RiseAgainst

Wonder what the Danish is for "have it"?

Ah, sorry. Yes, some people wrote him off too quickly, or maybe just because he's a Leeds player.

To be fair, I've watched him many times for Leeds and thought the same, so it's no knee-jerk interpretation. He's 32, so we could get a good couple of years out of him, which is as far as anyone can really think in football terms.

I know Ayling's taken a lot of abuse since he joined us, but he's been our best player in that half. Great assist, some lovely passes and movement, and he's properly winding up the Birmingham players. I think every squad needs a nasty *** in it, and Boro have been far too nice for far too long. Ayling gives us that bit of aggro the best teams can call on alongside the flair and dynamism.

If it wasn't Ayling who got wiped out there, I think that would have been given as a penalty, but the patented Ayling Flop has probably been taken into account by the referee. On a replay, it looked like both players forgot the ball was there - neither of them really played for it.

Fabulous pass from Ayling as well, which totally deceived the players around him. What an assist, and what a strike.

He reminds me a bit of Traore. Fast as f***, usually wayward, but defenders have no idea what he's going to do because he doesn't know himself!

The Birmingham defence looks chronic. Every time the ball goes into the box, the defenders collectively fill their Y-fronts. The crowd are edgy as well. If we can score the first goal, we could have a hatful tonight.

Having "UNDFTD" written on the back of your shirts is asking for a damn good thrashing. Good luck with that one, City.

Really? Apart from Jones, there isn't a single player I'd be pleased to see come on tonight. Azaz could (and hopefully will) come good given time and opportunities, but Silvera has shown very little, while Gilbert and Greenwood have shown even less. Thomas can get in the bin, Dijksteel was turning in some woeful performances back when he was fully fit, Glover is...well, Glover, and Barlaser is something of a luxury player - great when you're winning but not up for the fight in the face of adversity. I think tonight's bench encapsulates why we won't get promoted this season. Our strongest

I agree that he's contributed a couple of well-taken goals, but I've seen nothing else from Greenwood, barring lots of running around and harrying opposition players. I genuinely don't know what his other talents are or where they may lie, what his best position is or what he brings to the team that any other attacking midfielder couldn't. You could blame hypothetical knocks or other issues for any player in any team underperforming at any time, but ultimately we can only judge what we witness based on what we're told by the club - and we've been told nothing about possible reasons for hi

I can't get it to work either. Strange. Hopefully it'll be fixed at 9am when the digital team arrive at work.

Actually, it was 45 per cent go/55 per cent stay for the first 12-18 hours after the poll opened, but then it gradually drifted towards 25/75. The people who were angry after we lost against Stoke probably voted immediately, whereas the more supportive or undecided people bided their time a bit.

Christ, that Birmingham badge from the 1930s really is chronic, isn't it? Like someone using a Commodore C64 had a logo dictated down the phone to them but then got distracted and went down the pub. On a brighter note, the IPA headings in the OP are a touch of class. I had a go at vocal coaching for a year and got precisely nowhere with it, but I did learn my fəʊnɛtɪks along the way. Has Carrick actually turned a corner, managerially? No, I don't think so. If Norwich had kept 11 men on the pitch, we'd be having very different conversations. He's played 5-3-2 in the past, but hop

Shame Netflix didn't do a documentary series on Watford. They wouldn't be short of material. They could have called it Watford Til My P45.

Could be embarrassing when the conductor asks if you've got a ticket.

I said it on Wednesday and I'll say it again: play two strikers and we score two goals. To think what could have been if we'd brought in a striker in January, and not had to rely on the likes of Sam Greenwood playing alone up front for part of the season.

Finally some competition for McNair...

I was listening to the Tees commentary, but I fell asleep after half an hour. Just woke up. Didn't miss much. Going back to sleep again. The match sounds as boring as this site looks without avatars.

My wallpaper on here was a photo I took. Surely original holders of copyright can post their own images here? I'm not going to sue myself, and I can prove I took that picture.

"Middlesbrough focuses on their organized defense and counter-attacking strategy." You can tell this was written by an algorithm, can't you? Either that, or an intern at Football Insider. How exciting was it to have Isiah Jones back, even of it was just on the bench? I can honestly say it wasn't very exciting because Hoppe has been on the bench and there was more chance of the bench itself getting a game than him. I hope Izzy is back soon because we don't really have an alternative, but we've seen some truly dreadful performances from him on occasion, so having him back in the s

Is the poster normally ITK? It'd be unusual if two players handed in transfer requests midway through the season.

In all honesty, I'm not sure the club can do a huge amount more than they are doing. When we got promoted under Karanka, the love flowed from the fans to the players and back. The club was just a conduit for a newfound appreciation of Middlesbrough FC as an entity. Ultimately, it's the team we come to see every week - the company that owns the ground and negotiates Budweiser concessions on the concourses is really a bit-part player in the melodrama that plays out on the pitch. It's a bit like a good referee - when they're doing their job properly, you should hardly notice them. As fans, w

Absolute bulls*** for two reasons. One, why would the club pay for some people's STs but not others? Two, since when has MFC given into fan protests beyond token appeasement? Make it three reasons: the rumour apparently originated on FMTTM, which is about as reliable as taking your news from TikTok. Actually, make it four: what sort of precedent does saying "we'll pay your season tickets" send to everyone who doesn't receive that offer? Five reasons: I'm pretty sure the OP is a WUM. But other than that, sounds legit.

Let's hope we take this confidence boost and use it wisely at the weekend. If we get beaten on Saturday, tonight won't count for much. If we win, tonight could prove to be the catalyst that re-ignites our season and makes us look a more appealing prospect to potential summer signings. How appropriate that the stadium DJ is currently playing "Living on a Prayer"...