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Kim hellberg and Selini flew in last night and will be in the stands for tomorrow night. They stayed at Rockliffe last night and meeting players today.

We all do Matt, Boro have broken with tradition and I applaud that and hope for all of us that it works out well!

I dont think it will affect Viveash or the players TBH, it's not as if its a secret & they'll just spring a surprise by announcing him, its no different to signings we've done in the past & introduce them to the fans before KO, it could spur players on in a big match atmosphere to show the new incoming manager that they have what it takes to be part of his game. Think its more to raise the fans, along with bring a scarf, to generate the atmosphere before KO

Middlesbrough vs Coventry City Riverside Stadium, 7.45pm, Tuesday 25th November in the year of our Lord 2025 Scene: Int (Day). A Rockliffe Meeting Room [Steve Gibson, Kieran Scott and Adi Viveash are sat across a boardroom table. Gibson is leafing through a Cockney to English dictionary, Scott is stroking a white cat and Viveash is picking his nose.] GIBSON: Right, three down and two to go. VIVEASH: I have to be honest, guys, I didn’t like Gerrard very much. GIBSON: What didn’t you like? VIVEASH: When I asked how he’d respond if I challenged him on tactics, he said he’d send his in-laws round to drop breezeblocks on my kneecaps. GIBSON: Yes, that did seem a bit heavy handed. Where the hell is my phone? SCOTT: Shall we call the next geezer in for his rabbit and pork? GIBSON: Rabbit and…oh, talk. Got you. [He presses a large red button marked Summon Manager and the door opens to reveal Raphaël Wicky, loaded down with two encyclopaedias, a flip chart, a pointer and an overhead projector] WICKY: Greetings one and all. My name is Raphaël and I was going to show you a presentation but my laptop has gone missing. Anyway, I have memorised it. I joined Young Boys three years ago when my predecessor David Wagner departed the Wankdorf Stadium in fewer than optimal circumstances. Immediately, I decided that Hegelian dialectics would be central to my philosophy of instilling a rigid… [the shot fades out and fades back in much later] …while this panoramic system had the merit of securing the competence of symbolic manifestations… [the shot fades out again and fades back to reveal Gibson’s head resting on the desk with a glazed look, while Viveash snores quietly] …horses for courses, as you might say. And that, in essence, is why I think I am the ideal candidate over other people to be installed in Middlesbrough. Any questions? GIBSON [to himself]: Many. [Out loud] Thank you, Raphaël. That was…very detailed. ChatGPT, please summarise what he’s just said over the last three hours. CHATGPT: Hi Steve. Sure. Here are the highlights of the last three hours. Young Boys…Wankdorf…rigid…horses…over other people…in Middlesbrough. Would you like me to search the web for images relating to this? GIBSON: Absolutely not. CHATGPT: Sure! Here are some fake images I just made up showing young… EVERYONE: STOP! WICKY: Was there anything else I can add to this hopefully detailed analysis? GIBSON: No, I think you’ve covered everything, and lots more besides. Thank you, Raphaël. [Wicky walks out] SCOTT: What the galloping f*** was all that about? VIVEASH [looking at his notes]: I think he said an iterative movement centred on absolute boundaries in nature was the key to getting early crosses into the box. But honestly, for the last part, I was just thinking about what I’m having for tea. SCOTT: So does he get the Uncle Bob? GIBSON: The…[he flicks through the dictionary] Ah. Unless the final candidate is really impressive, he’ll have to do. Let’s hope he can fit his half-time team talks into 15 minutes or we’re really screwed. Who’ve we got left? VIVEASH [squinting at a piece of paper]: I can hardly read this terrible handwriting, but it looks like Dr Nathan Floodgate? [Gibson presses the red button and the door swings open to reveal a man with a huge beard, dark glasses and a laptop showing the first slide of a Microsoft PowerPoint presentation] GIBSON [wearily]: Jonathan, we’ve been through this. Not this time. We’ll call you, remember? [Woodgate shambles out muttering something about new graduated transitions] VIVEASH: Well, I think that settles it. [Under the desk, Gibson’s phone lights up with the Crazy Frog ringtone at full volume] GIBSON: Good afternoon, S Gibson Esq speaking. [pause] Oh, hi. [pause] The whole of south Wales stank of old tyres? [pause] Can you get crosses into the box? [pause] Great. One last question – have you ever eaten a parmo? [pause] Yeah, I’d have cheese on toast as well. Never mind, you’re in. I’ll get Kieran to fax over a contract. Bye! [He throws the phone onto the desk and puts his hands behind his head] VIVEASH: Who was that? GIBSON [smugly] Our new manager. SCOTT: Wait, what? GIBSON: Kim…Hellberg, I think his name is. VIVEASH: Wait, who? GIBSON: I’ve had my eye on him since FM22. He’s over this week doing a tour of Championship clubs and I told him to hit me up if he was free. So he’s our manager now. SCOTT: But what about the Hegelian philosophy and all the iterative moments? GIBSON: Ah, knackers to that. Flat back four, one up top, crosses from wide, running the shop. Lovely jubbly and all that Cockney nonsense. We have our man. SCOTT: Oh well, that was easy. Anyone fancy some tiddly in the nuclear sub to celebrate? [Gibson looks to the heavens and the scene fades out] Match details: I was hoping I wouldn't have to do this MDT, since defeat is almost inevitable and it means my MDT authoring streak will stop at one. But since our players appeared to forget what to do with the round leather thing and the big net thing on Saturday, here we are. There are so many unknowns about this game, not least whether our new manager will be in the dugout, watching on from the directors box (as has been rumoured) or even in the country. We have players not making the squad for strange reasons, players who were rested on Saturday who might be able to play (or might not), players who are injured for unspecified periods of time and players who simply aren't performing. At all. Form guide: Helmed by the improbable saviour of Frank Lampard, Coventry are a lean, mean winning machine, evidenced by their fightback from two goals down to take all three points against WBA on Saturday. With 30 games left to play, they're halfway to a points tally which should guarantee playoffs as a minimum, though I doubt they're thinking so modestly. Moreover, they've scored more goals than the teams in second and third place combined. Perhaps, like Brentford before them, they've finally found the formula to escape this cursed division. Or perhaps they're just on a confidence-fuelled roll that will inevitably end sooner or later when the rub of the green goes against them and referees start treating them the way Boro have been treated all season? Our form…well, let's not go there, eh? We seem to keep scraping results which keep us near the top of the table, but often after lousy attacking performances. Up front, we have about as much bite as a muzzled dog that left its dentures in its kennel and is currently tackling an entire bar of toffee. It really is woeful, and like our last three managers, I have no obvious suggestions about how to improve our moribund forward line. Other than, you know, endlessly practicing putting the round leather thing into the big net thing. Questions for the audience: 1. Who makes your starting XI? 2. How many goals will Coventry win by? 3. Which of our attacking players should be sold or loaned out in the upcoming transfer window? 4. What's the worst interview you ever had?

I think it'll be a purposeful tactic. The players train and prepare as normal, but there is a hope they perform better for the new manager in the stands, but if they don't, it's not the new manager starting on a bad foot It would have been a horrific first game for him to start with, given how much they are outperforming the rest of the league

And for this, you are happy

Trust absolutely no one. I told my Mam to do one the other day for displaying a broad smile and telling me we need to be more of a family.

Anes Mravac agreed deal to join KH’s staff when he finishes Malmö’s European games (mid December - they have Forest this week and Porto in 2 weeks). Source is that Swedish one who broke the Hellberg news. Edit: also found this if it hasnt been posted https://runningtheshowblog.wordpress.com/author/daveselini/

KS speaks here. Couple of digs 😬

This just popped up on my memories from sending it to a few mates... OneBoroTV interview with The Middlesbrough Ladies side, 10 years ago...! Myself interviewing, @Tom behind the camera, and with @smogsterking the Inspirati supporting too. Can't find much about what any of the lasses are doing now, but I believe Sammie Leigh (aka Gerrard Pique) is still at Middlesbrough College and working with the Centre of Excellence? Great memories, and a high time for the forum. The lasses have reached real highs, and real lows on the pitch since then. But they're still battling it out every season. I always keep an eye out for their results!

I would say that they are the best team in a crap league. They wouldn't be top with last season's competition or previous seasons before that. We should be able to be competitive with them.

Love this from Adi. Proper unifying message. Let’s all get behind the new gaffer! UTB

Kim Hellberg will be introduced to the Boro fans ahead of kick-off tomorrow evening.

I think it doesn’t show we aren’t clinical, to me it shows we make a lot of low quality chances. Shots from tight angles, shots from the edge of the box that kind of thing If anything it maybe shows we ARE quite clinical. If we’re making a mid amount of low quality chances and still scoring enough to be 2nd in the league.

Its official. Hes become the first Boro boss I have been older than.

Absolutely zero *** in that interview. Clear, direct & efficient. Quite reassuring. Ticked all the boxes. Mentioned Adi, promotion, acknowledged there’s positives, adaptability, etc. Pretty exciting tbf. We’ve been fairly lacklustre for a while now. This could be fun.

Welcome Raphael Wick👏👏

SCARVES V COV PLEASE Guys as a social influencer I have been asked to re post this message... "Red Faction and Twe12thman are urging all fans in every stand to bring a scarf with them to the game, to help show what Teesside spirit looks like. When the full stadium holds aloft a scarf there isn’t many better sights, the showing of unity and togetherness that we pride ourselves on".

Is Gerrard still at Rockcliffe ?

Welcome to the Boro Kim, our 48th first team manager 👍

This is the sort of expert analysis we need more of on here 👍

Of course we will be competitive, we are unbeaten at home and have already dispatched the likes of Ipswich, WBA and Sheff Utd 👍

Yeah, I'm sure our Scandinavian friends can confirm but I think about 90% of people there speak English as a second language so it's no surprise he's fluent.

"2 to 3 back to be diplomatic about it" mentioned Sverre and Sontje but not Dael.

It does mate thanks, thats expected goals and not chances created though. We are actually 9th in chances created in the league, the xg makes sense and just shows we are not clinical which we are all aware off.

I guess it depends on the root cause of our issues. If it’s down to being told to rigidly stick to poorly thought out attacking patterns of play, then perhaps the players just haven’t been given the license to adapt to what is in front of them and properly express themselves. If it’s down to lacking the in-game intelligence to break down what is in front of them then I’d have to agree that it could require some patience while he gets his ideas across. I suppose the positive is that he couldn’t possibly have us looking any more disjointed and unbalanced up that end of the pitch.

Yeah, brown, Morris and Hackney is too negative, it's shown every time we've played it, not enough of a mix of skills. It reminds me of when we were trying to play 433 in the prem under karanka with 3 of Clayton, leadbitter, forshaw and De Roon. Where somehow de Roon ended up being our furthest forward

I think he touched on an interesting point, which is that we’re in the top 3 in the league for running metrics. In terms of being able to adapt to the intensity of his playing style, I don’t really have any concerns which should aid in the transition a lot, especially with him coming in mid-season. He’s not having to spend weeks or even months getting the fitness levels to where they need to be. On the tactical side, I had a skim through his assistant’s blog that somebody linked, and he’s clearly a student of the game that knows his stuff. I also think it’s really interesting that I watched an interview with a Swedish football expert discussing Hellberg, and he spoke about how instead of having rigid patterns of play for breaking down a defence, he likes to develop the skills for his players to problem-solve in-game. While the jury is still out on some of our forwards, I can pretty confidently say that they’re better than the numbers they’ve been putting up. 22nd out of 24 for xG and 18th for chances created is shocking for a team 2nd in the table. I’m optimistic that he and his team can sort out some of our offensive deficiencies and get us firing.

Nypan is that type too, and is 15mil top end of the Premier league potential worth. If he can get either one of those or both firing, we'll be fine.

To me, the most telling part of Hellberg's interview was when he was talking about the things which had been going well, paused for a moment, and said something like "so, yeah." He knows how bad we are up front, but didn't want to come out and say it in his first interview. I knew nothing about this guy a fortnight ago, but I feel oddly reassured watching that interview. He comes across well, speaking confidently without any PR fluff, and the fact he's brought his long-standing assistant suggests they should quickly be able to start implementing their preferred tactics and approaches.

I'm taking it all with a pinch of salt from now on, Edwards talked a brilliant game and a lot of it was just talk.

I don’t like to brag anymore 🤣 it hasn’t feckin worked so far 😂😂😂

Thank you, from one marketing professional to another 👍

Nice interview. Not rocket science working out at which end of the pitch we need to improve.

Already like him because he referred to us in his first mention as "the Boro"

It was reported somewhere it was to 2029.

Gone full nordic now, a swede in charge at boro and Icelandic in charge of Ireland. Good luck to them both!

Fantastic approach from the club again. At least we'll play decent football again.

Delighted that Hellberg is now on board. Hopefully he will hit the ground running. UTB

God speed Mr Hellberg. He has an impressive managerial record in Sweden. Lets hope it continues here. He will be backed internally by the club and by the fans. Great news that Viveash has been confirmed as staying also.

He never left after his helicopter dropped him off in the summer

Time for all us fans to get behind him not matter our views....I have massive reservations but like Edwards I didnt want, I will fully get behind him.

I honestly think Adi will be here in the short term to get Hellberg up to speed with the players then when the other lad arrives maybe takes a step back

I don't think Hackney, Morris AND Browne seems to work for us offensively. All 3 are big players for us and I can understand why we try and get them all on the pitch, but I think we'd be a much bigger threat at home with another attack minded player in there instead. I'd go: ---------------Brynn--------------- Brittain - Jones - Fry - Targett/McCormick ---------Morris - Hackney---------- Whittaker --McGree--Hansen -----------------Sene--------------------

I'm told he is going to give the press guys a traditional Swedish banquet of surstromming, lutfisk, blodpudding, polsa, flygande Jakob and pyttipanna and then allow survivors to ask questions that don't include the words "parmo" and "previous manager"... or maybe just pretend not to understand English 🙂 . Alternatively just leave press conferences to Adi whilst he works with the team. To be honest, there is no real point to them, so most of us would not care what was said as long as the team played well

We've clearly missed Azaz' creativity all season.

It doesn't really matter if he stays or goes IMO I love him. I'd have him as manager, but if we're going in a different direction and it doesn't work then it doesn't make sense for him to stay, and he knows that. I actually don't think we know too much about him other than he seems like a nice chap with a lot of integrity unlike some previous managers we could mention. For the record I'd love him to stay, but if he goes, so be it...

Did he mean to say he's IN a bubble? If not, and he actually IS a bubble, then that would explain a lot tbh... People thought he was fun and pretty to look at at first, but then he soon drifted away...