Boro
"Middlesbrough's pre-season build-up turned sour last night in the Algarve as they lost heavily and had a man sent off" according to the club's official site on the 4 - 0 drubbing doled out by Sporting Lisbon on Friday night. Boateng swinging at Sporting's Moutinho after a ridiculous 2 foot challenge and a 4-0 defeat is always going to be a sour one, but you could hardly call the round of pre-season friendlies so far a blazing trail of glory - a 3-0 drubbing from Hartlepool, a 1-1 draw with Hearts, a 4-2 win over Carlisle and a 0-0 abysmal first half performance against Darlington before the game was abandoned. Hardly promising is it? I'd say the build-up was consistently pretty sour from the off, no turning there.
Mind you maybe those at the website didn't know the scores of the other game, it's that bloody hard to find match reports or results for the pre-season friendlies, even on the official site you're lucky to find anything. I've had to trawl the internet for countless minutes looking for info to see how we're shaping up for the season (which I've come to the conclusion is pretty bad to be honest). Come on people, sort it out, give us the info we want!
In other news, Boro have been saved from throwing a massive load of cash in wages ( reported to be £47000 a week!) at yet another 32 year old on a free by Tottenham, who have thankfully pipped McClaren to the post on the signing of Davids from Inter Milan after a less than spectacular time there. What is it with Boro's signing policy? Does anyone take any notice of what's actually happening around the players they sign or is it just a random draw? Potagetz, the 22 year old Austrian international signed for £1.8million from Bayer Leverkusen, looks highly unlikely to have his 24 week ban (for a reportedly horrendous tackle leaving his opponent with a double leg fracture) overturned. and why should he? But even more importantly, why did anyone fail to notice the not too small matter of the ban when he was signed?
And lastly, Boro have sent 25 year old Danish winger Lovenkrands back to Rangers after a rare attack of common sense. The winger was at the Riverside for talks ana bitit of an audition when luckily someone realised he was rubbish. Phew!
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