Not a great deal to report this week. Apparently, nearly all of the decision makers at the club have been away for one reason or another lately and so it was always going to be a quiet week where what news there was would be of the speculative type.
Having been linked with a Chesterfield player last week, there were reports this week that we are interested in at least one more.
The midfield player Sam Morsy, who was said to be a target last week, impressed in a losing cause for Chesterfield in their 3-0 (aggregate score 4-0) loss to Preston in the League One Play Semi Final (it will be them or Swindon in the Championship next season after Monday’s incredible 5-5 draw with Sheffield United sent them through on a 7-6 aggregate score), but lone striker Sam Clucas had a tough time of it against a pair of commanding centre backs.
Clucas was released by Leicester as a 16 year old because he was considered too small which tends to make the point that he is hardly ideally built for a lone striker role (ironically, Chesterfield’s neat build up play may have got some tangible reward with someone like Eoin Doyle up front),
Sam Clucas celebrates the second of his two goals for Chesterfield in a 3-0 win over Gillingham in March – he scored twelve times in all after joining from Mansfield on Transfer deadline day in September.
However, Clucas has made his name more as a winger cum wide midfield player (he’s also occasionally played at full back).and, if City really are after him, I would assume this is where they would want to use him.
Word is that Chesterfield may have to sell after the failure of their promotion bid. Certainly, the departure of manager Paul Cook to League Two side Portsmouth days after their season suggests that they may be about to enter one of those “transitional phases” that City have specialised in recently- albeit this time it would be the break up of a winning team rather than the dismantling of a mediocre one.
So, perhaps the players we are being linked with would be available at reasonable prices and, if that is the case, then I’d hope that rumours that we are also looking at Chesterfield’s impressive right back Tendayi Darikwa are true as well.
Just when I was beginning to think we would spend the summer being linked only to Chesterfield players, there were a couple of stories that we were chasing Wigan central defender Rob Keirnan (reportedly Reading and Birmingham are also after Keirnan who would cost us a “nominal” fee) and Bosnian international midfield player Senijad Ibricic who is, seemingly, available on a free at financially stricken Turkish club Kayseri Erciyesspor – with forty two caps for his country and a record of thirty five goals from seventy six games during a spell at Hajduk Split, Ibricic would appear to represent a step up in class from our other “targets”, always assuming there’s any truth in these stories!
Finally, Brentford and Ipswich will be on our fixture list next season following their defeats by Middlesbrough and Norwich respectively in the Play Offs. For me, Boro were the more impressive in their 5-1 aggregate win over the Londoners compared to the 4-2 in Norwich’s favour over the two games in the East Anglian Derby, but that counts for little in what is always described as the richest game in football – with no confidence whatsoever, I’ll go for a narrow Middlesbrough win.
Thanks, Paul.
Yes I too go for a Boro win, but would not bet a single groat on it.
Don’t know what it is exactly, but I feel that Karanka is somehow slightly underwhelming as a PERSON. Alex Neal seems the nicer chap.
Of course Karanka might be streets better as a manager…and most footie fans would say that THIS is the important distinction to draw! Not whether someone is a “nice guy” or not.
But not me.
I like people to be kosher/decent/friendly types.
Maybe because I am not such a paragon of virtue myself?
[Answers on a virtual postcard please]
Whether it was Karanka pushing the fourth official following that last minute disappointment in a game a few months ago, I don’t know.
But that certainly made me look at this guy anew.
S*** happens, and how one responds is ever so telling.
Certainly, my view on Malky – as a man – changed with his response to …EVENTS.
And take the final whistle at The Riverside two nights ago.
Warburton clearly wants to say some words of congratulation, but Karanka ensures the handshake is ever so cursory. Just look at the body language.
Not nice to see.
Remember Churchill’s great dictum “In defeat, defiance. In victory, magnanimity”.
And no..it was not a language thing with Karanka.
I will cut him all the slack in the world re his efforts to communicate, but his grasp of the language is already sufficiently good so as to be gracious to the rival manager he has just defeated.
Kindest,
Dai.
I omitted to add that it amazes me that I still watch fotball …given all the modern day horrors of the game keep repeating themselves weekly.
This is a definition of insanity is it not? That, one realises that one has made a mistake, but still keep on making the same error!
What do I mean?
The same old litany, I’m afraid.
1. In the past week or so, we have seen several games e.g. Arsenal v Swansea, where the losing team made a mockery of the hugely overrated “possession stats”…by losing to an opponent who had the ball much less than them!
2. More and more stupid pass backs costing goals…e.g. Ron Vlaar yesterday refusing to knock it into Row Z.
3. Hopeless kicks from goalkeepers costing goals …e.g. Krul at QPR.
4. More kamikaze square passing on the halfway line, like Palace’s daft one that led to the goal from Adam Lallana.
The mystery to me is how these top coaches have a job AT ALL …let alone why they are paid megabucks to allow their players to keep repeating their mistakes.
INSANITY, RULES.
Kindest,
Dai
Thanks Dai – it’s funny how childhood impressions of a football team stick with you for the rest of your life. I remember the Middlesbrough side of my youth with central defenders like Stuart Boam and Willie Maddren in it and with full backs with names like Spraggon and Craggs and so, whether it be true of a particular team or not, Middlesbrough for me are always about a tight, uncompromising defence and fairly limited attacking outlook – as it turns out, I believe this Boro side comply with my characterisation. Boro were always my favourites to win the Championship once the identity of the eight sides who would contest promotion became clear, but I’d prefer Norwich to win as I believe they will be a stronger Championship side next season when Boro lose their loan players.
Regarding the question “why do I still watch football?”, I’ll admit that I’ve been asking myself the same thing at times lately, but, your comment made me think about it a little more and the truth is that any falling out of love with the game on my part is definitely centred on the Premier League. I’ve really enjoyed the Play Offs this year and can’t wait for Wales v Belgium, but West Brom v Chelsea tonight – I’m more likely to watch Corrie or Eastenders. Although I quite enjoyed both of yesterday’s matches, this season’s Premier League has been one of the worst yet in my opinion. If the Arsenal v Sunderland match ends in a draw in midweek, Sky’s way over the top final day coverage will centre on whether Hull or the truly wretched Newcastle will be relegated – try as they will, Sky have got a struggle on their hands trying to turn that into the epic that their coverage will make it out to be.
I remember seeing Chelsea’s brilliant second goal in their first match at Burnley and being surprised that a Mourinho team would play such enterprising football – right from the start, they looked the strongest team in the league by some way to me and, if they have reverted to type in the second half of the campaign, their march to the title has still been a procession. However, it’s the Premier League’s efforts in Europe this season that show it’s paucity of talent and technique with English interest ending at the last sixteen stage in both competitions – “all that money and so little quality” is a line I use from time to time about the current City team, but it applies just as much to this season’s Premier League.