year-old who has scored nine goals so far this season.
The Republic of Ireland international will be a free agent in the summer when his contract runs
out so now is the best time (excuse the pun) to get hold of a decent Championship striker that
would at least go one better than our current crop of misfiring misfits.
Kevin Nicholson is in talks with Stevenage over a loan move until the end of the season. The
experienced left back, who is currently at Torquay, has spoken to Graham Westley about a short term
deal and could move ahead of Saturday's important clash against Kettering Town. If Nicholson does
decide to move up to Broadhall Way then he will be following his mate Tim Sills, who signed for
Boro in a permanent deal last weekend.
Middlesbrough have apparently approached Queens Park Rangers about signing 25-year-old Wayne
Routledge for a fee of £1 million but that figure looks unlikely to test the London club's
resolve. Our Championship rivals are willing to do business at around the £2 million mark leaving
Boro to decide whether that would be a good move considering the lack of funds at the
Riverside.
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It's no secret that some Middlesbrough fans are already calling for Gordon Strachan's head only
three months after the former Celtic Manager took charge at the Riverside. A lack of consistency
since his arrival has seen the side slip down the Championship standings to mid-table
mediocrity.
Gordon Strachan is again linking up with his former club to try and strengthen the Middlesbrough
team. With the team hit by a recent batch of injuries, Strachan has been forced into looking for
new recruits to add to the ever depleting squad and has recently turned his attentions to Celtic
defender Stephen McManus.
Middlesbrough have had three players included in The Football League's team of the week
following the 1-1 draw with Swansea at the Riverside.
Obviously you have to take into account the reduced Football League programme due to the FA Cup,
a point strengthened when you see that 6 of the 11 players included were involved in the Boro v
Swansea game.
Despite the interest surrounding Adam Johnson's future on Teesside at least, if we he does
leave, we should be able to bargain for a very good price for the 22-year-old winger.
He scored two stunning goals last night which will only increase the temptation from Chelsea and
Manchester City to sign him as they looked on at Doncaster Rovers last night.
Middlesbrough cruised past Doncaster last night courtesy of two fantastic Adam Johnson strikes,
a first senior goal for Jonathan Franks and a Leroy Lita goal.
Boro began the game well but had to wait until the half hour mark to make a deserved
breakthrough, a moment of magic from Adam Johnson as he stode toward goal and unleashed a left foot
drive into the top corner.
Manchester City are desperate to add a left-sided winger to their ever increasing squad after
they were tormented by Ryan Giggs last night in their League Cup Semi-Final defeat to Manchester
United.
Roberto Mancini will try and lure Johnson to the City of Manchester Stadium to ease the
disappointment of last night's cup exit, but the big question is: Will AJ move to Manchester City
to sit on the bench?
Adam Johnson wants to talk to Manchester City to see what they can offer him in terms of
football. The 22-year-old is likely to sign for Roberto Mancini's side if he is guaranteed
first-team football from now until the end of the season meaning Gordon Strachan will have to work
fast in securing more signings to strengthen the squad before the transfer window is shut.
