Our latest scouting report from outside the Football League comes from Craig Telfer, whose website Who the hell is Akabusi? documents the thrills and spills of supporting Scottish Second Division side Stenhousemuir FC. Here, Craig widens his brief to consider those SFL players potentially capable of doing a job in England’s equivalent divisions. The general perception of Scottish football, both home and abroad, is that the game is at its lowest ebb. The administration of Rangers FC – officially the world’s most successful club side and often described as a pillar of Scottish society – has magnified the problems surrounding…
All posts tagged Middlesbrough
The Thursday Preview: Cardiff Vs Middlesbrough
It has been a while since we previewed a Championship game, instead focusing on the no less riveting events further down the ladder. But which to choose? Two of last year’s big-hitters, Leeds and Reading, meet at Elland Road this weekend, but neither have done much to grab the attention so far this term. Meanwhile, events off the field would overshadow any assessment of Sunday’s Solent derby between Portsmouth and Southampton. No, the weekend’s most intriguing XI vs XI should take place at Cardiff City Stadium, between the eponymous hosts – in third place before kick-off – and fourth-placed Middlesbrough….
Conversations with Steve Welsh (Middlesbrough)
The latest in our Conversations series sees us entering into discussions with Steve Welsh. An avid Middlesbrough fan, Steve is the deviser of Miniboro.com, a site that has attracted equal praise for its content and design – for Steve is as talented an illustrator as there is in the blogosphere at this time. Here, Steve ponders the Teesside club’s tentatively encouraging start to the 2011-12 season and provides us with insights into his site’s raison d’être. LR: Middlesbrough have enjoyed a super start to the season under Tony Mowbray – one that is all the more remarkable given how little…
The Monday Profile: Joe Bennett
One of the chief hazards of being a good attacking full back is inordinate expectation. Take that hogger of Autumn 2010 column inches, Gareth Bale – so impressive were his performances that Harry Redknapp thought he’d give him a go further forward – that trio of strikes in the Giuseppe Meazza had led us to believe that he might somehow be ‘wasted’ in a mere defensive role and that bendy volley at the Britannia made us think we had a multi-purpose talent on our hands.Injury has disallowed us from making conclusions but with the old 3-5-2 formation favoured by Terry…
UEFA European Under-21 Championship: A Football League Perspective
Some readers may have wondered where the two drawings that appear on each page of this site come from. The answer? Ben Piggott, whose fruits of graphite can also be seen at Daily Pen. Here, Ben uses his enthusiasm for tournament football to give us a summary of how all those Football Leaguers (or should that be Championshippers?) involved in this summer’s European Under-21 Championship have been getting on.To continue the growing trend for pluralising footballers … you can keep your Christian Eriksons, your Xherdan Shaqiris and your Juan Matas… because nae team in the Championship can afford them. Instead, England’s second division (lower…
James: Are the wealthy middle classes really the ones to back a football team...
Lanterne Rouge: Garath McCleary on signing for Reading today:
"It's amazing to be a...
Lloyd: On the Oxford / Reading thing, Lanterne, you write that "there is no c...
Ben: Yes, it does loom a bit, doesn't it? Moxey's comments on the ground re...
