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Good Afternoon Ladies and Gentlemen, I have finally had some time to have a really good look at our financial accounts for the period upto June 2019 (The 2018-2019 season). As a word of warning this will be a post that is very number heavy. I apprieciate this will not be a thread that is everyone's cup of tea, but as far as I am aware, no-one has a gun to your head making you read this. The Facts: Turnover: In the latest figures released for the 2018/2019 season turnover was £55,643,000. Compare that to the 2017/2018 season's figure of £61,996,000, we have a decrease of 10.25%. *Cost of Sales: Our figures for the 2018/2019 season haven't really changed all that much compared to the 2017/2018 season (they actually increased by less than 1%). This is a little concerning as you'd expect a business to cut costs to fall in line with a reduction in turnover. I'll look at the wages aspect of this in more detail, but because there is not breakdown in expenses (like the turnover), it would be pure guess work as to why our cost of sales has remained high. Admin Expenses (Including **Amortisation): For the 2018/2019 season total admin expense was £34,233,000. Compare that to the 2017/2018 season's figure of £30,982,000, we have a increase in admin expenses of 10.49%. So turnover has dropped by 10% and admin expenses have increased by 10%, so far things aren't looking great. Profit on Sale of Registrations: This is effectively the profit we have made on selling players, but it is a little more complicated. At the time of sale a player will have a net book value - NBV for short (this is going back to amortisation). If a player has a NBV of £1,000,000 and we sell him for £2,000,000, we will record this as £1,000,000 and then wipe the NBV off the accounts (I'll look at this later on). For the 2018/2019 season this figure was £33,225,000, compare that to the 2017/2018 season's figure of £15,335,000, and we have doubled the money made. This £17,890,000 increase from last year has more than made up for the £6,353,000 drop in turnover and £3,251,000 increase in admin expenses. Profit/(Loss) before Taxation: All the above factors including a few of the omitted items (Other operating income and interest payable) lead us to ending up with a profit for the year of £2,012,000. Compared to last year's figures of a loss of £6,396,000, this is a good result financially. Further Breakdown of Figures: Turnover (Detailed): Looking at the turnover breakdown for the 2018/19 season, all areas of turnover decreased compare to the 2017/18 season (with exception of Sponsorship and Competition money, which actually increased). Income from gate receipts dropped by 14.89% (Probably due to not having a play-off game, like the season before, and also the attendances dropping) and merchandising was down by 11% also. Broadcasting income was down by 12.21% (£5,652,000), this was mainly due to our parachute payments reducing from £41,600,000 in the 2017/18 season to £34,900,000 for the 2018/19 season. Wages and Salaries: Wages and Salaries are included in the cost of sales figure, but I think it is important to seperate them out. In the 2017/18 season our Staff costs (Including Social Security and pension costs) were £48,707,000. For the 2018/19 season they were reduced by 17.62% to a figure of £40,125,000. Between the beginning of July 2018 and the end of June 2019 we saw the following first teamers leave; Barrangan, Cranie, Mejias, Fabio, Bamford, Gibson, Traore, De Sart, Ripley and Leadbitter. We also brought in the following first teamers; Flint, McNair, Saville, Mikel, Hugill, Besic, Batth, Mcqueen and La Parra. Those player movements allowed us to reduce the wage bill by £8,582,000. *Cost of Sales - This figure will normally include any cost that is directly contributed to making a "sale". In a manufactoring business this will include, direct labour and raw materials. For us management staff and player wages will be included in this figure. **Amortisation in this sense is the original transfer fee for a player split evenly over the years of their contract. For example Saville was signed for £8,000,000 on a 4 year deal. Each accounting year will include £2,000,000 (£8,000,000 / 4) worth of amortisation for him. Saville's NBV will decrease for each passing year. Analysis: Turnover: For the 2019/2020 season our turnover is going to drop by a huge amount. We will no longer have any parachute payments, so we are looking at taking away £34,900,000 from the turnover for 2018/2019. Plus if our average attendance drops this season we are going to see a drop in gate receipts. This is before we factor in the relatively new prospect of the rest of this season being postponed and or scrapped entirely. As an estimate I'm expecting to see us with a turnover of between £20,000,000 - £25,000,000. Cost of Sales (Wages): With our transfer activity and our player turnover, I would expect that our wage bill will drop off considerably in the 2019/2020 season. I wouldn't be surprised to see it drop down to a similar level to our (estimate 2019/20) turnover. Between July 2019 and June 2020 we have seen the following first team players leave; Downing, Dimi, Braithwaite, Randolph, Flint, Mikel, Hugill, Besic, Batth, Mcqueen and La Parra. Plus any players that leave this summer will also reduce the wage costs, but that won't be fully reflected until the set of accounts that covers the 2020/2021 season. Admin Expenses (Including **Amortisation): I would, like the wages, expect this figure to also drop in the next set of accounts due to us being able to remove amortisation for players we no longer have. This will help to reduce our expenses in the accounts and thus will have a direct impact the end profit/(loss) figure in the next set of accounts. Profit on Sale of Registrations: This figure is also something that has a big impact on our profit/(loss) figure for the end of the year. I expect in the next set of accounts that this figure is considerably lower than the current figure. Mainly due to us not getting 8 figure fees for players like we did in the 2018/2019 season, but also due to certain players having a similar NBV to what we sold them for (Flint and Braitwaite IMO). Compare this to us selling Gibson for £15,000,000 with him having no NBV in return (due to us not paying any transfer fee for him). His transfer would contribute £15,000,000 in profit. What does this mean for FFP (Profit and Sustainability)? FFP is judged on a 3 year rolling basis, so the 2017/2018, 2018/2019 and the 2019/2020 seasons, will all be included in the 3 year rolling assessment. So in the 2017/2018 we made a lost of £6,396,000, but then in 2018/2019 we made a profit of £2,012,000, so we have a net loss of £4,384,000. This looks good for the first 2 seasons in the assessment as we are permitted to lose upto £39,000,000 over the 3 seasons. As it stands we can afford to post a loss of £34,616,000 for the 2019/2020 season, without running the risk of being punished. But remember FFP is a rolling assessment, so once the new season 2020/2021 starts we will be judged on the results from 2018/2019 (Profit of £2,012,000), the 2019/2020 season (loss of upto £34,616,000) and the 2020/2021 season. We would only be allowed to lose upto £6,396,000 in the 2020/2021 season, before hitting the £39,000,000 limit. This is where in my opinion the club will potentially struggle, we are really trying to cut costs this season so that we have some leeway (in terms of profit/(loss)) so that in future assessments we are able to post losses without the risk of punishment. Just to add to this, those figures i've posted in regards to the FFP section, will change as there are exemptions to certain expenses in the FFP rules. So potentially the profit that is stated in the accounts, will be a higher figure when used for FFP as we can remove certain expenses (like academy costs) for FFP, but we can't remove them for accounting practices. Anyone that reads this far well done. Took me a little time to compose, but if anyone has any questions feel free to ask. ❤️

Boro v Swansea is another massive game & another vital 3 points as the mighty Boro try & drag themselves away from the wrong end of the championship, after the magnificent away result at Charlton last week, a win that enabled us to jump out of the botom 3, leapfrogging Charlton, Hull & Wigan & within touching distance of Huddersfield & Stopke above us, the Championship looks a lot more friendlier than a few weeks back Swansea, sitting in 11th place on 53 points are winless in the last 3 games & pushing for playoff points, the Boro & Woodgate will still be bouncing after last weeks away win have good news on the injury front with the possible return of Dael Fry & Patrick Roberts from injury, both could be included in the match day squad v Swansea on Saturday The 1st home fixture v Swansea City was on the 26th August 1926, Boro losing 3-0 This will be the 22nd Boro v Swansea fixture on Teesside, with the following record:- Won - 12 Drew - 5 Lost - 4 Goals scored - 57 Goals against - 27 Did you know: 17th January 1995 FAC 3rd round replay - Boro 1 Swansea 2 the last FAC fixture at Ayresome Park -13,940 18th December 1926 Boro 7 Swansea 1 - George Camsell scored 4 goals 21st March 1959 Boro 6 Swansea 2 - Brian Clough scored 4 goals After signing for Middlesbrough on a wage of £25 a week, Mel Nurse made his debut against Grimsby Town in a 4–3 victory. Within a week of joining the Boro he was made captain, during a night out in his time at the Boro, Mel Nurse was once mistaken for train robber Ronnie Biggs, he was pulled over by police & questioned before his real identity was established We've played Swansea in the 1st divison, PL, 2nd divison, 3rd divison, FAC & LC, only the 4th divison we not played Swansea Some players who played for both clubs: Bill Harris - Born in Swansea, signed but never made any appearances, signed for Middlesbrough & between 1954 - 65 played 378 games, scoring 72 goals Mel Nurse - 256 appearances for Boro scoring 19 goals, 113 for Swansea scoring 8 goals Phil Boersma - One time Boro's record signing made 47 appearances for the Boro scoring 3 goals, 18 for Swansea scoring one goal John Mahoney One time Boro's record signing made 77 appearances for the Boro scoring 2 goals, 110 for Swansea scoring one goal Dimi Konstantopoulos - Played 4 games on loan in season 2008-09, played 98 games for the Boro between 2013-2019 Danny Graham - 33 appearances for the Boro, scoring 7 goals, 54 appearances for Swansea scoring 15 goals Leroy Lita - 78 appearances for the Boro scoring 20 goals, 18 for Swansea scoring 2 goals Marvin Emnes - 141 appearances for the Boro, scoring 24 goals , 11 appearances over 2 different seasons scoring 3 goals, one being a match winner v Cardiff Kyle Naughton - 15 appearances on loan for the Boro, no goals, 151 for Swansea scoring 3 goals Connor Roberts - A season long loan from Swansea last only one loan appearance for the Boro, his contract was terminated & he returned to Swansea, 66 games for Swansea, scoring 5 goals Last time we beat Swansea at home was on the 17th december 2-16 a 3-0 PL win, too long ago, lets put it right & lets get our 1st back to back win of 2020

Charlton v Boro what a 'massivegiganticwehavetowinatallcosts' fixture, it won't determine who goes down but its a long way back for the losers, we HAVE to win this game, no ifs or buts, draws are no good After winning at Preston on new years day the Boro have failed to win any of the following 10 fixtures & as a result we now find ourselves entrenched in the bottom 3 The Boro put on a much improved dispaly against Forest last monday night, could & should have claimed all three points but for a couple of defensive errors we had to settle for a point, if the Boro show the spirit they showed against Forest over the coming months we will have every chance of climbing the table & finishing in a respectable position in the league The academy players who have been introduced this season have played their part, Pears is deputising well in goal, Spence has come in & done a commanding job, Coulson, who has performed so well this season, including his MOTM display v Forest, but the main area we are struggling with is that of a goalscorer The 1st fixture away to Charlton Athletic was on the 29th January 1930, Boro drew 1-1 Charlton Athletic v Boro fixture will be the 53rd fixture in South London between the 2 teams with the following record: Won 16 Drew 10 Lost 26 Goals scored - 68 Goals against - 88 Did you know: Charlton 6 Boro 6 on the 22 October 1960 is still the highest league fixture draw Represented both teams Lennie Lawrence Robbie Mustoe Alan Kernaghan Colin Walsh Nicky Bailey Andy Peake Curtis Fleming Steve Vickers Ben Roberts Jason Euell Anthony Barness Anfernee Dijksteel A couple of blasts from the past

If you think that is the reason Rudy has been given a hard time then you are very badly mistaken. It is not even close to the reason. The abuse he has got has definitely been unjustified when compared to others and some of it has got very personal. And the incident you are referring to from his Blackburn days is where he was allegedly racially abused. Now i accept the boro fan gave an innocent explanation for that but Rudy at time had every right to think it was racist. The fact that the police and CPS bought a case against the boro fan tells us that. Some of our fans even celebrated when Rudy got injured. Thankfully them fans are in minority but why you would ever celebrate another human being suffering a misfortune, never mind it being one of your own players is beyond me. Oh and btw Rudy, despite last 2 or so months, has been a total flop when you look at fee paid, wages paid and his contribution. He will go down as one of our worst signings unless something drastic happens in last 9 games. However I will never boo or abuse the lad because despite the above he has never once criticised the club or the fans and his failings have never been due to a lack of effort on his part imo.

Btw that article is a load of crap. If there are any Gazette journalists looking here then you should know that you are a complete disgrace to the trade "journalism". Sure you can write a pretty article but why don't you try to be critical once in a while. Articles like these proves without reasonable doubt that you are in the clubs pocket and it isn't pretty to watch. Never do you ask a single critical question, even at times when there is so much blatantly going wrong at the club and has been since january 2017. If it wasn't because it was Anthony Vickers name on that article I would have thought it was an article on the MFC website. @Vickers you are a very good writer, but it would suit your job to actually ask some critical questions instead of just nodding along to the commands of the Boro hierachy. I've stopped going on the Gazette website as it's just become content marketing from the club.

I hope there's a place for organisms or we're all screwed. I know my own support of Boro would be lost without my scepticism and cynicism. I'd love to see some professionalism from us and maybe some intellectualism as well. Unless we intend to only sign players from the UK then we're probably going to need some multilingualism. This place could certainly do with some realism from time to time and we could all do with some optimism. I hope you don't mind this good natured criticism.

Apparently the Germans have started stockpiling sausages and cheese. Is that the würst käse scenario?

Branson owns an island and a spaceship, but he wants aid from the government and he’s happy to hang his employees out to dry the man is callous.

I wouldn’t say it’s a farce. It demonstrates a flexible approach. They don’t have all the answers and are reacting to new data that is arriving daily. They had to push a statement out when they did as to hold back would have drawn widespread criticism about inactivity and gambling on the public’s health. Yesterday saw the single biggest increase of confirmed cases and the first death in Scotland, so the goal posts had moved again. We as a country and a world are all making it up as we go along as we’ve never faced anything like this before. Yes we’ve historic examples of epidemics/pandemics before but not coupled with problems and conditions that today adds, over population, an ageing population and the ability to travel the distances we can. The fragile state of the NHS also needs to considered. A cut in funding needs to take it’s part of the blame, but also the massive misuse and burden the public have bestowed upon it. Using it for a drop in centre for routine non emergency treatment when they could have tried other means rather than A&E as a first port of call for example. Economical protective measures need to be put in place also as if we cripple that all issues will be further exasperated. Do I think the government have got everything right? No I don’t but I don’t think any party would have. One thing I am pretty certain of, is that it’s going to get worse before it gets better and they are going to be a lot of scared people. The media both conventional and social will have a huge part to play so I hope they conduct themselves professionally and responsibly rather than the sensationalist agenda they tend to portray in recent years. Im not religious but try to find reassurance or comfort in whatever medium that works for you and look for positive, effective measures rather than blame All in all I hope everyone in the oneBoro community (and wider of course) stay safe. Look after your loved ones and maybe keep a eye out for the more vulnerable who may be out on a limb so to speak. (NB this post started as a reply to your post but quickly evolved into a message to all. Don’t take it personally 👍)

Sending my best wishes to your good lady then 👍

Welcome to the internet!

In all seriousness, I had a fever, a cough and a muzzy head for a couple of days last week. I live in a county with reported cases of COVID-19. Did I have it? If I did, I certainly haven't tested myself or contributed to the statistics. I felt fine 48 hours later, and nobody I know has come down with it, including my mum who has bronchiectasis. Just for reference, flu kills up to 650,000 people around the world every year, according to 2017 data from the World Health Organisation. Coronavirus so far has killed 4,300. Every one of those deaths is a tragedy, but not once have I heard of people self-isolating during flu season, or cancelling major events, despite the far higher mortality risk posed by flu. Reported cases are always going to be at the severe end of the spectrum, or high-profile figures like Nadine Dorries and the Forest owner. Plus, the current mortality rates are being distorted by the fact most of them occurred in China, where endemic levels of COPD mean people often have underlying lung problems to start with. The UK has a far lower prevalence of respiratory conditions than China. And all the time, people are fuelling hysteria by making bad decisions and panicking. The people selling 49p Lidl hand sanitiser for £25 on eBay need a good slap, especially since it's antibacterial and won't do much against a virus! Ditto people buying hundreds of bog rolls and dried pasta, as if we're in the end time.

Now imagine us going on a never-ending winning streak so we can get Erimus to do all our match threads 😄

It’s without doubt SG has given the town a football club and, in the past, some happy delirious times. The club is the town, the town the club but over the latter years SG decision making has been dire and he should be criticized as we all should be held accountable. I am getting sick and tired of wishing the season over hoping for the next to be better, but it just gets worse with every appointment. Of course we can all say we are getting immune and don’t care as much, but like many others we search results, tune into games, feel down when beaten and rejoice when wining. The club lives inside you, it is you and will remains with you until your passing. UTB.

Shame that, I thought we played alright tonight although we ran out of steam. I'm possibly being unfair here but I thought McNair was at fault for both goals we conceded. I didn't think there was much to complain about regarding their equaliser, Grabban just holds him off really. It's an awkward one for Pears though, if it's a cross he just comes out and punches it clear, cleaning Grabban out in the process. The way that ball got to him meant he couldn't do anything about it and for some reason we didn't have a defender with their best striker 🤦‍♂️ Coulson was bright, Gestede actually played well so fair play to him. Our second goal was superb quick thinking from Pears, good to see a Boro player switched on like that although Wing was a lucky sod with that finish mind! I think Forest's natural way of playing probably suited us with them allowing us to attack them but we still had to make things happen for ourselves and we did that tonight to a certain extent. A reason for some optimism though.

There was an arrogance around the club in 09 and 17 that we'd make an immediate return to the Premier and I'm sure they'll be a similar feeling next season in league 1. I don't know how we can make an expectation when we'll be rebuilding the squad, we'll have a clown as a manager and a poorly run club. I think a long stay in the 3rd tier is just as likely.

Staggering interview which says nothing that we didn't already know, just white noise presumably in an effort to deflect from Woodgate's incompetence in the short term in the hope that luck delivers a few wins somehow. Its been going pear shaped for well over a decade and now we have this latest directionless experiment going horribly wrong yet there seems to be a sense of denial of reality. Of course the problems go far deeper than Woodgate but at the minute he is doing an awful job with resources that are not as bad as he has managed to drag them down to. What exactly is happening in the areas of the business that has woefully under performed behind Woodgate, Strachan, Monk and Mowbray etc.?

Just a quick post to highlight the good that has happened during this tough time. Now I’m not gonna sit here and praise the government as we all know there are things they could’ve done quicker, better or differently. I just want to highlight that the country has got things to proud of. Firstly a big shout out to the 500,000+ people who volunteered to help the NHS. Putting themselves at a higher risk including my 60yr old Aunty who only retired after 40yrs service in August from the NHS but willing to step back into the eye of the storm The speed and efficiency of the military and civil servants in setting up Operation Nightingale which will provide up to an extra 4000 bed for the seriously ill. The (slight) improvement of admitted patients showing the green roots of positive effect of social distancing. The British spirit of helping others in greater need that I have witnessed by either doing odd jobs or just checking in with them in my village. Strangers are more willing to stop and talk to others now. Whilst maintaining 2 meters gap. Also after the initial possible selfish panic buying people are a lot more considerate The telephone befriending initiative seems to be a success in Brighton too The Action of Banks and large corporations introducing mortgage gaps etc to help people and small businesses. The economic package promised by the government to protect workers, businesses and the self employed. On a personal note I’m enjoying my time spent with my kids. They are really set into a routine now and it’s a pleasure to see them play with each other (today they’re building a den ) rather than the bickering that usually occurs. Celebrities using their platform for good. Wether it’s Joe Wicks morning workout (which we do every day) or footballers raising money online. To Football clubs offering their facilities to NHS staff and the countless individuals that helping or setting up projects in areas that are important to them. The last thing is the environmental benefits that are occurring. Venice is reporting that it’s canals have never been so clean. And with the massively reduced pollution/carbon emissions it can only be a good thing. I know everyone will have different experiences and there is still a lot more to be done. I don’t want to play down the dangers this virus still possesses, but just wanted to spread a bit of good news Stay safe oneBoro 👍

UK vs Covid-19 match thread...?

Can just see Borodane saying to the kids "and if you don't behave, I will take you to another one"...hope you all had a good time and have a safe journey back

For clubs like Sheff Wed and Derby there should be no real excuse for not following the rules and a no tolerance policy should be invoked and they should be relegated. They are not dealing with any fallout from relegation from the premier league and are basically flouting the rules. If my club gets relegated but lived within its means within P&S I would be very aggrieved that they survived by cheating. That said, the whole process seems arbitrary. There should be set dates for clubs to submit their accounts for auditing and a set date for any punishments to be dished out.

After the rubble of the January transfer window cleared, such as our failed attempt to bring in some flair attackers like Jesse, Delofeu, Bojan etc and also Gaston Ramirez essentially giving up playing for Karanka, it was clear that the option was to either accept relegation with Karanka in charge until the end of the season - and then give him another season in the Championship like Dyche at Burnley - or to sack him in an attempt to keep in the Premier League. So when we sacked Karanka I seen it as a sign of ambition by Gibson that we were seemingly doing everything we could to try to keep within the Premier League, and with names like Gud Hiddink linked with us, I could piece together some sort of positive logic within the decision. I may be completely wrong but I think most fans felt that way. The potential certainly was there if we had someone like Hiddink if he could get Ramirez performing again and harnessed Traore's phenomenal potential a few seasons before he became one of the World's best wingers. It's a "what if" scenario now so we're never going to know. One thing that we certainly do now know, however, is that Steve Agnew certainly wasn't the man for the job and was merely a cheap option that would allow Gibson and co to start their new revolution of ripping apart the framework that Karanka had slowly evolved over 3 season's here, which was good enough to get us promoted to the Premier League. Another thing that I now know is that Gibson sacking Karanka was not due to ambition of wanting to avoid relegation from the Premier League. If he had genuine ambition then there's absolutely no way that he would tolerate Woodgate's continued underachievement which has us teetering on the edge of League One. That leaves the glaringly obvious reason being that Gibson was simply wanting to get his control back. He grew sick of Karanka and Ortra challenging him as they felt, rightly, that they knew more about football than Gibson and Gill. Ever since Gibson's revolution took hold post Karanka, everything has fallen apart from there with our "football is a simple game, complicated by fools" mentality. I've heard Gibson and Woodgate quote that dinosaur mentality. That along with how we have struggled to keep with modern football, we're simply still run like a 1990's club with recruitment in particular. If you contrast that with the rest of modern football, it's little wonder why we're so far behind smaller clubs like Brentford who are a forward thinking club that welcomes a Director of Football and uses data incredibly effectively. I read this interesting short article today about how data has been used by Sevilla FC to refine scouting data, analysing market value and also to prevent injuries: https://fcbusiness.co.uk/news/sevilla-fc-the-sporting-advantage-of-data/. The way we shun modern football is terrifying. We're still stuck in the 1990's regularly getting out performed by smaller clubs who have embraced modern football practices. I think Gibson must rate his and his cronies opinion's too highly to trust data/statistics over their opinions. If I was him I wouldn't enjoy looking at statistics either as they would only show how terrible Gibson and his cronies decision's have been for the majority of the past decade.

Aye his legs went about 10 years ago haha

👏👏

I'm not defending the performance or Woodgate but me, you and about 99% of the board had us down to lose that game so I'd personally say yes it is a good point, obviously 3 would have been much better but I'll take a positive in this shower of S****!

Gestede tonight

Stay at home for 15 days or you have to come and watch the Boro for 5 years... that should be equally effective over here

Players and directors of German club Borussia Gladbach have forfitted their salary during the crisis in order to help save the jobs of others at the club. Nice gesture from the highest paid staff at the club, although there is bound to be players on the edge of the team who will be feeling it opposed to the highest paid stars.

Well thats the thing. Coronavirus isn't fatal for the generally fit and under-60s. You'll feel a bit crap for a few days, but will get over it. The issue is protecting the elderly and those with existing health / immune system issues (e.g. people undergoing cancer treatment). However, part of the plan is to try to get most of the population to develop "herd immunity" - basically allow them to get infected, get over it and have their immune systems produce antibodies, which will recognise and kill the virus in future. Hence why we haven't taken the same measures as Ireland and other parts of Europe to restrict movement of people, kept schools open etc. Government has announced the next step is to try and physically isolate the elderly to reduce the risk to them...but since they often need medical treatment and assistance to get on with their lives, this won't be easy. So, yeah, I do have quite a bit of sympathy for the government...and the people advising them. You try and solve one problem, but can end up creating others. Everyone's just having to play it by ear and do what they think is best, since we don't have the kind of historical data (or vaccines) that we do for flu epidemics.

This is the worst argument I see regularly. Who cares if i am unlikely to die from this if there are millions out there who might? What about my parents? My friends who have suffered illnesses that naturally make their immune system weak? I think the biggest thing that this virus has exposed is countries lack of basic bloody empathy.

No need to worry in our country. Government have been very savvy and sensible in their approach to the virus. I have 4 kids all in the same school and we had a note from the local council yesterday detailing that it's not airborne, you need to be within 2m of an infected person for around 15 mins. It's just the media going to town on this, my concern is for an age group that might have issues with the virus. The majority of youth and young adults will more than likely be ok. My kids have been given a little brief of what to do, cough sneeze into your sleeve or a tissue and bin it. Wash hands before eating and after the loo, and just be careful. It's going to peak around early may they reckon. Large gatherings should be looked at and if so sporting events should be cancelled. Get yourself a cup of tea and just see how it goes, I lived through hand foot and mouth, Sars, swine flu.. difference is now you have the fact that every person has a phone and is a reporter. Happy Wednesday folks! Stay clean

Argh even my daughters local gymnastics show has been cancelled. Now I won’t get to sit in and wait 5 hours for her team to do a 5 minute show that I have seen multiple times already in training.

You've got a daughter? I honestly thought you were about 10 years old

I remember that very well. I remember watching the incident and I'd never heard of 'the pits' before that incident either. If I was watching that without that information, just as Rudy Gestede had, I would have thought it was racist too. Not that any of this even remotely matters. As @TLF10 has put, neither this nor what happened at Newport has ever really been recalled when abuse is sent Rudy Gestede's way. The Blackburn thing has rarely ever been mentioned at all during his time here barring maybe when he first joined. The Newport thing has been mentioned once or twice in the time since that game. When someone is calling him a donkey, they're not referring to either of those incidents and yet that is effectively his nickname. What I recall Braithwaite doing was taking home one of our biggest ever pay packets whilst altering his performances and his commitment based on the situation in front of him. Commitment to the cause has never been Gestede's problem.

With regards to the game, I thought for the first two thirds of the pitch we were thoroughly excellent all day, but yet again our heads go in that final third - Tav was especially guilty of this, but Tav, Coulson, McNair all fired efforts either massively high or wide. That was Wings best game in a long time and he definitely suits that role far more than the deeper midfield. Able to get up and support play and he played a number of absolutely killer balls through too - could have had his 8th of the season if not for a great save by the keeper. Gestede was phenomenal today; I often complain about how he seems unable to head anything, but he had a magnet for a head today, was flicking almost everything on. Holding the ball up well, getting the midfield runners involved. If this is how we're finishing the season Gestede starts as often as possible from now on. The above is a sentence I never thought I would ever write. McNair looked back to his marauding best, Howson got over his little wobble too with a fantastic game at RB, Coulson and Johnson are a really good left sided pairing IMO, enjoy watching them together. Shotton calmed his game down second half, with the amount of times he was trying to steal in front of attackers first half I was convinced he was going off but fair play to him, he changed his game slightly to fit what he had to do and him and Moukoudi were great. And Stojanovic, positioning was excellent, didn't have to make any difficult saves, came out to make some good clearances and almost all of his kicks went straight to a Middlesbrough player, something I'm not usually used to seeing. Criticisms are again we sat a little too deep - you know when a team is losing going int othe last few minutes they're going to come at you, but to collapse all the way back to your own 18 yard box is too much. Subs a little weird to me too, Saville for McNair just seemed unnecessary and Tav stayed on the pitch too long. Also our decision making / finishing ability in the final 3rd. Honestly if we were even semi competent at finding the back of the net we run away 3 or 4 nil winners today I think.

It does look a little bit better than it did this morning @boroie. It would have been a lot more scary if we hadn’t won

I’d bring all of Fletcher on.

Its the midfield that worries me, bad habit of going missing for long periods of the game which puts the defense under long spells of pressure. It's the manager, the defence, the midfield, the attack, the chairman, the chief exec and the recruitment team that worries me. Other than that I'm feeling good about things 👍

I don't have any children, but I still want Boro to win!

Its The Guardian...what do you expect? 😂 They're right about the "poisoned chalice" bit though...sadly thats on Gibson. He has made it one with a series of poor decisions over the last decade or so...particularly in terms of recruitment.

GAME DAY SHOW UP, BORO

Cheers all 👍 Forgot to mention, my last & only visit to the Valley was in August 2013, Mogga as manager When we played there I had seen Boro play Charlton at 5 different grounds Ayresome Park Riverside Upton Park Selhurst Park The Valley

I’ve been self isolating since the Palace away match in 2017!

Thought Rudy did well tonight. Offered us something different. Won a lot of his aerial duels and created several chances for us. Bagged a goal as well. Not sure why he didn’t go for goal for the one in the second half though?

I wouldn't say Wing has been rubbish. Maybe not as good as he was last year, but he still ultimately is one of the only forward thinking players we seem to possess, you can see the thought behind his passes even if the execution isn't always there. He's been forced into playing a lot of roles that I don't personally think he's suited for. I wouldn't even say he's been terrible today, most of our good stuff today has had Wing involved at some point (apart from the stuff that is solely Coulson, who has been immense). What I'd be working on is Wings physical fitness and his ability to tackle in the summer.

BORO wining at half time

I have always been of the belief that those who pay their money have he right to complain when things are not going so well and i fully respect that right. However, I would like the opportunity to put another side of the argument. The first game that I went to was in 1959 when, aged 5 my Dad took me to watch Boro vs Sunderland in an uninspiring 0-0 draw. From that moment on I was hooked and living literally across the road from Ayresome Park in Warwick Street I never missed a home game starting off in the boy's end and the Bob End I attended every home game until I left to join the army in 1973. So I have been supporting the Boro now for over 60 years and to say it's a bit of a roller coaster would be to downplay roller coasters. To back up my ongoing support for SG I'm going to compare the 32 years of the SG era with the 32 years pre SG. Let me now take you with me on that roller coaster ride and give you some figures over those 64 years and so as not to confuse Div 1, the championship and all the various names I'll just use Tier 1, Tier 2 and Tier 3. Over those 65 years Boro have been in Tier 1, 24 seasons (16 under SG), Tier 2, 39 years (16 under SG), Tier 3, 2 years (1 under SG). I know which era I preferred with 50% of the last 32 years being spent in Tier 1, not including the Cup Finals and those amazing European nights. All of that has been down to the sheer, tremendous financial support put into this club by SG without which most of our successes would have been unlikely. Has he made mistakes, yes and he freely admits to that but don't give up on SG or JW. Things may look bleak at the moment, but we have been there before and i have the utmost confidence that under SG and JW better times are just around the corner. Keep faith, stay strong and UTB.

Going from what Gibson says the only way that Woodgate is going to be sacked if there is a vicious fan backlash against Woodgate and Gibson at Boro games. He only done this interview to try to get the fans onside, especially ahead of tonight when the fans are very likely to turn on Woodgate. If the fans are vocal in their criticism tonight, it could force Gibson into a rethink as he’ll then know he no longer is able to sell his repetitive idiocy to the Boro fans.

I fear that the mistakes Gibson claims to have learned from aren't the same mistakes that I saw the club make, and continue to make. It's all well and good coming out and wittering on about learning from mistakes but we have shown literally no evidence that we actually have learned from them.

For an intelligent guy like Gibson it blows my mind that he’s impressed by Woodgate. He is inarticulate, full of cliches and contradictions. He comes across as pretty unintelligent and doesn’t represent the club well imo. I’ve never felt so disillusioned with the club