chicago_shearer

Nice tribute to Puerta after the goal.

1-0 Sevila.

Hopefully they are waiting on a potential third and the Beye & Faye deals are dusted at this point. But the fact that Mourinho does like to step in at the last minute and hijack our transfers is worrying me a bit.

Dragutinovic starting at left-back for Sevilla.

We only offered him £40,000 per week wages, someone on an email on SSN said. Sack the board.

SSN - Derby sign Miller for 3 mil.

Is there any truth at all to this Riquelme business? Surely he isn't actually considering going to Everton.

Source?

606, but I'm bored.

More likely work permits. If a signing has put pen to paper on a contract by midnight but hasn't gotten the work permit, does the deal go through?

Rotation, rotation, rotation. Having international class defenders in the squad is the best thing that could have happened to Taylor. It might actually help him realize his hype & potential.

Juninho will be great cover for Riquelme IMO.

http://www.jeffwinterentertainmentandmedia.co.uk/comeonboro/0708004.htm

Lovely Louise Taylor's headline from her match report for The Guardian: "Arca gives Boro spark to silence bigoted Geordie fans" http://football.guardian.co.uk/Match_Report/0,,2156856,00.html

Just watching the end of Roma v. Palermo. Anyone think Simplicio would work in the Premiership?

If we were committed to the 4-3-3, I'd play Barton in front of the back four in a box-to-box role and sign a good pacey right-back because we will be dependent on the fullbacks for width and Carr won't hack it. Geremi, Emre, Zoggy, Smith & Butt can compete for the remaining two roles in midfield. I honestly don't know how to best fit Owen, Viduka & Martins in the same side. Maybe drop Viduka and play Smith just behind a front two of Owen & Martins (since Viduka lacks the aerial ability for a target man anyway). Or else pair Owen & Viduka in the middle and give Martins a free-role on either side to use his pace? Works in FM!

I don't think it's at all certain that we'll stick with the 4-3-3. Sam changed the system at half-time, and it's reasonable to think he might experiment again. When they are back in contention, Barton & Emre could give the midfield a little more presence than it has shown so far in the system, but a big concern will be what happens with Owen & Martins. They aren't wide players and there is a good chance they will struggle out of position.

I'd like to see Owen & Martins up front in a 4-4-2 and I hope Emre is fit enough to play a part.

Wow. Cracking goal.

Hell, Berbatov should have scored there.

Taylor is too slow, he doesn't get forward and his passing isn't good enough to play right-back. There's nothing wrong with having three central defenders at the club. We can rotate. What we need is a quality right-back or a creative midfielder that would allow Geremi to swap positions.

People are going to be very disappointed if they keep looking down on decent sides like Villa & Boro as poor. They will take points off of better sides than us this season. Having said that, I do think that anything less than six points from Wigan (h) and Derby (a) is unacceptable.

If we beat Wigan at home, then that's 8 points out of 12. If anyone was expecting more than that then they need their heads examining IMO.

They looked more familiar with the system and where to play the ball, but I thought Butt, Smith & Geremi looked just as poor in the second half as they were in the first. Boateng & Boro's midfield bossed the game.

Good result to be honest. Feels frustrating since we failed to defend a lead, but the quality of their attacking play was better than ours and 2-2 was fair enough. The midfield situation is become a worry and we need to find a way to organize up front and use Martins, Owen & Viduka properly. Additionally, we need MUCH better set pieces. Positives include our defending, which was once again very good especially given the injuries and our lack of posession. Zoggy has become a very able left-back, Viduka got a goal, and it's also nice to have a manager who is capable of adjusting his tactics with the game.