I'd wager he was the one we missed out on (price?) and spent the money on Stones. Can't win them all!
- Status
I'd wager he was the one we missed out on (price?) and spent the money on Stones. Can't win them all!
davek
Player Valuation: £150m
Honestly: if I had the choice I'd have Butland and lose Stones.
If there's one thing RM can do recruitment wise it's spot a ball playing CB. We'd cope. Butland for Howard though would set us up nicely to kick on with the fire power we have.
I wouldn't read the Bristol evening post either
Well, if you had, we might have seen Butlands potential.......
Not that I would advocate buying it on the off chance of unearthing a decent Bristol based player mind.
davek
Player Valuation: £150m
toffeejack
Player Valuation: £100m
erm, we're going to get about £50m plus for stones. He's a once in a generation player who will go on to the very top. Butland's a cracking keeper, but there are so many good keeper's around. I can't see him being barca quality tbh.
Butland is the goalkeeping version of Stones. He's going to be world class.
deipnosophist
Player Valuation: £80m
http://www.gazettelive.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/anthony-vickers-everton-were-good-10534408
The defeat to Everton was a stark illustration of how wide the gap is between the Championship and Premier League but the big time buzz was back.
Boro were chewed up by a Toffees side that were on Quality Street.
Everton were too good, too fast and too powerful for Boro on the night and it was a stark illustration of exactly how wide the gap is between the Championship and the elite.
But while Boro may lost but I loved the buzz that the return of the big time brought.
Whatever the result, spirited Boro - the club as a whole – did themselves proud and flexed some Premier League muscles on a night that felt like a trailer for next term.
It has been a long time but some long submerged Teesside memories were stirred as the Riverside staged a game with action and an atmosphere fit to grace the top flight.
It was a pleasure to watch and be part of a game that had all the trappings of a game among the elite: fantastic players showing moments of magic, a pulsating, absorbing atmosphere with fans from both sides loud and proud and some unique touches that mark the club out as an expression of a united community.
First and foremost it was brilliant to be at a match that felt BIG: there was a throbbing crowd riffing on spirited football in a match with high stakes.
That is what we all yearn for week in, week out. Football is nothing without pro-active fans, the symphonic soundtrack that reflects the heighten emotions of a match that matters.
No disrespect to the hardy faithful from Fulham, Wigan or Bolton but to have a big atmosphere you need away fans numbered in their thousands not in dozens.
A convoy of coaches and herds of Scousers wandering outside before kick-off with their strange accents and big city ways and the crackles started then a familiar old tension built for an hour.
Everton brought 4,800 – probably the biggest away contingent since Operation Riverside when Charlton arrived en masse on a free charabanc shuttle service for an FA Cup quarter-final replay in 2006 and were despatched with a pointed musical message. The Blues fans were there with a sense of purpose in what was possibly their biggest game of the season – it is their only realistic hope of success.
And cup fever had taken grip of Teesside too with almost 10,000 extra fans – although arguably Boro’s trip to Ipswich is the bigger game this week.
The ground was buzzing in the build-up as fans filed in and were quickly intoxicated by the tingle.
The old school pre-game call-and response ritualised posturing from both crowds gradually grew in volume and passion and 10 minutes before kick-off it had finally drowned out the MMP 80s hospital radio mega-mix.
Once the game was underway there were highs and lows in the volume control reflecting the action on the pitch.
Everton were deafening in between their goals, loud and lusty they boomed out through the blue smoke as a pyro went off in the away end.
Everton threatened to be the first team to out-sing Boro in years, home or away but every Boro probe swung the sonic balance back to Teesside.
It was great.
The most poignant moment came on 33 minutes as the Riverside dazzled with a spontaneous smart phone salute to Ali Brownlee, accompanied by the “one of our own” chant.
It was an impressive sight with the scarf of Milky Way twinkling draped around the pitch from all stands, including plenty in the Everton end, which was a nice touch whether they knew what it was for or not.
After the Redcar steel-works SOS display at Old Trafford Boro picked up quite a lot of good press and cultural traction and raise dthe profile of the protests in media outlets that would otherwise have ignore dit.
The touching show of popular support for a local microphone man is out there now too. It is our “thing” now
We will be getting a reputation as artists for a social conscience, doing illuminated installations celebrating causes close to our collective hearts.
As the game wore on it got feisty. There was derisive whistles and jeers aimed at the referee as he waved away a penalty call and waves of hostility aimed at Everton’s players as tempers threatened to boil over late on.
It was an intimidating cauldron that we haven’t seen for years. It was fantastic. It felt alive.
Good teams bringing large numbers of away fans is a key ingredient in full-blooded football with an real atmosphere that uses the whole palette of passion.
We could be getting that regularly next season.
Then we can complain about the queues in the concourse and having to park at Clairville.
The defeat to Everton was a stark illustration of how wide the gap is between the Championship and Premier League but the big time buzz was back.
Boro were chewed up by a Toffees side that were on Quality Street.
Everton were too good, too fast and too powerful for Boro on the night and it was a stark illustration of exactly how wide the gap is between the Championship and the elite.
But while Boro may lost but I loved the buzz that the return of the big time brought.
Whatever the result, spirited Boro - the club as a whole – did themselves proud and flexed some Premier League muscles on a night that felt like a trailer for next term.
It has been a long time but some long submerged Teesside memories were stirred as the Riverside staged a game with action and an atmosphere fit to grace the top flight.
It was a pleasure to watch and be part of a game that had all the trappings of a game among the elite: fantastic players showing moments of magic, a pulsating, absorbing atmosphere with fans from both sides loud and proud and some unique touches that mark the club out as an expression of a united community.
First and foremost it was brilliant to be at a match that felt BIG: there was a throbbing crowd riffing on spirited football in a match with high stakes.
That is what we all yearn for week in, week out. Football is nothing without pro-active fans, the symphonic soundtrack that reflects the heighten emotions of a match that matters.
No disrespect to the hardy faithful from Fulham, Wigan or Bolton but to have a big atmosphere you need away fans numbered in their thousands not in dozens.
A convoy of coaches and herds of Scousers wandering outside before kick-off with their strange accents and big city ways and the crackles started then a familiar old tension built for an hour.
Everton brought 4,800 – probably the biggest away contingent since Operation Riverside when Charlton arrived en masse on a free charabanc shuttle service for an FA Cup quarter-final replay in 2006 and were despatched with a pointed musical message. The Blues fans were there with a sense of purpose in what was possibly their biggest game of the season – it is their only realistic hope of success.
And cup fever had taken grip of Teesside too with almost 10,000 extra fans – although arguably Boro’s trip to Ipswich is the bigger game this week.
The ground was buzzing in the build-up as fans filed in and were quickly intoxicated by the tingle.
The old school pre-game call-and response ritualised posturing from both crowds gradually grew in volume and passion and 10 minutes before kick-off it had finally drowned out the MMP 80s hospital radio mega-mix.
Once the game was underway there were highs and lows in the volume control reflecting the action on the pitch.
Everton were deafening in between their goals, loud and lusty they boomed out through the blue smoke as a pyro went off in the away end.
Everton threatened to be the first team to out-sing Boro in years, home or away but every Boro probe swung the sonic balance back to Teesside.
It was great.
The most poignant moment came on 33 minutes as the Riverside dazzled with a spontaneous smart phone salute to Ali Brownlee, accompanied by the “one of our own” chant.
It was an impressive sight with the scarf of Milky Way twinkling draped around the pitch from all stands, including plenty in the Everton end, which was a nice touch whether they knew what it was for or not.
After the Redcar steel-works SOS display at Old Trafford Boro picked up quite a lot of good press and cultural traction and raise dthe profile of the protests in media outlets that would otherwise have ignore dit.
The touching show of popular support for a local microphone man is out there now too. It is our “thing” now
We will be getting a reputation as artists for a social conscience, doing illuminated installations celebrating causes close to our collective hearts.
As the game wore on it got feisty. There was derisive whistles and jeers aimed at the referee as he waved away a penalty call and waves of hostility aimed at Everton’s players as tempers threatened to boil over late on.
It was an intimidating cauldron that we haven’t seen for years. It was fantastic. It felt alive.
Good teams bringing large numbers of away fans is a key ingredient in full-blooded football with an real atmosphere that uses the whole palette of passion.
We could be getting that regularly next season.
Then we can complain about the queues in the concourse and having to park at Clairville.
summerisle
The rain, it raineth every day
.....'Boro were chewed up by a Toffes side that were on Quality Street'.
Very clever.
Very clever.
Donald Twain
Vide cor meum
Yes , he came up Roses with that.
jaspercabbage
Player Valuation: £5m
Didn't mention the goal 'celebrations' though.
deipnosophist
Player Valuation: £80m
I know it's easy to be complimentary when you've won, but 'Boro seemed pretty sound. Proper club. Looked and sounded like 'old fashioned' great football occasion.
@chicoazul, you takin notes lid?...work it into next years preview...nobody'll notice, memory span of goldfish on here
tungetango
Did IQs just drop sharply while I was away?
Gerard,the twinkle-toed flanker...
- Status
