Newcastle and Middlesbrough entered the Championship from the wrong direction yet still boasted two of the most talented squads in the history of the division. With Newcastle's off-field dramas threatening to do serious damage, many expected Middlesbrough, with their more settled structure, to prosper. Newcastle were always likely to lose the likes of Owen and […]

Of the 24 teams that kicked off the Championship just under a year ago, eleven now have new managers. In the majority of cases, the manager was removed due to perceived failings. Being a Championship manager is like being a duck at a shooting gallery. It's a question of 'when', not 'if', no matter how […]

With West Bromwich Albion's fate sealed last week we can now prepare ourselves for a dramatic conclusion to the Premier League season on Sunday. The neutral (including yours truly) will relish it and will want to see as many twists and turns as possible. Anyone supporters involved will have struggled to sleep for a week. We all have our […]

Well its one of those strange things that football sometimes conjures up some little nugget that makes you check the facts fully before you really believe it could be true For example, Liverpool never lost when Ian Rush scored until the League Cup final of 1987 against Arsenal. 145 games Liverpool went without losing when […]

Why can everyone else see Middlesbrough's problems but Steve Gibson? Whilst his support for Southgate is edifying, it worries me that the Chairman seems so detached from the situation Boro are in by continuing to back Southgate over the evidence of results, performances and the fans. Yet by backing Southgate, Steve Gibson is in danger […]

On Friday, during my game previews, Sam wondered how Wigan could score? Today, Chelsea gave us an answer, complacency. For much of Wigan's trip to Stamford Bridge, it was Chelsea on the back foot. Completely against the run of play, John Terry put Chelsea ahead twenty-five minutes in. Before that, Chelsea saw Wigan have five […]

Chelsea's first leg clash with Juventus is all about one man, Claudio Ranieri. The manager who was first fired by Roman at Chelsea, after getting one season, knew he was a lame duck and insists the fact he didn't give up shows the character he has. For a man who thinks he did ok, he […]

The firings of Tony Adams by Portsmouth and Big Phil Scolari by Chelsea brought the total number of clubs that have changed managers this season to seven, and the number of managerial changes to eight. That turnover rate seems quite high and quickly cycling managers seldom leads to success. It would seem that managers […]

These will be rapid fire after the fun day of news already discussed. * Shawn Wright-Phillips receives a three match ban for the kick he gave Rory Delap. Delap is supporting SWP saying he deserved what he got after his tackle on him. And through all of this, Jose Bosingwa is just laughing that he […]

I wonder if Steve Bennett will be more careful with who he talk to in regards to his job. Now I'll be honest with everyone. When Jeffrey Hash linked me to this story earlier Sunday morning, I simply went "It's the News of the World...why should I care?" What I read woke me up. His […]

On Wednesday night, Middlesbrough manager Gareth Southgate became incensed when Man City's Shaun Wright-Phillips dived to win a foul. After the dimunitive star was substituted, Southgate and Wright-Phillips got into a verbal spat that resulted in SWP giving the two-fingered salute to Southgate. Now, SWP may face a FA charge of bringing the game into […]

It's taken me a little while to catch up on the goings on this week as I was away over the weekend. My wife and I took a camping trip and got away from the hustle and bustle of the city for a while. We ended up with some rainy weather but made the best […]

This week's match was against Liverpool. Though I had to work, I managed to keep an eye on the game (gotta love Slingbox and P2P technology) and saw Boro forced into a late change to the line-up as keeper Brad Jones injured a hand in the warm-up and Ross Turnbull took his place between the […]

The most impressive side I watched, by far, on Saturday was Middlesbrough. The link-up play between Tuncay, Alves, Downing, Aliadiere and, later, Mido was sensational. Wheater was also impressive. At times, it was like watching Brazil with all of the backheels and blistering attacks. Seriously. While Spurs controlled a lot of the possession in this […]

Who'll be the first manager of the new season to get sacked?
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