Craig Bellamy’s almost inexplicable arrival in the hallways of the previously thought to be cash strapped Cardiff City Football Club have been met with disbelief on Championship message boards this Summer Tuesday. Even the tiny man’s refusal to comment on the suggestion that Manchester City were unwilling to let him leave for a fellow Premier League club and the fact that it is only a loan deal have failed to take the edge off the anticipation at one of the most sensational (the word is for once not used lightly) signings of recent times, but in reality, this still potent…
All posts tagged Middlesbrough
TTU 2010/11: Season Preview: Championship (Part Two)
See Part One of the TTU 2010/11 Championship Season Preview here.MiddlesbroughHeadline of the Summer’Scottish Invasion!’ in relation to the number of players from across the border Strachan has recruited.Ins/OutsINAndrew Halliday (Livingston)Kris Boyd (Rangers)Nicky Bailey (Charlton)Stephen McManus (Celtic)Kevin Thomson (Rangers)Tarmo Kink (Győri ETO)OUT:Chris Riggott (released)Emanuel Pogatetz (Hannover 96)Jérémie Aliadière (released)John Johnson (Northampton)Mido (Ajax)Any major worries?Gordon has rightly strengthened the spine of the team but the flanks look a little bare . More signings are promised, having been spearheaded by Estonian winger Tarmo Kink, who agreed terms just to meet our publication deadline. Goalkeeping remains a concern. Brad Jones is yet to…
£12 Million? You could get 7 Scotsmen for that!
The more green eyed among us will have been staring on with incredulity as Gordon Strachan drove once again into the transfer market on Friday to obtain the services of Kevin Thomson from Glasgow Rangers. Cynicism has been apparent throughout this process and English football is littered with the carcases of bespoilt tartan reputations in recent years. Comfortably outspending all rivals will immediately make Boro a scalp and the low esteem in which the Scottish game is currently held, as well as the unfamiliarity of the newcomers, leads most to eagerly anticipate Strachan’s hubris, but I feel there could be…
24: Season Review, Part Three: IPS to NEW
Four clubs whose fans will regard any spell in the second echelon as purgatory are the next on our assessment sheet. All, remember, have competed in European competition within recent memory and will feel they don’t belong here. Genuine national personalities have peppered the wage bill at this quartet this season, an underlining of the Football League’s central place in British sport.Ipswich TownMuch more was expected of Ipswich Town in 2009-10 and only a post-Christmas process of resurrection saved the season from being labelled a complete disaster. Early on, it was a case of too many draws and too many…
The spirit of Chollima lives on Teesside
Before my fellow blogger Lanterne Rouge diverts our attention back to the previous season, a brief Championship related missive from the World Cup. Few Cocaleague-hosting towns will have divided loyalties during tonight’s game between Brazil and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, but fans of a certain vintage on Teesside may well be rooting for a draw. While Boro’s contemporary links with the land of Samba have been well documented (even if some of the individual imports turned out to be more Mr Benn than Jorge Ben), memories of North Korean football’s finest hour-and-a-half still linger on the housing estate…
David Howell: Speaking, sadly, from experience, I can say that Basildon does indeed ...
Lanterne Rouge: Thanks for pointing out the error Peter - corrected now....
Peter Moody: Presumably the sentence in the last paragraph should have read " . . ....
PFOJ: That's just how American sports franchises work, the owners probably f...
Curious: All the GFC players are locals, none are paid and the majority of the ...
