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Boro v Liverpool (a) 0-3


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Well I guess this thread proves that even in the face of adversity (probably Boro's worst season since 1986), Boro Unger can still produce great matchday threads, guaranteed to give us a giggle.

 

Well played lad! :)

 

 

Incidentally I have The Middle by Jimmy Eat World as my ringtone. I'm currently considering changing it to The Duck Song (look it up on YouTube). ;)

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So it wasn’t to be, Dimi Konstantopoulos didn’t make his long awaited Premier League debut at Liverpool.

 

It’s a shame that such a decent, hard-working keeper didn’t achieve his top flight ambition.

 

However, Steve Agnew’s decision made sense. In his opinion, he picked the strongest XI from the players available to him.

 

We may disagree with his final starting line-up but there can be no room for sentiment in competitive fixtures, as we saw at Chelsea with the ridiculous and contrived ‘guard of honour’ for John Terry. Leave those kind of gestures for friendly matches in future please.

 

It could, of course, be argued that Konstantopoulos is a better keeper than Guzan, who looked shaky at Anfield and didn’t have the most convincing game against Southampton.

 

But if Agnew thinks Guzan is the superior option, then he’s right to name the American in the team.

 

There’s the argument Boro have had nothing to play for since relegation was confirmed so the eventual result is academic?

 

But Agnew resisted the temptation to make wholesale changes because, presumably, he didn’t want to risk an embarrassing drubbing.

 

His team did lose both of their ‘dead rubbers’ so it’s questionable whether his faith in those players was justified, but you can’t fault the logic.

 

What might have been a reasonable compromise would have been to have replaced Guzan with Konstantopoulos late in the game. But that may have felt a frivolous move with Boro losing 3-0.

 

The keeper whose absence should be questioned is Victor Valdes.

 

The vastly-experienced Spaniard hasn’t played since the goalless home draw with Burnley.

 

The official word is he has ‘sore ribs’ but would that relatively minor ailment rule him out of seven successive fixtures?

 

A more likely scenario is that, like Gaston Ramirez, he’s out of favour due to issues of attitude.

 

And if that’s the case then it’s time the club said as much, if only to take some of the heat off those players who are giving their all.

 

Say what you want about the players wearing Boro shirts at Anfield but at least they were out there in the firing line representing the club, for better or worse.

 

The team hasn’t been good enough this season but those XI starters at Liverpool were at least putting in a shift. They were out there representing the club to the best of their abilities and taking any stick meted out from the understandably frustrated away supporters.

 

 

Back to Konstantopoulos, though. It’s worth recognising what a weird and wonderful ride he’s been on since joining Boro in the summer of 2013 as a free agent.

 

Weighing up a move back to Hartlepool, he gratefully agreed to Tony Mowbray’s contract offer and rocked up at Rockliffe as an extra pair of gloves on the training ground.

 

However, he broke into the first team under Aitor Karanka and was first choice keeper in the club’s two promotion campaigns.

 

With his current deal set to lapse in the summer, his chances of a Premier League appearance appears to have gone, but he can look back on his Boro career with a great deal of pride.

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Maybe one of our Gazette premium subscribers can let us know what this says:

 

http://www.gazettelive.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/verdict-its-shame-dimi-didnt-13072423

 

Seems like the Gazette just blowing smoke up the clubs *** again.

 

Verdict: It's a shame Dimi didn't play but Agnew was justified in his selection policy

Philip Tallentire

4 minutes


 

I'm not a premium subscriber, but you can access the article by clicking on the reader view icon in firefox. Here it is though.......

 

So it wasn’t to be, Dimi Konstantopoulos didn’t make his long awaited Premier League debut at Liverpool.

It’s a shame that such a decent, hard-working keeper didn’t achieve his top flight ambition.

However, Steve Agnew’s decision made sense. In his opinion, he picked the strongest XI from the players available to him.

We may disagree with his final starting line-up but there can be no room for sentiment in competitive fixtures, as we saw at Chelsea with the ridiculous and contrived ‘guard of honour’ for John Terry. Leave those kind of gestures for friendly matches in future please.

It could, of course, be argued that Konstantopoulos is a better keeper than Guzan, who looked shaky at Anfield and didn’t have the most convincing game against Southampton.

 

 

But if Agnew thinks Guzan is the superior option, then he’s right to name the American in the team.

There’s the argument Boro have had nothing to play for since relegation was confirmed so the eventual result is academic?

But Agnew resisted the temptation to make wholesale changes because, presumably, he didn’t want to risk an embarrassing drubbing.

His team did lose both of their ‘dead rubbers’ so it’s questionable whether his faith in those players was justified, but you can’t fault the logic.

What might have been a reasonable compromise would have been to have replaced Guzan with Konstantopoulos late in the game. But that may have felt a frivolous move with Boro losing 3-0.

The keeper whose absence should be questioned is Victor Valdes.

The vastly-experienced Spaniard hasn’t played since the goalless home draw with Burnley.

 

The official word is he has ‘sore ribs’ but would that relatively minor ailment rule him out of seven successive fixtures?

A more likely scenario is that, like Gaston Ramirez, he’s out of favour due to issues of attitude.

And if that’s the case then it’s time the club said as much, if only to take some of the heat off those players who are giving their all.

Say what you want about the players wearing Boro shirts at Anfield but at least they were out there in the firing line representing the club, for better or worse.

The team hasn’t been good enough this season but those XI starters at Liverpool were at least putting in a shift. They were out there representing the club to the best of their abilities and taking any stick meted out from the understandably frustrated away supporters.

 

 

Back to Konstantopoulos, though. It’s worth recognising what a weird and wonderful ride he’s been on since joining Boro in the summer of 2013 as a free agent.

Weighing up a move back to Hartlepool, he gratefully agreed to Tony Mowbray’s contract offer[/url] and rocked up at Rockliffe as an extra pair of gloves on the training ground.

However, he broke into the first team under Aitor Karanka and was first choice keeper in the club’s two promotion campaigns.

With his current deal set to lapse in the summer, his chances of a Premier League appearance appears to have gone, but he can look back on his Boro career with a great deal of pride.

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A weird unnecessary accusation of Valdes having attitude problems in there.

 

There is an alternative theory that Valdes has a massive appearance bonus and that we decided not to play him once relegation was overwhelmingly likely in order to save on that. 

But that isn't mentioned, whereas a baseless dig at the player is.

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A weird unnecessary accusation of Valdes having attitude problems in there.

 

There is an alternative theory that Valdes has a massive appearance bonus and that we decided not to play him once relegation was overwhelmingly likely in order to save on that. 

But that isn't mentioned, whereas a baseless dig at the player is.

 

It's all the fault of those fancy Dan foreigners, Tom.

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A weird unnecessary accusation of Valdes having attitude problems in there.

 

There is an alternative theory that Valdes has a massive appearance bonus and that we decided not to play him once relegation was overwhelmingly likely in order to save on that. 

But that isn't mentioned, whereas a baseless dig at the player is.

 

See now that I could actually see.

 

What a weird stance to take. Tallentire has had some bizarre reporting lately.

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A weird unnecessary accusation of Valdes having attitude problems in there.

 

There is an alternative theory that Valdes has a massive appearance bonus and that we decided not to play him once relegation was overwhelmingly likely in order to save on that. 

But that isn't mentioned, whereas a baseless dig at the player is.

 

It's all the fault of those fancy Dan foreigners, Tom.

 

get choritso valdez owt off my club jobs for locals giv it to a hard werking t sider

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How on earth was Agnew's decision justified?

 

Because Tallentire wants to blow as much smoke as possible up the club's *** so that he can start getting good info again.

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BBC Tees said said something similar before the Southampton(I think?) game.

 

About the attitude or the payout,

 

His attitude. Something along the lines of that they have heard rumblings behind the scenes that people aren't happy with how long it is taking Valdes to return from the injury. Basically questioning whether he wanted to play now that we're relegated.

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