Down to the Riverside

[Helli]

Middlesbrough cleans house


After some final moves the Middlesbrough squad for the 2011/12 season seems to be finally set. First of all as widely expected Vladimir Weiss leaves the team to join Turkish club Fehnerbace for 1,7M € on loan. Fenerbahce has the option to pick the talented Slovak up permanently for 5,25M €. Weiss joined Middlesbrough from Manchester City two years ago but never was able to become a full time regular.

Secondly Welsh striker Sam Vokes will join Benfica for 1,3M € on a loan deal until the end of the season. Vokes only played 13 games for Middlesbrough last year and just like his former teammate Sylvan Ebanks-Blake wouldn't have seen a lot of playing time either and therefore Parker decided to make him available. Benfica can purchase Vokes for 3,9M € during the loan spell.

The third first team player to leave is Michael Woods. Woods was loaned out to Hibernian and Blackpool the last season but still was in Parker's plans for this season. With the recent arrivals of Matic and Ljajic he moved down in the teams depth chart and therefore Parker granted him to leave. Woods will join Wolverhampton for 4,2M (+Clause of 275k if Wolves get promoted). Woods has got the talent to become a good Premier League player but with the competion he faces at Riverside it would have been very difficult for him to gain enough playing time.

Parker also has sent several players including Goaltenders Jason Steele and Lars Stubhaug on loan.


Transfer overview


The 53M € spent on new players is a new Middlesbrough record. Time will tell if the money was invested wisely. The media is predicting that Middlesbrough will finish 7th this season. Parker believes that this team can do some damage and that a European spot is clearly within reach again.


Sulejmani shows willingness to stay despite rumors




Euro Cup Draw


This years Euro Cup includes several well known teams like Inter or AC Milan


​

---------- Post added at 05:57 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:26 PM ----------

Middlesbrough F.C. Squad 2011/12

Goalkeepers:
Joe Hart (ENG) - 24 years old
Alex Smithies (ENG) - 21 years old

Clearly one of the big strenghts of this team. Both Hart and Smithies have proven that they are captable keepers. Middlesbrough could have the answer for Englands goaltending woes with U21 keeper Jason Steele also signed at Riverside. Fabio Capello currently sticks with Almunia o), Foster and Green.

Defense:
Fabio (BRA) - 21 years old (LB)
Emil Johansson (SWE) - 24 years old (LB)
Michael Dawson (ENG) - 27 years old (CB)
Mark Beevers (ENG) - 21 years old (CB)
Nicolas Otamendi (ARG) - 23 years old (CB)
Julio Bravo (MEX) - 19 years old (CB/RB)
Raul (BRA) - 21 years old (WBR/RB)

Parker had to make several moves to improve his defensive core after chairman Steve Gibson decided to sell Eggert Jonsson and Slobodan Rajkovic. The lack of experience could cause some serious problems but the managment seems to have faith in these young guys. Sean St. Ledger and Nicolas Burdisso played excellent last year, the question will be who can replace them?

Midfield:
Miles Addison (ENG) - 22 years old (DMC,MC,DC)
Gojko Kacar (SRB) - 24 years old (DMC,MC,DC)
Nemanja Matic (SRB) - 23 years old (MC)
Lewis McGugan (ENG) - 22 years old (MC)
Josh Walker (ENG) - 22 years old (MC)
Radja Nainggolan (BEL) - 23 years old (MC,AMC,AML,AMR)
Adam Johnson (ENG) - 24 years old (AML/C)
Jano Anandize (GEO) - 18 years old (AML/C)
Christian Eriksen (DEN) - 19 years old (AMC/DMC,AMR)
Miralem Sulejmani (SRB) - 22 years old (AMC/AML)
Jack Wilshere (ENG) - 19 years old (AMR/L/C)
Adem Ljajic (SRB) - 19 years old (AMR/C)

Clearly the best part of the Middlesbrough squad. Almost every player is able to play multiple positions according to Parker. Addison and Kacar make a great defensive duo and the wings with players like Wilshere,Johnson or Ljajic look really dangerous this year. Miralem Sulejmani is finally settled and he still has tons of potential left in him.
Strikers:
Chris Wood (NZL) - 19 years old
Robert Lewandowski (POL) - 22 years old
Wellington Silva (BRA) - 18 years old
Jay Rodriguez (ENG) - 22 years old

Wood and Lewandowski are an excellent partnership up front with Silva and Rodriguez waiting for their chances on the bench. Wood scored 17 goals last year and is just 19 years old and still has a lot of untapped potential. Both Silva and Rodriguez have loads of talent as well but will have to give 100% every time in order to become members of the starting eleven.


Media Prediction: 7th

Expectations:
League: Respectable league Position
FA Cup: 6th Round
League Cup: Quarter Finals
Euro Cup: Group Stage


​

---------- Post added at 08:24 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:57 PM ----------

Pre Season Update

Tried out some new things and was working on my new 4-4-2 Winger tactic (I've been using a 4-4-2 before but with a DMC,2xCM and an AMC). If somebody has some tips I'd appreciate it

Friendly Game 1: Darlington vs. Middlesbrough 0:2 (Addison,Lewandowski)
We had 13 shots on target but just scored 2. Not really happy about that but otherwise it was a pretty decent performance. Addison with a great strike to give Boro the 1-0 lead after 20 minutes. Lewandowski with the other goal in the 2nd half.

Friendly Game 2: Birmingham City vs. Middlesbrough 1:3 (Lewandowski (2x),Wilshere)
A bit more challenging this time against recently the recently relegated Blues. Didn't control the game as much as I'd like to despite Birmingham playing really bad. Lewandowski with 2 more

Friendly Game 3: Portsmouth vs. Middlesbrough 0:0
Our worst game so far. I made a couple of changes and tried Silva and Rodriguez up front but didn't work out. Still need to find a role for Silva and Rodriguez. We didn't even create chances so they couldn't do much anyways. Good game defensively, pretty bad offensively.

Friendly Game 4: Rochdale vs. Middlesbrough 0:2 (Sulejmani,Wood)
We had the possession but only created a handful of chances. Pretty disappointed with our work to create chances. We're playing really well defensively so far but that might have something to do with our poor opponents. Premier League gameday against Chelsea could quickly tell us more

Friendly Game 5: Blackrock vs. Middlesbrough 0:13 (Wilshere (2x),Purcell (og),Wood,Lewandowski,Ljajic,Rodriguez,Kacar,Addison,Beevers (2x),Ananidze,Eriksen)
I had a friendly arranged against the Rangers on that day but they had to play Champions League there so I had to find a new opponent. Blackrock is not a real opponent at all but I'm still happy about the result. Nice to see a lot of players picking up a goal.

Friendly Game 6: Tullamore vs. Middlesbrough 0:6 (Rodriguez,Wood,Bravo (pen).Ljajic (2x),Fabio)
That actually was my planned blowout friendly I had arranged . Rodriguez started again up front and did well (actually I planned to start Silva again too but he was away with Brazil). Great game by Ljajic as well. He's my man on the right wing at the moment and has been doing really well. No settling in problems so far despite his language problems. Hope he can keep it up

Player of the Pre Season

Adam Ljajic - 5 Apps, 3 Goals, 1 Assist, 7.4 Rating


Next fixture: Premier League against Chelsea
​

 

[Jake89]

Nice pre-season. Good luck against Chelsea

 

[Helli]

August Update

Premier League Game 1: Middlesbrough vs. Chelsea 1:0 (Ljajic)
What a great way to start this season. It was a lucky win but who cares afterwards Went to a 4-5-1 in the second half and was able to hold the narrow lead.





Euro Cup 4th Qual. Round - Leg 1: Middlesbrough vs. Timisoara 3:0 (Johnson,Wood,Lewandowski)
Great comeback in Europe and a well deserved victory. Needed 56 minutes until the first goal but afterwards we we're rolling. Great to see the duo up front working well together

Premier League Game 2: Sunderland vs. Middlesbrough 0:2 (Lewandowski (2x))
Great performance against our fierce rivals. Unlike the Chelsea game we dominated here. Smithies with the 3rd straight clean sheet of the season and another fantastic performance by Lewnadowski. Could he be back to his form from the first season here? :O

Euro Cup 4th Qual. Round - Leg 2: Timisoara vs. Middlesbrough 1:2 (Sulejmani,.Kacar)
Smithies beaten after 227 minutes but we still advanced easily. We created a lot of chances but both strikers fail to convert. Two late goals in the first and second half secured the 5-1 aggregate win.

Premier League Game 3: Stoke vs. Middlesbrough 2:3 (Lewandowski (3x))
What a game by Lewandowski. He's been really on fire lately. Former Middlesbrough player Robert Huth got sent off with a red card early so we played with a man advantage for most of the game. Ricardo Fuller scored twice for Stoke.

League Table:


Player of the Month:

Robert Lewandowski - 4 Games, 6 Goals, 8.1 Rating

What a great start! We won every game this month and advanced in Europe.

Euro Cup Draw:

Anderlecht clearly the strongest opponent in that group. Don't know about Braga, they were seeded first but their team doesn't look that good. Tel Aviv is the darkhourse with their great goalkeeper (Enyeama). A 2nd place finish is clearly possible

---------------------------------------
Meanwhile Middlesbrough has loaned out left back Christopher Buchtmann to Caen for 100k until the end of the season (with a 3M clause) and Patrick Otte to Kidderminster.

​

 

[JoshAFC]

u have done very well so far good signings i wish I could make a story like yours and stick with it

 

[Helli]

September Update

First off all some troubles with my most important player on defense - Michael Dawson.








Thank god everything worked out there

Premier League - Game 4: Middlesbrough vs. Wigan 2:1 (Lewandowski,Nainggolan)
We're still rolling but that one was close. We we're the better team but Wigan still took the lead after Rodallenga scored. Lewandowski quickly tied it and Nainggolan scored in additional time to give us the 4th win in our 4th season game

Uefa Euro League - Group J - Game 1: RSC Anderlecht vs. Middlesbrough 1:3 (Lewandowski,Kacar,Proto (og))
What a fantastic result against Anderlecht. They're clearly the best team in our group and we still came away with the win. Joe Hart was absolutely outstanding with a 9.1 Rating. It was a great game by both sides but Anderlecht just wasn't able to finish.

Meanwhile other good news:


An undersoil heating was installed as well.


League Cup 3rd Round: Ipswich vs. Middlesbrough 1:2 (Wellington Silva,Hart (pen))
Both teams played really solid and there wasn't much difference between both teams. Great to see Silva picking up his first goal with Boro and Hart once again had a really good game (8.4 Rating). I'll still let him take the Penaltys when Bravo isn't playing . I rotated here but that still was waaay too close :S


Our next opponent in the 4th Round will be Bolton. We've beaten them in the Qtr Finals last year in this Competion.

Premier League - Game 5: Middlesbrough vs. Arsenal 1:0 (Johnson)
Wooohooo. Another win against one of the top 4 sides with our defensive 4-5-1 lineup. Arsenal was the better team but unlike the Chelsea game they weren't as dominant. A draw would have been a fair result but I'd take it

Uefa Euro League - Group J - Game 2: Middlesbrough vs. Hapoel Tel Aviv 4:0 (Lewandowski,Nainggolan,Eriksen,McGugan)
Well that's exactly what I wanted to see there. After the draw I knew that Tel Aviv was our weakest opponent and that we need those points if we want to advance. 3 in, 3 more to go..

League Table:




Euro League:



We're doing great once again and already beat TWO Big 4 teams this year. Both were a bit lucky but seriosuly who cares about this in the end? Going well in Europe as well with 2 good games. Keep it up lads!

Player of the Month:

Joe Hart - 5 Games - 7.74 Rating, 1 Goal




​

 

[glasgowrangers53]

doing greatkeep it up

 

[burkeyoa]

Superb as always

 

[Helli]

October Update
Premier League - Game 6: Blackburn vs. Middlesbrough 1:3 (Sulejmani (2x),Otamendi)
6th straight win in the Premier League this season. Despite way less possesion (43%-57%) we created way more chances and got another win. Sulejmani with a great game and the Man of the Match award.

Premier League - Game 7: Middlesbrough vs. Newcastle 0:1


Ugh. What a terrible performance by the lads. Newcastle wasn't great either but at least they scored. Red card for Addison is also another blow considering the important game against Liverpool coming up next.

Uefa Europa League - Group J - Game 4: Sporting Braga vs. Middlesbrough 1:2 (Wood (2x))
Finally a goal by Wood again. He hadn't scored in ages and he just came back at the right time. We should have won this with a way bigger margin as we were the better team but at least we got the 3 Points.

Premier League - Game 8: Middlesbrough vs. Liverpool 1:2 (Sulejmani)


League Cup - 4th Round: Bolton vs. Middlesbrough


Not a good game from both sides but we're still in the competition. Matic, who has been excellent so far, is out for 4 weeks.
Next opponent: Coventry

Premier League - Game 9: Manchester United vs. Middlesbrough

That was absolutely terrible.

League Table:


Europa League:


Not a really great month. We lost 3 games and played our worst football of the season so far. Let's hope that this is just a short loss of form. We still got two games in hand and now already played against the Big 4.
Player of the Month:

Miralem Sulejmani - 4 Games, 4 Goals, 7.48 Rating
​

---------- Post added at 04:24 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:50 AM ----------

November Update

UEFA Euro League - Group J - Game 4: Middlesbrough vs. Braga


Qualified for the knockout stage! Great result after this disappointing month in September. We're still in every competition so far.

Premier League - Game 10: Fulham vs. Middlesbrough


Premier League - Game 11: Middlesbrough vs. Manchester City


Premier League - Game 12: Middlesbrough vs. Aston Villa


Premier League - Game 13: Burnley vs. Middlesbrough


League Cup - Qtr. Final: Middlesbrough vs. Coventry

Unfortunately Ljajic will be out for like 2 weeks.
League Table:


Europa League:


What a great month for the lads. We won 6 games, are 2nd in the League with 1 Game in our hands, advanced in Europe and in the Carling Cup. If the lads can keep it up, we're really looking dangerous.

Player of the Month:

Radja Nainggolan - 5 Games played - 3 Goals, 7.54 Rating

Parker named Manager of the Month


Young Player Award for Bravo




​

---------- Post added at 05:15 PM ---------- Previous post was yesterday at 04:24 PM ----------

December Update

UEFA Europa League - Game 5: Middlesbrough vs. Anderlecht


Well we finally lost a game on the European stage after 6 straight wins. We're qualified already so that's not the end of the world. The loss of Sulejmani for arround a month will be painful.

Premier League - Game 14: Bristol vs. Middlesbrough


We got dominated by Bristol City. Holy ****, what was wrong there? Is Sulejmani really THAT important for this team? I thought that Nainggolan or Wilshere would be good enough to replace him but we'll see. It's just one bad game..

Premier League - Game 15: Tottenham vs. Middlesbrough


Another injury blow for the team. Wood is out at least 5 weeks with a knee injury and I believe it will be very hard to replace him. He isn't scoring like last year but he's still a very important player for me. That's the 2nd important player to get injured within 3 games...


Premier League - Game 16: Middlesbrough vs. Cardiff


That was the complete opposite from the Bristol game. This time we dominated and Cardiff was lucky to get a point. We need to win these games if we wanna aim for Europe again.

UEFA Euro League - Group J - Game 6: Hapoel Tel-Aviv vs. Middlesbrough


Game for the rotation players and they did really well. I clearly wasn't expecting to advance in this group with 15 out of 18 Points possible.

Premier League - Game 17: Middlesbrough vs. Bolton


That's the 3rd straight 0:0 draw in the EPL against Bolton and once again it was because of Jääskeläinen and our stupidness. Again 2 lost points as we were clearly the better side again..

Premier League - Game 18: West Ham vs. Middlesbrough


Ahh a win in the PL. Nice to see the lads picking up 3 Points again after 4 straight draws there but what happened to the strikers?

Premier League - Game 19: Everton vs. Middlesbrough


The top game of the Gameday ends in a solid draw. Everton has been playing amazing so far this season and we played short handed for 30 minutes after Raul's second yellow card so I'm happy with this result. Everton could really be the team to beat this season.


FA Cup - 3rd Round: Stoke vs Middlesbrough

We were down early but came back and advanced against a fellow Premier League side. Silva has been really doing well so far with 4 Goals and 3 Assists in 9 games so far.


League Table


Europa League


A lot of draws this month and some games we could have easily won. We're still doing way better than I was expecting and are ahead of the Top 4. I expect Chelsea and Pool to make a run in the 2nd half of the season and would be very happy if we could stay within the top 4 somehow.
Europa League Draw


Difficult fixtures. Twente is a decent squad and both Villareal and Fiorentina are one of the favourites for the Cup win this year in my opinion. We already achieved our aims for this competition but I believe that we can definitely beat Twente for sure.
Player of the Month

Michael Dawson has been excellent as the veteran presence on our defensive line. He made 6 appereances this month scoring 1 goal with a 7.38 Rating.

Fabio named Young Player of the Month



2nd award this season for him. Really happy that I was able to pick him up. 10M € is a lot of money but it looks like he was worth it.

Wood named Oceania Player of the Year again



January transfer window coming up next!
​

 

[Jasonlfc96]

I have nothing but praise for you mate you are an amazing manager and you are doing amazingly and you have turned this story into one of if not the best stories on fm-base. Well done and loving the story aswell :wub:

 

[Helli]

Gibson does it again
Midfielder Lewis McGugan joins Birmingham City for record transfer fee
Chairman Steve Gibson has once again accepted a bid on his behalf - the 3rd time this season. McGugan will join Birmingham City for an initial fee of 9,5M. The deal also includes a 500.000€ clause after 20 league games and a 10% sell on clause. McGugan was playing well in Middlesbrough's rotation and has signed a contract until 2015 with the Blues. Manager Steven Parker negotiated this deal but would have prefered to wait until the end of the season to complete the swap. Middlesbrough now has received the unbelievable sum of 73M € this season.







Talent Hughes joins Sheffield

17 year old Attacking Midfielder Keith Hughes, a product of the Middlesbrough Youth Academy, will join Sheffield United for 250.000€. The deal also includes a 30% sell on clause. Hughes for sure has some talent left but the Boro Coaching Staff was in doubt about his ability in the future to compete on the Premier League level.




Parker eyes Verratti as McGugan replacement

19 year old Italian Midfielder Marco Verratti could be on his way to the Riverside according to Italian newspaper Gazetta Delo Sport. Verratti is currently playing for Pescara in the Italian Serie B. Verratti is co-owned by Mantova and Middlesbrough will need to agree to terms with both teams first. Manager Steven Parker declined to make a comment regarding Verratti. Parker wasn't expected to make any moves this January but the move of Lewis McGugan to Birmingham could have changed his mind. Rumors suggest that it would take arround 2M € to acquire 50% of the transfer rights.
​

I have nothing but praise for you mate you are an amazing manager and you are doing amazingly and you have turned this story into one of if not the best stories on fm-base. Well done and loving the story aswell :wub:

thanks buddy The game is a lot of fun with this team

 

[burkeyoa]

superb mate you are one great manager! you must really be enjoying doing the story and the save keep it going

 

[Helli]

Verratti set to join Middlesbrough

Italian Midfielder Marco Verratti will join Middlesbrough to replace Lewis McGugan Skysports has learned. Verratti, 19, appeared in 21 games for Pescara this season scoring 3 goals. Verratti joins the Teesiders for a fee of 2,9M €. Verratti, who was co-owned by Mantova revealed that he was excited about going to the Premier League and that he was looking forward to work under Parker. The 19 year old can play both in the central as well as the attacking midfield and still has a bright future ahead of him.

January Update


Carling Cup - Semi Final - Leg 1 - Blackburn vs. Middlesbrough

Well, at least we scored a goal on the road which could help a lot in the 2nd leg. I expected a lot more from the lads in this one but it's not over yet.

Premier League - Game 20 - Middlesbrough vs. Stoke

Not a really good game by the lads but we won. Rodriguez is an excellent player coming in from the bench and scoring some important goals.

Premier League - Game 21 - Middlesbrough vs. Sunderland

Again not a good game and not happy about the draw. We need to win these games if we wanna stay within the top seats in the table. There's some fierce competition for the first few slots this year.

Premier League - Game 22 - Middlesbrough vs. Burnley

Never saw 2 own goals in one game so far but I'll take it. Once again not a really good game against one of the worst teams of the league. Verratti with his first goal in his first game for his new club, i'm happy

Carling Cup - Semi Final - Leg 2 - Middlesbrough vs. Blackburn

We're going to Wembley again! Great game by Rodriguez, both him and Wellington Silva did an excellent job replacing the injured Chris Wood. We dominated Blackburn but we still need to do better if we wanna win this competition again. We will need to give 110% if we wanna beat Chelsea in the finals.

FA Cup - 4th Round - Leg 1 - Middlesbrough vs. Tottenham

What's up with all these home games? Spurs created a lot of chances and we were a bit lucky to get away with a draw. Alex Smithies was outstanding in net.

Premier League - Game 23 - Wigan vs. Middlesbrough


Premier League - Game 24 - Arsenal vs. Middlesbrough

Glad we came away with the Point there. Addison is developing into a great player and I was really glad that I kept him.
​

League Table




Player of the Month

Adam Johnson made 5 appereances this Month scoring 2 Goals with a 7.5 Rating



Meanwhile....

Steven Parker will take over the Ivory Coast and will try to lead Drogba, Toure, Kalou and co to the World Cup in Brazil in 2014. After a horrible Africa Cup of Nations where the Team finished dead last in a group together with DR Congo, Morocco and Senegal the team was looking for a new coach and made a pitch for Parker.Ivory Coast were drawn in a group together with Uganda, Swaziland and Benin for the World Cup Qualification.


Ghana also showed interest in Parker but the Middlesbrough coach decided to work with Drogba's team.
​

superb mate you are one great manager! you must really be enjoying doing the story and the save keep it going

thanks, that's my favourite save and now that i'm a National coach there's another nice little touch in it

 

[Jake89]

Still following this story, one of the only ones I bother to read now. Keep it going mate

 

[Spud Ando]

one word m8 destructive btw Helli, if it's okay, i was going to PM you to ask for some tips on threads, as i'm thinking of doing a story, and your story/ thread is the best i've read on this site soo far!!

 

[Helli]

February Update

FA Cup - 4th Round - Game 2: Tottenham vs. Middlesbrough

What a game! Fantastic result by the lads. We took the lead twice but the Spurs always came back but thanks to a great substitution with Wilshere coming on for Ananidze we've won this game. Smithies was great again, he really should be a Number 1 guy but I glad that I have him as my 1b guy

Premier League - Game 25: Middlesbrough vs. Blackburn

Solid game by the lads and 3 more points. Blackburn is terrible this year but still this is a very nice and important result.

Premier League - Game 26: Liverpool vs. Middlesbrough

Terrible match by both sides. We didn't only lose the game but also lost our 2 LB's - Fabio with just a minor injury but Johansson is out for at least 5 weeks. That's a massive blow and I hope that Fabio can handle this alone. We've got a lot of important games coming up...

FA Cup - 5th Round - Game 1: Bristol City vs. Middlesbrough

Now that's a result. Bristol is decent in the league and I didn't expect to win this game that easy. We're still in every competition, which is an amazing achievement.

6th Round matchup: Sunderland

Europa League - First Knockout Round - Leg 1: Twente vs. Middlesbrough

****, we should have won this easily. We created so many chances but just couldn't get the ball past their keeper. Sulejmani with a very important goal when we were down 1 player. I'm confident that we can beat Twente at home.

Europa League - First Knockout Round - Leg 2: Middlesbrough vs. Twente

Delighted! We dominated them again and finally the scoresheet showed this. Sulejmani is a great player with some injury troubles. If he's fit he can be the game changer. We advanced and now will have to play Villareal from Spain. They've got a good squad and I believe it will be very difficult to beat them.

Carling Cup - Final: Middlesbrough vs. Chelsea

****, that was really close. Sucks to lose like this in extra time because I believe we would have deserved to win there and that would have secured us Europa league again. Really bitter defeat as it would have been amazing to bring home the Carling Cup again. Congrats to Chelsea, we'll try again next year. Again it was Sulejmani who scored a very important goal.

Premier League - Game 27: Middlesbrough vs. Manchester United

Meh, this game was over after 25 minutes. We never really could create enough pressure on them.

League Table:

Overall not a really good month. I'm happy that we've advanced in both the FA Cup as well as the Europa League but the results against Chelsea,ManU and Liverpool are rather disappointing. We've still played less games but the other teams are clearly pushing forward.

Player of the Month

Clearly Sulejmani, he scored a bunch of important goals and had some really good games.
​

 

[dom1don]

You should sign Vaclav Kadlec, the 17 year old Czech striker. I have signed him for every team I have played as including Chelsea, Arsenal and now my Reading team. In my latest game as Reading he came from Sparta/Slavia Prague for £1m, but you can get him slightly cheaper. He has huge potential and has already scored three goals in two pre season games, my teams top striker and he has the potential to become a leading Premiership striker, according to my scouts.

 

[Helli]

March Update


F.A. Cup - 6th Round: Sunderland vs. Middlesbrough

Advanced to the Semi's, thanks to Ljajic's late goal. It was a pretty even game and we did have some luck in the end but it's still great to advance. Ljajic was a really good signing, he's having some injury problems for sure but when he's healtly, he is always one of my best players. Semi Final is against Liverpool, we'll need to give our best there for sure. 2nd Semi Final is played between Hull and Chelsea - could we see another Chelsea vs. Boro Final this season again?

Europa League - 2nd Knockout Round - Leg 1: Middlesbrough vs. Villareal

****. We already had a 2 goal lead but still blew it within 2 minutes. Dawson's injury is a massive blow. He clearly is my best CB and missing him for 4 weeks because of a fractured arm in this stage of the season could be deadly. Otamendi played horrible in this game (4,4 Rating) too. Not the right time to have defensive woes.

Premier League - Game 28: Middlesbrough vs. Fulham

Oh my god, just a draw against a weak Fulham team and another massive injury to one of the key players. Wilshere will miss 5 weeks with a fractured wrist. We clearly need to win these games if we wanna be a top 5 team again.

Europa League - 2nd Knockout Round - Leg 2: Villareal vs. Middlesbrough

Absolutely delighted with this result. We we're down early but quickly fired back and got lucky in the end. I expected Villareal to win this after the first leg but the lads surprised me. We've made it to the Carling Cup Finals, are still in the F.A. Cup and now made it to the Qtr Finals of the Europa League.

Europa League Draw




4 teams from England, 2 from Spain and 2 from Italy. Looks like the "big" Leagues are reigning this competition. Tottenham is a good challenge. We've beaten them before so I think we've got a good chance again.

Premier League - Game 29: Cardiff City vs. Middlesbrough

Or the Chris Wood show. What a fantastic performance by the New Zealander. He was absolutely dominant this game and of course it's nice to see us winning a game against a weaker team as well.

Europa League - Qtr Finals - Leg 1: Middlesbrough vs. Tottenham


Not the best initial situation but a solid one. Poor showing by my strikers, hope they'll do better in the 2nd game. We clearly have a chance to beat the Spurs, but we'll need the goals from Lewandowski or Wood.


League Table





Well it was a solid month looking at the result, not so much on the pitch. We aren't playing as well as in the first period of the season. Lack of experience? Tactial problems? I dunno. Still competing in Europe and in the F.A. Cup is great. I hate the scheduling of the Premier League this year, can't wait to see when we have to play those games then...Also those injury troubles worry me - Sulejmani and Ljajic are constantly getting minor injuries,Wilshere has been out for a few weeks several times. Dawson for sure is the most important player out at the moment, hopefully Otamendi/Beevers/Bravo can replace him adequatly.


Player of the Month

Chris Wood - he didn't play outstanding for most of the month but neither did the team. His great performance against Cardiff was good enough to earn the award.

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You should sign Vaclav Kadlec, the 17 year old Czech striker. I have signed him for every team I have played as including Chelsea, Arsenal and now my Reading team. In my latest game as Reading he came from Sparta/Slavia Prague for £1m, but you can get him slightly cheaper. He has huge potential and has already scored three goals in two pre season games, my teams top striker and he has the potential to become a leading Premiership striker, according to my scouts.

thanks for the advice I had scouted him but thought that Lewandowski,Wood,Rodriguez and Wellington Silva would be good enough for this season and rather spent the cash on Bravo (who has been really good as CB/RB). He's at Basel right now, maybe next season i'll can make a run at him.

 

[GabeGenesis]

Fantastic story you have man. Totally wrecked my taste for stories. Thanks a lot.

 

[burkeyoa]

Maybe a should have kept wood after the Cardiff result. great result in the Europa League keep it up.

 

[Helli]

Maybe a should have kept wood after the Cardiff result. great result in the Europa League keep it up.

he was playing but he was terrible with a 5.9 Rating, I really need someone who is more consistent next year