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Still trying to take credit. I didn't hear him come out and talk about his contribution to us last season. An absolute conman and I'd marry Warnock compared to the two of them.

Woodgate is an arrogant bully, I didn't want him here and it was personal as well as professional. If you are a certain age and live in Middlesbrough you'll know he had a bad reputation for a reason. He should never have been given the job. And professionally he was not ready to be given the job, it was far too big for him and that's on Gibson.

A very respected and knowledgable (also a student of Pulis) once said that it’s harder to play against 10 men. I think we’re underestimating the genius of Tony in employing this tactic

Yeah going down to 10 men is never really something anyone wants (other than the opposition). They had 1 shot on target in the 2 games they went down to 10 men. But they only had 2 shots on target in the 2 games they didn't have a man sent off so either way it's not exactly great reading. But regardless I think Pulis is heavily in favour of a defensive style, especially judging his time with us, alongside his previous clubs too. Mainly for FFP reasons it would be poetic if Sheffield Wednesday and Derby both went down. 😂

We won down there last season under Warnock so to do it two years running would maybe be a little optimistic. That said last season's result earlier this year will have absolutely no bearing on this season's fixture as we saw against Swansea. The key thing is that deep down feeling that we won't get beat (despite the Huddersfield and Norwich setbacks) is riding high so a draw for me as a minimum, although I'd love a victory. Most seasons you look at the top teams who you would happily take an away draw from and then the middling to lower teams where you would want a win. That we are only four points off top spot and five points from fifteenth indicates that more than ever the Championship this season is one where anyone can beat anyone. No game is a given. The lack of crowds is clearly having an effect and neutralising games so that home advantage is negligible.

To the extent he'd flee the country during a global pandemic for a sesh. What a professional.

My personal favourite quote from Woodgates interview with Carragher - “I just wanted to get away after I was sacked, but we were in a lockdown. So I went to Ibiza for 4 weeks.” That quote alone tells you we were absolutely mental to give woodgate the job at boro 😂 couldn’t wait to go and get off his face

What a massive Championship win over Swansea City at the Riverside on Wednesday evening to keep us ticking away nicely with the chasing pack Ducan Watmore putting us in a great position with 2 goals, the 2nd was an excellent finish, then made his way for Saville to come on & be part of a defensive barrier to keep Swansea at bay, a master stroke from the manager, we need to wrap Watmore up in cotton wool if he’s as good as that at finishing There were some big performers & tired legs out there on Wednesday evening, I dont think anything was left out on the pitch, those players will actually run through a brick wall for their manager NW will have a few selection dilemmas that managers enjoy when we make the trip to Stoke City for another mouth watering top of the table championship clash with Stoke who sit one point & two places above the mighty Boro, 25 points, to Boro’s 24 points with 4 points separating top to tenth place Will NW stick with the same team formation, bring in Assombalonga, will he change it around to accommodate Roberts, will Saville fit in alongside Morsy who, for me, is a must in the starting 11, will Dijksteel be available? Bola was immense the other night & getting better each game, McNair too, who was like a magnet on wednesday evening, when the ball sort of went to him, since NW 1st walked through the door, the transformation & work within the team is amazing Ironically, the Swansea 3-0 home defeat last season was Jonathan Woodgate’s final game as our manager, the following game Stoke away, was Neil Warnock’s 1st game in charge & the start of our revival to keep us in the Championship, what a transformation since then to now 27/12/1902 - 1st away game against Stoke City, Boro winning 2-0 Record of Stoke v Boro Won 10 Drew 11 Lost 23 Goals scored – 48 Goals against - 79 Biggest away win v Stoke 5-2 twice one in 1956 & 1959 A number of players who played for both team Graham Kavanagh - Started at the Boro & between 1991-1996 played 35 games, scoring 3 goals, we loaned him to Stoke in 1996 where he played 3 games, scoring one goal, signed a permanent deal & went on to play a further 203 games, scoring 33 goals. Has the honour of scoring Stoke's first goal at the Britannia Stadium in a League Cup match against Rochdale. Mick Kennedy - Loved Micks (RIP) time at the Boro, between 1982-84 he played 68 games, scoring 5 goals, He ended up at Stoke where he played 39 games in 1990–91 scoring three goals, in a poor season which saw Stoke finish in their lowest ever league position of 14th in the third tier John Mahoney – John Neal 1st signing & our record signing at the time, joined the Boro from Stoke in July 1977 for £90,000. when “he heard of our interest he was quoted as saying, I didn't want to leave, but when I looked at the fixture list, Stoke were away at Mansfield & Boro at home to Liverpool, I knew I had to go." He spent two seasons at Ayresome Park making 90 appearances, scoring 2 goals - 282 games for Stoke scoring 25 goals Nicky Mohan – 99 games for the Boro, scoring 9 goals, 92 games for Stoke, scoring 6 goals, he also played for STOKEsley Dean Whitehead – 55 games for the Boro - 132 games for Stoke Peter Beagrie - Started out at the Boro where he played 33 games between 1983-86, scoring 2 goals, 1988-89 he played 54 games for Stoke, scoring 7 goals Brian Horne - 1992 he played 4 games in goal for the Boro & was our 1st sub keeper (apart from outfield player Brian Orritt) & replaced injured Ironside for his debut in goal, wearing the No12 shirt, another 1st , he left to play a single loan game for Stoke Robert Huth – Between 2006-09 played 53 games for Boro, scoring 2 goals - Signed for Stoke in 2009 -15 played 149 games, scoring 13 goals Ryan Shotton - Played 48 games for Stoke between 2007 - 15, scoring one goal, he later signed for us & between 2017-20 played 75 games, scoring one goal Tuncay Şanlı - Between 2007-09 played 70 games for Boro, scoring 18 goals - Signed for Stoke in 2009 -11 played 44 games, scoring 5 goals Mark Crossley - Played 23 games for the Boro between 2000-2003 when he was loaned to Stoke twice playing 11 games Jonathan Woodgate - 2 spells at the Boro with a total of 73 games, scoring 2 goals, played 17 games for Stoke in season 2011-2012 Chris Kamara - Played 60 games for Stoke between 1988-90, scoring 5 goals, in February 1993 LL signed CM on a one-month loan, his spell at the Boro lasted just five games, the Boro couldn’t afford to offer him a permanent contract Andrew Davies – 2 spells at the Boro, where he started his career & between 2002-2008 he played 53 games, after a few clubs he played 2 games at Stoke between 2008-2012, his 2nd spell at Boro was on loan from Stoke in 2011 he then played 6 games Danny Batth - Played 10 loan games at the Boro season 2018-19, signed for Stoke in 2019 & to date has played 70 games, scoring 4 goals Ritchie De Laet - On 17 August 2007, he signed a 3 year contract with Championship club Stoke City for an initial £100,000 fee, didn’t play a single game for Stoke, played 10 games on loan for the Boro. Carlo Nash - 3 games for the Boro between 2003 - 2005, played 10 games for Stoke John Eustace - 2003 loaned from Coventry he only made one substitute appearance for the Boro, away to Liverpool, where he appeared for only the final two minutes of the game, signed for Stoke the following season. Shay Given - Kept ten clean sheets in 16 league games while at the Boro. Dave Kitson – Boro 6 games 3 goals - Stoke 34 games 3 goals, Frazer Richardson – Season 2013-14 he played 11 games for the Boro 11, zero goals, I was at his debut at the Valley which we won 1-0, he played 13 games for Stoke over 2 loan spells in season 2003, 1 goal Brian Little brought as 1st team coach by Bruce Rioch, managed Stoke 1998-99 season Didn’t know: Cameron Jerome, who between 2011 & 2014 played 50 games for Stoke, was released from the Boro in 2003, was a 92nd-minute substitute, along with David Murphy & Stuart Parnaby 2 ex Boro players, as Birmingham won the 2011 League Cup, defeating Arsenal 2–1 at Wembley 17th January 1976 Due to storm damage at Stokes ground the 1st division fixture had to moved to Port Vales ground, Stoke winning 1-0 Blast from the past

Love that quote Brunners has posted from the Stoke end as it sums up how I always used to feel about Warnock and his sides! They've conceded the joint most goals at home (along with Derby at 13) and whoever is at the back out of Chester, Batth and Shawcross is there to be got at with a bit of pace. Another game against one of the top scorers in Tyrese Campbell so let's hope our defence are on their usual form. Boro to nick it 2-1.

"Every game against him is a *** pantomime. He even looks like Widow Twanky." Oh no he doesn't! I suspect this won't be a classic game, or top of the EFL on Quest running order. Probably only be a single goal in the game, but we're so hot and cold atm, I have no idea which way the result will go. I'd settle for an away draw against another there-or-thereabouts team, but a win would really put pressure on the other teams near the top, so fingers crossed Watmore has his shooting boots on - especially since neither of our fit strikers tend to.

I like this one a lot.

If you don't keep it really cold the microchips stop working.

It's very refreshing to read an actual scientific discussion on vaccines that isn't plagued by the morons who still believe they're part of some global conspiracy.

You have to admit that the longer he is here the more we are warming to him. The players know where they stand but at the same time are treated like adults

I guess thats the thing we need to bear in mind. While we are playing better than we have done for some time and have shown we needn't fear anyone in this division, the highly unusual circumstances (I wanted to avoid saying "unprecedented") football finds itself in right now, mean that its going to be harder than ever to keep winning or unbeaten runs going. Our small squad, coupled with the rammed fixture list and the inevitable fatigue / injuries, plus the lack of crowds (or very limited crowds going forward), are resulting in more widely varying performances and results. So I think for the time being we should just celebrate every positive result while trying to avoid getting too annoyed / downbeat over bad performances / results. Even the top teams are being a bit inconsistent at the moment. If we're still in contention for a top 6 spot come March / April, hopefully circumstances will have changed enough that we can have a really good go at cementing a play-off place...in front of decent-sized crowds, if not full stadiums.

I feel like we are in a position where we can go into every game expecting to take away at least a point and there's no reason why we can't take away 3 which is really nice

I think the general feeling around his appointment wasn't personal, it wasn't an agenda against him, it's what putting him in charge represented, the downfall of the club, some referred to it as the idea that our club simply hadn't bottomed out yet and putting Woodgate in charge and what happened with him in charge only created evidence of that. In the end, nobody was gonna look beyond that when results weren't going his way, they weren't going to stand by him because it meant standing by the club and their decision to appoint him too. I had a hard time with it because I wanted him to do well, I wanted to believe we could create what he said we could under his tenure... but we were going down, we got rid and we stayed up. And now this season, despite the fact we're not even close to the principles we set out at the start of last season, we are going back in the right direction. How can anyone be anything but more convinced that Woodgate was a dreadful appointment? Those that were thinking more personally because of his character were really not even close to being 50% of the fanbase. Those that brought up the Leeds thing and all that, that was a small minority of people. So if it's not them he means then who is he saying had an agenda against him? Those that thought he wasn't going to be a very good manager at the time we appointed him? Because they were right.

Each dose is separate though in a glass vial, so I guess that all that means is that once you have taken a complete pack out of deep freeze storage, then the whole pack has to be used within 5 days - and stored in fridge during that period. So, if you have daily or every second/third day deliveries to each centre administering it, all they need to do is ensure they use them up sequentially. I’m sure they will have enough people lined up at each centre daily to get through each pack the day it arrives or the day after. Think Uwe is talking about the charge from the GP to the gov’t for administering the vaccine. Even at one every 5 minutes that isn’t a bad hourly rate - 12 x £12.50 =£150 per hour. If they can really do it every two minutes, then it is £360 per hour. Hope the practice nurses are on a productivity bonus!

@Duvel They've also been training more people up (within the NHS) and they've also ramped up recruitment too so that they have a lot more people that are able to administer the vaccine. I think there is also active plans for the Military to set up vaccination centres (I think they are currently setting one up in either Bristol or Birmingham, I can't remember which). I think we've ordered 40m (20m doses) of the Pfizer vaccine, we've also ordered I think 100m (50m doses) of the Oxford one too. I also think we've ordered millions of the other vaccines too (Moderna and Glaxosmith). I think logistically we will be fine, in terms of our deep freeze facilities and also the transport for the vaccines. The bit I think they are trying to work out, is how to get it out locally with maximum efficiency. As others have said the Pfizer vaccine can be stored at fridge temperature for upto 5 days, but I believe the main issue is that the packs come in multiples and once opened they have to be used in a certain time frame. So they are trying to work out how best to capture as many people that require the vaccine once the first pack is open so to speak. As long as the supply holds up I think we'llsee large numbers of people vaccinated in a very short space of time. Potentially we may encounter problems supply wise (in terms of delays/hold-ups) as the Pfizer vaccine is currently produced in Belgium and we leave that pesky thing called the EU come January. Which could well impact how quickly lorries are able to enter.

Just popped onto their forum it's nice to read opposition fans fear playing us now. Wonder how Mikel does if he plays against us

Good interview with Neil Warnock and the Twe12thman Podcast.

Good post AR but here's the thing and from what I have seen we are as good if not better than a lot of teams on showings so far. Honestly believe we will just keep plodding on under the rader and then suddenly we will be in a very strong position.

I know we keep mentioning our "light weight" squad but are we that really in comparison to others disregarding the 3 demoted PL clubs from last season? Surely most others in our league are in the same situation bar one or two?

Indeed. You need skin like a rhino to be a football manager these days. Even when you're doing well theres always somebody having a go at you for some reason, (not playing pretty enough football, leaving star players on the bench etc.)

Why so modest😜 In all seriousness I have this down as a 0-0 which will be a decent point away against a fellow top-6 rival. Can we win it? Sure we can, but we'll need to be more clinical and not end up inother situation like at huddersfield where big misses cost us.

We'll smash 'em, 3-0. Watmore to get a hat-trick 😄

Tough game as others have said but we do need to start winning away from home again settle for a draw at this moment but following our recent win we need to keep the momentum up. Good op Erimus74

I second that. Well said Uwe ☝️

Great work again @OldManGravz 👏👏👏 love it

I just gave Warnock a standing ovation. Let's see if it works 🤞

There are also the memory T and B cells though. Once the antibodies have gone, these cells remember the virus and as soon as they encounter it, can produce antibodies again and start attacking from the off. The memory B cells particularly stick around for a long time after infection. E.g. people who got the smallpox vaccine still had high levels of B cell immunity to smallpox 60 years later. That's why there are so few cases of reinfection with covid 19, and the people who do get reinfected are generally less ill.

He got plenty of support where it should matter most - in the ground. Even on those long winless runs it isn't like the atmosphere turned toxic and his name was sung loudly home and away. If he's that rustled by comments made on social media he should probably forget having another crack at management.

There are apparently around one and three quarter million who have tested positive for the virus in the UK. At a crude guess if that many have had it to the point of seeking and getting a test and/or treatment (even if it was just to go home, take an aspirin or two and isolate) then I would suspect that at least double that many have had it if not even three to four times that amount (or even more), especially bearing in mind that young people don't seem to suffer major symptoms other than a cold or mild flu. It would be interesting if the government put up some figures on Population and the amount of vaccine treatment required. For example people under 40 probably won't be vaccinated urgently as they can fight it and build up their own immunity, the amount of people that have already had it and so therefore don't need to be urgent for a vaccine and those who are over say 60/70/80 etc. or who have a medical condition putting them at risk or perhaps from an ethnic background making them more susceptible or a combination of several factors. My own crude calculations out of the 68 million people in the UK that would be requiring vaccination to get things under control as quick as possible would be as follows. 21% of the overall population of England and Wales are aged under 18 years, 29% aged 18 to 39 years, 27% aged 40 to 59 years, and 22% aged 60 years and over. I think its reasonable to suggest that those percentages are probably the same or similar for Scotland which are included in the 68 million UK total. Using those figures as a base then, the under 18's are 14 million, 18 to 39 are around 20 million, the age group 40 to 59 are about 18 million. The most vulnerable group are the over 60's which equates to about 15 million. Ideally everyone over 30 gets immunised in time and even younger if data suggests it makes sense but to seriously bring the death rate down (based on the 80/20 principle) quickly we are talking two injections for 15 million of the over 60's which is 30 million injections. The question then is how soon can the Government acquire and roll out 30 million injections?

Just to add to this, there are some very early findings that the antibodies and the overall immune response, is much better when someone is infected with COVID than other viruses. So the antibodies could well last longer than 6 months or so. But obviously you then have to rely on a large proportion of the population catching it and surviving it to achieve herd immunity. Whereas with mass vaccination you can achieve the same results without needing people to catch it.

You are right, but antibodies will only last for a relatively short time (upto 6 month roughly) and they decrease in number over that time too. So you then become prone to re-infection again. Where as these vaccines illicit much stronger immune reactions, that have the potential to last significantly longer and also make you much more resistant to re-infection.

Glad I'm not the only one who didn't get it either

If both Morsey and Saville are fit for the next game he might get a rest, or a spell on the bench.

One should always beat Pulis with a stick, but in this particularly case I'm happy to laugh at SW for employing him.

They had a man sent off in the first half an hour and got a point out of the game. This is not one of the sticks to beat Pulis with. They did well to draw with high flying Reading in those circumstances

Meanwhile at a Tony Pulis Sheffield Wednesday home game.... 1 shot on target 22% possession... 3 shots on target in 4 games

The fact hes thick as *** didn't help us as a team. Guys an all round clown

Bloke was a clown as a manager. Bizarre decisions, bizarre comments, bizarre appointment. It's not an agenda when a half decent manager takes basically the same squad from being at risk of relegation to battling in the promotion mix.

Vaccine approved and starting to roll out as early as next week 🙂 Fingers crossed we may be back to some sense of normality sooner rather than later!

Ashley fletcher next please

Good work that, he's been class. Only 25 too, McNair always feels like he's been around for ages.