Glory to the North East - A Middlesbrough Story

[leckuno]

April

Aston Villa v Middlesbrough
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A game we had a chance of winning from the penalty spot in the second half but inform Alena misses the best chance of the game in which Villa dominated as they fight to close the gap at the top of the table. A win in our next game guarantees us promotion now.

Swansea v Middlesbrough

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Thanks to the Friday night game promotion was confirmed by Preston and Sheffield united playing out for a draw. We go out and show that regardless of last nights result we were going to get the 3 points that we needed.

Bolton v Middlesbrough

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A great game for the neutrals here as we play in a 9 goal thriller. Nasri is finally repaying my faith is bringing him to the club after his drug ban.

Middlesbrough v Hull

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With promotion in the bag we give a few younger players a run out and Morilla is given his long awaited debut and he shows he can step up with a great solo effort for a debut goal.

Middlesbrough v Stoke

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Assombalonga just can't stop scoring just now and could well be on his way to firing his way to the top goal scorer award as he is now on 7 goals for the month. This win also means that we are now going up as champions so can relax in the last few matches.

Nottingham Forest v Middlesbrough

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Everything is always made a lot easier while playing against 10 men for at least 1 half and this shows as we get two goals in 7 minutes to secure yet another 3 goal victory.

Middlesbrough v Reading

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A nice early goal to get us off to a great start but we can't build upon it to finish the game off early so scrape the 3 points after reading battering us for the final 10 minutes of the game.

Rotherham v Middlesbrough

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Oliver Burke gets us off to a flyer scoring in what will be his final game for the club as he returns to West Brom at the end of the season. A great way to finish off the Season.




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[leckuno]

Season Overview

What a season for the club as we get promoted to the top flight in my first season in charge and we do it convincingly as well with a 19 point lead over Aston Villa.

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We have had a number of outstanding players this season with Assombalonga being a real force up front and scoring 20 goals over the season. Pereira, Alena and Tonlai have been excellent in the middle of the park as well with providing a lot of the balls in as well as getting on the score sheet as well.

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Assombalonga was only beaten to the top goal scorer award by the fact he has played 2 more games than Marriott.

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Dael Fry wins the league young player of the year to round off a fantastic season for the young local lad who has broken into the first team over the last couple of seasons.

On the club front Fry has also won the Fans Player of the Season by a commanding margin

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Alex Robles wins signing of the season yet can't get into the team of the year which is a strange one but I suppose the fact he only played half a season it will do.

We also had a couple of players make it into the team of the year as well which is always good to see.

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The board have given us a decent war chest as well for tying to stay up next season as well.

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The budget will be getting used to strengthen the team with a new Right Winger along with a new striker being the main 2 positions we will be looking to improve on.




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[Brane_Orsou]

Congrats on the title! Targets for the summer?

 

[leckuno]

Congrats on the title! Targets for the summer?

Had a couple in mind and even managed to sign a couple. Will hopefully get an update out tonight on preseason. If it's not tonight will definitely be tomorrow.

One wee hint though is we have an ex Barca player down the right wing and we also signed a new striker from Barcelona. So far we've signed quite a few players and will only be in the market going forward for an exceptional player

 

[LemonyFresh]

Had a couple in mind and even managed to sign a couple. Will hopefully get an update out tonight on preseason. If it's not tonight will definitely be tomorrow.

One wee hint though is we have an ex Barca player down the right wing and we also signed a new striker from Barcelona. So far we've signed quite a few players and will only be in the market going forward for an exceptional player

Loving the save! always waiting to read more !

glad Ada Turan has arrived ? lol was I close

 

[leckuno]

Loving the save! always waiting to read more !

glad Ada Turan has arrived ? lol was I close

cheers mate always good to know people are enjoing it.

Afraid your a wee bit off. The ex Barca player is about 10 years younger and never made a first team appearance

 

[leckuno]

Pre-Season

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We have had a fairly successful pre-season with only losing against West Brom but we fielded a pretty weak team.

There have been a lot of changes with the team and I feel we have a team that should be able to avoid relegation this year which will be our main aim this year as we try and build for the future to be able to compete at the top end of the table.

Players In

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The stand out players to come are Ross Barkley who will be playing behind former Barcelona Striker Munir. Trincao and Halilovic will be fighting it out for the RW. Moreno, Mangala and Boyata all come in to fight it out with the defenders from last season. For everybody we have brought in I think we've done extremely well to bring them all in for the £56 million.

Players Out

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We have managed to bring in £55 million. The biggest person to leave was Assombalonga who joins Wolves for £21.5 million. I feel we now have an adequate cover now. Leeds signed up 2 players from us for £15 million as well.

All in we have only spent £1 million over the course of the window so we still have some money left for January.

With the new players coming in we will be looking to play the same formation with new players gradually coming into the fold to gain experience and get use to the formation and tactics. Below will be the starting XI for the first game of the season.

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Below are the expectations set out by the club and we are expected to finish 12th in the league. I still believe that as long as we don't get relegated I'll be happy. In the cups they should be achievable as long as the draws are favourable.

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August Fixtures

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[Brane_Orsou]

Some good business there for an outlay of only £1m! Hopefully hasn't unbalanced the morale too much

 

[NashBigginss]

Some good business done there! Selling Assombolonga for £21mil and getting Munir for free is a great bit of business imo. Feel the board should be aiming for mid table/survival rather than a top half finish for first season in the premier league!

 

[leckuno]

August

Middlesbrough v Leeds

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What a start to the league against one of our fellow promoted teams. Munir and Trincao both have fantastic goal scoring debuts with Marin showing the old guard aren't going to be left out of the party.

Burnley v Middlesbrough

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Munir getting his second goal in 2 games so his future is looking bright after joining us on a free from Barcelona. Ross Barkley also opens up his account for the club as well.

Middlesbrough v Liverpool

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Our first real test of the season here and I feel we can keep our heads held high as we were completely outclassed here and surprised we managed to hold out for so long but what a result against a great team.

Carabao Cup Second Round
Barnsley v Middlesbrough

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Off the back of the Liverpool match we go out with a fully rotated squad here are we get off to a flying start with Alena bagging the goal after 2 minutes. Isak comes in for Munir and he shows he can perform in England as well with 2 goals.

Middlesbrough v Wolves

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Everybody comes back into the fold after the cup game and show that we can upstage an established team again. Munir has been fantastic since joining.

Month Overview

Munir has been an absolute revolution since joining with getting 4 goals in the league this month. Trincao has also been great playing down the right with 2 goals.

3 wins from 4 games leaves us 2nd in the table after the first 4 games of the season so hopefully we can build on that and keep winning the games against the smaller teams before we come up against the better teams in the league.

With the Carabao cup I don't think we'll be progressing much further than the third round as we have been dawn away from home against Manchester City.


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September Fixtures

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[leckuno]

September

Chelsea v MiddlesbroughView attachment 23043
I honestly thought we had done enough to secure a point from this so was absolutely gutted to concede a goal with the final kick of the ball. We played really well though and can take a lot from it.

Middlesbrough v Manchester United

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We concede another late goal after a great performance. I keep thinking we're going to grab a point against the big teams an then we seem to switch off.

Carabao Cup Third Round
Manchester City v Middlesbrough
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A result against one of the top 6 finally goes our way and we battle right to the end this time and with the luck of a bounce of the ball and Trincao manages to slot home to send us through to the fourth round.

Fulham v Middlesbrough

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We bounce back in the league with a win. It looked like we could of thrown it away in the final 10 minutes after we conceded in the 86th minute but we managed to hold on for the 3 points.

Month Overview

A mixed month here with losing to both Chelsea and Manchester United by conceding late goals but we bounced back with a win against Fulham to get 3 points out of 9 this month. Its goo to be getting some of the big teams played early as it lets us concentrate going forward on picking up points against the teams we can beat.

In the cup we managed to cause a massive upset by knocking out Manchester City and will be away to Wolves in the next round.

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October Fixtures

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[leckuno]

October

Brighton v MiddlesbroughView attachment 22958
Again we manage to get a late goal that we are usually undone by and it gets us the 3 points.

Middlesbrough v Newcastle

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Munir finally finds his scoring boots again to grab us an early goal to get us off to a great start before Marin grabs a second and we even manage to hold on and keep a clean sheet.

Crystal Palace v Middlesbrough

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We don't even need to take advantage of the man sent off as we have already recovered from going behind before Unal comes off the bench to bag his first goal for the club.

Carabao Cup Fourth Round
Wolves v Middlesbrough

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A rotated squad goes out and Unal comes in for his first start and manages to bag himself another goal before Mangala grabs a goal right on the touch of half time to see us through to the next round.

Month Overview

After the championship I could really get use to these nice short months as it gives everybody a decent rest between games and saves having to rotate as much. We finish the month with a great 100% record here which sees us hold to the European spots in the league which is well above our expectations so we will continue to take 1 game at a time.

In the cup we progress to the next round and host Everton at home in December so we will see what happens and see if we can do as well as last season and reach the final if not do one better.

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November Fixtures

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[leckuno]

November

Middlesbrough v Arsenal
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Aww come on we're looking great again to get a result and undone yet again with the final kick of the ball. We just seem to keep shutting off within added time.

Middlesbrough v Everton

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3-1 up after 29 minutes and we manage to throw it away and only end up with a draw. And guess what we concede yet again with the last kick of the ball.

Leicester v Middlesbrough

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For once the players remember to play until the final whistle and this time it's us who manage to ****** the 3 points with the final kick.

Middlesbrough v vTottenham

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Not much can be said here. The gulf in class is just too much at the moment against some of the big teams as we were lucky we held it at 1-0.

Month Overview

There have definitely been better months as we only manage 4 points out of 12. I feel we should of managed a few more here with how we played against Everton and Arsenal. It's just becoming all far to familiar to concede a late goal. Going to have to be something that we work on in training going forward to try and cut them out.

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December Fixtures

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[leckuno]

December

West Ham v MiddlesbroughView attachment 22450
Marin scoring a screamer from 30 yards out with coming in from the left wing to get the only goal of the game to get us the important 3 points.

Middlesbrough v Bournemouth

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Marin getting the late second goal here to get the 3 points again. He is some player. The last couple of minutes were nervy when we conceded in the 90th minute.

Man City v Middlesbrough

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Undone again by a later goal in the second half. The writing was on the cards though after conceding in the last minute of the first half. We are performing well against the big teams but just can't hold on.

Carabao Cup Quarter Final
Middlesbrough v Everton

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We sneak through here thanks to Tosun missing Everton's first penalty. Apart from that it was a pretty boring match.

Leeds v Middlesbrough

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VAR comes to the rescue for us here where we are given a late penalty which Alena slots home safely from the spot to get us the 3 points.

Aston Villa v Middlesbrough

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A terrific match for the spectators here with 6 goals scored. Isak comes in for Munir here and gets his first league goal after 3 minutes on the pitch. After that we played really well with Halilovic rounding off the game with the 4th goal for us.

Middlesbrough v Southampton

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Rotation has been key here with us getting off to a flyer an going 2-0 ahead after 15 minutes as we then hold onto the all important clean sheet.

Middlesbrough v Burnley

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Munir with his second goal in 2 games here as we also grab our second clean sheet in a row.

Month Overview

Its been a bit of a crazy month with 8 games being played across the month with 4 games coming in the final 9 games off the month. Having a decent squad has paid dividends here with rotation playing a key part over these 4 games.

We also sneaked through to the Semi Final of the Carabao cup where we will play Burnley. They other 2 remaining teams are Chelsea and Swansea.

Over January we will be looking at the transfer list to try and strengthen our squad so we don't fall away in the second half of the season. We will probably have to sell as well to bring in quality.

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January Fixtures

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[leckuno]

January

So the 2nd favourite time of the year the winter transfer window happens and we can strengthen the team.

Two of the players leaving the club only joined us in the summer but they haven't fitted in as well as I would of liked and they have both been sold for a profit as well which is why I let them go. After Boyata joined us on a free transfer from Celtic we have let him join Southampton for £15 million. Manor Solomon also goes to Borussia Monchenglabach for £10 million netting us a profit of £4.5 million. George Saville also joined Aston Villa for £4.2 million

Ryan Gravenberch is first into the club for £8.5 Million. He will replace Alena whose loan finishes in the summer and at 17 he will be used as a rotation option to get him first team ready.



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Tin Jedvaj joins from Leverkusen for £5.25 Million and will provide competition with Robles at RB as Francis joined Derby on loan.


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Lewis Myatt comes in from Atlanta and at 18 looks a great prospect for the club and he cost us £12.5 million but he will push Marin for a first team spot next season hopefully and provide decent competition and opens up the American market for us.

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Jores Okore comes in for £350,000 after he had agreed to join us on a pre-contract deal in the summer as he replaces Boyata.

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Omid Nouri joins from AIK for £3 million and will now become my number 2 in goal with the view of taking over in a few years and playing in cup games.

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FA Cup Third Round
Middlesbrough v Scunthorpe

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Joey Stevens comes in for his debut for the club as a lone striker and he has the best debut possible with bagging a hat-trick to become the clubs youngest ever player and goal scorer.

Carabao Cup Semi Final 1st Leg
Burnley v Middlesbrough

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We do well to pull it back after conceding an early goal to get the away goal to play the second leg in front of out own fans.

Liverpool v Middlesbrough

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We were simply beat by the better team here but to go there and only get beaten 1-0 shows how far we've come this season.

Wolves v Middlesbrough

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We really struggled to get going here but we salvaged a great point by managing to keep a clean sheet.

Carabao Cup Semi Final 2nd Leg
Middlesbrough v Burnley

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In front of our home fans we get off to an excellent start with going 2-0 up after 10 minutes and we keep another clean sheet get send us to the final.

FA Cup Fourth Round
Middlesbrough v West Ham
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An early goal and a clean sheet again are enough to see us through to the Fifth round of the FA cup.

Middlesbrough v Chelsea

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Even though we lost we did amazing to bring it back to give us a chance after we went 2-0 down in 10 minutes and we can take a lot from this match.

Month Overview

In the league it was a bit disappointing this month as we only managed 1 point out of 9. In the cup front though we have managed to make it through to the Carabao Cup final for the second year in a row and we will be facing Chelsea yet again so hopefully we can do better than last year.

In the FA Cup we make it through to the fifth round where we have been drawn with a home tie against Manchester United which will be played in March.

With how well I've been doing the club has also decided to reward me with a new contract which now ties me to the club until 2023.

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February Fixtures

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[robbieboro82]

Following

Literally just about to start my own game with boro too

 

[leckuno]

February

Manchester United v Middlesbrough

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Hazard was just far too good today and was the main man getting both goals and we just didn't have any answers to him.

Middlesbrough v Fulham

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What a way to bounce back after the defeat to Man Utd. Myatt comes on to make his debut and even score his first goal for the club. Pereira was just a class above the rest with his 2 goals in 3 minutes to open the flood gates.

Carabao Cup Final
Chelsea v Middlesbrough

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What a start to the game with Marin scoring the fastest goal in the clubs history. 13 seconds into the match and we go 1-0 up. Marin has become a key member of this team as he keeps getting important goals. This also see's us qualify for the Europa League next season.

Newcastle v Middlesbrough

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We just couldn't keep a hold of the lead here and threw it away twice but to get a point in the derby is still a result at this stage.

Middlesbrough v Crystal Palace

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I thought we might of been able to pull this back after getting it back to 2-1 but in the second half we just weren't able to take our chances an fell to a defeat in a game I felt we should of got points from.

Month Overview

So another disappointing month in the league here with only getting 4 points out of 12. We need to start picking up some more points or we'll start falling down the table a lot quicker than we're currently doing.

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We manage to secure our first piece of silverware by going a step further than last year. It was a great win which see's us get into the Europa League next season regardless of league position which will hopefully help us attract some top players to the club.

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We also had the youth intake at the end of February and we have managed to attract another gem of a striker this year who can hopefully take the step up up and progress at the club over the next few seasons. We welcome Trevor Noon.

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March Fixtures

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[leckuno]

March

FA Cup Fifth Round
Middlesbrough v Manchester UntiedView attachment 21806
Thanks to a Hazard o.g we manage to push Man Utd all the way and even taking the lead in extra time but bow out of the competition thanks to losing the penalty shootout.

Arsenal v Middlesbrough

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We were unable to bounce back with a win even though we looked good value at half time but Arsenal came out firing and were just the far better team in the second half.

Middlesbrough v Brighton

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We rotate the squad and it pay dividends as we are 3-0 up at half time. We were unable to hold out until the end to get the clean sheet but its a valuable 3 points.

Everton v Middlesbrough

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Probably a fair result as neither team really got going here and neither had great chances at goal.

Middlesbrough v Leicester

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Myatt is fast becoming a great player to come on from the bench and grab a winner. Its an important win as it keeps us in the hunt for the top 7.

Month Overview

So a good month as we get 7 out of 12 points on offer. I want to say unless a Miracle happens then 6th place is the best we are going to achieve this season and really hoping again that the worst we will do is 8th.

Our strikers really haven't been good enough this season as most of our goals come from the wingers.

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April Fixtures

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[leckuno]

April

Tottenham v MiddlesbroughView attachment 21562
I honestly thought that after being 1-0 down after a minute that we were going to get hammered by spurs again but Marin gets us on the front foot with a goal right before half time. Trincao then grabs the winner to give us our first victory over Spurs.

Middlesbrough v West HamView attachment 21561
We get off to a great start with Jedvaj getting the opening goal of the match but its the same old story and we concede towards the end of the game but we still hold on for the draw.

Bournemouth v Middlesbrough

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We concede another early goal but we were very fortunate for an own goal to be scored off a deflected shot from Unal. Mangala then grabs the winner to keep us in the race for 6th spot.

Middlesbrough v Manchester City

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This was as simple as Man City coming and just being a different class from us and blowing us away.

Month Overview

So apart form the loss to Manchester City we have had a great month and been keeping up our push for 6th spot as we are only behind Arsenal.

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May Fixtures

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[leckuno]

May/Season Overview

Southampton v MiddlesbroughView attachment 21544
A really disappointing defeat here after we conceded right after half time and it took the win from our sails and we just couldn't get going again after that.

Middlesbrough v Aston Villa

View attachment 21543
What a way to finish the season with a big win. Barkley got us off to the best start possible. The only disappointing thing about this was conceding in the 90th minute to throw away the clean sheet.

Season Overview

What a season we've had after being promoted. We had a media prediction of 12th for our first season back in the Premiership we smashed it and finished 4 places higher up in 8th. We also won our first piece of silverware by lifting the Carabao Cup with a great win over Chelsea which see's us getting to play in the Europa League next season.

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We managed to pretty much fill the stadium every game which was brilliant getting 96% average attendance. So off the back of this the board have announced they are going to be looking into building a new stadium for us. They have given us no details at all so will be interesting to see what happens.

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In my opinion the awards were pretty spot on with Dael Fry wins the Fans Player of the Season for the second year in a row which is fantastic for the local lad. He also shows the youth players what they can achieve if the break into the first team.
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On the commercial side we have really kicked on and brought a good amount of money into the club for the season going forward.

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So going forward next season the board have given us £52.44 Million with a wage budget of £1.3 Million

View attachment 21528
I think for next season we are really going to have to look at a new striker as out top scorer this season was Marin off the LW which just isn't acceptable if we are going to kick on and get higher up the league and try and progress in Europe. Apart from that I don't think we need any major signings so we will look at the transfer list and see who is available and willing to join. We will also be looking to off load a couple of the fringe players who have had no impact at all.


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