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Boro U23's/U21's/Academy/Mishmash v Scunthorpe (Checkatrade Trophy) (A)


 

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This is the matchday thread for those true Boro fans who are still interested in our best chance of winning silverware this season rather than simple being transfer whores.

 

I don't know how to do fancy graphics and stuff like other people so you'll just have to put up with this pitiful effort. The best I can manage is writing in different fonts and colours with the occasional cheeky  ;) thrown in.

 

So who are we playing?  Apparently it's S***horpe at Glanford Park in the superbly named Checkatrade Trophy. What the hell is that? Well it's what used to be the Football League Trophy but with some Premier League Academy sides entered.  The rules apparently are that the Academy entrants have to play at least 6 players 21 or younger so that of course allows for the possibility of first team squad members to take part.  What will Boro do?  God knows but I suspect they'll mainly use it for the youngsters although I think it could be handy to give a few players 90 mins.  On the other side of this apparently the football league clubs must play at least 5 players that played in their last fixture or are in their top 5 appearance makers for the current season.

 

 

The initial stage is a group stage divided into north and south regions.  Each group has 4 teams in it so Boro end up with local derbies against Shrewsbury and Cambridge Utd  :huh:  Each team only plays the others once each.  It's the usual three points for a win and one point for a draw but any game that's level after 90 mins goes straight to a penalty shootout and the winner gets an extra point - how exciting  :cool:  The top two teams go through to the next round where it becomes a knockout competition.

 

 

S***horpe have had a good start to the season although they lost against Port Vale last time out. Ian Botham used to play for them while he was also playing cricket professionally.  He doesn't play for them any more though I checked.  However ex Boro star Luke Williams is on the books there. Any devoted Boro fans that miss him and still have his poster on their walls should note that although his home and away kit is sorted for sponsorship, the bit where the magic happens, his boots, remain without a sponsor so get yourself in there and support the ex Boro hero.  I don't know much about S***horpe but I do know it's mostly famous for being the birth place of one of the greatest managers this country has ever produced - Alan Latchley - look him up.

 

I have no idea what our likely team will be and I don't know what S***horpe's likely team will be either.  I'm a real details man.  But what I do know is that anyone pretending to be a Boro fan that is posting on the transfer thread but doesn't post on this match thread isn't a real Boro fan at all.  They are charlatans and chancers, glory hunters of the worst kind, only interested in whichever Carlos Kickaball we end up overpaying for in a desperate attempt to finish 16th in the moneybags league. This competition is where the real football is, real football for real football fans.

 

My prediction: S***horpe and S***horpe reserves 2 - 1 Middlesbrough youngsters and maybe some fringe players.

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On the Other Boro Stuff thread, Tom perhaps not so seriously suggested Rhodes. It would make sense to me to use the game to give people some game time that need it and we have a few first team players that do - Espinosa maybe again as he played for the U23's already, Fischer (if he's not with Denmark), Rhodes, Reach, de Pena? It would seem like a useful opportunity to me but of course they might not want to risk players that might be on the move and Karanka may not view it as a worthwhile exercise.

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I only read the first line of the opening post, but saw the word 'transfers'. Is this another thread to discuss transfers then? If so, that's pretty cool, count me in.

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