Middlesbrough v Bournemouth 1-0 (Sporar (pen) )

[SmogDane 4,055]

MIDDLESBROUGH v BOURNEMOUTH December 18th (12.30)

Here is the amazing intro video for you, ladies and gentlemen ...
 

Once upon a time ... a great football team from a little dirty industrial town had huge ambitions and did well for years .. But an evil present lurked and slowly put it's cold hand on the magical place called the Riverside Stadium!  For years  one evil spirit after another took control over the manager role in the great football club and everybody who supported the club got more and more unhappy ... There were evil and vile ghosts like the "Monk" ... 



"The Capped One" 



"The (Wood)Gatecreeper



And latest the very evil and very old WarKnocker



But then one day .. An old car came rolling into town ... 



And out of the car came the new Messiah and the town's football team started performing again after years under an evil spell  ... 




1: Which team and formation will Chris "Messiah" Wilder go with?
2: This might be the best time to play Bournemouth, who have been struggeling for a while now - Will we win?
3: Will the game be postponed like so many others have been the last few days?
4: Who is your favourite Ghost Busters character? 
5: Have you ever been to Denmark and why did you love it?

[Foogle 2,104]

[ManBearPig 1,853]

19 minutes ago, Foogle said:

I’ve been sat here for 19 mins now and nothing has shown up yet 😬🥴

[Erimus74 3,072]

The 1st meeting on Teesside between Boro v Bournemouth was on the both team was on the  11th March 1967 with the mighty Boro winning 3-1 in a 3rd divison fixture, since that 1st games we’ve played a total of 10 fixtures v the Cherries 

on Teesside with the following record

Won - 6

Drew - 4

Lost - 0

Goals for - 21

Goals against - 7

 

Debuts v Bournemouth

3rd March 1987 Third division - Top of the table clash when Dave Hodgson made his 2nd Boro debut when the mighty Boro travelled to Bournemouth

Loaned from Norwich City for 3 games, we lost the game 3-1 

19th December 1987  2nd division - Mark Burke signed from Aston Villa was given the No12 shirt (sub back then) by Bruce Rioch, he replaced Bernie Slaven to make his Boro debut

8th October 1991 League cup 2nd round, 2nd leg - Jamie Pollock was named on the bench (No14) for this game, after drawing the 1st leg at AP 1-1 a win was needed on the night to progress, away goals not counting double

The match finished 1-1 after extra time (2-2 on aggregate)

Extra time started with the 1st half goalless, the 2nd half seen a Gary Parkinson penalty, our 8th league cup & 89th away penalty. 

Lennie Lawrence sent on Jamie Pollock for his debut when he replaced Stuart Ripley

I travelled to this game 

 

We’ve played Bournemouth in the following

League cup, FAC, PL, 1st division, 2nd division & 3rd division  

 

No hat tricks have been scored v Bournemouth 

 

 

[SmogDane 4,055]

The wait is over! 

The MDT is now updated and the video has loaded 😉

[Borodane 6,299]

This is an interesting one. It'll certainly show how far we have come in a short time under Wilder. Bournemouth are a decent playin team with plenty of goals in them, so I'm interested in seeing if we wil just back off and play direct football, a bit like under Warnock, or if we will actually try and take the game to them and keep the ball in our ranks. 

If everyone is fit I think it's going to be an unchanged team from the Stoke game. Reckon we are going to win this one. Really hope it's not postponed, although I'm at a christmas kunch so won't be able to watch it, but we don't want games piling up. 

Slimey is easily the favourite character.

[Blanco 4,916]

8 hours ago, SmogDane said:

The wait is over! 

The MDT is now updated and the video has loaded 😉

Excellent OP Sonni 👏👏👏

[TeaCider24 12,638]

Never beaten us at home, no wins in 5.

Victory is assured.

[RiseAgainst 3,793]

Which team and formation will Chris "Messiah" Wilder go with?

Unchanged from Stoke, assuming there are no new injuries. It was pleasing to see the bench looking stronger last weekend, and hopefully that will continue again this weekend.
This might be the best time to play Bournemouth, who have been struggeling for a while now - Will we win?

I predict a score draw. We're improving, but still desperately lacking in fitness, flair and strength in depth.
Will the game be postponed like so many others have been the last few days?

No, because I believe our squad are mostly vaccinated (isn't that partly why we got rid of Sam Morsy, for stirring up antivax sentiment?), and the North East doesn't appear to be in the grip of Omicrom in the same way as other parts of the UK at time of writing.
Who is your favourite Ghost Busters character? 

Haven't seen it since I was a kid, but the Stay Puft monster has firmly lodged itself in my memory. I mainly remember the film through Zombieland and samples in Dr. Acula songs.
Have you ever been to Denmark and why did you love it?

Spent a few days in Copenhagen as the second part of a double-header city break with Amsterdam. Copenhagen was what I'd expected Amsterdam to be like - a bit rough round the edges but full of character. The 'Dam felt too sanitised and touristy - like modern-day Soho in London - whereas Copenhagen was full of pleasant surprises. Tivoli at night, for instance, or the second statute of the Little Mermaid. Also really enjoyed touring Christiansborg Palace.

[SouthernSmoggie 4,242]

Haven't been paying much attention to the top of the table.... Didn't realise how much Bournemouth and Fulham have been struggling recently! Looked like they were going to run away with top 2 at one point. 

They've had tough fixtures but nothing to be scared of - hope we start fast and rattle them early. Our own fixtures also really toughen up now, so we're going to have to beat some good sides to keep up with the pack. 

[sanddancer 1,967]

Since Chris’s arrived I believe we are unlucky not to have another 4 to 6 points. Hell I can’t think how many we managed to throwaway under NW though. 

I think Bournemouth has come a tad early in our development and would happily see a draw as continues improvement. A win would certainly be a moral booster that could prompt an surging run, now that we have seen in a long, long time. Fact it’s probably as far back as my last bit of good luck, now what was it again, oh hang on I can’t remember. 
 

Once again I'm looking forward to the match, I believe we can challenge, we will challenge and that’s the difference since Chris arrived. 

[nunthorpered 1,922]

Be very surprised if this game is even on at this rate, but ill go 1-0 Boro if it does manage to go ahead

[Foogle 2,104]

Great post SD! We already know you're great at Bustin' 😉

1: Which team and formation will Chris "Messiah" Wilder go with?

As we've had a weeks break I'd say we go with the same team again.

2: This might be the best time to play Bournemouth, who have been struggling for a while now - Will we win?

We'll come unstuck in this game for me, it'll be a much different game to Stoke we will really have to battle for possession. They're still a quality team even with injuries and bad form.

3: Will the game be postponed like so many others have been the last few days?

This is the best time to play them so sods law dictates that it will be...

4: Who is your favourite Ghost Busters character? 

ZUUUUL

5: Have you ever been to Denmark and why did you love it?

Great sights and great people which almost made up for the unreasonably priced drinks.

[wilsoncgp 9,281]

Reminder for those attending!!!

1) Get there earlier on Saturday. I know it's an early kick-off already but at the very least try to get into the stadium earlier if you can.

2) Please bring a mask for the concourse/hospitality areas. I don't think you'll be turned away without a mask so you shouldn't have any bother if you genuinely can't wear one for any reason but just be mindful of others. Anxiety about it is on the rise and MSF have had plenty of messages regarding fear of COVID this season already.

For entry:

3) If you've been double-jabbed at least 14 days from the fixture or are medically exempt from the vaccine, remember to get your COVID Pass sorted on the app and ready to show to stewards on entry.

4) If you're neither exempt, not been double-jabbed or only just had your 2nd jab in the 14 days before the fixture, remember to do an LFT between 12-48 hours before the game, submit it to the NHS (instructions to do so should be included with the test) and you should get a response from them which will be passable to get into the Riverside.

Just an extra note to this, MFC said on BBC Tees the other day that there will be onsite LFTs available but if you need that (don't have any at home to use for example) make sure to get there even earlier as there could be queues for that as well as getting into the ground. But that should protect you if you've not been able to get any sent out or any from a pharmacy, I know others in MSF have said this has been a problem for them.

5) Remember to bring a form of ID to confirm your name against your Pass or NHS response. Season Cards or Matchday Tickets (if they have your name on), for this purpose, are valid forms of ID.

I think that's everything but please let me know if you have any specific queries you'd like me to raise with MSF and I can try to get some answers before Saturday.

[Humpty 3,261]

Fancy our chances with their injuries and poor run of form. Might be the last crowd we see for a while. I'll go with a 2-1 win.

 

Never actually been to Denmark...heard poor reports from people that have been to Copenhagen but i've always quite fancied a trip to Norway/Sweden/Finland/Denmark. I've been to Iceland and loved that place. One of the most beautiful places i've ever seen.